Once the track has been properly oriented on the stairs, turn it over, so that the back side is facing up. A toolbox or other heavy box can be placed at the bottom of the stairs, to support the track. The other sections of track can then be safely placed on the stairs, supported by the first piece of track.
The position of the track is not crucial during the next few steps, but it should be placed towards which ever side of the staircase it is being installed onto.
Some stair lifts will come with a section of the gear attached to the bottom of the track. If the section of the toothed gear is present, loosen the screws holding it in place and slide it out of the track. Do not remove the screws all of the way, but only enough so that it can be slid. Set it to the side, because you will need it later.
The individual pieces of track are connected using two splice bars. Loosen the splice bars, line up the two pieces of track, and slide them up, so that half of the splice bar is in the bottom piece of track and half of the splice bar is in the top. The splice bars should then be tightened.
There should only be a small hairline space between the individual pieces of track. If the splice bars are difficult to slide, position the two pieces of track so that the seam is supported by the edge of the step. This should make it easier to slide the splice bars into place.
After the track has been connected, attach the mounting hardware. The mounting hardware consists of two “L” shaped feet and a “U” shaped bracket. The “L” shaped feet are what will actually make contact with the staircase and have two smaller holes on one side. The stair lift will be secured to the steps on this side, with the oval side being bolted to the “U” shaped bracket. Assemble the brackets, but only hand tighten them, because they will likely need to be adjusted again.
After the mounting brackets have been assembled, they will need to be attached to the metal track. There should be 3 brackets for every 8 feet of track and a bracket should be located at the top and bottom of every section of track. The brackets are connected to the track using “T” shaped bolts. As you connect the brackets to the track, leave them slightly loose, so you can adjust them as necessary.
Once the brackets are attached, it is necessary to secure and time the gear. Since the track is laying face up, the gear should be facing away from the wall. This allows you to access and adjust the gear, but when the track is turned over, ensures that the gear is facing towards the wall.
The gear should be positioned so that it is 6 1/8″ from the top of the track. It should then run down the stairs and should be between 0″ and 5″ from the bottom of the track. Go ahead and loosen the gear and slide it all the way down. If there was a section of gear attached to the back of the track, slide it into the gear slot at this time. Slide the top piece of gear up so that it is 6 1/8″ from the top of the track, secure it in place. Slide the remaining pieces together.
Where the different pieces of gear meet, they will need to be timed. This ensures that the stair lift will smoothly move across the different sections of gear. A small piece of gear, only about 6″ is included for this purpose, which simply involves lining up the gear in the track so that the 6″ piece can be paced on top of it.
After the gear has been attached and the hardware mounting brackets secured, the track can be flipped over and positioned on the stairs. At this time, it might be necessary to adjust the position of the mounting brackets. There should be a mounting bracket on the first step of the stairs, the next to last step of the stairs, and one on either side of each section of track. The track itself should be located 3 1/2″ from the wall, or molding if it is a commercial style higher molding.
The bottom piece of track should rest on the ground and the track should rest on the edge of the steps. After it has been properly positioned, drill a hole in the stairs, using the two holes in the mounting bracket feet as a guide. Then using the metal screws, screw the mounting brackets in place. The top and bottom brackets can be attached to the stairs first, measuring each time. Then the brackets in the middle can be secured, ensuring that the track remains 3 1/2″ from the wall at all points.
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