Help me buy a 4-post lift

[Freytag]

Hey All,

I'm looking to purchase a 4-post lift so that I can store a 79 & 83 911sc that I recently purchased in the one-car garage at my office.

My garage dims are 15' long x 10' wide (8' door width) x 9' +/- high.

Can you guys please point me in the right direction and/or post some pics of lifts you have. Thanks a bunch and the below listed photo is of the 79 in the garage.

[tirwin]

The 4-post lift I hope to buy one day is the Backyard Buddy. I have a friend who has it and he owns 911's so I know for sure that dropping a 911 engine is possible. They also sell an optional bridge and/or a bridge jack for when you need to get the wheels off the ground. Made in the USA too.

[Freytag]

thanks and I'll check it out. How about some other options?

[dad911]

I've been using an Eagle lift for over 20 years. Have 2 & 4 post. No problems.

Check your heights, You may not have enough height. A 4 post lift has to raise up to unlock/get off the stops. And you probably need high-lift tracks for the garage door.

[Quickstep192]

I have the Backyard Buddy. I was impressed with their locking mechanism which should prevent the car from falling even if a post gets hit. Fortunately, that hasn't been tested yet.

A 9' ceiling may be a little tight for parking another car underneath.

[tdw28210]

I went with a Direct lift, mainly because it is certified and in stock near me in NC. Certification doesn't guarantee it is the best quality, but it does provide some assurances. Plus, if something bad ever happened while I was under it, I didn't want the insurance company giving my wife any more grief over being under a non-certified lift.

I've read you can squeeze a 911 engine between the platforms on the big one (39"), not sure about the middle-sized one (38"). I also got the bridge jack. Super handy, but cuts down on under-lift head room.

http://www.directlift.com/Four-Post-Lifts-C9.aspx

[targa80]

I have had a free standing four post lift since 2005, the lift has a 7000 lbs capacity with several features; removable wheels so it can be moved in the garage, sliding jack tray, three oil drip pans and the two removable ramps. In my case, I needed to convert the garage door from the standard lift height with a center garage door opener to a side mount garage door opener with extended height rails. My garage ceiling height is about 10 feet and the original door when opened only was 8 feet high. Now the garage door when open is at 9.5 feet high. You cannot just extend the rails higher and use the center garage door opener. The side mout garage door opener cost me ~$450 (not cheap). I also cut a hole in the ceiling and framed it out allowing the cab of my 911 to extend into the ceiling.

[4495]

I have a Greg Smith four post lift and it works like a charm and saved me a bunch of monies.

The bigger issue that I see is that you might not have enough height in your garage to get another car under the lifted car. I have 10' 6" and I store a lowered BMW station wagon under the 911 but just barely. You need to speak to someone knowledgeable about the height requirements that you'll need.

Remember that you'll have to move the lifted car up several inches over it's resting height in order clear the locks at each corner.

Good luck and I hope that I am wrong about the height requirement.

[IMG][/IMG]

[faverymi]

I'm worried about your clearance. This is on 11.3 FT cealing.

[Quickstep192]

Originally Posted by Quickstep192

I have the Backyard Buddy. I was impressed with their locking mechanism which should prevent the car from falling even if a post gets hit. Fortunately, that hasn't been tested yet.

A 9' ceiling may be a little tight for parking another car underneath.

Here's some more data about the Backyard Buddy.

When the lift is in it's highest position, the top of the lift's parking surface is 67.5" off the floor. the underside is 63.5 off the floor. The locking positions are 5.75" apart. Do be aware that you need to raise it slightly above the locking positions to get the locking dogs to fall into the holes.

My ceiling is about 9'-10" and the targa bar on my car is about 2" from the ceiling when the car is raised all the way up. Raising it the first time was scary!

[rothaus]

Originally Posted by Freytag

Hey All,

I'm looking to purchase a 4-post lift so that I can store a 79 & 83 911sc that I recently purchased in the one-car garage at my office.

My garage dims are 15' long x 10' wide (8' door width) x 9' +/- high.

Can you guys please point me in the right direction and/or post some pics of lifts you have. Thanks a bunch and the below listed photo is of the 79 in the garage.

15' long x 10' wide (8' door width) x 9' +/- high will be a tight fit. You maybe OK with the smallest 4 post.

You need to check the dimensions, you can look it up on the website where they sell the lifts. I also have a Direct lift in my attached garage and had no problems, the only thing is the coasters to move the lift are not made so good. I tried to move the lift with the car on it and they bend.

Anyway, once you got the dimensions, you need to check if the would be a problem with the garage door rails and opener.

From the height you should be OK, you may not be able to raise the lift all the way up, and watch your head when you get out the car you park below.

Cheers
Engelbert

[Bergo]

I have the same setup as Targa80. 7000lb atlas equipment 4 post lift, with the wheels to move it around (freestanding). I also have a chamberlain jack shaft garage door opener and high lift hit to the rails don't interfere with my lift/car.

[green_chile]

Targa80, that's pretty slick to frame out your ceiling like that. Any photos of it with the car fitting into it? That's a relatively inexpensive solution to a common problem.

[Deschodt]

9' +/- ??? This is going to be awfully tight (especially if minus), unless both your cars are slammed and you like living dangerously. I had 3.1m which is just a little over 10Ft and it was close, considering one of my cars at the time was kinda slammed to the ground (68 912).

For your calculations, please (re)measure both cars (obviously), plus the thickness of the lift pad (also obviously), plus the fact that you must raise the lift a little higher than you think to lock it down and unlock it out of it's resting position - so it catches on the locks, and releases them... Say 2 inches ?

So build up car#1+ 1" safety (so yo don't cringe each time you drive under) + pad + car#2 +2" required unlocking movement, and see if you got anything left before making a 911 shaped hole in your ceiling !

It's not easy to operate the lift from down there and judging if you are about to send your 911 thru the ceiling ;-)

Other considerations to keep in mind (I also had the direct lift propark 8 or 9 or whatever - they are pretty much all the same)

- A stacking lift is *great* for what you want to do, but it KILLS the sense of space and light in a room, and also takes quite a bit of side space with pillars and the motor + pump and cord. You will bang you head on the pad a lot - I promise, and will need to relocate your light sources and add some more or the garage will be a dark cave. Also you may need a high lift set of tracks for your garage door (factor the door in your calculations?) unless you have a rollup door !

- The stacker is great for stacking and oil changes / valve adjustments. For everything else you need sliding jacks, which add $$...

- Don't pay too much heed to enthusiastic model specific reviews: chances are very few people have owned 3 current types of lifts simultaneously and can evaluate relative merits honestly (mostly it goes like "I bought a XXXX, it's great, that's absolutely the one you should buy" ;-) Pretty much everyone who gets a lift thinks theirs is the best, because lifts are so cool ;-)

- Assembling those is no picnic. Guy came with a mini crane / engine hoist style thing and spent 1/2 a day... Delivery, installation, fluids cost about $1000 more, but probably well worth it !

Make sure it'll fit ;-)

[Deschodt]

I found my original post from way back. See the assembly etc... HTH !

Squeezing 3 cars in a 2 car garage

[Bergo]

Originally Posted by Deschodt

9' +/- ??? This is going to be awfully tight

I'm just shy of 9' (8' 2x4 walls sitting on top a footer that is around 10" high off the pad), just enough room (inches to spare) parking my 911 and 944.

[tdw28210]

My down and dirty safety device is some large diameter bubble wrap laid across the roof of the car to be lifted. I am sure there is a better solution, but so far I have yet to crush a single bubble. ; )

[froggert]

Another thing to keep in mind is you may need more space to assemble the lift. For example, my 4-poster from Direct Lift required several feet in front of and behind to insert the long rods that control the locks.

[stevej37]

Greg Smith lift here with 10ft ceiling. Plenty of room for how I use mine...and it can be moved easily to another bay of the garage.

[Freytag]

Thanks for everyones replies and listed below is a photo of the garage space. I already have a side mounted opener and I also have 10' of height to the horizontals but I will have to raise the garage door track and also take into account the depth of the garage door when it's opened which is approximately 6" deep.

How much did you guys pay? Did you install?

Thanks again - Dale