[Edited on 15/1/09 by liam.mccaffrey]
Vehicle Inspection Pit
i have been thinking of building a pit in my garage ,i want it big enough to stand in and i only need it to see half the car aroun 8 feet long has
anyone built one and has any good advice and pics of how wide how to install lights how do i stop the sides falling in when diging it ect ,i have a
concreat floor in my garage.
I can't wait to see the answers to this question as I may be interested in doing the same.
Have you considered one of those fiberglass pits I have seen at the shows. The advantage being that you don't have water ingress. If I remember
correctly, the disadvantage is the eye watering price!
I look for a link to the one I have seen.
brae yourselves for responses about posssible planning permission and ventilation and petrol vapour collection and explosions....
[Edited on 15/1/09 by liam.mccaffrey]
Take a look at this;
http://boardroom.wscc.co.uk/cgi-bin/ikonboard.cgi?act=ST;f=1;t=64414;st=0
Page 2 is about the pit.
Wish I had the space for that!
Mark
I did one in the last garage. If it hasn’t been raining they are ok to install but it really depends on the soil type and the height of the water
table. Mine was pure clay and a piece of cake to dig, the sides did not move at all and it was 5ft deep. I used old doors as the shuttering for
pouring the concrete filled in two stages due to the weight of the concrete, it was around 3 inches thick with no rebar added.
I added a small sump to the bottom so any water that came in could be pumped out but fortunately due to the clay being none porous it remained
empty.
Be wary though with pits, they can collect fumes or gas like propane due to them gasses being heavier than air. I use to take the cover off and use a
pinched office fan blowing down to clear the air before going into it.
Never push the car completely above yourself especially when welding and keep a big fire extinguisher permanently down there. Take a mobile too in
case like me you get your finger trapped under a gearbox, get stuck and need to call for help 
Also fix in a ladder or steps so you can get out
quickly when the car goes up in flames 
For the new garage I opted not to fit a pit but to instead make a frame to turn the car on its side which is a lot nicer to work on than a pit anyway.
I'll post pictures and plans for the frame once its made.
[Edited on 15/1/09 by Mr Whippy]
I would try and go for a lift really if at all possible.
We put a pit in my workshop about 20 years ago and the car is always in wrong place. Bet used it 50 times they are useless IMHO.
Get car up and walk around it .
Build soME STANDS OR BUY.
I truck all tools I need and go to my mates lift. You can get them really cheap in garage sales etc.
You will regret it.
They is the fire issue to!
Previous post to a joke at it BUT...........
I was once grinding inside a car and thought it was getting warm. I looked out of the window and the whole pit was a blaze with rubbish, debris and I
suppose oil etc which ignited the underside underseal.
Quite scary it was TOTALLY my fault but because I never used it wood shavings etc had gathered over months and made superb tinder.
So while some find humourous there can be an issue here!
There is only one situation where you want to be going down IMHO LOL
i know a local guy who burnt to death in a pit around 5 years ago ,so im not sure i want to do it ,i think full ramps will be the way to go.
http://hamercarlift.com/
might be worth a look at.
Pits are okay if they're long enough to give an escape route out both ends in the case of fire, have a suitable extraction system and have a
water extraction system.
By the time you've done all that you may as well have spent the cash on the car lift.... And most garages aren't long enough for an
unimpeded escape route at both ends....
Like you say fire is a big problem with pits. Years ago I came into my folks garage which also had a pit (my dad likes them). My dad was welding up a
sill underneath and I noticed that the old alegro seemed very dark inside, like it had black tinted windows, so I opened the passenger door only to
see the whole footwell and bottom half of the dash ablaze! I grabbed an extinguisher and put it out then told my dad, btw the car was on fire!!! he
never noticed anything including me putting it out. If I hadn't come in I think he'd been burnt alive tbh as to work on the sill the car was
covering the whole pit. Not a good idea really.
[Edited on 15/1/09 by Mr Whippy]
quote:
Originally posted by BenB
By the time you've done all that you may as well have spent the cash on the car lift.... And most garages aren't long enough for an unimpeded escape route at both ends....
Ive got a pit in my garage... we used a Steel liner.
I made myself some Megaramps!
They are in 2 sections each so its easy to move and store. They work fairly well, and cost me about £100 for the steel and welding wire etc.
I would still prefer a a two post lift, but even secondhand they are £1000.
Completed 1
^^ yeah those are pretty humongous
quote:
Originally posted by wilkingj
I made myself some Megaramps!
They are in 2 sections each so its easy to move and store. They work fairly well, and cost me about £100 for the steel and welding wire etc.
I would still prefer a a two post lift, but even secondhand they are £1000.
Completed 1
PLEASE PLEASE tell me you welded some end stops on them
I've got a pit in my garage, it's a well really... the thing stinks and gets about 4" of water in when raining. really not pleasant.
We dug it years ago lining the sides with bricks on a concrete base.
I seem to recall you needing permission off the water board to dig one.
My deeds say I'm not allowed to dig holes because there is a seam of coal 100 feet below I'm not allowed to extract. From my days at the
colliery I know this seam is 6 feet thick!
I reckon a lift would be my choice or an open ramp in the garden.
[Edited on 15/1/09 by coozer]
Beware petrol leaks if using a pit, the fumes will knock you out. Guess how I know!Lucky to be here.
Lift. Even a grand sounds better than a pit.
A neighbour of mine was seriously burned in a garage pit related accident years ago and is seriously disfigured as a result of it. I wouldn't work in one for a ransom.