Two post car lift

[Pdv]

Hi All,

I am thinking of purchasing a car lift as getting under the car is not becoming an option much longer.

I did a search and the main obstical appears to be delivery and installation, one supplier state that it is delivered by an artic and has to have the turning capacity for that others say it needs an available fork lift to unload it. And I don't think I have the strength to assemble it on my own.

All these things are able to be overcome but with a lot of help from other people, it would be good  then if there was a company that would install it, did not see that option when searching.

So any help,  advice would be appreciated.

Thanks 

Steve

 

[Paul H]

18 minutes ago, Pdv said:

Hi All,

I am thinking of purchasing a car lift as getting under the car is not becoming an option much longer.

I did a search and the main obstical appears to be delivery and installation, one supplier state that it is delivered by an artic and has to have the turning capacity for that others say it needs an available fork lift to unload it. And I don't think I have the strength to assemble it on my own.

All these things are able to be overcome but with a lot of help from other people, it would be good  then if there was a company that would install it, did not see that option when searching.

So any help,  advice would be appreciated.

Thanks 

Steve

 

Have you considered a pit ?

 

Paul 

[johny]

Also look on ebay for lifts, some including installation...

[JohnD]

My garage has a pit, put in I think when the house was built a hundred years ago but I've never found it especially useful, except for oil changes, even after I installed a ladder:

Don't forget that you need a garage at least two cars high for a lift, and then have a look at Pistonheads, where car lifts have been discussed many times:  https://www.pistonheads.com/search#gsc.tab=0&gsc.q=two post lift&gsc.sort=

As for installation, Google for "two post lift installation service"

Good luck!

John

[thescrapman]

I acquired a “low mileage” Tecalamit lift a couple of years ago. It was lifted onto a car trailer with and engine crane, and off again likewise.

bolted H frame to the floor using biggest expanding bolts it would allow and lifted the posts into place using the engine crane.

Did it all myself on my own,

once up had it checked and the interlocks all setup by a local lift servicing company.

[ahebron]

Have you considered a scissor lift?
I have one for my Vitesse but it only lifts 1m.
I can sit under the car and work and can access all mechanical parts as I uise it sideways under the car not lengthways as the hoist is to wide.
Our garage pit in Sunderland would freeze over in Winter, good drainage is a must plus air movement/extraction.

[Paul H]

5 hours ago, ahebron said:

Have you considered a scissor lift?
I have one for my Vitesse but it only lifts 1m.
I can sit under the car and work and can access all mechanical parts as I uise it sideways under the car not lengthways as the hoist is to wide.
Our garage pit in Sunderland would freeze over in Winter, good drainage is a must plus air movement/extraction.

I’ve fitted a fibreglass pit insert so no drainage issues 

https://www.mech-mate.co.uk/products

the model SP01

Paul 

[Colin Lindsay]

I fitted a two-post lift back in 2017, one man came out in a transit van and installed it in about two hours by himself. No artic! I had the garage floor reinforced when it was being built, so that under the spot where each post would be there's about four feet of reinforced concrete and of course the roof has to be high enough to permit a full lift. I just got fed up with crawling under cars on cold floors... but most of the time the cars are three feet or so off the ground for brake or suspension work, and it's only about once a year they go right to the top for underbody waxproofing or oil refilling. Every car in the house goes on it at least once a year plus Club cars came round annually for servicing (had to stop that recently due to no room in the garage!). I'll be doing a full BMW suspension and exhaust replacement shortly and it'll be a doddle. I can recommend one but as a smaller option a scissor lift will get the car off the floor to a comfortable height for brake or wheel work. I had a pit once, it used to fill with water and I'd float about in a plastic tub like Gollum on a raft. With a pit you can get under the car but not raise the wheels off the ground as easily.

[Pdv]

Hi All,

Well I think I have found what I am looking for, from automotech a two post lift with an H footprint. Designed for concrete floors with either an uneven surface or minimal depth of concrete, their blurb.

Thanks for all the replies. 

Steve 

[Pdv]

Hi Colin,

How do you get on with supporting a car on the lift ie a chassis based car, do you need to use anything in-between the outrigger rails.

Thanks

Steve

[thescrapman]

I have foundI need a packer on top of the pads (even when using extensions and wound up) to prevent the arms pushing up on the Herald sills.

following a tip on a forum, i have a pile of ice hockey pucks.

[Colin Lindsay]

19 hours ago, Pdv said:

Hi Colin,

How do you get on with supporting a car on the lift ie a chassis based car, do you need to use anything in-between the outrigger rails.

Thanks

Steve

The problem is that you must lift on the chassis, not the outriggers, so the length of the arms is a problem. Either they'll reach the front where the outriggers join the main rails, or the rear, but not both. I feel that's the strongest point for lifting, where the metal overlaps but as both sets of arms won't reach both points I got round this by having a 'bridge' made that sits on top of the pads, usually the rear, and joins them under the car. I have two wooden blocks with non-slip rubber coating that go under the chassis rails and so lift the car without damage to paintwork and of course they sit either side of the prop and exhaust. The front pads are okay, they extend quite far upwards when fully screwed out so no worries about the sills, and if they're set at a height corresponding to the rear bridge-and-blocks to have the car level, all sits very firmly in place. 

You can just make out the blocks under my estate here:

 

 

 

[PeteH]

Would have loved one. But none of my garages would have coped. Considered a pit when doing the build, only to find the water table was barely inches below the garage floor. Any pit would have had to be “tanked” at considerable extra cost. To add to the fact that we lived on a known flood plain even though at the highest point and did escape the worst of the 2007 flooding. My biggest loss was a number of large fish from the pond.

Pete

[Peter Truman]

2 hours ago, PeteH said:

 To add to the fact that we lived on a known flood plain even though at the highest point and did escape the worst of the 2007 flooding. My biggest loss was a number of large fish from the pond.

Pete

We were on holiday touring England at that time in 2007 toured thro Norfolk very waterlogged, then up the east coast across the Humber Bridge into Yorkshire & our short lived home area, viewed from the bridge the river was in severe flood & VERY VERY dirty even worse than our Yarra River noted for flowing upside down, I remember seeing military choppers landing on the Hull side presumably saving people? then onto Pickering which was badly flooded & then to our old home area of Guisborough. I also remember seeing a news video of the fire brigade pumping out water to secure a local dam wall, made me laugh thinking what a "pee into the wind" that would be re our largest dam which holds 1068Gl or 2.5 years of Melbourne's demand, We would blow the emergency dewatering structure 3mt dia capped pipes, the only way of stopping the free flow then is to drop the massive coaster gate into the tunnel, I mean drop into the raging flow, never been tried, all theory? Dropping the gate into a controlled release of a single 1.1mt dia pipe results in a tremendous air upsurge up the 6mt dia coaster gate shaft of over 30 mts height to dislodge the ground level open grate flooring (now bolted down), It would strip Marylin Munroe's dress off, not just balloon it, probably plaster her against the shaft building roof!

[ahebron]

Lets not forget the single post car hoist.
Living in country where the ground moves more than most I would be concerned working under one but they do have their advantages and disadvantages.

 

[PeteH]

6 hours ago, ahebron said:

single post car hoist.

Prior to about 195*? ish. The vast majority of garage lifts had been single post hydraulic lifts. Many where still in service when I was Inspecting in the 80/90`s. (Suposedly) every 10 years they should have been removed and the Vessel/cylinder examined for corrosion. Considering they where buried up to 8ft underground, many garages elected to "disarm" them, some even removed the ram and filled the cylinder with a concrete mix. One of my last operational ones was at garage near Taunton. When I asked how long since the last inspection, the owner just looked at me blank, previous exminers had never bothered, just checked the tankage and safety relief devices. Most operators, had a large balk of timber which they jambed under the Piston to prevent slide back, there where no other safety devices beyond the pressure in the system!.

Pete

[ahebron]

I know the type you are referring to PeteH similar to a single level goods lift but the ones I am meaning are these.
https://automotechservices.co.uk/product-category/single-post-vehicle-lifts/
A bit like a forklift to look at.

 

[Colin Lindsay]

8 hours ago, PeteH said:

Prior to about 195*? ish. The vast majority of garage lifts had been single post hydraulic lifts. Many where still in service when I was Inspecting in the 80/90`s.

I was moonlighting a second job with T H Clarkes, former Triumph Dealership in Belfast in 2002 or 2003, and they had ages-old lifts that used to drop, very slowly, as you worked under them. You could hear them very quietly ticking as they moved downwards and then you'd go move them up again. There appeared to be no safety mechanism; at least mine has a manual lock on each post so it doesn't drop.