stevebubs
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| posted on 21/7/11 at 08:08 PM |
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http://www.cjautos.org.uk/phdi/p1.nsf/supppages/cjautos?opendocument&part=7
[Edited on 21/7/11 by stevebubs]
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stevebubs
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| posted on 21/7/11 at 08:09 PM |
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907
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| posted on 24/7/11 at 06:29 AM |
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Thanks for the post Steve.
The lift in the first pic has a minimum height of 125mm. My Locost wouldn't go over that.
The floor of my garage is 150mm of concrete (plus), with a self leveling hard layer on top.
I would be very reluctant to mess with that so I still prefer the two post option.
As for the second, those things look frightening. I know they work, safe and all that,
but I wouldn't feel comfortable using one.
There's a chap lives near me that runs wedding cars, and has a 2 post lift.
He says I can go and look at it if I want. That will give me a much better idea
of what's involved in shortening one.
Cheers,
Paul G
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DH2
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| posted on 26/7/11 at 08:36 AM |
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quote:
Originally posted by 907
The floor of my garage is 150mm of concrete (plus), with a self leveling hard layer on top.
I would be very reluctant to mess with that so I still prefer the two post option.
I'm no structural engineer, but when I tentatively researched this stuff when considering a garage extension, I was advised I would need a
thicker (plus re-inforced) floor than 150mm. Waisted joists would give the height required, and a hydraulically operated unit can be simply narrowed
to ensure things fit nicely in a domestic double garage.
DH2
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907
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| posted on 29/7/11 at 06:29 AM |
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Possible progress?
I've been working "on site" for the last 3 days at an agricultual engineers and talking to the owner
about this project, hoping to glean info should I go for a hydraulic jobbie.
He told me that Danny, (a general builder) that lives 200mts away took one out of a garage that had a
small fire in their office, an insurance job, "new for old".
Lunch time, phoned him and went for a look.
Now bearing in mind it was stood up in the corner of a barn, surrounded by all manner of other stuff
I climbed over with an LED torch and had a look.
Damage as far as I could see was confined to the plastic electrical switch box which had sagged out of shape
and the plastic cover on the end of the motor. Since it's 3 phase and I would want to convert to single phase
stuff I didn't see this as a huge problem. The plastic oil tank just below the switch gear has a 50mm hole
melted in it jut above the max level.
The lift looks new. No scratches in the paint, the moving parts had no signs of wear, nice crisp edges to cogs
and racks etc, and a slightly blistered sticker on the side near the motor says SWL 3500kg.
There's a sticker still readable on the electric box that says "SUN" but this could be just the controls.
(When Googled this came up as part of Snap On.)
He wants £400 for it. A bargin, possibly?
It's painted mid grey, a ram in each post I assume as the floor joiner just has 2 pipes (about 10mm) run through it.
The rams are covered but a toothed rack is visable inside the upper part of the posts.
Any ideas? Make? Value? Er, fixable / convertable?
Cheers,
Paul G
p.s.
DH2. I have noted the possible need for concrete mods. Thanks.
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Myke 2463
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| posted on 29/7/11 at 07:59 AM |
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Hi Paul.
googled sun garage equipment and found these guys that sell Sun lift parts, £400 if not worn is good price. If panel contents are useable converting
to 240v should be easy, motor might be expensive,
I would go to local rewind company to make sure you get a motor that is a direct replacement, ie HP, Torque, RPM .
Nice alloy control panel would be good advert for your skills.
http://www.jhmbuttco.com/acatalog/Shop_Lifts__Sun__693.html
[Edited on 29/7/11 by Myke 2463]
Be Lucky Mike.
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907
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| posted on 30/7/11 at 04:59 PM |
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Thanks for that Mike. ^^^
Cheers
Paul G
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JF
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| posted on 30/7/11 at 05:25 PM |
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Have been reading this topic before. And I'm sure a 2 post can be shortened, although it might be a lot of work, with little margin for error.
And that got me thinking outside the box. Or really... making the box bigger.
Not having seen your garage, but most garages simply have a wood roof structure with some waterproof layer on top. Seeing your roof is nearly flat
I'd assume it's tar based (can't recall what you guys call it). If so then I think it would be about an afternoons work with really
basic building technology to create a raised section to fit your 2 poster.
An additional benefit would be that you could simply fit another 2 poster 'off the shelve' might the original one die on you.
Just my 2 cents.
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907
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| posted on 30/7/11 at 10:39 PM |
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Hi JF.
Garage number 1 has an apex roof. I built number 2 afterwards and has gentle sloping roof.
There is a stud & ply wall that seperates the two with a doorway between them. The idea is
to have a dirty side (apex) for grinding & welding etc and a clean side (slope) to keep and
work on the car.
The roof is made from flat galv sheet that I folded to give it strength.
There's a row of bricks on the edge of the concrete floor, a damp proof membrain, and wood
on top of that. Vertical studs, then the frame clad with 10mm ply. The wood was pallets from work.
My plan is to remove 3 or 4 bricks and 1 stud and recess the lift posts into the wall to give me
maximum space. (Red line in pic) I may have to under pin the floor for the outside post.
The red X's in the other pic shows where they will be under the roof. (taken from landing window)
I hope you understand my ramblings.
Cheers,
Paul G
 
possible lift position
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JF
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| posted on 31/7/11 at 08:02 PM |
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I'd really consider raising the roof if it were mine. Either raising it entirely to the top height of your 'dirty' garage. Or just a
small section for the lift. Raising it entirely will be more work. But will let you raise the cars higher if you need it. And will give you a fair bit
of storage space aswell. Which is always handy, atleast if you don't chuck it full of stuff you'll never use again 
You could probably simply reuse the current roof sheets. But would need some timber and some material to close up the sides. And well ok doing the
entire roof will be more then an afternoons work. But should be doable in a few days, certainly if you can get a few helpers around, and have the
materials ready to go.
Not saying it would be cheaper then shortening a 2 poster. But I think it will be easier and give a much better result.
Reducing the width of a lift doesn't seem to difficult though. Most seem to have 2 hydraulic connections and a cable for synchronisation. Which
is quite hard to achieve with hydraulics alone, so I do suspect the 2 poster you looked at should have a cable link down there somewhere. And I
suspect that the toothed rack is for synchronisation and or to lock. As a lift should never alone depend on hydraulics, if it springs a leak there
should always be some mechanical backup.
So to shorten them you'll probably will have to shorten the rams, racks, cables, and posts themselves. Making sure the cut off switch gets back
in where it should. As well as making sure the mechanical locks are reset properly. That does seem like a lot more work to me if I'm honest. Or
atleast harder to get right then lifting your roof up. Which in turn gives you much more practical use of your lift.
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907
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| posted on 1/8/11 at 09:52 PM |
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That is certainly an idea JF.
I had a measure up tonight and the existing apex is 550mm high, so could probably gain 475 ish.
see pic. Sorry for the mess. The wife's been sorting out the sweet peas. 
I think the next step is to get the lift home and run a tape measure over it.
Cheers,
Paul G
 
height gain
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JF
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| posted on 2/8/11 at 07:07 PM |
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Don't worry about the mess, I see worse on a daily basis at work. Both in the shop itself as what comes in to be fixed.
Let us know how you get on. I hope it all works out.
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keithometune
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| posted on 8/8/11 at 08:00 PM |
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A customer of mine showed me some plans from the internet to make a 4 post lift using high lift (jackall) style jacks i will try and contact him for
the link, it looked pretty simple to build and it could be adapted to size 7
keith
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keithometune
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| posted on 12/8/11 at 06:47 PM |
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hamer car lift
http://www.hamercarlift.com/
try the above link
keith
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swanny
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| posted on 12/8/11 at 07:53 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by HowardB
I am sure that the thought has crossed your mind, but,...
how about raising the roof?
Might not be an option, but, just a thought?
theres a guy (charlie) in Practical Perforamnce Car does this. there was a pic of it in the latest mag. he also uses a cut down forklift as his
lifting device.
roof can be raised as lowered as an when he needs to use the lift
paul
[Edited on 12/8/11 by swanny]
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907
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| posted on 13/8/11 at 09:29 PM |
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Well, I picked it up today; although that may be a bad choice of words.
Big heavy bu**ers aren't they.
Good job the bloke had a fork lift.
Do you ever get the feeling you've bit off more than you can chew?
Yours,
Worried.
Thanks for all the replies btw.
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Dazzer
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| posted on 10/12/11 at 10:24 PM |
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2 post lift
I had all this when i was looking for a 2 post lift,they were all to tall or to wide, there is also single post lifts which may have worked for you
but they are not cheap, i ended up luckliy with a 240volt 2 post lift which was a liitle wide but got my mate who`s a welder to make it narrower, made
a great job then i had to shorten the chain wasn`t too bad, best bit of kit i have ever bought, best of luck getting it sorted it`ll be worth it.
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dray13dad
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| posted on 10/12/11 at 10:46 PM |
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Worked in a garage few years ago.was only the height of normal single garge shall we say had a two post lift with a half depth pit in it as well.
worked really well as one person could do the underside work at a normal height whilst the other guy did the brake work at his normal height.had a
sensor fitted to the roof so that if beam got cut would shut power to ramp (ie bonnent left up)
all we had to do was every now and then take ramp to the top (no car ) so that the motors on each post could keep in sink.
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rusty nuts
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| posted on 11/12/11 at 02:36 PM |
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Camera's playing up at the moment Paul. I tried to take some pictures of our scissor lift at work on Thursday , will try to borrow the other
halfs during the week .
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