(Auto Lifts) Looking at this one seriously for my Callaways

[*89x2*]

Now that I got back the other Callaway from the NCM, I am serisouly realizing how I shold have bought a lift while it was gone - and paint the floor... :bash

With the floor paint another story, let's talk lifts.


I know that some, maybe a lot of Callaway Corvette owners have bought lifts for their cars - If you don't mind sharing your purchasing story, allow me to ask the following:

1: why did you buy the lift you did?

2: How wide is it between the posts (for ease of entry)?

3: How tall is your garage ceiling (I hear it must be nine or ten ft tall)?

4: Would you buy your lift over again?

5: What feature(s) would you have liked to have gotten - but didn't?



Here is a video (10 min long) on a lift comparison that I found interesting

<< Video


Thanks for any and all thoughts on lifts of this kind -

 

[*89x2*]

Like a Backyard Buddy??????

...and then I found this (Thanks Surf) :confused

 

[Brangeta]

Are you looking for a lift for the purpose of putting another car under it? Or are you just wanting a lift so you can do work on the car? If the latter, I can give you a good link.

 

[MagicDragon]

Here is picture of the one I have. I use mine for servicing not for parking, thats why I purchased a 2 post lift that picks up car by the frame and not the drive on type. You can purchase accessories for the drive on type to lift the frame to get to the suspension if need be. Like cars- there is a lift out there for YOU. The pads on my lift work very well on the Callaway with no clearance issues. I LOVE IT!!!! The ceiling in that part of the garage is 16'. The lift requires 12' for the "clear floor" model. I believe the type that has the cables and hydralics on the floor require around 10'. Good Luck and have fun on your mission!! Here is a site that has very good descriptions and spec's. http://www.gregsmithequipment.com/

 

[Corvette95]

Not the best picture I know, I got mine from Greg Smith Equipment . They work great for parking , I also bought the hydraulic rolling jacks for working on cars, but I found that working on the cars other than cleaning , the four post lift arent that great , I have a two post lift in the other bay (not pictured) and I can also park a car underneath it with a car in the air but you just have to reset the arms each time to raise the car.

 

[TurboLuigi]

Sweet!....

My garage is attached to the house. It has a flat roof because it also serves as a patio off the 2nd story balcony. Because it is standard 9' height, I doubt that a lift would be of any use for me other than just servicing cars.

Then again I don't have much time to tinker with cars that much anymore... Would rather spend the time driving them given the chioce.

Both those look pretty darn good to me.


-Luigi
:cool

 

[*89x2*]

Thanks guys - My ceilings are 10 ft tall and the lift(s) would be mostly for storage and light service/detailing. :cool But mostly storage...

 

[Brangeta]

My friend Don recently had some garage lifts put in to store his Ferraris. He has 10 ft (I think) ceilings and needed to store a few Ferrari 512Ms. I don't know how tall your cars are compared to his, but this is what he said...

I managed to locate a manufacturer in Saginaw (High Performance lifts) and talked to their GM, Bud, and he was able to do exactly what I needed on the lift to prevent serious garage modifications. His comment was,"We may miss your measurement by a little." I told him if he did- miss it on the high side. When the lift was erected the measurement was exactly what I specified.

Once the lift was erected the math began to get pretty close. The original maximum height of the car on the lift could be no more than 94 inches and the clearance underneath the lift could be no less than 45 inches. If either of these was out of spec. then the whole project washed out. The final specifications are 3 inches clearance from the top of the lifted car to the ceiling and 3/4 of an inch clearance from the bottom of the runway to the top of the "floor car" This is exactly what I had calculated and it works perfectly.

If you do it like him, you need to figure out if your garage door is going to hit anything when it is in the open position. His comes very close to kissing his windshield if he backs the car onto the lift. It won't fit if he pulls it in regularly.

 

[MagicDragon]

Sweet!....

My garage is attached to the house. It has a flat roof because it also serves as a patio off the 2nd story balcony. Because it is standard 9' height, I doubt that a lift would be of any use for me other than just servicing cars.

Then again I don't have much time to tinker with cars that much anymore... Would rather spend the time driving them given the chioce.

Both those look pretty darn good to me.


-Luigi
:cool

My garage is attached and the ceilings are 10'. What I did though is install scissor truss's in the last bay ( 14' ) for the lift clearance. The ceiling height is the same as the original ( her's ) 2 car garage.

 

[jonstr]

1: why did you buy the lift you did?

2: How wide is it between the posts (for ease of entry)?

3: How tall is your garage ceiling (I hear it must be nine or ten ft tall)?

4: Would you buy your lift over again?

5: What feature(s) would you have liked to have gotten - but didn't?

I bought two of the Perfect Park lifts from Lifts Unlimited (http://www.liftsunlimited.com/) back in 2001 or so, and they have been great. You can see one of them in the photo below. I use them primarily for storage, but for working on the cars as well. Getting the wheels off while the car is on the lift can be tricky, but see my answer to #5 below. If you're interested, I may be selling one of them later this year as I don't really have a need for two lifts anymore.

Answers to your questions:

1. Larger corner posts (others looked spindly) and all of the cables, locks, hydraulics and other mechanicals are internal. Nothing is exposed. I have kids, and didn't want any fingers getting pinched.

2. 88 3/4 inches from post to post.

3. I have 9 foot ceilings. I have no problem with getting a Corvette on and under the lift at the same time.

4. Absolutely.

5. I would have gone for the wider jack bridge so I could put a bag jack on it. The standard jack bridge is (I think) about 6 or 8 inches wide, so it isn't quite wide enough for a jack stand or a bag jack. I think this would make it much easier to use jacks and jack stands on the lift. If you buy, you MUST get the aluminum ramps. The standard steel ramps are really heavy and hard to move around.

 

[LIFTMAN]

lift selection

THERE ARE MANY LIFT CHOICE OUT THERE , HOWEVER THERE ARE CERTAIN CRITERA FOR EACH STYLE LIFT. I HAVE BEEN IN THE LIFT BUSINESS FOR OVER 25 YEARS, AND HAVE INSTALLED OR SERVICED JUST ABOUT THEM ALL. THE BIGGEST DECISION TO MAKE IS IF YOU WANT A DOMESTIC OR IMPORTED LIFT FROM CHINA.
IF YOU ARE GOING TO CARLISLE THERE WILL BE MANY EXAMPLES TO LOOK AT IF NOT CONTACT ME AND I CAN GIVE YOU MY OPION FOR WHAT IT IS WORTH
MARK [LIFTMAN]

 

[*89x2*]

THERE ARE MANY LIFT CHOICE OUT THERE , HOWEVER THERE ARE CERTAIN CRITERA FOR EACH STYLE LIFT. I HAVE BEEN IN THE LIFT BUSINESS FOR OVER 25 YEARS, AND HAVE INSTALLED OR SERVICED JUST ABOUT THEM ALL. THE BIGGEST DECISION TO MAKE IS IF YOU WANT A DOMESTIC OR IMPORTED LIFT FROM CHINA.
IF YOU ARE GOING TO CARLISLE THERE WILL BE MANY EXAMPLES TO LOOK AT IF NOT CONTACT ME AND I CAN GIVE YOU MY OPION FOR WHAT IT IS WORTH
MARK [LIFTMAN]

Mark, aside from the politcal differences between an American lift and one from China, what else is there?
I have heard the grade of steel is of concern, is this unfounded? :confused

Also, I have heard of some lifts coming to market, made of Chinese steel, "made" in America :ugh

What is the straight scoop, and what lifts do you market/install - Thanks

 

[*89x2*]

another option...

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/BEND...14127QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZWDVW#ebayphotohosting

 

[redb2k's]

another option...

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/BEND...14127QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZWDVW#ebayphotohosting

That one scares me. It just does not seem balanced enough. At least it is a brand name. I think I would look at other options.