beaver34
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| posted on 19/2/15 at 10:36 AM |
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lift in garage
ive moved house and have a large garage to keep some of my cars in
ive had an idea that if i fit a 2 post lift i can store a car up there and one underneath, is this viable?
if so can i get a 2 post lift on normal single phase and any thing i should be aware of?
i need to check the height but im sure they will both fit one is a 7 the other underneath an elise.
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adithorp
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| posted on 19/2/15 at 10:45 AM |
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How much hieght do you have?
With a screw operated 2 post, you'd just need the max height of the lift arms plus your 7. If it was a cable/hydralic, then the ram is in one of
the posts and extends upward as you lift; So it ends up (almost) twice the posts original height when the car is at the top.
"A witty saying proves nothing" Voltaire
http://jpsc.org.uk/forum/
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DW100
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| posted on 19/2/15 at 10:48 AM |
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Yes perfectly viable.
electro-hydraulic lifts work better than screw lifts on single phase. The lifts I have don't have a ram that pops out the top.
If buying second hand make sure that it has locks to lock the arms into place and that they are working correctly and don't forget to engage the
mechanical lock to ensure the lift creep down over night.
[Edited on 19/2/15 by DW100]
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mark chandler
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| posted on 19/2/15 at 11:15 AM |
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I did this a couple of years ago, I purchased a zippo screw lift off eBay and replaced the 3hp three phase motor with a 4hp single phase.
Had to reconfigure the roof structure as it had trusses, bolted and glued timber across the trusses higher up, braced to the ends and chopped out to
give more height.
I wanted a screw lift as really nothing to go wrong provided the nuts and spindles are in good condition as these are £££
Look for an old lift with wide feet that extend beyond the reach of the arms, all the new ones need heavy reinforced concrete as they stand on
8" pads, my old zippo is rated at 4000kg and is just bolted to the floor, it cannot tip over even if I put all the weight at one end on full
extension of the arms.
My little car and trailer live on this above my other car, it's great for doing brakes, suspension on everything I own, worth every penny and
does not take up a lot of space.
I have heavy tails from the fuse box with a 30 amp RCD just like a cooker or Emersion heater, you need the right breaker, class b I think it is as
they trip slower so handle the motor on start up. Motor was £150.
Note the big feet, draining the oil.
Car and trailer loaded up 
Revised roof structure, adds a couple of feet, got the wood delivered from a saw mill, big long lengths.
I braced 4 trusses, just chopped out 2 where the car goes, you can see an uncut truss in the rear with a big bit of timber bolted to it.
Total cost was around £700
[Edited on 19/2/15 by mark chandler]
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beaver34
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| posted on 19/2/15 at 11:27 AM |
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quote:
Originally posted by adithorp
How much hieght do you have?
With a screw operated 2 post, you'd just need the max height of the lift arms plus your 7. If it was a cable/hydralic, then the ram is in one of
the posts and extends upward as you lift; So it ends up (almost) twice the posts original height when the car is at the top.
i need to measure tonight, its higher than a normal garage but not sure its going to be a squeeze
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mark chandler
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| posted on 19/2/15 at 11:59 AM |
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Two post = post + motor, you could sling the motor by the post reduce this, you could also shortern the spindles and post height if needed as it is a
very basic system.
Cars are not that high, with just the little car on mine puts it 6' above my head so even with a low height it is a practical way of doubling
your garage capacity for cars as the car to go up is low.
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beaver34
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| posted on 19/2/15 at 12:13 PM |
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thanks Mark
think i need to look on eBay for something s/h
feel free to advice! 
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pewe
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| posted on 19/2/15 at 12:44 PM |
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Great idea - if only I had the room......
BTW Mark just be careful about the lift nuts and relying on them totally.
Our Volvo 760 Estate came to grief some years ago when the local garage was lowering it after rectifying a handbrake problem. Whilst being lowered one
nut failed and tipped the old girl on her side before her crashing to the floor.
Fortunately no-one hurt but happened so fast there would have been no escape if there had been someone underneath.
I appreciate they should all have fail-safes built in but in that case seemingly it was outside the scope of the fail-safe.
The lift had reputedly been inspected only a couple of months previously.
Alternative of course is a pit but there again they are known to be hazardous....
Cheers, Pewe.
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mark chandler
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| posted on 19/2/15 at 01:12 PM |
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It is a worry, your garage must have been working off the safety nuts!
I purchased a couple of new spindles last year so will be stripping my lift down and refurbishing it, the spindles should have square shouldered
threads, once they start looking like ordinary threads they have had it.
Look at the threads at both ends of the travel and compare to the middle.
You should have two nuts, the load nuts and safety nuts which are separated by maybe 1/2", have a Google for the correct measurement on the lift
you view. If the nuts are together, one directly on top of the other the load nut has failed which could be why they are selling, load nuts are around
£150 each.
I pulled the nuts on mine a couple of months ago, still plenty of meat but they have worn to the spindle so need to go as well.
My friend runs a landrover garage, he purchased a new snapon lift which was useless, the arms sagged and it failed very quickly dropping a car after
only 3 months! It was a hydraulic type lift, he regretted not refurbishing the old Bradbury lift it replaced, landrovers are light, it was a 3000kg
lift, he now has a new 5000kg for the same job.
Even now it does not lift evenly after many service visits.
IMHO you are better off spending £500 on an old quality lift and refurbishing it than getting a chinese lift for £1,100 new off ebay, it will have big
feet to spread the load and more robust arms, I struggled to even drill the metal that my zippo is made of to bolt an RCD on it, needed colbat drills
as HSS rounded off!
My lift picks up my v70, struggles with the DB7 because of friction on the nuts, splash some EP 90 on the threads and it works well but at 30 years of
age it's to be expected.
Making the electrics work was fun and games with the high amp solinodes, had to draw it all out to put a reverse on the windings of the motor, it
would have been easy to use a reverse switch and one button.
[Edited on 19/2/15 by mark chandler]
[Edited on 19/2/15 by mark chandler]
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theduck
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| posted on 19/2/15 at 01:22 PM |
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As great as pits are, they don't help with extra vehicle storage 
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rusty nuts
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| posted on 19/2/15 at 06:44 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by theduck
As great as pits are, they don't help with extra vehicle storage
Why? I've seen a Reliant three wheeler in a pit
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beaver34
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| posted on 23/2/15 at 01:17 PM |
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any one know the best way to convert something like this to single phase
Cascos 2 Post Car Lift 2500Kg
also what type it is? im not clued up on garage equipment
thanks
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DW100
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| posted on 23/2/15 at 02:06 PM |
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Its a screw lift. Looks quite old and well used.
You will need a reversible single phase motor. I'm sure someone will be able to tell you more about this than I can.
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mark chandler
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| posted on 23/2/15 at 04:40 PM |
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That's a screw lift, quite useful that the legs swing 180 degrees.
It has small feet so the load on your garage floor will be large, I would want to extend these before planting on your non re-inforced garage
floor.
Wiring the motor is easy enough or get an invertor but it will need to be a big one !
As my post above, check nuts and spindles before committing, having an inverted motor is a plus for limited height go and view, take a heavy car
and see if it groans when lifting.
It does look pretty good from here, I would be tempted and take cash with you with a view to cancelling the auction.
They are very heavy, has he a fork lift or hiab to place on your trailer, I used my trailer winch to stand mine up
[Edited on 23/2/15 by mark chandler]
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