Car lift pro/cons

[limble]

A friend is looking to buy a car lift for his garage.

Anyone have one that they like or dislike?
Prices?
What is the height of the garage that it is in?

[MotoSook]

I love my Harbor Freight 6000lbs scissors lift that cost $995 delivered to my door! Fits in a regular garage and I can open my overhead door. It's a Chinese copy of the Snap-on lift with two ramps. Has already paid for itself. Do a search on "lift" and you'll find the discussion that was had last year full of info.

[RickM]

Here's a thread that has a few opinions ===> At home Car Lift info sought..

[MotoSook]

My garage or car hasn't looked this nice in a long time

[real550A]

Mike,
You are welcome to come over and take a look.
I installed this one myself, and can give you the "rest of the story". It was an easy install.
The hardest part was re-engineering the trusses to achieve the twelve foot ceiling height.
I did it last winter = cold. And, I felt like a monkey in a cage by the time I climbed over everything up there. Kinda fun!

[real550A]

Hey Souk!
Nice work on the frame for your lift. That must work great!

[Matt_C]

Hey Souk….It looks like you didn’t have to drill any holes into your slab with that wood setup you have…is that correct? I have a post tension slab that I can’t drill into but would love to get a lift. Your setup looks great. How high does that lift go?

Thanks

[makaio]

Don't mean to hijack this thread, but... ... Souk, What's the purpose of chaining the ramp set-up to the lift?

[Zeke]

Originally posted by Matt_C
Hey Souk….It looks like you didn’t have to drill any holes into your slab with that wood setup you have…is that correct? I have a post tension slab that I can’t drill into but would love to get a lift. Your setup looks great. How high does that lift go?

Thanks

Talk to an engineer. You can't cut your slab, but if you map out the cables with a metal detector, I believe you can drill and even core the slab as long as you miss the cables.

[Zeke]

The HF one lists for $1399 today. What is the short blue one?

Edit: Well, that might haved seemed like a stupid question since he said it was HF. But, if you look at the HF site, that one doesn't show up.

Edit #2: OK, I found the lift. It's $899 now. The description says starting lift height is 13 inches and some change. What's the deal? You have to jack your car up until the thing can power it up?

[RoninLB]

Originally posted by Souk
I love my Harbor Freight 6000lbs scissors lift that cost $995 delivered to my door! Fits in a regular garage and I can open my overhead door. It's a Chinese copy of the Snap-on lift with two ramps. Has already paid for itself. Do a search on "lift" and you'll find the discussion that was had last year full of info.

I have the mid-rise lift that Souk's was modeled after.. I think it's 37in. The HF seems like the best bang for the buck around. In a limited space garage it's a home run.

[makaio]

I wish I would have bought one last year for under $1000. Thanks to the rise in steel cost, prices are rising.

[Bill Verburg]

I've got SnapOn mid rise, a bit expensive but lots of piece of mind.

[NicolasW]

Does anyone suggest good brands for 2-post lifts?? I know Ultimate Garage suggests Nussbaum which seem to be pretty reasonable at about $3300 for the mechanical model.

[MotoSook]

Hi gang,

The lift starts lifting as soon as the rubber stops hit the bottom of my car. The pump powers it all up. The first lock/stop is probably the 13" that Milt read about.

The wood ramp is to clear my car. The lift height when folded flat is maybe 4 inches, not sure what it is exactly, but my car hits the swing arms, so I built the ramps. The chain is to keep the ramp from sliding forward when I run up on it with my car. All that 2X4 is heavy, but it still slides forward.

The lift is great. I recently had to move it out of the garage to do an alignment on my level garage floor, and it was a snap using the dolley that the pump and reservoir is mounted on. The ramp was hard to move.

The steel quality and welds looks perfectly acceptable. Unless you have a ram or hose blow out, the lift should not collapse faster than you can get out of the way. The lift will only low as fast as the hydraulic fluid can escape the rams. That is not saying it is a risk to use it, but the failure modes that will hurt us are pretty extreme, like a pivot breaking, but the pivot for the scissors a big bar, probably 1.25" OD.

There is no drilling and the lift is a 120VAC unit.

I've had my Jeep Cherokee on the lift, and it was fine.

Edit. Thanks Mike..your lift looks great too! I love mine and have had a number of cars on it. It's great for almost all the work that I can do on a 911. I've dropped the engine using it. It wasn't as easy as my drop with jack stands, but I learn somethings and it's likely to be an easier drop next time. Actually the install was the hard part, but that is compared to putting a longblock into a car, mate to trans, then bolt on induction. It's all possible.

Matt is right, the Chinese are buying up steel at an unbelievable rate. Try buying miles of large diameter pipe (+12 inches) at a time...ouch!

[RoninLB]

I believe the lowest rated lift you can buy in the US is 6,000#.
Unless you damage the lift, a used lift only has a piston to wear out, besides the small elec motor and pump. Like Bill I bought mine used. I'll even use the lift to polish my wheels.

[Bill Verburg]

Hey Souk, can I get a materials and measurements list for your platfrom. It looks perfect!

[Les Paul]

You guys have lifts that don't look conducive to parking a car underneath. I have one my 356 fits under. I'm not at home, and I don't have the height of my garage ceiling but I know my big ass heavy old garage door only clears the front of the hood near the windshield by about an inch. I have to back the 930 in making sure the transmission is aligned to the big 4x4 single beam underneath. Mine is a 3 post with the front 2 posts at the front of the garage. I've had it 7 or 8 years and have had nary a problem with it. If anyone is interested I can give you the exact specs and the brand name. I do know I can't park the 356 up top as its hood is higher than the 930 and the garage door would scrunch it big time.

[B D]

I've had it 7 or 8 years and have had nary a problem with it.

Details please. Pics as well as long as a no Porsche was harmed.

[arrivederci]

Yea, I'm interested as well. I want to do a 4 post in my garage to create some space.