Home style Lifts, risers, ramps etc in a regular garage.

[grizz]

Hi team

Was wondering what options are out there for lifting cars (think American and bigger than Micra or Fiat 500)

I am busy with this slow build carport that will be low as 7’4” or 2200mm or 2.2 meters on the beams.

The Galaxy is about 5’10” or 1800mm or 1.8 meter tall.

So it leaves about 18” or 450mm to rise to the minimum.

If you come forward toward the entrance though it increases to as much as 8’ or 2400mm or 2.4meter but you lose most of your cover.

When I welded the Blazer it was just axle stands and replacing the front end parts was similar with a tall jack and axle stands.

Up she goes. Or is it a he??



Made safe-ish.



Or the rear

Up it goes.

And yes, axle stands too.



Up on axle stands, wheels off



So I am wondering if any of these low lift type hobbyist lifts are worth having. They ideally need to store in a way that you can park a car/truck on top of or over them.


All advice, experience and input appreciated.

I am happy to carry on with jack and axle stands if thats the concensus.


Thanks.

[melle]

[cjj]

It's all good until you want to work on the car and want the benefits of a roof!

[scmick]

I use this... the mechanism from a vet's operating table. A mate got it to make a table to work on his motorbikes but never did anything with it. Came to me and I adapted it to this. Hydraulics are really powerful (must have been the 'elephant model in the vet's equipment catalogue) .

[Ritchie]

I have a set of Quickjacks which I really like, obviously you would need the biggest set they do and they are expensive but they get plenty high enough to do all sorts, you also get extension posts for them but you could easily make your own with some plate and round tube. Mine also has the 12V hydraulic pump so you can use a jumper pack where there is no power.
I did my WRX conversion on my Brat in the drive with them no problem.

[Ritchie]

I remember in PPC Mag that Charlie Broomfield made a lift with an old forklift mast.
It was a tidy contraption with the carport roof hinged at one side and connected to the top of the mast at the other so it went up as it lifted.

[Paul Y]

A 2 post lift is the answer Rian.

All of the low lift stuff has the same problem - they are usually situated exactly where you want to be....

If you cant go up what about going down? - too late to dig a pit?

P.

[madmog]

I bought a CJ Autos basic car roller to put my car up on its side supported. Realistically you would need an engine crane to pull it up and down and you wouldn't be able to detach the wheel hubs on the lower side as that's how the car is attached to the device.



You can get more options like castor wheels to move it around but I got the basic one plus the ability to attach to 4 or 5 studs.

You do need some space to fit the engine crane and strap one side and for the car to lean into. It doesn't spin on an axis like the 360 degree rotiseries - which might be another option

[Mantasport]

I've got one of these scissor lifts in my workshop, they are very stable and while you loose the ability to work directly under the middle of the vehicle they give full access to front end and rear end as well as down the sides. You can even drop the axles out using it as its lifts on the chassis rails.
They are also easily movable, there are roller wheels on one end and the other end is lifted by the frame the hydraulic pump sits on so you can pull it around. So on a warm sunny day you could drag it out from under the carport and lift the vehicle higher.

Only thing you might need is some long strips of steel under the roller wheels when lifting. The front bar stays in place and as the hydraulic ram extends the rear wheels roll towards it as the scissors arms get closer. The rollers won't like you block paving, they don't like the slightly rough concrete floor down one end of my unit so i have a couple of 3mm strips of steel for it to run on

To give me access to the middle i built 4 wheel tables that go under the wheels and you can then lower the ramp fully, and even drag it out from under the car. Which is useful for gearbox work on Manta's

It is rated to 2.7 tons and i've had a 300tdi Disco, and a lwb mk6 transit on mine with no problems. So it would lift yours. The only time it would struggle is if it was a big modern 4x4 with nowhere to jack on but the sills, tried it in a modern merc ML thingy and everything underneath was plastic covered floor with no structure to lift on that the arms could reach!



I bought mine from here www.ebay.co.uk/itm/333679286507 had it over 2 years without a single problem.

[samta22]

Been looking at those scissor lifts for two years and not bit the bullet, that last update hasn't helped! 😂

[grizz]

Aug 21, 2020 15:54:02 GMT samta22 said:

Been looking at those scissor lifts for two years and not bit the bullet, that last update hasn't helped! 😂

I like the mobility of these.

[Dez]

It amazes me people pay so much for such hotchpotch hobbyist contraptions that are so compromised.

You can buy a really good brand name 4 post ramp for £500 without much difficulty second hand. My own is a 4 ton stenhoj that cost £400. 2 posters are similar money of you prefer. Even if you have to buy or build an inverter (although 1ph models aren’t that rare) it’s still not that expensive these days. About £350 last time I looked. You can then either attach a roof frame to it and have it so the carport roof lifts with it, (Plenty of weight margin to do so even on a 3.5t ramp) or entirely redo the Garage/carport roof with a pitch for less than it would cost you to buy one of those scissor lifts. My workshop roof is 8ft to the gutters and 20’ wide with a standard pitch, and I can put a Vito on there and lift the ramp to full height still. For normal-ish cars I could have a considerably lower roof.

With the recent planning changes redoing a roof on an existing building to allow such things isn’t much of an issue, even if you have to formally apply for planning it’s almost impossible for it to be refused now.

And as a result you’ll have proper professional level equipment that has no compromises, rather than something that still won’t allow everything you need to do.

[grizz]

Aug 21, 2020 20:18:51 GMT Dez said:

It amazes me people pay so much for such hotchpotch hobbyist contraptions that are so compromised.

You can buy a really good brand name 4 post ramp for £500 without much difficulty second hand. My own is a 4 ton stenhoj that cost £400. 2 posters are similar money of you prefer. Even if you have to buy or build an inverter (although 1ph models aren’t that rare) it’s still not that expensive these days. About £350 last time I looked. You can then either attach a roof frame to it and have it so the carport roof lifts with it, (Plenty of weight margin to do so even on a 3.5t ramp) or entirely redo the Garage/carport roof with a pitch for less than it would cost you to buy one of those scissor lifts. My workshop roof is 8ft to the gutters and 20’ wide with a standard pitch, and I can put a Vito on there and lift the ramp to full height still. For normal-ish cars I could have a considerably lower roof.

With the recent planning changes redoing a roof on an existing building to allow such things isn’t much of an issue, even if you have to formally apply for planning it’s almost impossible for it to be refused now.

And as a result you’ll have proper professional level equipment that has no compromises, rather than something that still won’t allow everything you need to do.

Very true,

And two and 4 posters come up for free, even I have been offered one before.

Note thinking to do now, thanks to you. 😉

I need to balance my occasional hobbyist needs with the pleasure of pro level tools and the cost that effectively could be equal.

[sarkie83]

I had a pair of CJ Autos scissor ramps and I used them once and sold them as they were too much of a faff. It’s not as fancy as some of the other options people have said, but I use some of these style plastic ramps:

www.amazon.co.uk/DURHAND-Plastic-Workshop-Automotive-Portable/dp/B07MBXRSXV/ref=sr_1_6?dchild=1&keywords=Plastic+ramps&qid=1598099499&sr=8-6

They are so much better than the old metal types. These are actually wide enough for modern car tyres! Plus the ramp angle is shallower. For service type maintenance or those times u just want to get a car off the ground I use them a lot. Get two sets and you can get the whole car off the ground (ok, you might still need the jack for one end).

[grizz]

From VZi



Now.....I have seen what is the probably the most inventive solution to your problem....but I never had a camera phone with me...
A guy near where I used to live ( I believe he was Charlie Broomfield..of Rolls royce Meteor / merlin powered Rover SD1 fame)...lived / lives in a mid terrace late 60`s early 70`s house...where vehicular access was limited and to the rear....
So, being a creative sort....he came up with a low cost solution... Now, this description is what I could make out over his garden fence.
He had a reach type fork lift truck (probably rated at a couple of tons minimum)...onto the tines of which he had built a traditional style two strip ramp......around which he had built a mesh walkway....onto which he had fitted one of the big heavy duty garage type "gazebo"....complete with lighting fitted to the ceiling......... The best bit was, he could lift the car / gazebo to upstairs window height..work on the top half of it using the afore mentioned walkway....and store / work on a second car underneath! He had put in safety supports in case of hydraulic failure of the fork truck. I thought it was both genius and British eccentricity at its best. The estate he / I lived on was pretty tolerant...far worse things to concerned about than a car in a gazebo level with your bedroom window...

[lrman]

Don’t forget if you have or are thinking of fitting a used 2/4 post lift to get it inspected by a qualified engineer, keep safe!

[grizz]

Thank you guys.

This has been really useful

[Deleted]

Aug 22, 2020 12:43:15 GMT grizz said:

From VZi



Now.....I have seen what is the probably the most inventive solution to your problem....but I never had a camera phone with me...
A guy near where I used to live ( I believe he was Charlie Broomfield..of Rolls royce Meteor / merlin powered Rover SD1 fame)...lived / lives in a mid terrace late 60`s early 70`s house...where vehicular access was limited and to the rear....
So, being a creative sort....he came up with a low cost solution... Now, this description is what I could make out over his garden fence.
He had a reach type fork lift truck (probably rated at a couple of tons minimum)...onto the tines of which he had built a traditional style two strip ramp......around which he had built a mesh walkway....onto which he had fitted one of the big heavy duty garage type "gazebo"....complete with lighting fitted to the ceiling......... The best bit was, he could lift the car / gazebo to upstairs window height..work on the top half of it using the afore mentioned walkway....and store / work on a second car underneath! He had put in safety supports in case of hydraulic failure of the fork truck. I thought it was both genius and British eccentricity at its best. The estate he / I lived on was pretty tolerant...far worse things to concerned about than a car in a gazebo level with your bedroom window...

Anyone got pics of this? I remember a much more basic lift being used when Johnny Whatshisname interviewed him about the Rover for 5th Gear.

[kevins]

I bought a 4 post lift about 15 years ago for around £150, it's been a godsend. Being a 4 post it doesen't need any special foundations and mine had recently had new cables fitted which for my 3 or 4 uses a week should last longer than me! The advantage of a pro machine is it's designed for 30 or more lifts a day 6 days a week so in amateur use they last well. It also means I can store 2 vehicles in the space of 1.

[grizz]

Was headed to the council tip if nobody wanted it.

Collection only it said, other side of Portsmouth. It’s HEAVY

No problem, give mate craigrk a call to see if he can collect.


No problem, will arrange and do it over the weekend.

500kg it seems.

Should lift a Rezin Rockit with ease, before motor is fitted plus my bike and other items as needed.




This should work well for the Rezin Rockit too.