grepin

Well here in Australia I cant get Porken Lift Bars and the Quickjacks are really expensive. As much if not more than a normal hoist. I was looking at alternatives and found these interesting.
Disregard the Merc bit the lift is demonstrated at the start.
However assuming the width is adjustable I am not sure the 928 has a suitable area to lift from using the above device.
I also have some heavy duty 4WD jack stands that start at 500mm high that i would then use to support the car or alternatively something under the wheel.
Then I thought you could go to the other end and lift it up if you wanted it level.

Any thoughts. Is the chassis rail suitable?

grepin

Another vid.

Justin Tyme

I dunno if I'd want to be underneath that thing.

There doesn't seem to be much to it.

grepin

Me neither as I was saying get the car elevated in a way that looks easy and drop some hi heavy duty jacks in place and remove the thing or in addition to the jacks. I have half meter high truck jack stands that the lowest setting starts at 50 cm. But its a 6 action process to get the car up that high with a normal jack. No I wouldn't get under it either as I was saying in the original post put supports under areas for safety. Wheels race ramps, jack stands whatever you have but elevates pretty high and easy from the look.

I dont think the sill rail under neath would be suitable anyway.

dr bob

There are no "chassis rails" that you can lift from or with which you can support the car on stands. The workshop manual suggests that the bracket at the forward end of the rear control arms, the one just aft of the rear lift pad, is suitable for lifting the car. In the front there's some colloquial feeling that the front tie-down areas and the engine cross-member are safe to use for lifting. For the record, I'm not a fan of using those places.

Find large-footprint stands if you plan on any serious work with the car up high. 50cm (about 19") under the lift pads demands a footprint at least a foot (25-30cm) for most work under that car. You can calculate the overturning forces with the height of the stand and the base dimensions, knowing the weight of the car. Make sure you have at least 100% safety margin as you plan projects under the car.

Lifting the 928 onto tall stands is a multi-step process. Start at the rear jack pad on one side, lift as high as you can safely, and place a stand (with pad) under the front pad on the same side. Move to the other rear pad, and lift there as you as you can safely. Place a stand (with pad) under the front on that side. If I need the car up higher, I might go back to the first side with an added block of wood on the roller jack, and lift again to place a taller stand. Back to the first side, repeat. Until the front of the car is on stands at the height you want. Then go after the rear, with the jack under the rear aluminum crossmember. Lift there in stages as needed to get the rear to your target height, placing stands (with pads) under the rear lift points at each step. Our 928 goes through this ritual every fall for winter hibernation, comes back down using the procedure reversed in the spring for driving season.

In between, lifting the car for service or cleaning is managed with a Max-Jax low-rise two post lift in the work bay. Folks in the underneath countries have managed to order and have these Chinese lifts drop-shipped to them, rather than having them shipped to the US distributors and back. A little searching here might turn up some info on exactly how that was arranged. There are certainly more-portable lifts that slide under the car. Again, figuring the logistics of getting one in your garage may be the challenge. Hopefully there are some local options. Considering the current business environment, you might find favorable options with used two-post commercial lifts are especially attractive.

grepin

Thanks dr bob.

Good description on how you lift the car. Garage height is the issue for me and two post hoist otherwise easy deal for me here in Australia. Its the smaller things like Quickjacks that come at a premium even more than a standard hoist. If I could get Porken lift bars I think I would be happy. If anyone in Australia has any and no longer required let me know. Thanks again for the reply.

Greg

LargeFarva

Semi-related, I got a Quickjack to work on the 928 with and wasn't very happy with the experience. Several of the hydraulic fittings leaked, and it took a few replacements + some expensive hydraulic Loctite to remedy. They barely get the car high enough off the ground to roll under, and you lose the ability to come in from the side.

All in all I'd rather have spent the extra $500-$800 and gotten a real lift.

grepin

How about this one. I almost prefer it to a two post lift. Less intrusive. No need for thick concrete.

StratfordShark

I know what you mean about the hydraulic fittings. The originals with my QuickJack didn’t leak but didn’t easily couple/detach. I replaced with nice quality items and didn’t look back. For my garage size it’s ideal and while extra height would be nice, there isn’t room or I suspect good enough concrete for a 2 post. Maybe get a scissor next, but the completely clear access under car with QuickJack makes up for no side access.

fatmanontwowheels

How much is shipping on the Porken bars or is shipping from Ken not an option?

linderpat

Well that's a cool set up, but you better have a garage big enough for it. That's monsterous. A decent 2 post would take less room.

phendriks

So the porken bars are price prohibitive, but an acceptable solution. Build your own, or organize the pieces and have shop weld them up. I built mine no problem (now have quikjacks and the bars are on the scrap steel pile).

dr bob

I like Ken's lift bars and would have a set just for the seasonal storage stuff, except that the car is pretty tight against a wall when stored on stands so no way to lift that side on lift bars. For service though, they work amazingly well. I've looked hard at his use of O-beam (pipe), but realize there isn't room for a length of wide-flange beam or rectangular tubing there, especially for cars that are sagged on the suspension. I'm not sure I could fabricate a set for what he was offering them for, plus he's "just" a few hours away on the other side of the mountains if I really needed a set. Adelaide is a long swim from Portland, especially with a set of lift bars strapped to your back. The Good News is that freight space in airplanes may be as cheap now as it will ever be. Meanwhile, have a local fabricator look at the requirements and materials. I suspect that a few others in the region might be interested enough to get past any one-pair price premium.

I gave away most of my metal fab equipment when I got married almost 20 years ago now. Hidden cost of battle.

grepin

Nah he cant ship them or should I say find a courier that can.

928Myles

Greg,
there was a set of dimensioned 'drawings' floating around a few years ago for those too remote to be able to source the liftbars from Ken.

Might be worth contacting Ken to see if he is willing to send you them, or at least approve someone else sending you them, so you can investigate building / commissioning your own..

Myles