theporscheguy

I used to have a four post lift purchased from Greg Smith Equipment (no affiliation) My ceiling was just under 10' tall so I had the garage door opener changed to a shaft mount system and had extra rails added to the garage door track so that the garage door would hug the ceiling. Two Porsche's fit nicely but due to ceiling height I could not place a truck or other slightly taller car on top or bottom. Worked great for the 5 years that I lived in that house and had more cars than space. I did not bolt the lift down either and simply used wood spacers so that I wouldn't damage the epoxy floor during natural movement of the lift.

Brent

Direct Lift with Pro-Jack Sliding Jack from Derek Weaver.

EMan 928

That looks like a good option, Tony. About half the $$$ of the Ben Pak option. Do you have this?

77tony

Hi Eric, Appears Brent has the setup your looking for post # 17 above. Inside the crate of the 4-post lift was a HD steel sliding tray (under middle of car post #7 above) I already had a low profile bottle jack, 2 aluminum floor jacks and stands. Enough for my needs. T
http://www.harborfreight.com/20-ton-...ack-66481.html
http://www.harborfreight.com/15-ton-...ump-62160.html
http://www.harborfreight.com/6-ton-s...nds-61197.html

jeff spahn

Thanks tony. I'll pick up one of those.

RennPartsDirect

You sir, are an innovator!!! Maybe I do have a 4 car garage after all...

RedRaider1

I agree. How the hell did I not think of parking like that when needed earlier.

Here's a shot of our garage with Andy Kay doing his magic. The ceiling is right at 10'. We removed the old chain door openers and replaced with jack drives. This allowed us to change the door rails so they traveled further up. That makes the door travel much less into the garage giving you even more height.

William A

a few of us have height but small footprint. These are 2 Backyard Buddy overheight lifts, 9' between posts, full 84" clearance. rolling lift platform and oil drip trays between ramps.

8 years of trouble free service, couldn't be happier.

XS29L9B

The space looks well used. Good use of avail. real estate

GeorgeM

Same here. An option well worth it. I thought about getting 2 of them, but they'd take up too much space, and it's not like you can just remove them... way too heavy. I'll use jackstands on the runways or use the cross tray if I need all four corners jacked up.

I got the Direct Lift extra tall model so that I can park my truck under it (w/o a car above, of course) if I ever have to.

I have just over 11' in width and 11.5' in height.... shaft mounted opener and raised tracks as described by others. The only obstacle is the door, but depends on which car is on the top... or the bottom for that matter.

Petza914

I have a Custom Backyard Buddy lift as well. It's custom in that I'm using a hybrid version of 2 of their lift offerings - the 7,000 lb Overheight Lift and the Trailer Storage Lift. I needed one that has a ramp width narrow enough to accomodate the inside tire width dimension of my 914, but also wide enough to accomodate the outside tire width of my Wakeboard Boat Trailer (trailer is stored on the lift in the Summer while the boat is stored on a lift at the dock).

We designed a 2nd set of ramps that are mounted next to the standard one. I also addied a pair of sliding pneumatic bridge jacks and it was custom powdercoated in black and silver since I didn't want red, but did want 2 colors.

Ceiling height is 11'4" and I have jackshaft openers on both doors to keep them close to the ceilings. Lift has the casters option as it moves over 1 bay in the winter when the boat is on the trailer in the garage (backing down the driveway the angle is too tight to get the boat in the bay next to the workshop).

Works great. Changed the complete suspension on my 997 myself. Oil changes are fast and easy as I have a rolling drain pan as well as drip trays.

William A

Nice setup! I had to wait an extra 2 months for my lifts PC'd in black, they were a bit of a pain about it but finally got it done. I have to get a second hydraulic jack stand, just have the rolling jack platform.

XS29L9B

BYB worked like a champ this weekend w/ the 928 Worth its weight in gold!

GiuseppeM

I'm planning to buy a lift too and it seems that Bendpak HD-9 is the most popular, but what's up with the necessity to plug a compressor every time you need to get the car down? It's a deal breaker to me.
I always liked the American Custom M1-4.5 Single Post but i couldn't find enough feedback, I've seen a few posts around and on Garage Journal but nothing recent.

firemn131

Mine is from Greg Smith equipment. I have a 928 on top and a 968 underneath. Garage height to the center beam is 10 feet. Can't imagine not having it. Best present my wife ever gave me. I can open the garage door without hitting the car, it's close but it works. 4 inch slab was good enough. It floats and you can move it around the garage with a car on it, if you have the coasters attached.