Partly following on from Whippy's thread, and partly because I will embarking on my garage build soon my thoughts have turned to gaining better access under my vehicles.

With that in mind, and given that my garage will be 3.5M wide, what experiences do the assembly have with lifting things up? I already have a trolley jack and stands, which is the cheapest option, and requires no consideration during the build. However, it's also a slow and at times annoying way of getting something in the air. And given that I could alter the garage floor or ceiling to make space for a lift, is it worth the bother and expense? I suspect I could fit a range of lifts, and a scissor could be sunk into the floor to avoid any clearance issues. As a pit would also do.

But a pit needs a BIG hole in the floor and the associated bits and bobs. A 2 or 4 post lift is expensive. Scissors are cheaper, but still looking at a grand or more as a minimum. But fitting it will be straight forward enough.

Given that the garage is down a 7ft wide drive, there is no real need to lift anything over 1.7t (my BMW Touring), what would you guys do, and why? Whilst I can just about afford all of the options, cheaper is always better!!

I have thought about all this myself. Moving and building a new garage etc is all about to happen.

However, though a 2 post lift would be lovely, it is too hard to justify the costs involved. So I will be investing in a set of 4 decent axle stands, and be done with it. Simple, effective, cost efficient and I can justify it all. What I do with the rest of the axle stands I have I do not know, they seem to breed in the garage. But none of my existing ones are great. well, one pair is pretty good....
Oh, and I am NOT a fan of pits.....

For me, my next garage WILL have a lift in it! I've done 2 tin top exhausts on my back on the drive in the past month and would have killed for a lift. my current garage was a quick throw up timber affair which due to restrictive access is only ever used for the kit so a lift would have been under used to warrant the expense. When I move in a couple of years my next garage build will be based around a 2 post lift.

I feel the 2 post option is better with less cost and take up less space, I did keep an eye on a couple of used ones on the bay that needed work but decided that a new one would be less hassle. Pits can be a right pain with regards to drainage I believe.

Steve

Two post lift is king if you can make height for it.

You should be able to get a decent one for £800 on single phase.

Dig a pit, line it and all the other complications and you are still on your knees to take off a wheel.

4 posters tend to be a bit cheaper, as ng as it comes with the cross bars so you cand drop the ramps nearly as useful IMHO


This one did not sell on the bay a couple of days ago

BRADBURY LIFTMASTER 4 POST LIFT - 2.5 TONNE SINGLE PHASE

I have a 30 year old Bradburry/Telcamit 4 poster. The best buying decision I ever made. I got it for scrap value £250 spent another £500 on it including 2 phase conversion. I cannot imaginge lying under a car these days. It amply supprts my 2T Jag XJ12 for restoration work in the past. I could not have done a JAG restoration without one. It now supports my J15 build a slightly less arduous task for it. Two posters are fine as long as you can afford one and it is not an old JAG. Old Jag's need 4 posters as the suspension can fall off otherwise.

I bought a very used 2 post lift early this spring for $900.00 canadian delivered. Its masivly heavier than the newer ones. By the time I had installed it I think it ran me a little over 1200 cnd. The proper anchor bolts are expensive. The only repair I had to do to was replace all the sync cables. I only have a 10 foot ceiling in the garage and 1 foot of that is taken up with duct work for the bedroom upstairs so I can only lift so high. With the kit I can duck under it with it about 5 foot 6 space under it. With my daily driver I can sit up on the creeper and work comfortably under when it sits on its safety stops.
A bit of a pain to put the arms under each time want to lift and I think i would like to make couple of cross beams that will saddle each set of wheels that would then allow you just to drive on when you dont need to pull the wheels off. ( I saw a setup like that for a 911 which looked simple enough.
First time I did brakes on the daily driver I considered it money well spent.
Dale

If you don't have much space or height google maxjax

To be useful a pit has to be a meter longer than the vehicle.

If you can afford one a jacking beam used with pit or 4 wheel ramp is worth its weight in gold.

Personally I would avoid lifts that use wire ropes particularly the old late 1950s Techalimit style which had a screw mechanism in the master corner with 3 wire ropes lifting the other corner.

Some 4 wheel lifts use a continuous chain to drive 4 screw jack style lifting nuts at each most, these are easy to maintain but the condition of the lifting nuts is crucial.

All lifts have their advantages and disadvantages,having had over 45 years in the motor trade and have used most types of lift if I had to choose I would go for a two poster , the only disadvantage is being able to open the doors while the car is on the lift but give almost unrestricted access to the underside. Putting the lifting arms under the car takes seconds. Scissor lifts allow you to open the doors but access under the car can be restricted especially when changing fuel filters. Four poster lifts take up a lot of room and can have height problems , can restrict access to the underside and are useless for FWD clutch replacements etc . Some cars do not suit some lifts, ie BMW and Mercedes on a 4 poster with wheels free can be difficult to suspend the rear, Some 4x4s should not be lifted on a 2 poster and may not fit a scissor .

Thanks all for your help and advice. I suspect a two post lift may be a better option for me, as I won't be needing to lift anything really big or tall. Hell, I bet most of the time it'll only have my 750 kgs Sprite on it! A four post would be nice, but being as long as they are it'll eat up my workshop space too much.