993James993

I'm in the process of planning my garage project and am considering this unit based on Mike J's posts.

Mike is this the model you have? (for some reason I could not find your thread this morning.)

Are these units considered to be 'extremely' safe provided that you follow the instructions and don't do anything dumb? After reading posts about jack stands I am leaning more toward this type of unit.

At $1695 this seems like an incredible bargain. I can see it paying for itself quickly just doing minor service.

Will I need additional arms if i use it for several cars? My son had an '87 944, my car is a '95 993. We may add a Boxster for the wife.

Mike and everyone else experienced with these, I would love to hear your feedback.

Thanks!

Jim

Mike J

Hi Jim,

Yes, I have the PRO 9F. Extremely well built, you can see the difference in the thickness of the steel on other lifts...a friend has a rotary and it looks aneimic to this lift. One of the reasons I went to the 9000lb lift is that is was only a few hundred more than the smaller lift, had a much larger base plate, and it was built way heavier. If I am under a car I want the strongest lift I can afford. I got them down a bit on price because I bought three (two for friends) and especially saved on the shipping.

I have lifted my 8800 llb utility truck with it with no problems. You need at least 4" of concrete on the floor, I have 4.5 - 5" and have no problems with supporting the vehicles. It does make maintenance way way easier...its a pleasure to go underneath the car.

A few hints though:

993's are wide for their length the front jack points close to the outside of the car and the distance between the rear and front jack points is not that large. The PRO 9F has heavy arm that can extend out quite a bit. I found that if you mount the lift as per the instructions the arms are almost too long so they overshoot the jack points. You can work around it by jacking the car on the arms of the lift (they can supply jack pads that ride on the arm) or modify the lift.

What I did is mount the towers of the lift an extra 14" wider than designed. This involved a bit of work since you now have to build cable extentions (which I can send you pictures of what I did) and a new hydraulic hose. It only took me a few hours. Its well worth the extra effort, I can roll in a 993, swing the arms in, they fit perfectly on the jack points and, because of the extra width, there is extra room for the doors to swing open. I would highly recommend doing this from the beginning.

I have been using hockey pucks to add height to the jack pads themselves so the arms will clear the rocker panels, and will eventually machine the correct attachments. I have not had a problem yet with the car's low heights, some cars we lifter are below RS heights but I can still get the arms under.

Next weekend we have a big Porsche event at my house and there will be tons of cars going off and on the lift. I will take pictures so you can see how I set it up and how it works.

You should also order a oil drain tank (the tank with the large funnel), very usefull and a tower jack so you can hold the car up if you need to swing one of the arms out of the way (like for oil changes).

If you have the headroom in your garage this is the way to go. I looked at Bend Pak, Rotary, etc. but they are at a high price premium for what I thought was a lighter lift. BTW, I think the pump unit is made in the US.

Just ask away on questions, no problems there. A satisfied customer (so are my friends) with no affiliations, etc...

Cheers,

Mike

Mike J

I will run down to the shop and measure the lift as it stands. The right side can be right against your wall and the left will be in the center (or the other way around). So a 22' garage sounds fine at the moment but I need to confirm with my measuring tape.

They make shorter arms I t hink on the smaller lifts..the spec sheets are on their web site.

Cheers,

Mike

Mike J

Okay, the maximum width of the outside of the left floor plates to the outside of the right floorplate is 147.5 inches. The width on the outside to outside of each tower is 136 inches, and the inside to inside measurement between the carriages that ride on towers is 108.5 inches (this is the distance that the car has to fit between the two carriages). Hope that this is clear enough...

My ceilings are 10'4" and I have about a foot from the ceilings to the top of the posts. I can get the car high enough so I can just stand upright and I am 6' tall. The car is lifted between the garage door tracks and is far enough into the garage so even if the door is open it does not touch the car. I also made sure that the garage door opener is off to the side just a wee bit so its not in the way. However I am not lifting to maximum height on the lift, I have markers on the side of the lift that tells me how to go up since I can't see the top of the car to the ceiling very well from the ground. If you can squeeze the ceilings to 11' (just over the lift) you will have a perfect situation!

You can always put the car up high when the garage door is closed if you have clearance problems.

Cheers,

Mike

993Porsche

Does anyone have any pictures of the Direct Lift Pro 9F?


Thanks,

KrS

jnx

Tons of pics at www.gregsmithequipment.com

Mike J

Here is the thread that I posted a while ago about my installation ; there are closeup shots of the lift and shots with my 993 Targa on the lift. I am 100% satisfied with this lift, works great! You can see how heavily built the arms and carriages are...the lift is 1800lbs shipped....

Installation of Pro 9F lift

Cheers,

Mike

Tour18

Thanks guys. I'm doing some more black and white tile work right now. A lift is just what I need to finish this place...