Garage lifts

[tvacc]

Randy and others.

We have been at the forefront of parking lifts since the early 90's. I bought a Parking Solutions lift in 90. It was one of the first and now they are out of business....never found out why.

Anyways...one of our LOONYs...Dave Redden (now deseased sorry to say) worked for Xerox and was an engineer. Worked for British Aircraft....one hell of and engineer. You should have seen the RC seaplanes he designed and built...

Anyways he did a great amount of research back around 2000 and we decided that the Eagle lift was the best built and the best bang for the buck.

car lifts, auto lifts, automotive lifts - Eagle Equipment is the website. I especially like the way you can roll them around....

Edit....this is the one that Dave bought...
Storage / Service Lift - MS-9000: car lifts, auto lifts, automotive lifts - Eagle Equipment

his wife still has it. Dave was the guy that Lotus was nice enough to get him into an Elise before he died. He was terminal and wanted an Elise. This was mid June 2004. I called Lotus Cars and asked them if they could get him a car. It was one of his last wishes. Remember, cars were 4 months back logged at that time. Lotus said just one thing to me...."Tony....where do you want the car delivered to?" We had it in his hands by early July and he enjoyed it till he passed that October. It was a great gift. (not the car...he had to pay for it....I mean the enjoyment of the Elise)

[Exigent]

I think Eagle and BendPak are the same company. Anyway, there's a 4 post lift and a Lotus Elise in this video.

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[Exigent]

The Eagle/BendPak Lifts aren't offered with 220V power supply.

I think I like this lift the best so far. I need to call tomorrow to get a price.
Auto lifts and motorcycle lifts from Revolution

Looks very nice. Extended aluminum ramps for low clearance vehicles. Nice solid pieces that can be installed between the tracks. It even comes in 4 colors!

[Valenz]

Has anyone had any experience with American Automotive Lifts?

[tesprit]

Originally Posted by tvacc

Anyways he did a great amount of research back around 2000 and we decided that the Eagle lift was the best built and the best bang for the buck.

car lifts, auto lifts, automotive lifts - Eagle Equipment is the website. I especially like the way you can roll them around....

Edit....this is the one that Dave bought...
Storage / Service Lift - MS-9000: car lifts, auto lifts, automotive lifts - Eagle Equipment

+1 For Eagle.

I installed one of their lifts (2 post asymmetrical open floor industrial type) in my garage back in '92 and it has never had a problem lifting anything I have put on it including some full sized trucks, nor has it ever needed any servicing. The only problem with mine is that it had to be bolted to the floor because the drive on 4 post lifts at that time were still very expensive. The beauty of my two post is complete access to the entire underside of the car and all the wheels without needing jacks, but my next lift will be one of the roll around 4 post drive on types because it can be moved around and taken apart to be transported to a new site if needed. When I sell my house, the lift will be staying there--I have no urge to unbolt it from the floor and to try to take that 1,600 lb. monster apart!

[slaughtr]

I love my 4 post lift and don't feel it was very expensive. This last weekend, I had to move it to make room in my garage. It took about 5 minutes.

Oh, and anyone with a 2 or 4 post lift needs..., not wants...., NEEDS tesprits frame extensions.

Great job on the tesprit.

[azskycop]

Randy,

Just saw this thread. I have used a 4 post lift in a standard garage since I bought my car. With a low profile car you can get enough height to roll around on a small seat under and work very comfortable. One thing you need to check before buying the lift is how low the is first "lock". Mine has a very low lock, about 6", then the next place you can lock the lift is about 2.5 feet up. After that they are spaced every couple inches. My point being you need to be able to set the lift on a lock and still have room for your car not to touch the roof. I usually put my garage door down while raising the car for extra clearance, watching the door rails, then I can open the door once the lift is locked in place.

If you need some height measurements from my lift let me know.

Oh and I almost forgot, another advantage to parking under a 4 post lift is you can throw some cheap lumber on top and have extra garage storage. It's like having another garage floor to store stuff out of the way!

[Exigent]

Originally Posted by slaughtr

Oh, and anyone with a 2 or 4 post lift needs..., not wants...., NEEDS tesprits frame extensions.

Great job on the tesprit.

What're those?

[Exigent]

Originally Posted by Exigent

The Eagle/BendPak Lifts aren't offered with 220V power supply.

I think I like this lift the best so far. I need to call tomorrow to get a price.
Auto lifts and motorcycle lifts from Revolution

Looks very nice. Extended aluminum ramps for low clearance vehicles. Nice solid pieces that can be installed between the tracks. It even comes in 4 colors!

They want like $4600.
That's a bit more than I want to spend....

We should start a thread about lifts with prices so that we know the real going rate for these things. I'm sure there are some differences in quality, but it seems these lifts range from $1600 - over $5000. That's a pretty big spread.

[slaughtr]

Originally Posted by Exigent

What're those?

New way to put an Elise on a lift

Even on a 4 post lift, if you want to raise the back end to change tires without the front end lifting, you need them.

[slaughtr]

Originally Posted by Exigent

They want like $4600.
That's a bit more than I want to spend....

We should start a thread about lifts with prices so that we know the real going rate for these things. I'm sure there are some differences in quality, but it seems these lifts range from $1600 - over $5000. That's a pretty big spread.

Mine was $2500 with front and rear lift jacks included.

Direct Lift 4 post lift

[NMRJock]

I paid around $2k for the same lift that slaughtr has but with only one jack.

[Jeff and Pamela]

We're very interested in getting a lift also. What kind of prep work do you have to do to the garage slab to install one of these? Do you need footings for the posts or drill for hold down bolts?

Thanks

Jeff and Pamela

Originally Posted by slaughtr

Mine was $2500 with front and rear lift jacks included.

Direct Lift 4 post lift

[paulhastings]

It was actually recommended that I do not bolt to the floor. I didn't really ask too many questions but, I assume it has to do with being in California. Perhaps the recommendation is different in other parts of the country. Therefore the only prep work was in the high lift for the garage door and going to a side mounted opener.

Originally Posted by Jeff and Pamela

We're very interested in getting a lift also. What kind of prep work do you have to do to the garage slab to install one of these? Do you need footings for the posts or drill for hold down bolts?

Thanks

Jeff and Pamela

[dwkoski]

I planned for a four post lift when I built my garage. Randy's problem is working with an existing structure. Most manufacturers require a 6" thick concrete slab ( most "code" garage slabs are 4") You could probably get away with a 4" slab if you don't hoist anything heavier than an Elise but having a corner give way with a car on the hoist could be very bad. One option might be to get some scrap 1/4' or thicker steel plate and make pads about three times the size of the lift feet and just set the posts on them. This would significantly decrease the per square inch load on the floor. Don't know what size would be most appropriate but could consult my mason and contractor buddy. As far as the height goes, I had a family room on the house that I wanted to convert to a trophy room. It was not a very big deal to remove the roof and add a 3 foot header to the top of the walls and then add scissor trusses to gain almost 5 feet of height. This would be easy and not particularly expensive on most detached garages, especially if you can perform the labor yourself and only pay for materials...Dave

[NMRJock]

4" of concrete is fine for four post lifts. Two post lifts require 6" of high tensile concrete. Mine is sitting on my completely standard suburban home's concrete floor.

I don't have my lift bolted down. If I were going to bolt it down it would just be a single anchor in each of two opposite corners so I could quickly unbolt it and put the castors under it. The lift is extremely stable and being able to move it is a nice feature.

See page 9: http://www.directlift.com/manuals/propark8s.pdf

[Jeff and Pamela]

Thanks for the info! Time to get one on order

[Exigent]

Originally Posted by Jeff and Pamela

Thanks for the info! Time to get one on order

I want one before winter so that I can get 3 cars out of the elements. The question now is which company to buy from.

I checked into Backyard Buddy several months ago. They were willing to do the install for me (I don't trust myself and don't want to rent equipment to move heavy materials around), but the total cost was about $5000.

The $2000 lifts seem to have 110V motors. I need to find a nice 220V motor lift for under $2500 ... installed.

[NMRJock]

Don't be intimidated by the installation. Three of us assembled my lift in a few hours and the only special equipment we used was a furniture dolly and a floor jack. No one piece was too heavy for a couple of people to just lift into place.

Why do you need a 220V pump? It's a bit faster, but how often will you be running it up?

[9and3]

Originally Posted by dwkoski

Most manufacturers require a 6" thick concrete slab ( most "code" garage slabs are 4") You could probably get away with a 4" slab if you don't hoist anything heavier than an Elise but having a corner give way with a car on the hoist could be very bad.

"Eagle Equipment recommends the pad be a minimum of four inches thick with 3500 PSI reinforced cement for lifts up to 10,000 pound capacity and six inches for lifts over 10,000 pound capacity." From Eagle Equipment's FAQ

Most slab-on-grade concrete is tested to 3000 lbs at 21 days dry. 3.5k should be no problem at full cure.