Help with garage lift placement….

[darkbeer]

I have a 3 car garage with 12' ceiling…. Little over 30' wide and 24+' deep. It has one 16' "double" door and one 8' "single" door. There are no walls or support posts anywhere in the garage floor area….all open.
I am planning to install a two post lift.
Should I place it in the middle space (inside the double door opening) or, on the side with the "single" door ????
Anyone else do this??? or anyone have an 'educated' opinion???

Thanks in advance.

[johnsjmc]

I would consider if you also use it for parking or is it to be a dedicated shop. Where are things like work benches man doors, etc . compressor electric panel,windows. Without knowing much else I would probably put it inside the 8ft door at one end and save the 2 car door area for car parking.

[daleflesburg]

But, if it was me, I would put it in the middle and with benches on each side. The two 8' bays for car parking and the middle one for working on cars. In the winter you can keep a 4th car in the garage by storing one up on the lift and a second car under it.

My lift is is a 20 foot wide garage room that is 36 feet deep. With benches on each outside wall, there is not any excess space.

[cary]

Thats the setup I had in Montana. Just make sure you have a enough space on the outside wall.

[cary]

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsche-911-technical-forum/84985-my-porsche-play-house-has-begun.html

#230

[fred cook]

I would put it inside the single space door if it will fit. Most lifts will require 11-12 feet of space from outside of post to outside of post. If you put it inside the 16 foot door, you probably will not be able to get two cars in that side. Of course, you could put one car up on the lift and park a second one beneath it. Putting the lift inside the small door will let you park 4 cars in a 3 car garage!

[daleflesburg]

fried cook, but his garage is only 30 feet wide, with 2-8' doors and a center 16 foot door. It does not add up because 2-8' and a 16 add up to 32 feet of garage door width in a 30' garage. 11 1/2' of lift with an room on the wall side will take up much of his 30'? wide garage.

[JJ 911SC]

I just moved my scissors lift from dead center of the single door to a foot to the left so it give me more room on the passenger side between the car and the wall. Its 25 x 20.

[82 SC]

Good thread. I am working on building a 30x50 garage with 16 ft center and hope to have a 2 post lift too. I was thinking of putting the lift in the far back left corner of the garage. How much space should I leave around the lift area to be a practical and comfortable work space? I want a few benches on the back wall but not sure about the side wall where the lift is.

[TheSt|G]

Originally Posted by 82 SC

Good thread. I am working on building a 30x50 garage with 16 ft center and hope to have a 2 post lift too. I was thinking of putting the lift in the far back left corner of the garage. How much space should I leave around the lift area to be a practical and comfortable work space? I want a few benches on the back wall but not sure about the side wall where the lift is.

You don't *need* more than a foot or so on the sides, but front and back it is nice to have 5'+ to put down various parts you are working on for space.

[911_Dude]

I just went through this with my 2-post / 3-car garage. It really helps to get the size specs of a lift that meets your requirments and lay it out on graph paper with your shop measurments drawn out. The narrowest 2-post I could find is the Mohawk A-7. Thats what I went with and its a total beast. I love it.

I would put it in the single bay if you have room. As mentioned, you need about 10-12 feet for the max width of the lift. But usualy they also require being placed about 8-12" min from the wall. If you have at least 3 feet from the edge of the garage door cut-out to the wall, and another 2-3 feet between your single and double door you probably can swing it without encroaching on the 2-car space. If you put it in the dble car space it will certainly take up both sides of useable parking space.

You also need to consider that the posts cannot be within 12-24" of a crack or floor seam (specs vary with manufacturer). Also the electric supply and the fore and aft location of the posts needs to be figured out. When it comes down to it, there are a lot of considerations to go through before the lift gets put in.

[Chuck.H]

I installed mine in the single door space of my shop, right next to the wall - I'm about 12" off the wall, enough to squeeze by and plenty to work on the car. If I know I need to do 'right side' car work, I may drive the car in a little to the left to allow a few more inches of room, but it's fine.

+1 on remembering to run power in a good location! I ran the power high on the wall, so it just loops to the top of the lift out of the way. I also ran an air line over to the lift alongside the power conduit, and I have a retractable hose reel bolted to the top of the left post -- puts it right in the middle of the shop for easy access, yet retracts out of the way.

Chuck.H
'89 TurboLookTarga, 380k miles

[daleflesburg]

Pm me with you email and I will send you a pdf of a floor plan of my 7000# Radial Lift. I wanted to be able to lift my F150 and my sons 3500 series Government Motors dually.
I cannot figure out how to attach a pdf to this thread.

To walk around the outside of the posts which you will need to do if you are working on tires, wheels, brakes etc where you want the vehicle just a couple of feet off of the floor,
you need 18" to 24" outside of each post. Then to have work benches on the sides and available when you have the vehicle up in the air, you need another 24 to 30" on each side.

I added these up (12' lift post width, and 4' on each side of each post) and came up with 20' of width. So my "car work on bay is 20 feet wide. You can get buy with a little less that 24' of depth, but I would do my best to allow 20' of width.

If you place one post next to a wall, you will not be able to get past the post when you have a vehicle one or two or three feet off of the floor.

Just my 2cents worth.

[82 SC]

daleflesburg i just messaged you for a PDF of your garage layout. I would love to keep the lift near the side wall but you did point out a good point that if you sit down and work on the vehicle at a low level that you would need more room to move. I too have a big vehicle to work on to a 03 suburban. I need to plan on working on it in there on a lift too. How far off the front of the vehicle would you need to work on it to the wall or bench? Good thread everyone Very helpful.