jschiller

For those that might be interested in purchasing a MaxJax, I see that Home Depot has the older model on sale (the original non-ALI certified) for $1699 with free delivery to your door. According to a thread I saw at Garagejournal.com, some online vendors will price match and save you the state sales tax to boot. But I think I would rather deal with Home Depot and pay the state sales tax for the added security and put it on their interest free store card for 18 mos.

Obturate

I am sorry, I was not clear in my post. I have a Max Jax that I use to lift the car. Once the car is lifted, I place the jack stands for safety. They are there in case the Max Jax should fail. Makes me feel better. The stands I have are rated for the weight and tall enough to engage the car when lifted on the Max Jax.

sendarius

Jack stands are MUCH more difficult to use than the MaxJax, and not nearly as capable. Using stands, I can't get the car even half as high.

For my uses, I leave the posts bolted to the floor as I have the room to do so.

I drive the car in, and halt between the posts. I push the lifting pads into position. I push the "make the car go up" button. Done.

IIRC, dr bob has added a couple of additional pairs of holes at different heights for the lock bars, so he can hold the car at multiple levels without relying on the hydraulics.
This is a great idea, that I intend to steal.

UPDATE: Just saw your reply to dr bob. Makes more sense now. One question: where do you put the jack stands if you use the MaxJax on the jacking points?

Obturate

I've actually only used the Max Jax for work on old muscle cars. I don't believe I ever did use it to lift a Porsche. I placed the jack stands somewhere else, like the subframe (unibody car). I think I've also placed them under the arms of the lift and snugged them up since they are threaded. I just used them for piece of mind to prevent the car from falling on me. Maybe unnecessary but the Max Jax is not a very heavy duty lift and my concrete floor in that building is of uncertain depth and strength.

dr bob

I have not added any holes in the column for more height options. although that thought has certainly crossed my mind a few times. I do find that the additional height options I want are at the lower end of the carriage, so I can place a jack stand under each carriage, right in the middle and as close to the column as I can get it. Then extend the jack stands to hold the carriage at just the position I want. My garage/workbay floor is porcelain tiled, so jackstands are always set on plywood pads. For this duty, the 3/4"-thick plywood pad butts against the column foot, and supports the two jack stand feet that aren't on the column base. I can use either 3T or 6T stands, depending on the height I desire. Since the lift pads engage the car at the same spots where I might want to put safety stands, I like the stands under the carriage where they are out of the way, vs. under the car at the lift points where they become temporary black holes under which dropped hardware and tools disappear. I also clean the floor regularly where I'm working, so having that are under the car completely clear is more than handy.

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I find that I'm a little lazy in my advancing years. Most work with car on the lift is done sitting down, on a "creeper seat" rolling chair that's about 12" high. For suspension and brake work, having the car up maybe a foot puts all the wheelwell stuff at perfect working height for sitting on that chair. For undercar work, the car goes up to full 4' height, where my bump-cap protected noggin is just below the height of the car's underpinnings as I roll around on the wheeled seat. As others mention, the lift arms are about the only hazard, hence the bump hat. At that full four-foot chassis height, wheels and tires are at perfect stand-up height for working if you feel that need.

Lighting while working under the car is a challenge I haven't yet perfected. I end up moving worklights around strategically when working under the car. Wheel well projects get a worklight inside, usually with padded magnets that grab the inner steel surfaces when needed. Others have come up with more creative solutions including extension-arm spotlights on short-legged reclining work chairs on wheels. These 'lighting problems' are the same ones you face with the car on stands or a lift.