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I received a set of LiftBars a few weeks ago. In short, I like them. I did an oil and filter change and swapped winter for summer tires. The bar made things go a bit faster.
Coupla comments and things to think about if you want a set. I am going to sound negative but I just want you to think about these things before you buy.
1 - The bar lowers the distance to get a jack under there. I have a few floor jacks and used my Harbor Freight 1.5 ton racing jack. It got under there fine.
2 - This jack did not lift the car high enough to get my 4-ton Duralast (Autozone) jack stands under the car and LiftBar. A hockey puck on the jack did the trick but I could not get the jack and the hockey puck under the bar on one side of my car. I parked my car across the slope of my driveway so I could lift one side to level the car and do an oil change while I removed and cleaned the two wheels. The jack and puck went under the down side with a bit of difficulty but not the upside. (Update... the 1.5 ton HF jack works fine on a level surface.. my driveway is not level).
Anyway, make sure you jack goes both low enough to get under the bar, and high enough to place your jackstands under the bar. Other than that, the product is really well made, did not appear to bend, and I like them!
For major work, I wish I had these when I swapped out my shocks as I could have the car up on all four stands with ease.
By the way, I only put the jack stands under there to see how it all worked together. I actually lowered the jack to level the car to let the oil drain and let it rest on the jack.... I stuck a stand under the wheel hub in case of a drop.
Peace
Bruce in Philly
Last edited by Bruce In Philly; 08-07-2019 at 03:27 PM.
How much deflection do you get when lifting the car? Does the bar touch the car at the jack?
I made a pair that are much bigger 3-1/2 x 2-1/2 x 3/8" tube. Have to put boards under the tires to get the jack under with hockey pucks. Works great though.
The owner of LiftBars said their is some flex and they will touch the car in the middle.... I really couldn't see any deflection and the area it touches is covered in plastic ... the under tray. I really don't think there is any significant pressure there.
I did put the jack off center ... kind of under the door handle to be at the center balance point of the car. By placing the jack off of bar center, you will naturally get less bend. The design is more than just a square tube, he has some plate welded along the top for about half of the bar in the center. I don't know what the purpose of this is. Then ends look really nicely made and the design fits nicely on and in the jack points. I never thought the unit would "roll out".
My jack, however, pressed through my sealcoat.... I will be doing this in my garage and not on the asphalt. The jack must roll and it did fine on the asphalt except for the sealcoat.
Wow, that looks like a really great solution! I just bought 4 ESCO stands, and I already have 4 of the pyramid style recommended with these lift bars. Damn.
I need to think about this now...
Update... regarding having enough jack height and clearances etc....
If you buy exactly what I have in the pics above, they will work perfectly. When I use them on my flat concrete garage floor, they work perfectly. The jack is a 1.5 Ton Harbor Freight Racing Jack, the stands are Autozone/Duralast 4 ton stands. With this setup, the stands will work fine on their lowest setting only... but this is plenty high for me. If you want to go higher, you need a higher jack or dick around with blocks.
If I did it all again, I would have purchased a larger Racing jack from Harbor Freight as they will jack higher. Below are the specs for the HF jacks. The 2.5 ton is a tad higher at the lowest setting and I think this will work fine too.
1.5 Ton Racing Jack - Min 3 1/2 inches Max 13 7/8 inches
2 Ton Racing Jack - Min 3 1/2 inches Max 15 7/8 inches
2.5 Ton Racing Jack - Min 3 7/8 inches Max 18 5/8 (I shoulda got this one)
3 Ton Racing Jack - Min 3 7/8 inches Max 19 1/8
Peace
Bruce in Philly
Last edited by Bruce In Philly; 08-05-2019 at 07:32 PM.
It says it on the website but it is important to note that the jack should be perpendicular to the liftbars so the jack can roll under the car rather than the wheels binding and instead of the jack rolling under the force instead tries to pull/roll the liftbar out. I tried using mine in a tight spot with the jack at an angle closer to parallel and the bar started to roll so I let it back down. With more room to put the jack perpendicular they were great.
The owner of LiftBars said their is some flex and they will touch the car in the middle.... I really couldn't see any deflection and the area it touches is covered in plastic ... the under tray. I really don't think there is any significant pressure there.
I did put the jack off center ... kind of under the door handle to be at the center balance point of the car. By placing the jack off of bar center, you will naturally get less bend. The design is more than just a square tube, he has some plate welded along the top for about half of the bar in the center. I don't know what the purpose of this is. Then ends look really nicely made and the design fits nicely on and in the jack points. I never thought the unit would "roll out".
My jack, however, pressed through my sealcoat.... I will be doing this in my garage and not on the asphalt. The jack must roll and it did fine on the asphalt except for the sealcoat.
Anyway, seems like a pretty good bar.
Peace,
Bruce in Philly
bruce,
I’m getting a set of lift bars being made at work here by a certified welder at no cost. One question, I noticed you mentioned your jack pickup was not Center by moved over a bit for a more balance lift due to the engine weight towards the back obviously. You did mention below the door handle, can you tell me roughly how many inches off Center worked best? (12”?)... I’m getting a small plate welded on the bottom of the bar for the jack pickup point. 2/3rds sounds about right perhaps?
But I also noticed on your bar it came with the Center of the bar marked painted on from factory? Does the specs or the manufacture want you to pickup right from Center?
I’m getting a set of lift bars being made at work here by a certified welder at no cost. One question, I noticed you mentioned your jack pickup was not Center by moved over a bit for a more balance lift due to the engine weight towards the back obviously. You did mention below the door handle, can you tell me roughly how many inches off Center worked best? (12”?)... I’m getting a small plate welded on the bottom of the bar for the jack pickup point. 2/3rds sounds about right perhaps?
But I also noticed on your bar it came with the Center of the bar marked painted on from factory? Does the specs or the manufacture want you to pickup right from Center?
Thanks
The instruction have you place the jack at that center mark. The bar has some sort of extra.welded long plate that I assume prevents or counters flex (visible in the first pic). I am not using the bar to spec. I am not following directions. What I do is put the rears on jackstands only (or just the fronts)... I only have two jackstands and frankly, don't really need all four so I never bothered to get another set. So... forget my pictures... when I use the jackstands, I am either working on the fronts only, or the rear of the car... so I jack the rear up equally from both sides using two jacks. Two bars on and I put the jacks as far back to where the jackstands will go ... can't go all the way back because you won't get the jackstatnds under. So I go back and forth jacking each side a little more each, then slip the jackstands in on both sides, in the rear at the same time. This is not a procedure denoted in the instructions.... so do what you want or feel comfortable with... but this is what I do.
Your design below has a few concerns.... note that I am engineer who built the first boiler locomotive so I am an expert.... First, you will be jacking high and if you don't jack each side equally as I do (can only do fronts or rears only this way) the car will be canted over pretty far. It looks like that jack pad being flat against the jack pad... well that will not allow for much rotation of the bar. Further, your frame pads don't have dimples to insert into the Porsche jack holes. The holes and dimples will keep the pads/bar from slipping either out/in or forward/backwards.
Said another way..... If I were to use one bar to lift only one side... and place the jack under the denoted center line (what you are supposed to do).... the whole side of the car lifts... both wheels come off the ground. The car will be canted. Your jack pad on the bar will want to keep the bar perpendiculat/level and that may cause the bar to slip from the chassis jack points.
Another point.... the Lift Bar has a curved, rounded shape where you place the jackstands... this allows the liftbar to rotate on the jackstand as the car cants from being raised and lowered from the other side.
Overall, this bar is a very well thought out tool.
The tube is rather large in size. That will make it more difficult to find a "low-clearance" jack that will actually fit under the bar to lift the car.
Bruce makes a subtle point ... If you create a large height difference on one side it will push the stands sideways and they could tip over. Go a little at a time alternating side to side. This goes for both raising and lowering (it can be difficult to lower slowly enough).
...If you create a large height difference on one side it will push the stands sideways and they could tip over. Go a little at a time alternating side to side...
Hi Wayne,
What happens with the Liftbars is that as the jack on the lifting side rolls in/out, the Liftbar on the opposite side rotates in the V of the jack stands on the opposite side.
That way the stands on the opposite side are not pushed sideways because of the pivot (it's kinda ingenious).
So in practice, it takes 2-actions to get the car up onto the base hight of the jack stands...
04-02-2016, 07:10 PM
LiftBars - Got a set
