I've just picked up a truck to transport the race cars around. It's a 7.5t Mercedes Atego 818 box truck.
I'm trying to sort out a tail lift for it but I just keep getting shrugged shoulders when I ask questions.

It has previously had a column style (bolted to the rear pillars) cantilever style fitted as the bolt holes and some wiring still exists, so ideally I would like to use something similar.

The other option is the underside bolt on cantilever style (as seen on the Royal Mail trucks) but no one seems to be able to tell me if they're a universal fit to the underbody or if they're specific to the manufacturers.

Anyone able to offer any tips? Only have around 3 weeks to get it sorted before I want to use it

When i use to fit tail lifts [ years ago ] the lifts were ordered to fit each make off chassis that's the under body type
The ones with pillars up the rear was made to suit the width of the body
I would think you can find one to fit

ps the pillar type use cables the under floor type are ram
jacko

There are a few questions when specifying a lift. My experience is mostly column type tail lifts. The lifting capacity is first, this is specified at 600mm from the rear of the vehicle on normal lifts, then required platform size, the floor height of the vehicle then is used to determine the length of the columns based on a normal ground clearance of between 18-21", if you want a high ground clearance then normally it is a special order and would cost more. After that the width of the lift is decided by the overall vehicle width and then you need to choose if you will weld it on or bolt it on. Lastly the voltage of the truck is required. It should be possible to pick up something secondhand as there is a lot of commonality in basic truck sizes.

Hope that helps,

Keith.

First thing is to think about weight.
A 7.5T will not have a huge payload. You are then going to put at least another 500kg on the rear.
Column lifts like you want to carry a car are big old lumps and are not cheap when ordered new.
You may be lucky and track down a 2nd hand one (Look out for company called Solid, now owned by Dhollandia), but chances are they have been built to suit a different width and height body. It is a massive job to change dimensions.
A 7.5T is almost certainly going to have had a rear frame designed to suit a 500 to 1000kg lift with a platform of about 1200mm long, so a car lift will put a lot of extra stress into the pillars so you have have to seriously reinforce the body.
You are probably better off getting a car transporter body with lift (or ramp) already fitted. But bear in mind that it may then go to an 18 tonner and then you have licenses to worry about.
Sorry to put a damper on your project, but a 7.5tonner is probably best having a light weight slide out ramp(s) and a winch.
(15+ years in the commercial vehicle industry designing these bodies with lifts)

Theres a very rusty lever type tail lift sat in our yard. it needs new hydraulic rams as they have rust on the rods. £50

The Coop wagons have column type tail lifts, they are a PITA to use and the weight capacity isnt much above 500kg and thats just 500mm from the front!

If I was going to get one it would be an ex AA/RAC 7.5t demountable thing. Dead easy to build a box on top than spec a tail lift.

Just to clear up any confusion, the truck has already been purchased
The lifts I've been looking at are the Royal Mail full length cantilever which bolts to the chassis underneath and shuts up vertically.
It's got a weight of 1250kg which should be enough to lift a 6-650kg car with the engine up front if my maths are right.

Question is will one bolt straight up to the underside beam?

Mercedes-Benz Atego 818 sleeper

http://heavycherry.com/machineinfo/mercedes_benz/-atego_818-2002-truck_over_7_5t-chassis.html
Looking at this i can't see why not the chassis looks big enough to fit one

[Edited on 3/7/14 by jacko]

[Edited on 3/7/14 by jacko]