MaxJack users

[Aloha911sc]

Just purchased a MaxJack for use with my 77 911. I’ve been reading many threads about installation and I’m still wondering what the IDEAL column spacing is? I’ve read as narrow as 93” to 115”. To keep things apples to apples- what is the ideal column spacing from inside bottom plate edge to same on the opposite side?
Will be installing next weekend and any other MaxJack comments, tips or lessons learned would be appreciated.
Thanks

[garment]

Following. Mind if I ask about price paid? How did you determine that your concrete pad would be of appropriate strength for your set up?

[Gretz]

I put anchors down in two locations in my three car garage. One is in the one car section and I spaced the columns out 96 inches from the inside edge of the bottom plates. On the other side of the garage I installed anchors so that the columns are about 110 inches apart. For many projects, I used the narrower side because it was more out-of-the-way in the garage and it worked fine. The only difficulty was that sometimes if I wanted to open the door and start the engine or do something inside the car. It was difficult to do that because the columns were so close to the car.

The wider location was originally intended to be used with a C7 Z06 that I no longer have, and is much wider than the 911. It did work great for that, and a gen6 Camaro, and also a Nissan Altima.

It’s funny that you bring this up though because when I recently moved the columns back to the wide side to help a friend do some work, I realized how much more spacious and usable it was. I then did some work on the 911 in the wider location, which I had not done before, and realized that it was much easier to get in and out of the car, if needed, while the car was on the lift, and was also much easier to pull the car in and leave it if I was not using the lift. Overall, I am much happier using the lift in the wider location. So much so that I just ordered new replacement hydraulic hoses so that I can use it with the power unit mounted on the wall and one of the cables run up the wall over the ceiling and back down to the far column.

To summarize, I would suggest that if you have the room for a wider installation, go ahead and do that. There’s no problem with the narrower installation, but given the choice, I chose the wider.

[lsf911]

I have mine set 93" apart and it works really well for my 911's. I too drilled 2 sets of holes to move them apart if necessary for larger cars but haven't had to do that yet. Have had it for a few years now.

[fred cook]

I spaced my posts 100 inches apart. Also, I cut out an "H" pattern in the slab, dug it out to about 3 feet deep, undercut the original slab for extra strength, placed some steel and poured the "H" full of high strength concrete. The lift posts go where the "H" crossbar intersects the side legs. Since the jack is rated for 6 thousand pounds and the "H" concrete weighs almost 7 K lbs I don't think it is going anywhere. I have lifted my SC coupe, a Jaguar XJS and my F150. Lifting the Porsche, I move the center of the chassis slightly forward and a front engine vehicle gets moved slightly rearward. The only thing I don't like about this lift is that the holes for the locking rods are not where I would like them to be. Other than that, it is jam up! I will post some pics tomorrow.

[Aloha911sc]

Originally Posted by Gretz

I put anchors down in two locations in my three car garage. One is in the one car section and I spaced the columns out 96 inches from the inside edge of the bottom plates. On the other side of the garage I installed anchors so that the columns are about 110 inches apart. For many projects, I used the narrower side because it was more out-of-the-way in the garage and it worked fine. The only difficulty was that sometimes if I wanted to open the door and start the engine or do something inside the car. It was difficult to do that because the columns were so close to the car.

The wider location was originally intended to be used with a C7 Z06 that I no longer have, and is much wider than the 911. It did work great for that, and a gen6 Camaro, and also a Nissan Altima.

It’s funny that you bring this up though because when I recently moved the columns back to the wide side to help a friend do some work, I realized how much more spacious and usable it was. I then did some work on the 911 in the wider location, which I had not done before, and realized that it was much easier to get in and out of the car, if needed, while the car was on the lift, and was also much easier to pull the car in and leave it if I was not using the lift. Overall, I am much happier using the lift in the wider location. So much so that I just ordered new replacement hydraulic hoses so that I can use it with the power unit mounted on the wall and one of the cables run up the wall over the ceiling and back down to the far column.

To summarize, I would suggest that if you have the room for a wider installation, go ahead and do that. There’s no problem with the narrower installation, but given the choice, I chose the wider.

Gretz, thanks for the suggestion. I have a double deep 4 car garage and can go as wide as 120”. I don’t want to go too wide and have issues getting to the proper lift points.
Thanks again for the info.

[Aloha911sc]

Originally Posted by garment

Following. Mind if I ask about price paid? How did you determine that your concrete pad would be of appropriate strength for your set up?

I paid $2916 on sale at Home Depot with my military discount.
My house was built in 2005 and has 5”+ concrete depth. I’m assuming it’s good enough.

[Gretz]

I paid $2485 total, two years ago, including shipping and some accessories like extra anchors, a creeper and oil/fluid drain. I will note that the instructions are TERRIBLE. Check GarageJournal for a thread about MaxJax installation. Plenty of good tips on installation that I unfortunately found after I was done.

Also, the newer MaxJax like mine have auto locking, so no more holes and locking rods. Overall I’m very happy with it. One note, I think they tell you that the torque to set the anchors is ~ 90 ft lbs but they don’t tell you the torque to use to fasten the posts to the anchors. I called and emailed Bendpak and they initially said they didn’t know (?). A week or two later they emailed to say they suggest 80 ft lbs on the bolts holding the posts into the anchors. Their documentation and support are not quite top notch but I do love the product.

[TxGerman]

Mine is spaced at 105", the max I could go for my garage setup. It works perfect for my SC, but when I put my wife's Macan or my 991 on there I wish I could have had it a little wider. It works great overall. Mine has the automatic locks and they work great also.

[mepstein]

I drilled a test hole to be sure about my concrete depth (4”) and used the epoxy anchors to be sure. They are rock solid. Unfortunately, the new price for the unit is 50% more than when I purchased 2 years ago but it’s still the only low ceiling height, portable lift in town. Even at the higher price, I would buy again.

[speednme1]

I actually had my garage floor cut into a 2'x 2" or so, then went in and poured higher pressure cement and rebar. I made templates of the bottom of the lift and used J Bolts in the cements. Lift was the best tool I've ever purchased.