Garage car lift

[BillD]

rdefabri:

Fitting the lift between the door rails was no problem in my garage. The garage door rails are a little more than 10' from each other on the inside and the outside width of the lift posts is a little more than 8'.

BillD

[GregP]

I have a lift from Eagle Equipment. I had it about four years and haven't had any problems. One of the features that I like (many lifts have it) are the wheels that I can attach so that when it's lowered the post raise a few inches and I can move it in my garage even with a car on it. At one time I turned it sideways and put my GTO on top, the Z underneath and could still use the bay for my other short car (BMW). I only have a 10' ceiling so it just makes it. I put an extention on the garage door rails and raised the opener up between the the joists rather than hanging down. You can see it my gallery.

Greg

[rdefabri]

Greg,

Sweet wheels - I have been jonesing for a 1965 GTO for some time...I think I looked at Eagle lifts. Seeing you are East Coast helps, since I want to minimize shipping, so I'll give them a look - THANKS!

BillD - yes, I figured the car and lift would fit between. As I would likely put my E-Type up top, and it's a thin car, I have minimal worries. However, as many a good engineer have told me "measure twice, cut once!".

Rich

[GregP]

Rich,

The shop was only about 15 min from me in Attleboro,Ma so I was able to go in and see how they were made and check out the demo models in the warehouse. Here is ther web site.

http://eagleequip.com/page/EE/CTGY/LI-SS

Greg

[7T1240]

Hi Rich,

This morning I spoke with a friend to see what his lift is. It's a Challenger:

http://www.challengerlifts.com/about.shtml

My friend chose it at least in part because a local Porsche mechanic, (Hartmut Leuschner,Alpine Motors in Hayden Lake, ID. 208-762-7914) has a number of them in the his shop. I visited the Challenger website briefly and they meet your criteria in at least two ways - they sell a 4 post and they are ALI/ETL certified. They cite Ford and Michelin as two of their customers, and there is a lot of info on their website. Just another option for you to check out.

Gary S. (who hopes to be following in your footsteps lift-wise in the near future!)

[rdefabri]

Excellent! The more references the better! I will check out Challenger as well!

How can we get Nissan Sport or some other magazine to do an independent test on these???

[Carl Beck]

Lets see... that 240Z weights 2500 lbs and a E-Type might be 3500 lbs....

Wonder just how big a lift one really needs... the smallest Challenger seems to be 12,000lbs..

Personally, I have got to have that Eagle - Extreme Duty Four Post Lift - 40,000 lb lifting capacity... Instead of lifting a car - hell, I'll lift the whole garage and park four more cars under it !

I wonder why Eagle doesn't put the Eagle name on their Mechanix MS-7000?

I wonder why Eagle doesn't offer a comprehensive, assembly / operation manual for their Mechanix MS-7000?

I wonder why Eagle shows you more information about their Eagle SS series lifts - when you hit the "Click here to read more about our Storage/Service lifts"... on the page that shows the Mechanix Lifts..

Do you wonder why there is $900.00 difference between the Mechanix MS-7000 series and the SS-7000 Series?

decisions, decisions.. but you know that Mechanicx lift looks a lot like the "other brands cheap lifts" that they show you on the Backyard Buddy site... hummm...

Nonetheless, at $1850.00 - the Mechanix MS-7000 would most likely hold our 2500 lb Z's without too much risk... and it includes jack tray, caster kit and aluminum ramps... Just knowing about it might help you swing a better deal on some other lift... Get ahold of the right salesman, and most of these companies will deal off their full retail prices...

FWIW,

Carl B.

[BillD]

Insurance Coverage: In response to an earlier question about insurance coverage should the lift fail, my automobile insurance company (Haggarty) tells me that although the case would have to be assessed at the time of claim, unless there was a specific exclusion under the collision section of my policy (there isn't) they would cover all damages incurred.

As noted before, I wouldn't lift my car or park another vehicle under it if I didn't have confidence in the machine, so I'm not anticipating this as a likely outcome but it is still good to know that it is covered.

Warning: I've never had any major bad experiences with the lift, but I would like to underscore Carl's warning to pay attention to what you are doing. The mechanism is lifted by one hydraulic ram that pulls four aircraft cables running within the legs. These cables are easily adjusted so that everything is made exactly level. If they are allowed to go out of adjustment, when the lift is raised to release the mechanical locks it is possible to release three locks and keep one of the locks activated. This will result in out of kilter lowering that could be catastrophic. It happened to me once but was very apparant before anything close to Carl's experience. I saw what was happening within inches and simply raised the lift a little higher, released all of the locks, and then lowered it down without incidence. I then readjusted the cables and everything is cool. Since you hear the locks click as the lift is raised, it is easy to monitor by readjusting when the clicks are no longer simultaneous. (I've never had to readjust after this event.) Bottom line - Keep all of your tools (especially the ones that can cause your car to fall on you) well maintained and pay attention to what you are doing when you are using them.

[GregP]

BillD is correct in regards to the insurance issue. Unless the policy specifically excludes the storage lift or working on your own car on a lift, it would be covered if you have the collision coverage . I have yet to see a policy (25 yrs in the business)with this exclusion (doesn't mean it doesn't exist with someone). Read your policy or contact your agenct to confirm.

Carl brings up interesting questions regarding Eagle lifts. When I purchased mine (SS7000) it was the low end one that they carried. I paid around $2000 about 4-5 yrs ago and got them to throw in drip pans & wheels. Over the last year or so the Backyard Buddy has been advertising all those failed lifts out there, which should and is supposed to scare you. I'm not sure of BB's prices now but I would consider them if I was getting a new one. As BillD stated the lifts are easy to adjust. As far as one end catching and the lift coming down crooked it could happen if one of the safety latches catches but it would be extremely hard to miss since they have you in a position not miss it. The Eagle has a handle that you have to push down with one hand while releasing the pressure with another. When you release the safety locks you can clearly see all four release. The way the system is set up makes it very difficult not to be paying attention. The safety release lever is on the front bar that goes across post to post. The release for pressure is on the motor which is mounted to the post so my left hand reaches over and releases the safety and my right hand releases the pressure. I am basically stuck watching the car come down.

Bottom line is do your homework and check them out. There was a lot of terrific info posted here.

Greg

[BillD]

Your lock release mechanism appears to be exactly like mine. It appears to be a very simple and reliable design.

[7T1240]

Snipped

Lets see... that 240Z weights 2500 lbs and a E-Type might be 3500 lbs....

Wonder just how big a lift one really needs... the smallest Challenger seems to be 12,000lbs..

FWIW,

Carl B.

Actually, the smallest Challenger has a 9000 lb. capacity - albeit as a two post. This is the model my friend has. He uses it to store his early Carrera RS over his '80 911SC, as well as for maintenance, and he paid ~$2800 for it in 2002.

And yes, the smallest four post is rated at 12,000. Is excess capacity a problem? If pricing on two similiar models is equal, wouldn't increased weight capacity be a benefit? Also, if there is real added value in durability (over-engineered might equate to lasts longer), flexibility (maybe one day I own a truck or SUV, or perhaps a relative or friend who owns same would like access to the lift), or safety / peace of mind (ain't no way the E-type is gonna break this sucker!) a price premium might be worth it to some. It's all about choices.

The Challenger website has a link to all ALI members, which is think is really helpful:

http://www.autolift.org/members.html

Go to the homepage of this website, and you can learn about lifts broken out by type - 2 post, 4 post, etc.

Snipped

Personally, I have got to have that Eagle - Extreme Duty Four Post Lift - 40,000 lb lifting capacity... Instead of lifting a car - hell, I'll lift the whole garage and park four more cars under it !

FWIW,

Carl B.

Personally, I'm looking at the lift pictured below!

Gary S.

[rdefabri]

I am less concerned with Capacity - as Carl pointed out, my E-Type is a lightweight (more like 2,900 lbs), my main concern is the safety and ease of use. While I certainly want to ensure that my cars are safe, I also have 2 children and I work away from home. God forbid something happened to the lift while the kids were inadvertantly close to it.

This will be the major selling point for me - the product should be overbuilt for dummies like me (e.g., there should be no failure 99.999% of the time).