There is good and bad in all companies. A few weeks ago I had a van problem, IMS conversion, where the belt pulley broke, cut through wires and hoses and I saw smoke coming from under the hood. I pulled off the road, and the electrical system of the van shut down.
After having my first van burn up in the driveway after being parked for four hours, and almost catching the house on fire, (another IMS conversion), I was lucky enough to be invited to speak at a conference concerning handicapped vans. The concern that I spoke on was the possibility of a Van catching fire while I was driving, and not being able to get out of the vehicle. Within six months IMS had a complete new system for opening the ramp in an emergency situation. One of the participants in that conference was Mr. Anafield, who was very inattentive to this problem, and his comments carried much weight at this conference. One of his distributors were also present at this conference held in Harrisburg, PA, and he told me about a lockdown system, developed by Mr. Anafield, that takes the power from the wheelchair, and not the van electrical system. That is the lockdown system that I use today, and would not consider using a lockdown system that takes power from the van. Luckily, the smoke coming from under the hood was from oil spilling onto the motor from the air conditioner line, and no fire resulted. If I would have had an engine fire, I would not have been able to get help of the van. With the lockdown system that I use, I was able to get out of the van. There is good and bad in each product, and one must weigh the differences. I will be outfitting a second wheelchair with a lockdown system, and I don't think that you have to guess which system I will use. Oh yes, my anniversary was July 10, 38 years. Later, Glenn A Henry
