Lifts and ramps

@Robert M posted:

For the guys whose concrete floors aren't thick enough wouldn't it be fairly simple to cut out a large enough section, side drill for rebar attachment, and pour a new floor? Rent the saw, drill, and jackhammer from Home Depot and have a party. Hire the concrete guy to make sure it's done right or do it yourself. Nice thick floor.

If you're going to go to that kind of trouble, why not go all the way?

These are the Bend Paks that the school is getting rid of. I'd have to build some kind of ramps. My Spyder doesn't have enough ground clearance. But my other cars do.

@dlearl476

I used the 1/2" plywood from the crate the lift came in, and a bunch of 2x3 ripped to 1.5" for a finished height of 2". I painted the ramps with Slip Doctors non-slip epoxy paint.

Nice, like

@DannyP posted:

The ceiling in my garage is 7 feet, the door and tracks aren't the issue. The door motor is BEHIND the windshield, so not in the way either. It's the actual ceiling, built by my Grandfather in 1950.

I'll get more height in my next garage.

Copy that. I agree, with a seven ceiling you aren't going to get anything in there. Funny though that with a nine foot ceiling it feels like an additional five feet, but not really. Lol

@dlearl476 posted:

If you're going to go to that kind of trouble, why not go all the way?

These are the Bend Paks that the school is getting rid of. I'd have to build some kind of ramps. My Spyder doesn't have enough ground clearance. But my other cars do.

The sheriff's fleet mechanics had one of these and a two-post lift to work on out patrol cars. When they moved to a much larger facility they left both lifts. i immediately asked about buying them but the forensics unit uses them when processing cars used in crimes. Oh well, next time.

@DannyP posted:

I've got 7' high ceiling in the garage, so I hear that. I can't go all the way up because the garage door mechanism is in the way.

Most Speedsters that aren't slammed to the floor will clear the lift when driving over it.

Danny, the only sane response is to raise the roof! Lol

@dlearl476 posted:

Aren't you afraid some "nefarious individual" will see your plate driving down the road and hack your personal data?

Just the nefarious police officers, LOL!

Here's how close to the ceiling it gets.

I'd love to recess this lift into the floor so the platform isn't necessary(at my next garage). You can see the hydraulic tank and pump at the front of the car. I used 12ga. Romex to feed a 3 prong 220v outlet, two hot leads and a ground. Make sure to paint or tape the neutral(white) wire black at both ends to meet code.

Your garage height looks about the same as mine.  Nice car.

@Gordon Nichols posted:

I have the Quickjack 3500, same as someone up above.  It fits the once you figure out where to position the two sides to get the right place for balancing the car once raised.  

So it fits the Speedster and I have also used in on a Subaru Outback and Nissan Rogue but found that it was too short for a Porsche 996.  For that you'll need the longer QJ 5000.

@Alan Merklin had a really nice 48" scissors jack that came from an older SOC member who sold his Speedster.  It was a Bend Pack LR-60.  It was slightly higher quality overall than those from Harbor Freight and we all know how much Alan has used it on his builds with no issues.  Here's the SOC write-up for it:

https://www.speedsterowners.co...ges/articles-bendpak

I lifted my Audi Allroad(4700 lbs.), a couple Imprezas, a Suby Legacy, my friend's old Boxster, a sand rail, the back half of my Dodge 1500(1/2" steel plate positioned under the hitch), my Spyder of course, and even my Cayman.

Placement of the vehicles is critical on the longer ones: Audi, Legacy, Cayman and Boxster. The pads/arms have a limited range, but are long enough to reach the jack-points.

The lift has a 6000 pound capacity. It has two hydraulic rams and a heavy-duty safety catch. All the welds look great, and the powder-coat appears to be durable after 3 years. I'm sure the Bend-Pak is slightly better made(I've been to Alan's PA house/shop), but for my intended use I'm really glad I bought the "cheapo" HF lift.

This is based on my real-world experience, not internet chatter or guesses.

@R Thorpe posted:

Your garage height looks about the same as mine.  Nice car.

Thank you!

I got this link as a pop up ad to MAX-JAX.  It does look interesting since it is portable and doesn't require drilling in to adequate concrete. $2440+

https://www.maxjax.com/maxjax/...UEAEYASABEgLiNPD_BwE

Car not included!

Wolfy,

This is the lift I’ve always wanted, it does require 4” of 3000 psi concrete.  My old garage foor from the 1930’s is not a consistent thickness and god knows the psi rating. Thank you for the forward. Cheers.

Richard

It requires the plates to be screwed to the floor as West coast bruce mentioned above otherwise how would the support not fall over. Just saying.

Richard is absolutely correct.

A local guy I know has the MaxJax. You must have sufficiently strong concrete, and it must be bolted down when in use.

You can take the bolts out and move the lift to the side if needed or wanted.

If your concrete is unknown/weak you need to cut out a section, drill and rebar into your old concrete, and pour new stronger concrete.

I'd love to own a 2-post lift, and will someday in my next garage.

If you don't want to play with concrete, just get a scissor lift. Seriously, I bought it with a 25% off Mother's Day coupon and paid $1300 including freight/delivery to my garage. I gave the driver a nice tip as we dropped his tailgate just inside my garage, then used a pallet jack to put it on the floor.

The only spec that might have changed is I thinks they asked for 6" of 3K cement, now they specify 4" of 3K. BTW how can one tell the PSI rating of concrete thats 90 years old?

They use a “Windsor Probe” test.  
A conical probe is fired into the concrete surface using a special gun.   The depth of probe penetration defines the concrete strength.

Google “Windsor probe concrete test near me” for lotsa hits.  It’s pretty common.

Thanks Gordon, I doubt my garage floor would pass. Living here in California my 90 year old floor has had may cracks over the years, I just recently patched it and painted it ready for my new baby. When I lusted after that two post lift i drilled some test holes got about 4" in the spots I wanted to secure the posts but below that was aluvial sand only.  In the 1930's my little Spanish house was built on the bank of a dry wash. The old pictures look like something out of the Cisco Kid. Via Con Dios.

Richard

Gordon, I'm at work, I'm skeptical about Googling "Windsor probe" and "penetration depth". Just sayin'

Does "Boothy" work at a Pot shop?

@Boothy posted:

Gordon, I'm at work, I'm skeptical about Googling "Windsor probe" and "penetration depth". Just sayin'

My buddy Blake Leong (fellow SOCer) was upgrading the engine in his '60 single-cab transporter. He also wanted to replace the reduction-gear boxes and was researching the trans options. My advice, if you're at work don't Google 'Large Nut Tranny'.