billb123

I'm considering a lift for my garage and looking for advice.

I have a single bay, fairly narrow (maybe 11' wide) garage, but it opens up a bit for a work shop at the end of the bay. Ceilings are high enough, 10.5' to 11', although I'll have to raise my garage door a bit to make the most of the height. My '85 targa is the main target for my interest, but I'd also like to do maintenance when needed on my Cayenne and my wife's E320. Oil change on the Cayenne lying on my back in the driveway was not ideal.

After some internet research, my thoughts are:
- 4 post is out. Too big and doesn't allow for wheel and brake work. Probably couldn't do a valve adjustment from the bottom either. Looks ideal for stacking and storing cars.
- 2 post looks ideal for maintenance work, but might be tough to walk around it in my skinny garage. If I can find one that fits it might be the choice.
- Max Jax, (variation of a two poster). Seems pretty good, and I'm going to be pouring the slab myself so I could make it deep enough, but it still looks awfully dependent on those anchor bolts. It's also pricier than some robust looking 2 posters
- Scissor lifts look great for a narrow space, but they just don't look as safe. As you lift higher, the base gets smaller and therefore less stable. Also, it seems like you can't get around as much under the car.

Would it be ok to "store" my 911 on a two poster if I wanted to park something else under it?

Am I way off on any of these ideas?

Anyone have other things for me to consider or advice on specific brands?

Thanks for any help.

JackOlsen

If scissor jacks had any kind of safety issue, they would have been sued out of existence a long time ago. The least stable design is a two post, since it relies on concrete being stressed in a way other than compression, and your concrete is generally an unknown in terms of its structural stability. (That said, see above: if there were a safety issue with two-post lifts, they would have been sued out of existence a long time ago.)

For a one car garage, I would absolutely go with a scissors lift -- unless storing two cars stacked is important to you. It's a proven design that's well suited to a rear engine car -- and there are particular lifts and modifications that make it even more useful for engine and transaxle drops.

You can also submerge a scissors lift and get the greatest benefit of all: no huge device in your garage that you're squeezing past or tripping over the 99% of the time when you are NOT servicing a car on the lift.

I write all this because I also had a small space to work in, and looked at a number of alternatives.

This isn't my lift, but I think it's a really smart solution for a one-car garage.

Most of the time -- nothing to trip over:



Then:



And if you want to go even higher, I've seen this Mohawk:





My own lift is odd -- it's primarily used for my 911. It's perfect for that, and was super inexpensive (second-hand). But it's not what I'd suggest for most guys.



And if the shaky gif isn't enough for you, here's a video of the lift in action and how I put it in:

.

On the height issue, you're already pretty limited on the Cayenne at 11'. You might want to look at a roll-up type door or swing-out carriage doors.

Ed Hughes

Another vote for scissors! I think MaxJac would be an issue in a narrow space. The recess is ideal, but I've been parking a Porsche of some sort on my wood ramps for 7 years now-it's simply not an issue. Neither is any problem with stability.

billb123

Thank you both. Good info.

Jack - I've seen your garage on here before and it is downright inspirational. Thanks for including the video and the other pics. I have a question for you. It appears that you just lift your car with the flat surface. Do you not use pads or anything to lift only at the designated lifting points?

Also, you mentioned "there are particular lifts and modifications that make it even more useful for engine and transaxle drops." I assume you are referring to the BendPak and Mohawk lifts you included, but are there other modifications that you know of?

Thanks again,

Rob Heath

I've been thinking about a lift also.

I'm going to follow this thread.

Ed Hughes

Every scissor lift I've seen has included pads, and I lift from the normal jacking points via pads on the arms. My Bendpak came with 3 sets of varying height pads, ultimately allowing more than 54" of clearance under the car. I park on these ramps, which can be slid out of the way if not needed. I also have 14 ga S/S stips under the wheels, to avoid wearing troughs in the concrete. I don't have my RaceDeck tiles in the zone occupied by the lift. No mods needed to this lift for engine or trans drops with a 911. I will need to modify for the 993 by cutting a center section out at the rear, and adding a removable sleeve.

EastBay

yea, I hate not being able to work on brakes and suspension on a 4 post lift
(bridge jack snarc/)



to each his own, but generally

2 post is for heavy duty R&R wrenching, but can't do alignment or ride height work

4 post does most work, ramps can get in the way, but can do alignment and ride height suspension work

My opinion is the MaxJax is full of bad compromises

Scissors is good for a 911, but you are still working at or around ground level and don't have access to the whole chassis

Is best to have all three

JackOlsen

Better to have all three, agreed. But in a limited space, what alignment work can't be done on a scissor lift? I'm hard pressed to find anything on the car I can't access with my lift. And with a little welding and some $7 Ikea bathroom scales, it's even possible to do some poor man's corner balancing.

rusnak

Love the video. "Classical Gas" might go well as the audio dub.

Ed Hughes

I did a lot of work on my 928, obviously with mechanicals on both ends & goodies running down the middle, on my scissor. That work included a new exhaust system.