Inflatable Car Lift

[1st vette]

This may sound incredibly stupid, but I feel the need to ask anyway. Has anyone ever heard of an inflatible (like an air bag) car lift / hoist?? I thought I saw an advertisement for one once, but...... If so, any idea where I could get one?? I weigh about 150lbs., but cannot fit under my 1980 enough to do any meaningful work, and I'm not able to install anything prmanent in my garage,

Thank You in advance.

 

[82ColEd]

I've seen those in one of them late night infomercials.. Like a ballon, to blow up under your car.. Not under my car (Vette or other)..:nono
I dont think a plastic baggy can handle the weight, and i certainly dont want to be under there to find out.. You could get a car jack and a couple of stands. Nothing permanent there.


-Stefan

 

[BarryK]

i can't possible imagine one like that.
If it went under the car and inflated to lift the car it would cover up everything underneath so than how could you work on anything?

those of us who can't afford a nice lift or have the room to install one usually use a floor jack to lift the car onto jackstands to work underneath it.

I use an aluminum 4000lb floor jack from Sears and than put the car up on four 3-ton jackstands. This gives me plenty of height to get under the car on a creeper and do my work. It's not as nice as working standing up under a lift but it beats not being able to get under the car at all.

 

[Rowdy1]

Not Always

Ever see the ballons they use to upright tractor trailers that have flipped on the side of the road? They're stronger than you think but as far as using one to work under, I'd have to see it. It may be a way to get it up high enough to get jack stands under but I'd stay away from it with my first impressions.

 

[craig32]

The only inflatable lifts I've heard of is the ones used by rescue personnel at accident scenes. If a car is upside down, they use them to stabilize the car if they can't roll it back over. Also as mentioned in the previous post, for uprighting rigs - never seen it, but don't doubt it for a second. I wouldn't think you'd use one for a 'jack' tho. If it ever ruptured, you'd be in big trouble. Just my opinion.

 

[SPANISHVETTS]

I have seen one of those demonstrated over here but it did not work very well.
The thing had a vacuum cleaner size hose that they stuck on the exhaust pipe, (great for the exhaust system, valves, etc.), then they stuck the beach ball thing under the car and revved up the motor. It did lift the car a bit but not enough to get a wheel off – which was the point of the demo. The car was a KIA so what ever they damaged on the underside was probably not important anyway.

 

[srs244]

This may sound incredibly stupid, but I feel the need to ask anyway. Has anyone ever heard of an inflatible (like an air bag) car lift / hoist?? I thought I saw an advertisement for one once, but...... If so, any idea where I could get one?? I weigh about 150lbs., but cannot fit under my 1980 enough to do any meaningful work, and I'm not able to install anything prmanent in my garage,

Thank You in advance.

i have one of these: www.quiklift.com and it's portable (to a point of course, lol). nothing permanent and you can park on it in the ramped position if you wish (i park my 78 on it in the garage at all times). it is lifted by a good hydraulic jack, so your investment is minimal and you can take it with you if you move. even though they suggest two people to assemble it, i did it all by myself in a couple of hours. it would be logistically better to have 2 folks do it, but it really isn't necessary. i love it and it saved me loads of money over a regular lift that wasn't going to fit in my garage unless i raised the ceiling anyway, lol!!

 

[soggytaco]

This may sound incredibly stupid, but I feel the need to ask anyway. Has anyone ever heard of an inflatible (like an air bag) car lift / hoist?? I thought I saw an advertisement for one once, but...... If so, any idea where I could get one?? I weigh about 150lbs., but cannot fit under my 1980 enough to do any meaningful work, and I'm not able to install anything prmanent in my garage,

Thank You in advance.

They do make them my old landlord used to build hot rods and he had one in his shop it would only lift the car up enough to change the tires. his was set in the floor so it was flush when not in use.