 |
|
In the near future, I will be moving to a house with a garage large enough for a lift.
I am a complete novice on this, so I would welcome advice and recommendations on brands, types, drive mechanism, where to buy? New or used? What to avoid?
I will use this for work on the e30 and other cars. The largest vehicle will be a dually, quad cab Silverado. There is plenty of height above the lift location (approx 2 stories). I am located in the Atlanta area. Thanks for your help.
I just got done removing the half shafts and drive shaft from my diff. God how I’d love a lift.
Every afternoon at 3:30PM, Craig offers a guided tour of his lift (in English and in Spanish) at the Racer-X central for $5.00.
You will get to see the inner workings of not only the lift, but also a glimpse into the latest secret Racer-X modification that may be in progress.
Bendpak - I believe is the lift gold standard. The heaviest duty I’ve seen is 12000, I’m sure there are others out there. You can find searching Craigslist from time to time (its good for something other than h00kers Jones). I’ve seen anywhere from $600 to $3000 (new).
Most places also assume if you are buying a lift you know how to put it together and install, so like your kid’s bike on xmas day - some assembly required.
You’ll need 220V electric, and probably a mobile hydraulic hose shop on speed dial.
Someone that has a lift vs. actually dreaming about one can share more speed secrets.
Links of interest:
http://www.e-autolifts.com/index.html
http://www.gregsmithequipment.com/default.asp
http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/category_6970_89+297068
I could have a lift too if my wife didn’t insist on keeping our living room, but one thing to look into with existing construction is the thickness of the slab in your new garage. Don’t know what is the default thickness of residential concrete and what is required to support a 2-post lift but I know that guys who have a garage poured with a lift in mind add thickness in the lift area.
I seem to recall that 4" concrete is typical, but 6" is required for a 2-post, but don’t hold me to that.
I bought one a few years back and it’s been great. The only regret is that I went with the standard 9,000lb 2 post lift and didn’t get the asymetric. I actually had to get new arms custom made to accommodate shorter wheelbase cars. With the asymetric lift, you won’t have those issues. There are some good deals out there now from dealerships closing down. My bro-in-law bought 4 from a dealership in Durham for $400 each and were less than 2 years old. Let me know if you have any installation questions.
Travis
Call around to find names of lift installers/service companies. They visit local independant and franchise auto repair shops. These guys install and remove lifts all the time and will be able to put you on a waiting list.
I actualy got my lift, a 9000lb Bendpak asymetric, off of Craigslist for $1600. A GM dealer went out of business and had a couple to sell. You’ll see alot of that recently I’m sure. I would recommend the 2 post over a 4 post, and the asymmetric is nice if you can find that option as well.
It cost me around $300 for him to install it including the large anchors, and I highly recommend doing that.They will do in a few hours what it would take you three days to do. Positioning of the 2 posts is exact, and they are extremely heavy. I know because I had to load mine on my trailer by myself with an engine hoist. You will need a 110V circuit for power, and spec on he concrete is actually 4.25" depth and I think 4000psi. You can go to their website and download stuff from the FAQ section. You don’t want to play around lifting that crew cab truck.
If the house isnt built yet, put a drain in the floor under where you want the lift, then you can use a pressure washer in there to clean the underside. Billy Gropp has that and its really nice. I still have to go out in the driveway and use jackstands if I want to wash a car on the underside.
A fellow competitor has this lift and we, cough have had to use it a few times to make repairs. It’s pretty cool because you can carry it to the track in the trailer if need be… No affiliation, we just like it.
Friend here in B’ham just paid 1600 for a 7K Rotary installed. Came from Memphis setalership. He may have others, let me know and I can find out. Chuck