Ron

Has anyone built a detached 2 car garage and installed a two post lift in it. I'm looking to get some plans together to get started. I'll also need to put one of those parking lifts on the other side so I can put two cars there.

Boulder GT3

I built a large detached garage and have a 2 post lift in it. Many things to consider but here's a list of a couple of the learnings I had:

1. Find out what your zoning will allow as this may become the first filter you have to go through. Height, foot print, Plumbing and so on. I got tripped up on some stuff and had to get a variance.

2. Decide how tall a door/structure you want. 8' to 16'. Asthetics and if you want to be able to put an RV or trailer in. Do you want a lift that is a low rise with the cables and hoses on the floor or a high rise with a trip bar and clear floor? It's a couple of ' differance in ceiling height.

3. 5" floors for strength. Drains or pitch to get water out if you wash inside?

4. 100AMP circuit with 220VAC outlets at several places. Gives you flexibility with compressors, welders, lifts and so on. Very expensive to retrofit but not much on the front end.

5. air lines in the walls? Again, very expensive to retrofit but not much on the front end.


6. Really shop for a two post lift. All of them work great with a standard sedan type car. Not many work well with really low short wheelbase sports cars. Most will run on 110VAC but they are twice as fast with 220. Once you have one waiting 2 minutes for it to go up seems like forever.

I doubt you'll find a set of stock plans because the decisions are pretty personal .

Roscoe

I attached a third bay to my 2 car garage to house the GT3. I put in a 2 post, asymetrical 10k lb lift. Think real hard about celing hight. I have about 18 feet to the peak of the ceiling; plenty of room underneath. I agree that you get a least 1 30amp 220v circuit out there.. I put a compressor in my basement and hard lined it to the new bay. A lighted switch in the bay controls a circut in the basement for the compressor; very slick and you dont have to hear that thing while you are working in the garage.

I had 6" floor put in with a very slight outward pitch. Let it dry 28 days before you paint it. Be careful about floor drains, some parts of the country will make you put a oil seprator in the ground. Do a lot of research on lighting. I have 4 4foot twin tube fixtures; not sure if it is enough.

give your self at least 3 feet per side of the lift; I have a bit less and it can feel a tad jammed some times.

Oh, make sure you install some speaker wire for the surround system!

here is a link to my lift source:

http://www.tecequip.com/auto_truck_lifts.htm


good luck.. have fun.

Boulder GT3

I have a great visual of you listening to good music and taking off some lug nuts while the compressor bounces the kids cereal off the kitchen table in the house. I'm sure it's doesn't intrude but it's a guy type thought.

Your lift is a better design than the one I have. I have to block the GT3 to get the arms under it.

Agree on the lights. I put metal halides in which put out a nice bright light but they take 3 minutes to turn on. I think I'd do tubes if I had it to do again. Hard to have too much light.

smlporsche

As a contractor let me chime in.
The thickness of the floor is not a critical as the strength of the concrete and what is used underneath it.
In the garage I'm getting ready to build (with a lift) it will have 4 to 5" of 4000PSI concrete with #4 rebar running both ways on 24" centers. The base will be a minimum of 4" of COMPACTED stone. You will be able to drive anything on it without any problem.
Good luck.

Roscoe

The compressor is located in the extream edge of the house,, you can't really hear it in the first floor. But who cares? I am in the garage; does not bother me!!

I also have to go on blocks to get the lift pads underneath the GT3; it is a bit of a pain.

tar6day

Go and get a book called "Ultimate Garage", it has a lot of great ideas.

DrJupeman

To the original question: "yes".

Geoff Daniels

Here is a link. They have a lot of good info and good prices. They also have some garage plans.

http://www.e-autolifts.com

kurt M

I have a 24X30 brick detached with a 2 post lift. The shop ceiling is only 10 foot 6 but I can run a 911 all the way to 6 foot 6 without hitting the ceiling. In the county I live in you do not need plans for a single story garage that is 24X30 or less in size and reduced costs and trips to county offices so no plans but can email pix for ideas if you like.
I had a dry in built and finished to my needs after the final was done. (read added all the shop stuff like lift, in wall air lines, AC, HO lighting, benches and outlets all over.) The floor is 4 inch of 4000 psi which is standard requirements for most lifts. I like to use rebar rather than wire cloth. Concrete slabs will get cracks at some point and rebar keeps the slab from shifting out of line far better than wire. Standard 16 foot wide garage door. I built a loft inside the shop over the door and ran the door track on the bottom of the loft to add storage space above the door. If the 30 is the depth you will still have room for a 2 post and a 4 post side by side and have some tool and bench room at the back. If you build 30 wide I recommend that you go with 2 doors as a 16 will require you to angle in to at least one of the lifts.

I got the Bend-pack 9000# low rise lift with the cables running across the floor covered by a metal strip. The lift pads go from 4 inches to 6 foot 6 inches. This is a bit better than all the other lifts I looked at. Most only go to 6 foot. With no overhead obstructions I can lift a 911 all the way to lock and walk around under the lift without hitting my head on the car or lift arms.

Ran a 90 amp sub to the shop and run lift, large remote housed, compressor MIG, 250 amp TIG sound system, ceiling mounted 60 inch TV and AC. Should have run 120 amps for TIG and do not run all systems at once. Lift, Compressor and AC all run at same time but when TIG welding at high amps I do not run anything else.

If I could do it over I would have installed 120 amps. Not an issue if you don't weld.

When pouring the floor would have made a 1.5 inch recess for the lift posts and cable track in the concrete. That way I would have had the best of both. Max lift that you get from a clear overhead and no slightly annoying bump in the floor to roll equipment over.

I would have set the loft back about 12 inches. I can lift most anything but a Silverado 2500 crew cab with a cap. The cap does not clear the loft and I can only lift the behemoth about 4 feet. No cap no problem.

Lemming

Keep the ideas coming as I may be builing a new garage soon. I'm currently thinking about a 3-car garage. I would set it up to have a normal 2-car parking area with a 16-foot door and then a separate work bay with an 8ft door. What are the pros and cons of separating the work bay from the parking area?

Larry Herman

Definitely do that if you have the room. That pass door is great, and it occupies the space that one of the lift posts needs. Plus it gives you room around the lift to work, put your toolbox etc. I built a 4 car with a single door for the lift, next to the pass door, and then 3 more bays to the right of that. Really works well. Here is a picture of it under construction.

Boulder GT3

These pictures raise another lift issue to be aware of. Plan your overhead door carefully. you can see in the photo how the tracks run very high so the car can be raised under an open door.
One other thought on the power. Even if you don't weld I'd run the higher amp stuff if you can swing it. I've got a welder coming over today to weld some stainless exhaust stuff. Because he can hook his stuff up at my place he'd rather do the work here and not have to deal with the car in his shop. I don't have to haul the car and so on. I've had three situations like that in the past couple of months.

MHC2S

Ron,

Just make sure you have a thick concrete floor. I had to dig mine up and pour 4ft. of concrete down for each post to install my Challenger lift with a 10,000lb. rating. The Challenger lift has given me 5 years of trouble free duty and it's Made in USA. Beware of lifts made in China. I've heard some bad stuff about them.

macnewma

I would also look into securing the garage. Windows look nice, but people like to peek in and take inventory. An alarm and some cameras would be good. Even if the cameras are dummies, I think they would deter nicely.