Azikara

I'm building a new custom home and my architect needs to know how high to make the garage roof in order to fit two cars on top of each other.

I've seen these America Products lifts but they are really only for car storage. You cannot raise the car with the wheels off.

My questions are:

1. Are there others out there that you can raise the car without the wheels on and park another car underneath at the same time?

2. How high does the garage roof have to be? I'd like to have space for my 4Runner underneath the race car. Can this be done?

Thanks

smlporsche

Az-

I am a contractor and in my new garage that I built last year I made the ceiling very high, higher than you would want/need.

My lift is a shade under 12 feet high. My suggestion is to decide which lift you want and design around it. For reference mine is like this one:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/9000-...spagenameZWDVW

Feel free to PM or email me with any technical questions.

lally911

11' ceilings with the 10'7" Rotary two post lift lets me park one 911 under another. The 4runner stands at least 3 feet taller than the 911 so I'd estimate at least 15' ceilings would be required.

mhm993

I am in the middle of planning our garage with the contractor. In our town, we're severely limited on square footage, so we're planning one or two lifts. I think we'll have a basic peaked roof, with the short walls rising 10 feet or a bit more. He plans 13' high collar ties giving us enough room to raise a bend pak 4 post lift to it's highest with a 911 on top with room.
You can put a bridge for bottle jacks or spring the bucks for a sliding hydraulic jack for most 4 post lifts. And yes, you really have to build the thing around the lift dimensions.

Do a search and also checkout garagejournal.com

Azikara

Eddie,

That's a nice lift at a great price. Will check the height of the 4Runner and that lift to see if they would fit.

Thanks for the info.

Lally, thanks for the data. Agree, that's abotu right.

Azzy

mts

Here's my 2nd garage.

Roscoe

do you worry about the suspension hanging down on the Spec? I have a two post as well, but was told you should not store a car on it with the suspension in full extention

Mike K.

I have the American Products 9000lb lift which looks very similar to the one Smlporsche has in the pic. Works fine and the clearance underneath is about 6 feet, which is not enough to park the Tahoe. One thing to consider , if it is for storage , is if it is a good idea let the suspension droop for an extended period?

Mike K.

I gotta learn to type faster.

smlporsche

15 feet is overkill for a residential application.

Measure the height of both vehicles and round up to the nearest foot, then add 2 feet for the lift and extra clearance and that will be your maximim height needed. If the forerunner is 6' and the Porsche is 4 then all you'll need is 12 feet max (6+4+2=12).

If you don't have a room above the garage you can use "scissor trusses" to gain several feet of headroom at the peak and still not make it look like a commercial garage.

mts

I've not had a problem storing Spec cars over the winter that way (3 to 4 months on jack stands in the past). A local race shop has cars stored like that all the time with no issues.

That being said I too have "read" that storing at full droop can lead to problems. At this point I have 7 cars and I am always tinkering with something on the lift so it's very rare to have a car stored up there for more than 2-3weeks consecutively. Given that, I really have no concerns.

ltc

Besides ceiling height, look under your feet.

Pay careful attention to floor loading (type of concrete used, thickness of concrete pad, etc).

Four post lifts have a lower floor loading than a 2 post lift (a bit obvious), but a single post lift has a very low floor loading, much lower than either a 2 or 4 post (less obvious until you look at the area of the 'foot'), to the point where it can be used on asphalt.

IMHO, a 2 post lift should be mounted on concrete 'piers' or 'pilings' located and and poured/installed during construction....or just pour a massively thick pad everywhere.

FWIW, I went with a single post lift from Werther, just for storage (I don't do any work on my cars).
http://www.werther.com/werther/auto/lifts/duplex.html

Mikelly

On my twin post Amco lift we got away with 12ft.6 inches of interior finished ceiling height clearance:



Make sure you have enough power planned!
Mike

J richard

If you're primarily looking for storage, there was a manufacturer out at the car auctions here at barrett jackson that has a four post system that lowered the car into a pit, with a flat platform above. You drive your car in, lower it down and then park your daily driver on top. Nice if you are limited with space/height and you don't want a warehouse next to your pool. it could be cool if you do a full basement and lower it down to a shop area and have a traditional garage with lift in the next bay above...hmm...porsche mancave, batcave, secret lair...

K964

Hey Lewis,

Can you post some pix of your setup?

Thanks,
Mike