Garage portable lift ?

[cowesboy]

What are people using in there garages to get there cars at a good height to work on?

[Accelebrate]

I've got my eyes on a scissor lift, maybe something like this:

https://www.automotechservices.co.uk/products/as-7...

But I haven't yet felt like sparing the cash to actually purchase it. I don't have the height for a two-post lift and I'd like something I can move. I've looked at QuickJacks in CostCo but they don't appear to offer that much height.

As an interim budget solution, I bought some chunky 6T axle stands (much higher than the usual 2/3T) and a decent-sized jack. They'll go a little higher than this, but it was enough to remove the gearbox and wheel it out on a jack.

[finishing touch]

Due to a low garage roof and wanting something that I could drag outside to use more height if needed I opted for one of these.


All lifts have their pluses an minuses. You just have to go for whats best for you.

Paul G

[E-bmw]

I have looked at these scissor lifts before & ruled them out as there seems to be a lot of steel in the way of where you may well want to be working.

I too just use a set of 4 6t axle stands which you can position where you want to make sure they are out of the way.

[SMB]

I use a 7530, had it a few years now. Unlike the scissor lift above it leaves wheels, suspension engine, and central tunnel area with open access, no cross beams. Car is very stable and secure.

The only area with limited access are the side sills.

[kambites]

E-bmw said:

I have looked at these scissor lifts before & ruled them out as there seems to be a lot of steel in the way of where you may well want to be working.

Most cars have very little that you might want to work on between the jacking points unless you're replacing the exhaust or welding up the floor. Especially FWD cars which are the norm these days, but even with front-engined RWD cars all that's really obscured is the prop-shaft and maybe the gearbox housing.

[finishing touch]

Huh ! If you have a so called mate like mine who buys ANYTHING thats cheap then often the sills are the very place that needs access. (see pic)


Like I said, no lift is perfect. And don't be blinkered either. Jacking up and putting blocks under wheels, let the lift down and place axle stands on the lift,
then re-raising the lift. All sorts of combinations with a little thought.

[pingu393]

£250 of old sleepers. I thought about a scissor lift, but my drive is on a slope. The sleepers have been planed so the car sits flat. I use some reinforced motor cycle ramps to drive the car onto the sleepers.

My 330 is actually on them now, with the body resting on some blocks of wood under the rear jacking points, and the rear wheels are off.

[geeman237]

I’ve got a Max Jax. It’s a portable two post low height lift. I’m in the US but I think there may be a U.K. distributor. It cost me about $1600.

[anonymous-user]

This looks remarkably similar:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2-Post-Lift-Car-Vehicle...

[Catatafish]

There's these as well:

Quickjack

[Arnold Cunningham]

I like this, I've been thinking about similar and was caught looking suspiciously at my extra long ramps with a view to doing this at the weekend.
Have you made the centre piece removable? I was thinking making the "wheel" bits shortish (bit able to handle a range of wheelbases) and the filler inbetween them removable?

Also like the 7530 - thanks to everyone who's contributed on this thread, it's useful.

pingu393 said:

£250 of old sleepers. I thought about a scissor lift, but my drive is on a slope. The sleepers have been planed so the car sits flat. I use some reinforced motor cycle ramps to drive the car onto the sleepers.

My 330 is actually on them now, with the body resting on some blocks of wood under the rear jacking points, and the rear wheels are off.

[pingu393]

Arnold Cunningham said:

I like this, I've been thinking about similar and was caught looking suspiciously at my extra long ramps with a view to doing this at the weekend.
Have you made the centre piece removable? I was thinking making the "wheel" bits shortish (bit able to handle a range of wheelbases) and the filler inbetween them removable?

Also like the 7530 - thanks to everyone who's contributed on this thread, it's useful.

pingu393 said:

£250 of old sleepers. I thought about a scissor lift, but my drive is on a slope. The sleepers have been planed so the car sits flat. I use some reinforced motor cycle ramps to drive the car onto the sleepers.

My 330 is actually on them now, with the body resting on some blocks of wood under the rear jacking points, and the rear wheels are off.

The front and centre sections are three sleepers on edge, with two laying flat on top (I my case, planed to the required angle).
The rear section is two flat sleepers with another two on top. The top pair are bolted together - this is to make sure the motorcycle ramps fit perfectly every time.

I'm incapacitated at the moment, but I may do a video at some time to show how to do it.

It was probably the cheapest way for me to get the car in the air - but if I'd had to buy the motorcyle ramps I might have gone down a different route.

[Peter3442]

Not wishing to be an H&S anorak, but, especially for an old car, I feel uncomfortable about the consequences of unsupported wheels/suspension for aged rubber bushes and rubber sub-frame mounts. In particular, I wouldn't want the rear sub-frame of an old XJ to fall on my head.

[Krikkit]

Peter3442 said:

Not wishing to be an H&S anorak, but, especially for an old car, I feel uncomfortable about the consequences of unsupported wheels/suspension for aged rubber bushes and rubber sub-frame mounts. In particular, I wouldn't want the rear sub-frame of an old XJ to fall on my head.

Is that a realistic worry? Never heard of that happening, never mind with someone under it.

[Chris32345]

Peter3442 said:

Not wishing to be an H&S anorak, but, especially for an old car, I feel uncomfortable about the consequences of unsupported wheels/suspension for aged rubber bushes and rubber sub-frame mounts. In particular, I wouldn't want the rear sub-frame of an old XJ to fall on my head.

But the volts go through the rubber mount's so even if the rubber totally fell apart when lifted up the bolt would still be in the hole to hold the parts in place

[Infernored]

I

[Infernored]

I have this one. Bought second hand but unused from a lovely old boy that could not lift his e type with it. Works great with front and rear drive cars. I use wooden ramps to get my mx5 and other low cars over it. Good access as it is H shaped.

[GreenV8S]

I like the look of that. It looks as if the power module doubles as a trolley to move it around.

[Peter3442]

Krikkit and Chris,

My primary concern was for over-stressing rubber bushes in wishbones/control arms, especially when bump stops are missing. It's just something that I don't like to see.

As for sub-frames falling out, there are a several V-mount designs that rely solely on the bonding between rubber and steel to hold them together. Those on the rear sub-frame of the series XJs and the XJS are of that type. I've never heard of a sub-frame fall out on a lift, but I have seen a car going up and basically leaving the sub-frame behind. Prior to being lifted, gravity and the trailing arms were holding everything together.