Anyone owned both a Scissor Lift and a Max Jack?

[kyngfish]

As title states. I’m getting too old to want to continue laying on my back as I work on my car and I think I am going to offload the Quickjack and go to something that will go high enough where I can at least use a stool.

Unfortunately garage ceiling height makes a full lift out of the question. Price difference between the Bendpak Scissor Lift and Max Jack is about a grand not including install or delivery.

Scissor lift can be had for cheaper, and can even be found used - but I don’t want to make the purchase and then regret it. Main concern obviously is that with the platform sitting under the car, it makes it harder to work on anything on the underside of the car.

[Cairo94507]

I had a BendPak scissor lift and loved it. Mine was two separate ramps, meaning you could set the distance between them as desired. But once set, that was it. I measured my smallest car, my 914-6 and the widest car, Honda Ridgeline and came up with a distance that worked for both. The scissor lift at full lift put the wheel hub at about 5'. I used to work on a rolling stool and creeper with no issues. It made everything much easier. Sold that home and we are building a new garage at our new place. It will have a 14' ceiling so we are considering a 2-post. Have not decided between either, but the 2-post is appealing since we have the height.

[SheepShagger]

I have the bendpak mid-rise scissor and love it for the Porsche. Their isn’t anything you can’t get too since the platform is where the cars floor plan is and their isn’t anything you need to work on. ie front suspension / engine sit over the edge of the platform. On other vehicles I simply use the higher lift blocks and that will lift vehicle high enough to get to anything in the center of vehicle.
I’m talking about this. https://www.bendpak.com/car-lifts/mid-rise-scissor-lifts/md-6xp/

I have used this style quick jacks (friend had them), and quite frankly found them useless and they don’t lift the vehicle high enough.
https://www.quickjack.com/car-lifts/7000tl/
Friend moved out of country and would have given them to me, but I still bough the mid scissor lift.

[mepstein]

Test your concrete for thickness. If it’s less than 4” then the mid rise is the easy button. If you buy the maxjax (I did) pay extra for the epoxy anchors. - glad I did.

[Toddrivers]

I picked up a used scissor lift a few years ago for my 8' garage thinking I would be able to roll around on a stool under the car but in reality, the stool was too tall, and I had to modify a couple of creepers to be able to roll around in an inclined sitting position which is ok, just something to think about when you make your measurements. At '76 the lift is one of the best improvements to owning a Porsche.

[2.7RS]

I have a scissor lift and a 2 post.

On an old 911 there is nothing in the mid section that I need access. The scissor does almost everything I need it to do. Including engine drops. Goes up 4 feet.

I tend to use my scissor lift almost exclusively.

I guess you don't have the height for a 2 post. It's nice because becomes a storage lift.
2 cars in one space.

My 2 cents

[GH85Carrera]

I have a Bendpac MD-6xP My wife's Macan can't be raised very high as it will smash the roof into the garage opener light. My 911 can go to the max extension. My scissor lift is in a pit. It sure is nice for oil changes on the Macan.


I ran a conduit to the wall to wall mount the pump out of the way.




The pit is covered with a 1/2 inch thick piece of plywood. That makes a handy table to get other items in the air for maintenance.

I will put my car in the lift to do electrical work and work standing up and not bent over.
It is wonderful for waxing the lower part of the car.


Highly recommended. Mine is 10 years old and I love it. One of the best improvements for my garage. As a geezer, it is wonderful to not roll around on a creeper, or on my back on the floor. I have a roll around seat that is perfect.

Best of all, when the lift s not in use, it is just gone and not in the way.

[wrxnofx]

Originally Posted by GH85Carrera

I have a Bendpac MD-6xP My wife's Macan can't be raised very high as it will smash the roof into the garage opener light. My 911 can go to the max extension. My scissor lift is in a pit. It sure is nice for oil changes on the Macan.


I ran a conduit to the wall to wall mount the pump out of the way.




The pit is covered with a 1/2 inch thick piece of plywood. That makes a handy table to get other items in the air for maintenance.

I will put my car in the lift to do electrical work and work standing up and not bent over.
It is wonderful for waxing the lower part of the car.


Highly recommended. Mine is 10 years old and I love it. One of the best improvements for my garage. As a geezer, it is wonderful to not roll around on a creeper, or on my back on the floor. I have a roll around seat that is perfect.

Best of all, when the lift s not in use, it is just gone and not in the way.

Man, I'm so jealous of this. This is exactly what I want to do!

[Gonbad]

I just purchased the Bendpak MD6XP through Home Depot and had it shipped to the local store. Shipping was free. I pick it up tomorrow with my son’s truck and a trailer. Should be interesting getting a 900lb lift out of the trailer.

I chose this option because my garage is too narrow for the MaxJack and it was less expensive than the Ideal single post lift.

[ryans65]

I've had both, I much prefer the scissor lift to the max jax.

[Toddrivers]

Originally Posted by Gonbad

I just purchased the Bendpak MD6XP through Home Depot and had it shipped to the local store. Shipping was free. I pick it up tomorrow with my son’s truck and a trailer. Should be interesting getting a 900lb lift out of the trailer.

I chose this option because my garage is too narrow for the MaxJack and it was less expensive than the Ideal single post lift.

Borrow or buy at least one engine hoist to lift that up and off the trailer, and have as many helpers as available. These engine hoists are cheap at harbor freight.

[Mervo]

I have had my MaxJax for 12 years and would not be without it. I have a roller stool that I use underneath for unfettered access.

[GH85Carrera]

Originally Posted by Gonbad

I just purchased the Bendpak MD6XP through Home Depot and had it shipped to the local store. Shipping was free. I pick it up tomorrow with my son’s truck and a trailer. Should be interesting getting a 900lb lift out of the trailer.

I chose this option because my garage is too narrow for the MaxJack and it was less expensive than the Ideal single post lift.

Just moving it around is a challenge. Rent or borrow an engine hoist. Mine was wrapped in plastic, so I had to cut that off, and remove the pump, hoses and the handle. Then using the handle it can be moved it you are at least a 180 pound man. To get mine into the pit, I had to use the engine hoist. If you don't have a pit, you will need some 2x12 planks to put the car on to clear the lift.



The pit makes everything so much easier.

[David]

Originally Posted by ryans65

I've had both, I much prefer the scissor lift to the max jax.

Why?

[ryans65]

My real world experience with both is this-

The max jax is cool in concept but fails (for me) in execution for a number of reasons. While the lift claims to be moveable the likelihood of doing so regularly is slim once you get it mounted as positioning the columns, tightening the bolts, rearranging the hydraulic lines and pump just becomes a nuisance. The lift when left in position takes up a lot of space, it may not seem like it does but if you are in a small standard home garage one column in the middle of the floor and other against the wall limits walking space for obvious reasons. The third reason is it costs a lot, more than a basic chain over roller base plate lift.


The scissor lift can be moved around your garage, it can be parked directly on top of and nearly all aircooled vehicles don't need access to the center of the vehicle so by design it's just a better fit for these cars. Plus they're cheaper. Did I mention you can just park on it when not in use? Seems like a small thing a lot of people don't consider but it makes a huge difference especially in a small space.

I work on cars and trucks professionally for what it's worth so there's my opinion on both.

Originally Posted by David

Why?

[Tony V]

If you’re thinking about the Max Jax, check to see if Costco is currently carrying them. Delivery was free and I gave the driver $40 to bring it up the driveway to the garage. I routinely broke mine down and put it out of the way when not in use.. took me about a half hour to set up. It has 40” of clearance which enabled me to use a low stool for working underneath. And yes, it’s great for washing and detailing the car without having to wreck your bending over.
Tony

[Jack Olsen]

I haven't had the Max Jax, so take this subjective opinion with a grain of salt. But the big negative I see with a Max Jax is that it forces the choice between taking it apart and putting it away between uses (which is the opposite of what you want with a lift), or bumping into it all the time because it's right there, bolted on either side of your car. Put another way, if your work space is small enough that a Max Jax is your only option, then a Max Jax is going to seem huge and intrusive in that same small work space.

I recessed a scissors lift as a DIY project and it is always ready to lift the car up. In my case, there is absolutely no prep. The only space where the car can park is where the lift is already in position, and my particular underbody modifications means there are no jack points to locate. I love it.

https://youtu.be/ZrQsNAGfspY

[David]

If I get a MaxJax it would probably stay in the same place unless I need to get 4 cars in the garage so space isn’t a big concern and if it’s better than a scissor lift then price wouldn’t be as big a consideration. A lot of my work is on the Cayman now so more need to get to the middle of the car.

My biggest concern is safety. The Max Jax doesn’t have a center top brace so it’s 100% relying on the epoxied bolts.

[Danimal16]

I have had both. I far prefer the Max Jack. Both get in the way in the garage when not in use. I set my Max Jack up with quick connects over the top of the posts and set one of the posts next to a wall (out of the way). Therefore all I had to do if I needed the extra space was disconnect the hydraulics to one post and undo the bolts.

The two-post allows access to more of the underside.

[TeeJayHoward]

Owned a Max Jax (Dannmar M6) for a few years now. I put it up, do a project, take it down. It takes about 15 minutes to install/uninstall.

I have two regrets with it.
1) The first time I used it I didn't pay attention to the top of the hydraulic rams and bent the hell out of the metal crossbars at the top of the lift. I removed the crossbars and haven't noticed an issue since.
2) I didn't get the epoxy anchors and now my old-style anchors are coming out of the floor. They spin in place when you try to bolt the lift down. It's starting to get sketchy. One of these days I'm going to take a concrete saw to my floor and lay down some new concrete and the epoxy anchors.

Despite these issues, I'm still very, VERY happy with my purchase and would do it again in a heartbeat. Especially with the upgrades the M7K has over my M6. Hell, the hose change alone is almost worth it. (I think it's about 2x what I paid in 2019 though!)

edit: A pic from the day I got it. You can see the crossbars I bent at the top of each post. For all I know, they're just there for shipping purposes.