Otto Mechanic

PS: Is that a 930 up on top? Is your wife available for sale?

2002M3Drew

Thanks, Otto Mechanic. The car on top is a 1983 911SC with a Carrera Tail and front valance. (Looks like a Jr. 930.)

These lifts came surprisingly fast. I ordered them less than two weeks ago, they arrived at the Allentown loading dock on Thursday. I could have had them installed as early as last Friday, but I needed more time to clean out the garage.

I tested the ramp heights without a car to see where the various lock positions were, measuring both the top section and bottom section from the locks. There is a little bit of a misnomer about allowing room to clear the locks. When you go up to a position, it loudly clanks as it clears the lock. Assuming you are not already into the ceiling at that point, you then stop lifting and then lower it on to the locks. It will drop about an inch and a half. When going all the way down, you just need to go back up that 1 1/2 to 2 inches to pop the locks and clear it once again. Glad all the measuring paid off! Also the garage door openers fit better than expected, as the openers clear the hood by a huge margin.

Another thing I wanted to mention to would-be HD-9ST owners is that they are kind of narrow. The outside dimension of the posts is right at 100" by my measure, which is close to that of a standard colonial house garage door. I was thinking that if I can clear the door than the lift would be easy. Backing up in the dark was a little trickier than expected, because those posts are about 5" thick (subtract 10" from width) and then there are a couple of points on the outside of those ramps where you get on that you need to navigate. My 911s are fine, and the 928 was fine pulling in from the front, but a wider car, especially backing in, could be a tough one to do repeatedly without hitting something. Measure carefully!

The installer recommended skipping the aluminum ramps (costly but convenient) and going with a set of Race Ramps for less weight and less money. I may try that.

As for the wife, the key there is that we are not married, and the car and junk obsession predates her!

All in all, for a total investment of around $7,670, or $3,835 each, it was way cheaper than hiring an architect and blowing out my ceiling or expanding the garage.

XS29L9B

Good info in your post, especially about different car widths. I have to pay attention when I drive some car between the posts, more than others - and its harder than one thinks, to back onto the ramps perfectly straight and centered.

Regarding the door openers, I plan to convert mine (10 ft ceiling) to lift master torsion shaft drive motors. This, when combined with raising the tracks 12-14", will net me another two notches on the lifts. Right now, on one car, I have 1" clearance under the lift. Enough, but I'd like more.

Regarding the Race Ramps: DO IT! I skipped the factory ramps altogether and took the nominal credit. Bought the 48" race ramps, which allow for less "angle" on approach. Check out the clearance to the front air dam on the 928

I can lift the Race Ramps with my little finger, they are that lightweight. Best thing I've bought for use in the garage since, well, the lifts...

2002M3Drew

Thanks for the advice! Nice garage full of toys!! I like the C4. Another one on my car bucket list...��

XS29L9B

Thanks. I have another garage with other, more utilitarian vehicles for every day use, but am out of space. Time to add another bay... And more lifts...

2002M3Drew

Now the whole family is in the garage! Well, save the M3 and Cayenne.

I carefully marked the spots on the left where you need to lift to, and then where the Lifes rest on their locks for future convenience. I took the cars up very carefully while standing on a step ladder to make sure there would be no roof or hood damage. The lift on the right with the maroon car can go up one more stop which will allow for a lot of room underneath (56" or so). I have 55 1/2 inches on the left side.

As I said in an earlier post, I discovered that you will know the point you need to lift to clear the locks when you are actually putting the car up, because after you hear the locks click and wait another second, you then have to lower the car down to it's four locks. That drop is about 2 inches. When you go to lower it down again you simply are raising it back up to the spot that you originally lifted it to, then hitting the airlock release button, and dropping it from there. So in other words, you can't even get it to rest on it's four locks unless you have taken it up those extra inches in the first place. Assuming you didn't hit your ceiling when you put the car up in the air, you should be fine.

19psi

When you hear the click, always go up another 1" before stopping and lowering onto the locks. If you don't there is always a slight chance one lock didn't fully clear due to minor differences and things will bind when lowering.
I also do a quick walk around and check the cable at each post to make sure there is no tension left on it.

XS29L9B

Holy smokes - the garage door motor is close to the hood

studlee

I'm reviving an old thread. I have a garage that is 29 feet long and 10 ft ceilings. I have 2 porsches and each are shy of 15 ft long. after seeing this photo I was thinking I could use a scissor lift and the 2nd car just needs be parked under by a few inches. is it ok to leave a car on a scissor lift months at a time? i would rather not get a 4 post due to the bulkiness of them and i will not always have as many cars as i currently. i would also use the scissor lift for working on cars.

thanks for your feedback.

Adamant1971

I have a 4 post lift in a 20' x 10' garage. I have learned to always traverse the garage with my head down. LOL

petee_c

I have a maxjax and have lifted my wife's q7 tdi with it.

4" is the minimum as the wedge anchors would not hold. , I ended up having to cutout a 3x4' section under each post and putting in 12" of concrete keyed into the existing floor.

This added about $500 and about a day of diy labour to the installation, and a month of cure time.

AirtekHVAC

This is the one I am eyeballing.....tuxedo 12k pound lift. I want the trolley jacks as well. I have 4" concrete, and did not plan on bolting it down. I might pin it....

Probably the heaviest thing that will ever be on it would be my suburban....but ya never know

I have 14' ceilings and 21' depth, and the doors roll up...

Petza914

I'm not a big fan of open channels in the vertical posts. Some have been known to collapse and there's a pinch point in there, though with a 12,000 lb rating you should have plenty of reserve. I prefer the closed post design of the Backyard Buddy lift and I think they offer a 9,000 lb version which should cover most anything, especially since there's a safety factor built into the rating.

AirtekHVAC

The Bend pack one that I was looking at is also open channel. This one states that it does have redundant safety locks, every 3 inches. It's around 2800$ and I found the trolley jacks for 595$ ea.

Petza914

the locks aren't the issue, it's the tower completely collapsing on this type of open channel tower, but Bend Pak is pretty well known as a quality lift. I'll try to find some pictures of what I'm talking about tomorrow. American steel or imported?