bruinbro

Thanks for the reply. I was just curious if there were any advantages or disadvantages of a lift over a pit (pardon the pun). I was also thinking a pit might help those that are vertically challenged by circunstance or law.

Bro

MHC2S

When I was in high school a fellow student had a car come down on him off a floor jack and killed him. I never fooled around with cars on lifts or jacks after that. I now always make sure it's safe before I go under a car no matter what.

Mike A.

In response to Lemming, the 3 bay garage is almost 1200 sq. ft. The ceilings on the side bays are 10', the center bay is 14'. With the garage door up, I can lift the Suburban to the maximum height.
Also, the entire floor is 6" reinforced 4000 PSI cement. The doors are 10' wide by 9' tall.

Lemming

Thanks Mike. Not sure that I can go that large, since the renovation also involves a new master suite and larger living room. I've currently got a 26x36 plan that I'm considering.

racer914

I ran into some similar challenges when I built my shop with respect to the height allowed by zoning and my need to have 12'6" insdie height. My builder conventionally framed it and got me the height while staying under the 15' allowed. I used 5" 4000 psi concrete in the area of the lift pads, bought the lift on ebay for 2K delivered to the door and used roll doors with no overhead tracks. The shop is 30x40 and handles all of my needs just great.

kurt M

A pit would be far less versatile than a lift IMO. With a pit the car height is set and you would still need to jack it to work on wheels, brakes or suspension. With a lift you can work at any height and under or to the side as needed. Yes your car will not fall off a pit but you can fall in them when not in use. Also the floor space under a lift is usable when the lift is not in use or when a car is at full height. A pit is always there unless you make a strong cover. You cannot park 2 cars in the foot print with a pit as well. You can fly one car up on the lift and park a car or materials under a lift. Lifts don’t flood.

To me pits look to be good for fast repetitive work such as production oil changing and the like. Pulling a 911 motor down and out would be a pain as you would need extra equipment to lower the motor out of the car and then lift it out of the pit. With my lift I lower the car and motor onto a flat wheeled stand and then unbolt the motor (and tranny if it needs to come out as well) and fly the car off. I then use one arm of the lift to lift the motor off the table stand and onto an engine stand after installing a yoke. I don’t even take the car off the lift. If the motor and trans came out together I lower them both to the floor and bisect them safely on the floor then lift the motor to the stand.

95m3racer

I decided to get the best, as for the money its well worth it. Mohawk all the way!

I have one set up in one of the bays in the shop in our "garage." (pics before it was hardwired vertically)

Cris Brady

For those with already built garages but have height challenges, there's a new lift on the market that can work. The MaxJax from Danmar will work in normal sized garages where your only other choice is a mid-rise. The benefit is this is a 2 post lift that leaves the underside of your car accessible. I bought one several months ago and it's the best tool in my garage. It's portable, so you can put it up and take it down in 15 mins. Me, I just leave it up all the time. It only goes up to about 4 feet, but that's still good enough to work under the car with a small shop stool.



Here's the website for more info: http://www.maxjaxusa.com/

No affiliation, I just love mine.

mj951

I just finished helping a client renovate his three stall residential garage. I did some 3D design work and renderings early in the process to help them explore options and visualize the layout, then developed a small set of working drawings for his contractor to estimate cost and work off of. (Couple examples below)

This was just an interior renonovation job so no design review boards to deal with but I could certainly help you out if you would like or need some architectural help. PM me if you're interested.

A930Rocket

That's pretty interesting. It has some benefits over a low rise lift that I like.

What's the cost?

mj951

haha, just saw this thread was from '06, I do like the MaxJax though...

Darren

Seriously, 95m3racr, how do you respond to a thread three years old?

blake

I thought the same same... Worse than that, I REMEMBER this thread as I was PMing with BoulderGT3 about his new garage back in '06...

Good thread though. I don't have the land for a 3 car garage, so need to live vicariously through others...

Nice work! Every garage needs a flat panel and a cocktail area... I'd take it in a second!

-B

Cris Brady

I was part of a group buy so got it for $1500. The retail cost is $2K, but I've seen other group buys so it pays to keep your eyes open.

For some great garage ideas, a great time-suck, I mean website, to browse is www.garagejournal.com.

Gary R.

As a materials professional i'll add a little to that. Concrete compressive strength has little bearing on how heavy a vehicle you can drive on it, especially if it's just a rubber tire vehicle. I also will say never to use crushed stone as a base as it cannot be compacted. You should always use a granular fill such as natural bank run gravel (screened to 3" munus) or an 1.25" or .75" crushed sub-base. This should be dampened and compacted (machine) to give you a 5" depth equally across the slab. Rebar is a primary reinforcement material and is not necessary for a residential slab unless there is a problem somewhere else in the construction, ie sub-standard materials available for sub-base, or engineered in for some special reason. Use WWF (welded wire fabric) in sheets with chairs to hold it at the 3" level (for a 5" slab). Do not allow rolls to be tossed out and the concrete to be poured over it, you may as well take the money it cost and burn it. A bond breaker, such as thin roofing felt, can be used to stop the fresh concrete from bonding to the walls/footings it abuts. It's one more way to minimize/eliminate the shrinkage cracking that may occur. A good 3000 PSI 3/4" (5.5 sk) poured at a 4" slump will be more than sufficient. If it's going to be exposed to deicing salts and freeze/thaw then use 3500 or 4000 PSI, but 3000 PSI concrete, properly poured and cured, is more than adequate 90% of the time.

This concludes concrete 101.