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I have two Challenger lifts and have no idea what anybody is talking about regarding "triangles", :triangle bits"... Can somebody clue me in?
EDIT: Now I think I have it. You mean the covers for the mechanicals from the uprights to the runways?
Someone posted a great picture in post #334 of this thread, which shows the tight clearance between the triangle support on a Bendpak HD9-ST.
PorscheStrong, looking forward to your thoughts once you get your lift installed!
The Twin Busch scissor was simply stalling when lifting flat from the floor, not tripping the breaker.
Two methods that did get it to work:
1. Keep bumping the up switch.until it gets a couple inches off the floor. Probably not good for the motor. The lift works very well after this point. Raises very fast.
2. Take out the 5" tall blocks that I had under the lift points and replace with 3" tall blocks. That allows the lift to move the first two inches with no weight on it. I think the blocks supplied with the lift are 2" so those work great. I used the 5" tall because I wanted easy access to a couple fasteners for the underbody panels on the 997.
Someone posted a great picture in post #334 of this thread, which shows the tight clearance between the triangle support on a Bendpak HD9-ST.
Thanks.
On the Challenger CL4P9S the triangle ( at the bottom) is about 2.5" from the outer edge of runway. Higher up near the bottom of the rim it is closer to 6". One would have to be pretty far off the runway for this to be an issue.
I was thinking about going with the Bendpak HD-9ST as my garage doesn't have a great deal of width, but I read that the 991 GT3 would be an extremely tight fit up top. It seems the issue is that the rims could hit the triangle sections supporting the platform, and there is pretty much no extra space. Can anyone confirm whether the Challenger CL4P7 would have the same issue? From the spec sheet the CLP47 has 78" of drive through clearance (width) versus 76.5" on the HD-9ST. Also, from pictures it appears the CLP47 has smaller triangle supports on the platform and that scratching rims would not be a problem. If anyone could confirm that would be great.
I have the Challenger CLP47 and my 991 C4S which is also 73” wide at rear. As long as the car is on the platforms, there is plenty of space from the triangles. There is about 2” excess ramp width. I back my 991 on the lift to make sure alignment with the platforms is ok and so I dont have to worry about front spoiler clearance (If needed, I could clear it by using FAL if I wanted to pull in)
Despite a few false starts with Challenger and Bendpak, I just ordered the Challenger CLP47 and my install will be between Xmas and NYE. My GT3 will be on the top of it and I can report back then.
I spent a lot of time confirming measurements and had the installers inspect my garage before ordering (that old saying: "measure twice, cut once"). From my notes, the GT3 is nearly 73" wide at the wheels and you have 92" between posts; of that space between posts, 38" is the space between runways, the next 40" (20" on each side) is runways, so that's your 78" ramp width. Practically speaking, you want wheels on runways, so you're talking about 5" of margin for error, 2.5" per side. Beyond that, there's another 14", 7" per side, before the columns, but as you noted, part of that space on each side features the triangle supports, which eventually risk becoming a scrapping hazard for wheels/tires as they rise up to the post. Within that 7" range on each side, my estimate was that at least 3" was clear before the triangles were a factor, and perhaps more when you account for tire height, but safely ~85" of usable width -- but again, there are limits to how much of that additional width you could really use since you'd be partially off the ramp at that point.
Notably, the Challenger is a 5.75" runway height, so even with the 50" ramps, my calculations showed you need FAL to get up the ramp without bottoming out. I don't love that, because of course the FAL system isn't fail-safe. Really hoping I just missed on my math, but I doubt it. In my research, Bendpak had lots of disadvantages over Challenger, but their lower runway height of 4.5" is a nice advantage - with Bendpak's 48" ramps, no FAL appeared to be needed to get the GT3 on it w/out scrapping.
On Bendpak, I couldn't get over the following hurdles: (i) need for air system; (ii) wouldn't credit you for the inadequate short steel ramps when I needed long aluminum ramps, as opposed to Challenger and others who credited on the swap; (iii) frequent complaints on RL and other sites about their dependability; and most notably (iv) I couldn't find a single regional installer who had positive things to say about them -- in fact, several didn't want to take the job b/c of frequent issues with Bendpak. Perhaps the installers were BS'ing me because they got more kickback's from other brands, but I heard the same thing 3-4 times and started to put some stock in it.
I have the Challenger with short ramps and back my 991 C4S on it to avoid the need to use FAL. Backing onto lift also makes it easier to position the wider rear of the car on the ramps. My car has PASM with 10mm lower sport suspension so I think has same spoiler clearance as GT3. Of course I have no issues with the 993 as it is much shorter, narrower and has more ground clearance than the 991
Just installed the Tuxedo extra large, extra tall lift. At its highest setting, I (6’ 3”) can walk under it, allowing me to keep the ramps on at all times. And helpful for when I use it with my larger vehicles. Very happy with it. http://www.tuxedodistributors.com/au....pdf#view=FitV
Just installed the Tuxedo extra large, extra tall lift. At its highest setting, I (6’ 3”) can walk under it, allowing me to keep the ramps on at all times. And helpful for when I use it with my larger vehicles. Very happy with it. http://www.tuxedodistributors.com/au....pdf#view=FitV
Wow. That's some serious clearance. How tall are your ceilings?
Wow. That's some serious clearance. How tall are your ceilings?
13 feet. When building this a few years ago, made sure to have lots of clearance with a future lift in mind. Because I had the space, getting the bigger lift was a no brainer. Don’t need the extra height for the cars, but as I mentioned it’s great to not have to take the ramps on and off. Where the bigger lift is good is for the long wheelbase 7 series.
12-06-2019, 02:05 PM
