Lift questions

[RDM]

A day I've long hoped for is arriving. Last week I bought a used Rotary RLP-77 scissor lift out of a car dealer's service department. Brought it home in a Home Depot box truck and got it into the garage (which is saying something, because each of the three parts weighs a ton!) Now to figure it all out, get it installed, and get it working for me.

I hope to do a recessed mount at some point in the future, but for now surface mount will have to do. This makes learning and changing my mind possible, though it will probably require ramps for the 911 until then.

Figuring it out- the installation manual gives three between-lift-pad spacings:
60cm (23 ⅝ in) is what Rotary calls normal
76cm (30 in) is wide
89cm (35 in) for Tesla, I presume for battery replacement

The SC is my smallest car (no surprise there), at least for now and the side-to-side spacing between lifting points looks to be about 110cm (43 in).

Is there a reason NOT to maximize spread between the lift pads to leave more of the car's underside open? Width is not a constraint in this garage.

Simulating maximum gap


Widths of various cars and where they would rest at maximum gap


Ferociously bright lighting is part of this also.

[zuch]

Leave yourself some slop for driving on/off the treads. My 356 is really narrow and it makes it a little scary going on/off. I added a big hemispherical mirror on my garage wall to help me see what is going on. Obviously wider is better when you want to drop the engine, just pick a nice happy medium.

[nickelplated5s]

You've got the lift but now you have my conundrum. How thick is the pad? If you go recessed then you can't easily walk under it. Personally, for now, I'd just roto some holes and epoxy or wedge anchors for a light car. Those can always be cut flush later and plus is you'll find out the pad depth. Next is power for compressors, lift, welder, etc. Hence my conundrum. The shop has better power and tools. My 4 car has a better rafter alignment for a higher lift. Now you're making me think two lifts

There is a trick where you put a tennis ball on a string for centering and stop point. Mirror would be good too.

[GH85Carrera]

When I first got my scissor lift, I had to use some 2x12 boards to get my 911 or my El Camino over the lift pads. Getting the car on the ramps, and not having the boards move around was a challenge, and took several tries each time.

The other issue was the hose from the pump to the lift, and the pump itself was always in the way.



The pump is under the rear bumper of the El Camino in this image.



Putting in the pit was the magic of really loving the scissor lift.



I had the pit dug for me. I know very little of concrete pouring, and digging up the concrete, and dirt and hauling that way would have killed me.

The trench to the wall to mount the pump was easy, and it allowed me to run electricity into the pit with a ground fault connection.
The pit with a piece of 1/2 inch plywood to cover the pit is great. The lift just vanishes.

My wife took over my garage and lift to paint some furniture.
Just raise the lift with the plywood in place, and the work table is at the perfect height to work on painting stuff, or working on my lawnmower.




Good luck with your scissor lift and enjoy it!

You will wonder how you lived without it. I put the 911 up in the air to clean up bugs and road crud. Even doing electrical work or a valve adjustment is a ton easier with the lift.

[nickelplated5s]

Thank you Glen! I had already seen that but didn't search for the link. Bench in the back is a bonus, wish I had that too. Post the brand/model please. My friends used to call them El Cippiono's, don't know why as they weren't Italian. Saw a few at a BaT thing in Portland Sunday.

[RDM]

Originally Posted by zuch

Obviously wider is better when you want to drop the engine, just pick a nice happy medium.

Good point. Anyone know off the top of your head how wide a 911 motor is?

Do you have a link for your mirror? Is it up at the top of the wall in front, or somewhere else?

Originally Posted by nickelplated5s

You've got the lift but now you have my conundrum. How thick is the pad? If you go recessed then you can't easily walk under it. Personally, for now, I'd just roto some holes and epoxy or wedge anchors for a light car. Those can always be cut flush later and plus is you'll find out the pad depth. Next is power for compressors, lift, welder, etc. Hence my conundrum. The shop has better power and tools. My 4 car has a better rafter alignment for a higher lift. Now you're making me think two lifts

There is a trick where you put a tennis ball on a string for centering and stop point. Mirror would be good too.

The pad is (I think) 4 inches. This will definitely be wedge-anchored to begin with. This is how Rotary says to do the surface mount. If / when flush mounting comes, I'll contract it. As Glen says, I have more money than back muscles, and zero expertise.

The lift isn't the limiting factor in my lift height. Even with flush mount, this lift has a 74 inch lift height, which is enough to put any of my cars through the ten foot ceiling.

As for power, the electrician visited this morning and we have a plan- a 50A panel in the garage. And I haven't yet taken up welding, but there should be enough capacity in the panel for these. And a mini-split, eventually.

And for air, I currently have a small compressor. Is that enough to open the safety locks? I don't really see any specification other than pressure (85-110psi)

Originally Posted by GH85Carrera

The other issue was the hose from the pump to the lift, and the pump itself was always in the way.

Putting in the pit was the magic of really loving the scissor lift.

I had the pit dug for me. I know very little of concrete pouring, and digging up the concrete, and dirt and hauling that way would have killed me.

The trench to the wall to mount the pump was easy, and it allowed me to run electricity into the pit with a ground fault connection.
The pit with a piece of 1/2 inch plywood to cover the pit is great. The lift just vanishes.

Good luck with your scissor lift and enjoy it!

You will wonder how you lived without it. I put the 911 up in the air to clean up bugs and road crud. Even doing electrical work or a valve adjustment is a ton easier with the lift.

Yes. All of this. I have used your example repeatedly as I've thought about what lift to get and how to go about installing it. This is what my lift would look like flush-mounted.



I have visions of all sorts of work being done on this very large blue table.

[sebhrw]

Glen,

That is an excellent scissor lift installation!
I'm very keen to do something similar, but have been eying the Quickjack for a hot minute too.

What brand scissor lift did you get?

[zuch]

Sorry, I was thinking 4-post with my comments. Here is a picture. In the upper right (front wall of the garage) you can see the mirror. It is an Amazon special. I could look up the exact model if you need me to.

[GH85Carrera]

My scissor lift is the Bendpak MD6XP. I got it from Jegs. It was delivered to my garage door. It is one heavy sucker.

Lowering it into the pit was a real chore. It ain't coming out easily. I have had it for 11 years. It is one of my favorite purchases for my garage.



I can get the 911 42 inches high which is almost hitting the light for the garage door.



My wife's Macan can't get very high as it is pretty tall.

I did have to have one of the cylinders rebuilt last year. A local company did it for me. It is not hard to remove and re-install. The cylinder was leaking, so it had to be fixed.