My Fellow Pelicans,
I am starting to get serious about buying a lift. My dream is a 2- or 4-post BUT it is very likely that we'll be selling this house in the next 4-6 years. The next house will (hopefully) be the one we're for the long haul and I'd rather make a bigger investment later when I can do it right. A 2- or 4- post would eat up a lot of valuable space right now in my smallish garage.
So as an interim, I'm looking at the Ranger QuickJack that our host sells.
For the majority of the work I do I just need something to get all 4 wheels off the ground (oil changes, brake work, etc.) that is quick and safe. I think that will address 80-90% of my need. Engine drops will still have to be done the good old fashioned way but I hope to not need to do those too often.
I went to the QuickJack website and downloaded a little worksheet to figure out which lift model I need.
There are essentially 2 variables - lifting point spread length and load.
BL-5000SLX - 5000 lb load, 60" max lifting point spread
BL-5000EXT - 5000 lb load, 66" max lifting point spread
BL-7000SLX - 7000 lb load, 60" max lifting point spread
BL-7000EXT - 7000 lb load, 66" max lifting point spread
My gut tells me I need to go with the 7000 lb load version. In the table below, Car 3 is at 90% of the 5000-lb load limit. Probably not enough safety margin.
Car 3 is an SUV. The alternative is that I just use the QJ with the other 3 cars and not the SUV. The SUV would require the SUV adapters at additional cost too.
The table below is the percentage of the vehicle weight vs the load limit of the lifts.
Am I crazy for being concerned about 90% load limit with Car 3?
Code:
5k 7k
'83 911 56% 40%
Car 2 58% 41%
Car 3 90% 64%
Car 4 76% 54%
The other variable is lift point spread length. It appears that for the other 3 cars, the 66" reach of the EXT models is perfect.
My question is will the extra length of the EXT version be a problem for the 911 since it has the most narrow spacing between the jack points of all the cars?Has anyone specifically bought the EXT version and used it with a 911? If so, I'd like to hear any feedback.
For anyone that is using the QJ with a 911, are you using the rubber blocks or do you just place the ramps directly under the belly pan?
Has anyone specifically bought the 7000-lb version? It is a little taller than the 5000-lb version. Just wanted to confirm there are no clearance problems.
Any other feedback or ideas is welcome. I've read that the first versions of the QJ had some bugs that needed to get worked out and newer versions have (reportedly) had better reviews.
Thanks in advance.