Where can I buy a 4 point jack/lift system???
Discussion
AndrewW-G said:
Quinny said:
Mines due on Wednesday
Mines also due on Wednesday.........guess your's will be there in the morning 
will be great having more storage at home and not having to rely on the ones at work
How many orders has this thread generated??? And how many more lurkers are out there????
Edited by glow worm on Sunday 10th February 21:56
glow worm said:
[Where did you come from Andrew??? Not noticed you here before.
Sorry to say but normaly just on PH for the motorsports and Ferrari / Mas sections 
(but have owned a couple of Tiv's last being a red Chimera 4.5).......was thinking about getting a lift from Fred for a few months (advert in back of C&SC)I'm lukcy in having a couple of lifts at work, but have very little space for storing my own toys so did a search and saw this thread......when I spoke to Fred last week I did ask him if he'd considered talking to PH about sponsorship.having said all that, nust say this seems one of the friendliest groups on PH
Edited by AndrewW-G on Sunday 10th February 22:21
Finished building my lift today so thought I'd add to Mr BC's write up, which I found v useful.
Most of the components are very heavy. I had help at some crucial moments (thanks Harvs), but having unpacked alone and having installed the ramps alone, I reckon its possible with a trolley jack, a dolly and a bit of ingenuity to do it on your own if necessary.
I did not have the problem with the plastic block runners that Mr BC had - mine fitted fine without mod. When you put the two "H" frames up as per instructions, do not try to build with the Motor post near to a wall. Not only difficult to mount and later wire the motor if close to a side wall, but also need over a meter end wall clearance to insert the lock release handle. If it has to be near an end wall, insert the handle early on before building/bolting it all together. The 4 T-bar pieces in the cross members are there to mount the castors on if you use them, so can be removed for the build process if they get in the way.
My technique for mounting the ramps was to jack up one end higher than the cross piece and drop it onto a pair of axle stands on a dolly cart. Then I could lift the other end and pull the ramp over to its cross member. Once secured, I propped the other end of the ramp with the delivery frame placed on its side - perfect height - and carried on as Mr BC described! Bolting on the heaviest ramp (with piston) proved difficult. The bolts were too long to feed from inside and get past the cable pulleys and putting them in from the outside left the bolt end/nut/washer etc so proud internally that that also fouled the cable. So I had to dismantle the pulleys on that ramp (internal hex head bolt lock first then drive out shaft with screwdriver) so that I could get the bolts in. Also on mine, the bolts on that (piston) ramp didn't line up so I had to file out about 3mm bottom of the hole in the ramp to lower it enough for the bolt to go through the crossmember. The other ramp bolts fitted fine first time.
This may be obvious out of the box to everyone except me, but just in case it saves you time - the longer bolts for the front allow you to fit the spacers which leave a slot for the ramps. One spacer is delivered mounted on each cross member so they have to be changed to just one end. The ramps do not bolt on anywhere just hook over the spacers when the lift is down - manually take the ramps away before starting to lift. There are two types of end plate. The ones with the wider spaced holes go on the back cross member and fit the main ramp bolt holes. I think that the other ones are just intended to sit in the ramp spacer slots when the lift is up to stop any danger of the car rolling off that way.
Like Mr BC, my motor mounting plate and post holes didn't quite line up. I used the bottom holes on the motor plate and elongated the top ones down by about 3 mm. I used the 4 bolts supplied as the threads fitted the post holes. I just put the nut on the bolt first, then the split ring, then the washer, so that once I'd screwed the bolt through the motor plate into the post hole sufficiently, I could just lock it off by tightening the nut against the plate.
Also had to change the nipple/blank plg over on the motor, and wired it as Mr BC (will also do that better later!!) Anyway, had some trouble getting the 32 Visc hydraulic fluid. Got some from a local Partco, but cost me over £30 for 10 litres - an expense that I hadn't expected. Next thing, do go over the thing and check all of your hydraulic joints. I hadn't used the bleed plug where the instructions suggest that you blow compressed air to push out the cables and stupidly I didn't check it. Raised my lift up and it started pi**ing expensive fluid all over the floor! Just needed that plug to be tightened but could have easily avoided the mess.
Onto the release handle. I didn't get enough nuts with mine so budget on getting some more - nylocs would be best as Mr BC says. Probably the originals rattled off in transit cos they're pretty loose. Managed the locking mechanism OK on my own. If you get a 6" adjustable its perfect for wedging between the pulley cover and handle bolt end once you operate the handle. You can then go down the other end to check that has worked too. Obviously only useful for us billy-no-mates!
Next job for me when I raised the lift (clunky for the first go or two) was to even out the cable pulls. I could hear the lock plates "firing" in an order and not as one as the lift went up past the stops so it obviously wasn't dead level. I raised the lift to the top and then adjusted the cable fixings in the posts to set the lock plates 35mm above the last stop position. This allows them to swivel lock/unlock easily for the top position, but is still some way from the very top of the post.
So there it is. Its a mega piece of kit and really works. However, I've not actually put a car on it yet. I've seen the evidence that its all good, but I must say that its doesn't inspire confidence despite its heavy structure. As its not fixed to the floor and there's no triangulation in the construction there's a fair amount of movement in the posts/ramps when the ramps are up. More movement than you would ideally want to see with your pride and joy aloft!! However, I will be using it tomorrow !!
A couple of questions for the clever ones:
I got 16 beefy looking rawlbolts in the kit. I assume these are for if you want to bolt down the lift rather than have it moveable?
I got 20odd U shaped spacers....anyone know what they are for?
I got a tube of something gungey (like a silicon seal tube) in a plain white tube - no writing or pictures. I haven't opened it yet to check, but assume its grease. Is that supposed to be squirted into the posts to ease the plastic runners or what?
Hope this helps save you some time. Have fun guys n gals!
MPx
Most of the components are very heavy. I had help at some crucial moments (thanks Harvs), but having unpacked alone and having installed the ramps alone, I reckon its possible with a trolley jack, a dolly and a bit of ingenuity to do it on your own if necessary.
I did not have the problem with the plastic block runners that Mr BC had - mine fitted fine without mod. When you put the two "H" frames up as per instructions, do not try to build with the Motor post near to a wall. Not only difficult to mount and later wire the motor if close to a side wall, but also need over a meter end wall clearance to insert the lock release handle. If it has to be near an end wall, insert the handle early on before building/bolting it all together. The 4 T-bar pieces in the cross members are there to mount the castors on if you use them, so can be removed for the build process if they get in the way.
My technique for mounting the ramps was to jack up one end higher than the cross piece and drop it onto a pair of axle stands on a dolly cart. Then I could lift the other end and pull the ramp over to its cross member. Once secured, I propped the other end of the ramp with the delivery frame placed on its side - perfect height - and carried on as Mr BC described! Bolting on the heaviest ramp (with piston) proved difficult. The bolts were too long to feed from inside and get past the cable pulleys and putting them in from the outside left the bolt end/nut/washer etc so proud internally that that also fouled the cable. So I had to dismantle the pulleys on that ramp (internal hex head bolt lock first then drive out shaft with screwdriver) so that I could get the bolts in. Also on mine, the bolts on that (piston) ramp didn't line up so I had to file out about 3mm bottom of the hole in the ramp to lower it enough for the bolt to go through the crossmember. The other ramp bolts fitted fine first time.
This may be obvious out of the box to everyone except me, but just in case it saves you time - the longer bolts for the front allow you to fit the spacers which leave a slot for the ramps. One spacer is delivered mounted on each cross member so they have to be changed to just one end. The ramps do not bolt on anywhere just hook over the spacers when the lift is down - manually take the ramps away before starting to lift. There are two types of end plate. The ones with the wider spaced holes go on the back cross member and fit the main ramp bolt holes. I think that the other ones are just intended to sit in the ramp spacer slots when the lift is up to stop any danger of the car rolling off that way.
Like Mr BC, my motor mounting plate and post holes didn't quite line up. I used the bottom holes on the motor plate and elongated the top ones down by about 3 mm. I used the 4 bolts supplied as the threads fitted the post holes. I just put the nut on the bolt first, then the split ring, then the washer, so that once I'd screwed the bolt through the motor plate into the post hole sufficiently, I could just lock it off by tightening the nut against the plate.
Also had to change the nipple/blank plg over on the motor, and wired it as Mr BC (will also do that better later!!) Anyway, had some trouble getting the 32 Visc hydraulic fluid. Got some from a local Partco, but cost me over £30 for 10 litres - an expense that I hadn't expected. Next thing, do go over the thing and check all of your hydraulic joints. I hadn't used the bleed plug where the instructions suggest that you blow compressed air to push out the cables and stupidly I didn't check it. Raised my lift up and it started pi**ing expensive fluid all over the floor! Just needed that plug to be tightened but could have easily avoided the mess.
Onto the release handle. I didn't get enough nuts with mine so budget on getting some more - nylocs would be best as Mr BC says. Probably the originals rattled off in transit cos they're pretty loose. Managed the locking mechanism OK on my own. If you get a 6" adjustable its perfect for wedging between the pulley cover and handle bolt end once you operate the handle. You can then go down the other end to check that has worked too. Obviously only useful for us billy-no-mates!
Next job for me when I raised the lift (clunky for the first go or two) was to even out the cable pulls. I could hear the lock plates "firing" in an order and not as one as the lift went up past the stops so it obviously wasn't dead level. I raised the lift to the top and then adjusted the cable fixings in the posts to set the lock plates 35mm above the last stop position. This allows them to swivel lock/unlock easily for the top position, but is still some way from the very top of the post.
So there it is. Its a mega piece of kit and really works. However, I've not actually put a car on it yet. I've seen the evidence that its all good, but I must say that its doesn't inspire confidence despite its heavy structure. As its not fixed to the floor and there's no triangulation in the construction there's a fair amount of movement in the posts/ramps when the ramps are up. More movement than you would ideally want to see with your pride and joy aloft!! However, I will be using it tomorrow !!
A couple of questions for the clever ones:
I got 16 beefy looking rawlbolts in the kit. I assume these are for if you want to bolt down the lift rather than have it moveable?
I got 20odd U shaped spacers....anyone know what they are for?
I got a tube of something gungey (like a silicon seal tube) in a plain white tube - no writing or pictures. I haven't opened it yet to check, but assume its grease. Is that supposed to be squirted into the posts to ease the plastic runners or what?
Hope this helps save you some time. Have fun guys n gals!
MPx
philmccann said:
Could the "grease" be hydraulic seal??
phil
Could be Phil, though there is alot of it - full gun style tube. If so not sure what would need sealing - other than the bleed plug! I'll try to do some pics at the w/e...but not posted pics before so dont hold your breath!phil
Glow worm: Hope its useful. Feel free to PM if you want to chat it thru. Fine to pass back to Fred if you think its what he wants. In terms of feedback summary: Heavy duty, well constructed piece of kit - amazing at the price. Instructions could do with quite a bit of work - eg need to cover all of the components in the pack, and need more pictures. Option to also supply the hydralic fluid would be nice for the home mechanic.
glow worm said:
AndrewW-G said:
Quinny said:
Mines due on Wednesday
Mines also due on Wednesday.........guess your's will be there in the morning will be great having more storage at home and not having to rely on the ones at work
How many orders has this thread generated??? And how many more lurkers are out there????
Edited by glow worm on Sunday 10th February 21:56
. Thanks MrBC and MPx for the write ups. Look forward to some pics. Info on posting pics here http://ph.uncle-dave.co.uk/upload/MPx said:
I got 16 beefy looking rawlbolts in the kit. I assume these are for if you want to bolt down the lift rather than have it moveable?
I think thats what we decided they must be for.MPx said:
I got 20odd U shaped spacers....anyone know what they are for?
Mr BC thinks these are spacers for if you're floor is a bit wonky - you can use them to stick on the top of the uprights to lift the cable ends perhaps ?glow worm said:
Thanks Mike, It should be a piece of cake for me with the wealth of experience thats being passed on. If you and Mr BC, don't object, I'll print both reports and get them passed back to Fred, he said he would like any feedback.
Chris was talking about emailing his bit to Fred so I'm sure he won't mind if you collate both and pass them on 
MPx said:
As its not fixed to the floor and there's no triangulation in the construction there's a fair amount of movement in the posts/ramps when the ramps are up. More movement than you would ideally want to see with your pride and joy aloft!!
MPx
Have had nother play and put the Esprit up and down a few times. Its all as solid as a solid thing encased in a lump of something solid. Can swing on the cross member with the car/ramp up and no movement at all. That makes me a very happy chappy!MPx
cuneus said:
Am I the only thinking that the holes should line up ?
Has Fred said why they don't ?
I haven't spoken to Fred since it arrived, but of course the holes should line up....looks like "manufacturing tolerances" or "quality control issue" that needs to be tightened up.Has Fred said why they don't ?
Thanks for the feedback Mrs BC. Did you use the tube of gunge for anything?
Mike
AndrewW-G said:
Mines just arrived ......lots of fun getting it up the drive though
Glow Worm he should be with you in a 1.5 - 2 hours
thanks MPx for the hints and tips, just waiting for friends to arrive to help stick it all together!
Yipeee ......lots of fun getting it up the drive thoughGlow Worm he should be with you in a 1.5 - 2 hours
thanks MPx for the hints and tips, just waiting for friends to arrive to help stick it all together!
Mines arrived....I was a bit worried as he raised his forklift and carried over the top of next doors cars (They looked concerned too, but if they hadn't blocked my access wouldn't have been a problem).Just taken the delivery driver to a nearby Hotel and got his wagon parked up OK for the night. As everyone says really nice bloke...Got the heavy gang ready for Sunday and bought a bottle of Nasty Asti ready for the launch. So its all systems go.... We should create a Gallery of Photos...I gave the Photo of MRS BC's to the driver along with the notes...He was dead impressed looking at MRS BCs assembled lift on PH on my PC. Good Luck to everyone.
Just to confirm the only instructions are the ones on the Website??? And box only contains motor??? Can't see any bags of bolts??? Not missing anything am I???? Just I know where the driver is tonight.
I've had my posts cut down to 2 metres, so its must have a been unpacked and packed up again....Is the hydraulic perspex pipe inside the big package??? Can't see inside until I unbolt it all tomorrow.
Nice touch for FRED to provide the TVR stickers for the lift.
Edited by glow worm on Wednesday 13th February 19:13
Yeh.... The motor is in the box on its own. Everything else is in the frame - most bits individually wrapped in cling film. IMO they must have a bit of a cling film fettish at Intern BV! I was given a copy of the instructions (just the same as the ones online) by the driver. He also gave me my invoice paperwork and a couple of stickers for the lift. If he didn't give you this stuff...maybe you should go and see him. BTW you can unbolt/unload the bits from the centre of the frame without unbolting the ramps if you want to check what's there.
Have fun!
Have fun!
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