Garage portable lift ?

[Arnold Cunningham]

Was it too heavy (spec says it shouldn't be), or just didn't "fit"?

Infernored said:

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.

[Infernored]

He couldnt use the pads on the lift points on the e type apparently. I suspect because of the e types tub construction. But im not sure. I have not found a car it wont lift yet. The arms swing out and there is a selection of different pads you can use depending on the height you need. You can use the trolley to move it around - its heavy though! But reassuringly so. Lifts high enough to do whatever you need to do, has a mechanical lock to rest the lift so the rams are not taking the strain. Rams have parachute valves. It feels safe and sturdy and i am happy ro do whatever jobs i need using it. It stays under my mx5 when not in use. With some wooden side ramps i built as the car is low. I reccomend it. Probably thr best garage tool i have ever bought and makes servicing and any other jobs so much easier

[TROOPER88]

Infernored said:

He couldnt use the pads on the lift points on the e type apparently. I suspect because of the e types tub construction. But im not sure. I have not found a car it wont lift yet. The arms swing out and there is a selection of different pads you can use depending on the height you need. You can use the trolley to move it around - its heavy though! But reassuringly so. Lifts high enough to do whatever you need to do, has a mechanical lock to rest the lift so the rams are not taking the strain. Rams have parachute valves. It feels safe and sturdy and i am happy ro do whatever jobs i need using it. It stays under my mx5 when not in use. With some wooden side ramps i built as the car is low. I reccomend it. Probably thr best garage tool i have ever bought and makes servicing and any other jobs so much easier

This is exactly the sort of thing I am thinking I need!

I would love to see it in action, where are you based??

Just found a London seller and they are 1k to buy

Cheers

[pingu393]

I've just been doing some work on my E46 that you would think would be easy to do on one of these scissor lifts (an anti-roll bar link replacement).

But...

the exhaust had to be lowered to get the anti-rollbar off.

There is a mounting plate that is halfway along the body that had to be removed as well as the rear body brace.


I don't think that I could have done the job using the scissor lift.


You need to be sure that all (or, at least most) of the jobs that you are going to do don't involve needing to access (or remove) anything under the car.

[random_username]

Catatafish said:

There's these as well:

Quickjack

I have one of these. Although it's 'only' a 2 foot lift, it's considerably higher than you can easily get with a trolley jack, and is a lot more stable than 4x tall axle stands. It's pretty sturdy and has mechanical interlocks.

Its not as high as the scissor lifts, but high enough that you can get underneath on a creeper and work reasonably comfortably, and you have access to nearly all of the underside of the car, apart from the sills/jacking points - but if you get creative you can put the jacks under at 90 degrees to the car and get limited sill access.

They are also portable and can be stood out of the way when not in use, and are easy enough to drag outside, or elsewhere with a decent sized estate car for trackdays or whatever.

Downsides - lack of lift, the pump setup etc is a bit rough and ready (as standard you need jump leads to power it, but I made up a proper lead with a spare car battery).

Costco have them in some stores at the moment for about £350 less than the UK importer (typically!)

I debated a long time about what to get as I have a reasonably low roof in the garage and I'm not sure how thick the floor is so couldn't go for a two poster - it came down to a quickjack or a scissor lift, so far I'm pretty happy with my choice.

[Infernored]

Im in Andover, happy to show you the lift in action if you are down this way

[finishing touch]

TROOPER88 said:

This is exactly the sort of thing I am thinking I need!

I would love to see it in action, where are you based??

Just found a London seller and they are 1k to buy

Cheers

Mine was North London and £1k. Same one?


Paul G
(North Essex)

[pingu393]

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.

Just uploaded a video showing how I assemble the ramps (12 minutes compressed to 20 seconds)...

https://youtu.be/vZUY1KCCKMc

watch out for a cameo by Chilli the minor moggy.