Help me choose a lift!

[bishir]

As some of you already know I'm building a garage. The man idea all along has been to have a lift in this new garage. However, the choice had been tough. I'm not real interested in a 4-post because of the extra space required and the special jacks needed to lift the car off it's tires. Therefore I'm looking closely at two-post lifts. The ones on the top of my list right now can be found at http://www.autolifters.com/2postLifts.html
If you have any opinions you'd like to offer feel free to offer them.

Thanks,
James

 

[BJM]

I was looking for a lift for a while and stumbled across one of these Hydra-Lift Scissor that was traded in after 10 years service in a garage. I have a 9 foot ceiling and could not use a 12 foot tall 2 post. I was really reluctant to get a 4 post because most of what I want to do involves wheel and brake work so I would be forced to jack the car off the lift just to work on it, hardly seemed worth it unless you buy 2 expensive sliding jacks that hang between the tracks of the four post. If you have a 2 post you have to give up mobility working around the car when its parked because of the posts. The quality 2 posts are really wide (~11'-12') and your lift should not be bolted in at the edge of the floor slab due to possible cracking.

The scissor section can be mounted fluch to the floor leaving you with no above floor obstruction at all, just 2 metal rectangles that lift up. Currently mine is mounted on top of the floor but its only 9.5" high.

Best of all, I intend to move at some point and have a taller garage, when I do the lift will go full height. Mounted on top of the floor the car's bottom would be about 6'8" above the floor which is too high for comfortable work. The lift has six locking positions which are progressively closer near the top. There is a full 36" space between the scissors and moving the car a couple of inches to one side gives you excellent access to the car frame.

I can post some pictures once I get my website fixed.

 

[bishir]

I like that. I haven't considered a scissor type lift. What is the cost?

 

[wagon]

If you get a two post, get the asymmetrical. That has arms that reach back behind the posts, so that when you lift the car, it is behind the posts more, and the doors can be opened all the way without hitting.

Brian

 

[BJM]

I bought mine used so I don't know the new price. My wild guess would be about $6500 CAD.

I was in touch with this guy Ian Pogmore, ianp@hydra-lift.com. He was quite helpful and can certainly get you prices.

The nice thing is this is a commercial lift not a consumer version. Its also 7000 lb capacity.

If you do go for an assymetric, be damn sure about your floor's strength and thickness. The only thing keeping the lift upright is the bolts into the floor.

Some of Hydra Lifts 2 posts lifts have a wide spreader beam on the floor to keep things from tipping.

That is a nice thing about the scissor, your floor is much less critical due to the spread out load.

 

[bishir]

I'm getting ready to start construction the garage and floor strengh is something that will be addressed with the correct size and strength of concrete. Really, most of the force on a two-post is down. The bolts keep it from tipping over. That is something I hope never happens!
If I can find an assymetrical lift in my price range I'll try to grab it. Thanks,

James

 

[CHARGED]

This is the company that made mine eagle lifts
Bought mine used tho. for $1500., the catalog they send me has the prices about $200. less then whats on their website.
Definetly get the asymmetrical lift if getting a 2 post, it lets you open the doors without banging them against the lift.

When pouring the concrete for my garage I dug out 2 small footers where the 2 posts would go for insurance but all that was recomended was atleast 6" at a certain psi concrete.

If you do go for an assymetric, be damn sure about your floor's strength and thickness. The only thing keeping the lift upright is the bolts into the floor.

With the weight of the 2 posts and the steel bar that connects the two posts at the top that thing ain't going anywhere, there is about 8 bolts on each side going into the concrete.

It looks like the Scissor type lifts are about $1000,+ more then the typical 2 post lifts, if you can afford it I'd say buy one of those.
Let me know if you have any more ?'s

 

[BJM]

When I talk about tipping I mean front to back only. If the center of mass of the car is say only 6" beyond the extent of the floor plate of the lift and the lift is holding its maximum load of say 8000 lb then you have an over-turning moment of 48000 in.lb. Assuming that the plate is 16" wide the bolts on the far side are pulling down to keep the lift from falling over. Assuming ~4 bolts are sharing the load then each is pulling down 750 pounds. Obviously its done all the time and it works but it all depends on the floor quality. Just don't scimp on the floor. I don't know how far off dead centre an assymetric lift can handle.

I am curious to know the price new for a scissor lift if anyone gets a quote.

 

[Buicksx2]

A few years back I put in a Rotary asymettrical 7000 pound lift in my garage and it was the best money I ever spent and you will find that out also trust me.

My Rotary was about $3-3,200 installed and I have never had a single problem with it whatsoever.

Sure it's more expensive than what else is out there but when I go to dealerships thats mostly the brand I see there, so I figure if alot of the pros use it then it's gotta be good for Rich's Custom Auto and free moochers like Jim Romanello.

Best of luck to you in whatever brand you go with.

 

[bishir]

I'm having the plans for the lift drawn at this moment. I'm having two seperate footers for the posts on the lift and the concrete is 3000psi. Floor strength shouldn't be a problem. Celing height is going to max out at around 14-15 feet. Once I have the final plans I'll know for sure. Thanks for the help,

James

 

[wagon]

I have looked into them also, and what I came up with for floor requirements was 3500psi concrete, 4-6 inches thick minimum. Although I am sure that different lifts with different capacities have different requirements. This was for a 2 post asymetrical. I have seen them for about $2200 minimum. On some of the 4 post lifts, they have expensive sliding jacks, but one brand, had platforms so that you could use your regular floor jack to lift the wheels. The platforms were much cheaper that the sliding platforms.
Here are some sites in case anyone feels like surfing:
www.superlifts.com
www.liftusa.com
www.liftguide.com
www.targetlifts.com
www.challengerlifts.com
www.eagleequip.com
www.autolifts.com

Just to name a few.

Brian