• Welcome Visitor! Please take a few seconds and Register for our forum. Even if you don't want to post, you can still 'Like' and react to posts.

Shop lift?


superj

Well-Known Member
U.S. Military - Veteran
Joined
Oct 1, 2021
Messages
3,024
Reaction score
2,497
Points
113
Location
corpus christi, texas
Vehicle Year
2004
Make / Model
ranger edge
Engine Type
3.0 V6
Engine Size
3 liters of tire smoking power
Transmission
Manual
2WD / 4WD
2WD
Total Lift
none
Total Drop
none
Tire Size
235s
My credo
Grew up in the 70s, 80s, and 90s
which is a pretty bad deal, ha haha
 


franklin2

Well-Known Member
Joined
Dec 24, 2019
Messages
3,348
Reaction score
1,708
Points
113
Location
Virginia
Vehicle Year
1984
Make / Model
Bronco II
Transmission
Manual
My other house I built the garage myself, had 10 ft ceilings in it, no plan for a lift. But I happened on a deal and put a lift in it. It is an old Bear alignment lift with the cables running on the floor. I used it a lot. I never could stand under it, but I made a scooter to sit on and did a lot of work that way with no problems.

Then I moved, the house I have now has two garages, both of them with 8 ft ceilings. The smaller 1 bay garage has the door on the gable end and trusses in the middle. I cut the plywood ceiling out, bought 2x8's and sister'd them to the trusses, and then cut the bottom of the trusses out, making a cathedral ceiling. This little 8 ft celing garage suddenly turned out better than the one I built, I can raise the car or truck all the way up and stand under it now.

That is also why I made the garage door a solid panel and hung it on barn tracks with rollers. You can't have all that garage door track and garage door intruding inside the building when you have a car up in the air on the lift.
 

Craig0320

Well-Known Member
Supporting Member
Article Contributor
V8 Engine Swap
TRS 20th Anniversary
Joined
Sep 21, 2017
Messages
1,209
Reaction score
225
Points
63
Location
Mississppi
Vehicle Year
1998
Make / Model
Ford
Engine Type
V8
Engine Size
5.0
Transmission
Automatic
2WD / 4WD
4WD
My credo
Break it right the first time. Fix it better the next time.
I poured 3ftx3ftx6in pads when I had had my pad poured. I have an eagle lift 11,000lb clear floor lift with the bar at the top. It is right at 12ft tall. I have 16' ceilings. My ultimate favorite feature of my lift is the single point unlock lever by the motor. Wow is it nice!
 

sgtsandman

Aircraft Fuel Tank Diver
TRS Forum Moderator
U.S. Military - Active
TRS 20th Anniversary
TRS Event Participant
Ham Radio Operator
GMRS Radio License
Joined
Mar 11, 2017
Messages
12,695
Reaction score
12,381
Points
113
Location
Aliquippa, PA
Vehicle Year
2011/2019
Make / Model
Ranger XLT/FX4
Engine Size
4.0 SOHC/2.3 Ecoboost
2WD / 4WD
4WD
Total Lift
Pre-2008 lift/Stock
Tire Size
31X10.5R15/265/65R17
Why would you want to lift the whole shop? You want to install a bigger pad?


A shop lift would be a dream for sure. If the floor is questionable, I would look at a four post over a two. Each has it’s advantages and disadvantages. But if the floor is weak, four post would be the only way to go unless you want to pay for floor work to make a two post work.
 

don4331

Well-Known Member
V8 Engine Swap
Joined
Sep 6, 2013
Messages
2,007
Reaction score
1,329
Points
113
Location
Calgary, AB
Vehicle Year
1999
Make / Model
Ford
Engine Type
V8
Engine Size
5.3
Transmission
Automatic
My other house I built the garage myself, had 10 ft ceilings in it, no plan for a lift. But I happened on a deal and put a lift in it. It is an old Bear alignment lift with the cables running on the floor. I used it a lot. I never could stand under it, but I made a scooter to sit on and did a lot of work that way with no problems.

Then I moved, the house I have now has two garages, both of them with 8 ft ceilings. The smaller 1 bay garage has the door on the gable end and trusses in the middle. I cut the plywood ceiling out, bought 2x8's and sister'd them to the trusses, and then cut the bottom of the trusses out, making a cathedral ceiling. This little 8 ft celing garage suddenly turned out better than the one I built, I can raise the car or truck all the way up and stand under it now.

That is also why I made the garage door a solid panel and hung it on barn tracks with rollers. You can't have all that garage door track and garage door intruding inside the building when you have a car up in the air on the lift.
My brother's and my buddies garages have garage door tracks which follow the cathedral ceiling. They might intrude a little, but still opens with std opener - no having to get out of car in rain/snow to open garage door. Both are attached, heated garages with lifts - brother's has 4 post lift so he can park battleship over snowmobiles (or vice versa depending on season) in single bay with his car in other bay; buddies has 2 post - which will make lifting cab off to swap engine a piece of cake.

So, 4 post is better for "storage" while 2 post is better for "repairs" in my case.
 

oldgeek

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jun 1, 2022
Messages
819
Reaction score
1,025
Points
93
Location
USA
Vehicle Year
94
Make / Model
Ranger XLT
Engine Type
2.3 (4 Cylinder)
Transmission
Manual
2WD / 4WD
2WD
Just make your own.

 

19Walt93

Well-Known Member
Ford Technician
V8 Engine Swap
Joined
Nov 13, 2018
Messages
4,473
Reaction score
4,409
Points
113
Location
Canaan,NH
Vehicle Year
1993
Make / Model
Ford Ranger
Engine Type
V8
Engine Size
351
Transmission
Automatic
2WD / 4WD
2WD
Total Drop
3"
Tire Size
235/55R16
My credo
If you don't have time to do it right will you have time to do it over?
Before pouring concrete pads for a lift or bolting a lift to your existing floor check with the lift company about how hard the concrete needs to be- there are different grades of concrete.
 

franklin2

Well-Known Member
Joined
Dec 24, 2019
Messages
3,348
Reaction score
1,708
Points
113
Location
Virginia
Vehicle Year
1984
Make / Model
Bronco II
Transmission
Manual
My brother's and my buddies garages have garage door tracks which follow the cathedral ceiling. They might intrude a little, but still opens with std opener - no having to get out of car in rain/snow to open garage door. Both are attached, heated garages with lifts - brother's has 4 post lift so he can park battleship over snowmobiles (or vice versa depending on season) in single bay with his car in other bay; buddies has 2 post - which will make lifting cab off to swap engine a piece of cake.

So, 4 post is better for "storage" while 2 post is better for "repairs" in my case.
I have seen and studied those doors also. From what I saw, they were special order doors just for that application. The biggest difference I noticed was the counterbalance setup. The one I looked at had cables with torsion springs. The drums that the cables ran on were made differently. I do not know all the ins and outs of it, but on a normal panel garage door, it gets lighter and lighter as it goes up and each panel lays flat in the ceiling on the tracks. On a door like your brother's the door never loses all it's weight, it's always hanging there with gravity pulling on the whole door. That might make the opener a little different, more heavy duty also.
 

don4331

Well-Known Member
V8 Engine Swap
Joined
Sep 6, 2013
Messages
2,007
Reaction score
1,329
Points
113
Location
Calgary, AB
Vehicle Year
1999
Make / Model
Ford
Engine Type
V8
Engine Size
5.3
Transmission
Automatic
I have seen and studied those doors also. From what I saw, they were special order doors just for that application. The biggest difference I noticed was the counterbalance setup. The one I looked at had cables with torsion springs. The drums that the cables ran on were made differently. I do not know all the ins and outs of it, but on a normal panel garage door, it gets lighter and lighter as it goes up and each panel lays flat in the ceiling on the tracks. On a door like your brother's the door never loses all it's weight, it's always hanging there with gravity pulling on the whole door. That might make the opener a little different, more heavy duty also.
I'll have to look closer at the drums on the one at my brother's, I get the physics, make the drum smaller as spring unwinds, so the tension on cables remains constant (or could even reduce), so the opener doesn't have to do any more work. I know the curve part of the track was shortened from 90* to ~45* to go up and placing the opener was exciting That said, I don't think his 10' wide door has more weight to lift than the 18' wide door that was on my garage when I purchased house.

I think my buddies actually has double curve - to get door inside enough as the ceiling has lots of insulation. The opener for my buddies is actually on wall - sort of encompasses/replaced the drum on the one end. Very clean, nothing between the tracks.
 

ryan

Forum Administrator
Administrator
V8 Engine Swap
TRS 20th Anniversary
TRS Event Participant
Joined
Nov 20, 2001
Messages
3,434
Reaction score
891
Points
113
Location
Wayne, PA
Engine Type
V8
Engine Size
6.0
Transmission
Automatic
2WD / 4WD
Solid Axle Swap 4x4
Tire Size
42
Why would you want to lift the whole shop? You want to install a bigger pad?


A shop lift would be a dream for sure. If the floor is questionable, I would look at a four post over a two. Each has it’s advantages and disadvantages. But if the floor is weak, four post would be the only way to go unless you want to pay for floor work to make a two post work.
I've been looking and I haven't seen a 4 post that says it can handle a thinner pad. I've been debating whether to pursue a lift for a bit, but I'm still unsure about my pad.
 

JoshT

Well-Known Member
Supporting Member
V8 Engine Swap
TRS Banner 2012-2015
Joined
Aug 6, 2007
Messages
3,713
Reaction score
1,492
Points
113
Location
Macon/Fort Valley, GA
Vehicle Year
1999
Make / Model
Ford
Engine Type
V8
Transmission
Automatic
2WD / 4WD
4WD
...and I still haven't read the thread, but I did get introduced to something that made think about lifts again last week.

I said in my last post that I will probably end up with both a 2 and 4 post lift, and that's still an accurite statement. The 2 posters are good for stuff that you can't do with a 4 poster. 4 poster has advantages too. One thing I like about a 4 post lift over two post is the fact that you can install casters and move most of them around the shop. Very convenient if you need the bay clear for working on something. That isn't so easy with a two poster. You figure out where you want it and that's where it stays.

Well, a used MaxJax popped up on Facebook locally the other day. Never heard of one of these before. It's a "portable" half-height 2 post lift. Current versions are made by Bendpack. They have a max lift height of 4' so you can;t get the car high enough for most of us to walk under it, but that's plenty high enough to sit in a rolling chair/stool and work on anything. Heck 4' will work to lift the body off of anything that I own. That's plenty high enough for my purposes. The real advantage to me is the portable part. You wouldn't want to throw it in the back of the truck and use it some where else, but you could. It does anchor to the floor like any other 2 post lift, buy when not needed or when you need the space, just pull the bolts out of the concrete anchors and roll the lift into the corner. Easy to get full access to shop space when needed.

So now I think a MaxJax and a 4 post lift are in my future.
 

2Krngr

Parts Hoarder
V8 Engine Swap
Joined
Sep 27, 2016
Messages
245
Reaction score
136
Points
43
Vehicle Year
2000 Supercab
Make / Model
Stepside
Engine Type
V8
Engine Size
5.0L GT40
Transmission
Manual
2WD / 4WD
2WD
...and I still haven't read the thread, but I did get introduced to something that made think about lifts again last week.

I said in my last post that I will probably end up with both a 2 and 4 post lift, and that's still an accurite statement. The 2 posters are good for stuff that you can't do with a 4 poster. 4 poster has advantages too. One thing I like about a 4 post lift over two post is the fact that you can install casters and move most of them around the shop. Very convenient if you need the bay clear for working on something. That isn't so easy with a two poster. You figure out where you want it and that's where it stays.

Well, a used MaxJax popped up on Facebook locally the other day. Never heard of one of these before. It's a "portable" half-height 2 post lift. Current versions are made by Bendpack. They have a max lift height of 4' so you can;t get the car high enough for most of us to walk under it, but that's plenty high enough to sit in a rolling chair/stool and work on anything. Heck 4' will work to lift the body off of anything that I own. That's plenty high enough for my purposes. The real advantage to me is the portable part. You wouldn't want to throw it in the back of the truck and use it some where else, but you could. It does anchor to the floor like any other 2 post lift, buy when not needed or when you need the space, just pull the bolts out of the concrete anchors and roll the lift into the corner. Easy to get full access to shop space when needed.

So now I think a MaxJax and a 4 post lift are in my future.
I have installed 2 of the original MaxJaxs for friends years ago. They went in easy and worked well, the biggest thing is to buy extended hydraulic hoses, as the ones that come with it are way to short and are always in the way as is the motor unit. One friend ended up with 20-something foot extensions and the lines going up to the ceiling and then back down the wall with the pump mounted on the wall. The line quick-disconnects at the columns still functioned and he could still unbolt move the posts if desired and coil the lines up near the ceiling. So it was a more permanent install, still mobile, and the lines were never laying across the floor in the way.

I've had a Bendpak 4 post for maybe 15 or so years now, and have install 4 others for friends, never a single bit of trouble from them, just to keep the cables adjusted and the sheaves greased. For BUILDING a project car, 4 Post all the way! No question, the runways double as workbenchs, all your tools and parts are with the car at the same height you are working, and you can leave it all laid out while working on and off for months without the stuff on carts and benchs and the floor in the way for day to day life, the suspension isn't drooping so you can work on setting ride heights, suspension clearances, building exhausts to clear the loaded suspensions, doing bodywork, and let's not forget OPENING THE GOD DAMN DOORS ON THE CAR IS UNIMPEEDED!!!!! So when buiding entire projects cars you have access to the whole car at all times, inside and out. You can do good base tape measure alignments quick and easy with turnplates that only cost a couple hundred bucks. There is also a safety aspect vs a 2 post that you can shove, beat, yank, push, pull the living hell out of the car working on it with no concerns of it tipping off or a lift arm kicking out. As well as and easy to load the car, no crawling on your (my) old knees everytime.

The runways do impede some access to the rockers, but there is minimal mechanical work that would require extensive access there. Pulling engines is still easy with an engine hoist, and I've had no issues dropping gas tanks, subframes, or axles on the 4 post.

We have 8 2-Post, and 1 4-Post at work and 2-Post are great for faster brake work and rotations, dropping an engine still connected to the lower subframe, and a few other instances, but for a home garage that is not a high volume vehicle maintenance operation the benefits of a 2-Post start to dwindle.

When the 4-Post doesn't have a car on it, also as shown below it can double as storage for non-car stuff, lawn equipment, or just 20ft long workbenches that are height adjustable. (I have a bunch 2x6's cut to width that lay between the runways to act a floor, which also work to stack on each other to support transmissions, gas tanks, etc during removal, or to set drain pans on doing fluids without the need, cost, or storage space of transmission jacks, spinning under hoist support jacks, or rolling oil drain tanks.

To me the 4 Post has been an extremely multi-functional workshop tool in more ways than I can describe, and a 2-Post lift would be just that, just a lift and that's about it.





 
Last edited:

2Krngr

Parts Hoarder
V8 Engine Swap
Joined
Sep 27, 2016
Messages
245
Reaction score
136
Points
43
Vehicle Year
2000 Supercab
Make / Model
Stepside
Engine Type
V8
Engine Size
5.0L GT40
Transmission
Manual
2WD / 4WD
2WD
Just for reference, removing all 4 wheels is still quick and easy. I have 1 hydraulic sissor jack and in this 11-ish year old pic of a friends car on it you can see I can drive on, lift the back with the scissor, set it on jack stands, slide the scissor to the front lift and remove the wheels. I can have it up ready for wheel removal faster than crawling around on the ground positioning arms on a 2 post.

(you can also just use bottle jacks or floor jacks on the runways as well to achieve the same result just slower, you don't have to have a powered scissor, it is nice to have but is expensive and takes up some room on the lift)



 
Last edited:

James Morse

1997 XLT 4.0L 4x4 1999 Mazda B3000 2wd
Supporting Member
Joined
Aug 31, 2021
Messages
1,891
Reaction score
973
Points
113
Location
Roanoke VA
Vehicle Year
1997 and 1999
Make / Model
XLT 4x4 & B3000
Engine Type
4.0 V6
Engine Size
4.0L in XLT, 3.0L in B3000
Transmission
Automatic
2WD / 4WD
4WD
Tire Size
31x10.5-15 K02's on the Ranger, 235/75R15 on Mazda
My credo
The perfect is the enemy of the good.
Is that 4-post bolted down or no?
If it's just setting there I don't see what difference the thickness of the floor would make as long as it's some reasonable minimum.
 

2Krngr

Parts Hoarder
V8 Engine Swap
Joined
Sep 27, 2016
Messages
245
Reaction score
136
Points
43
Vehicle Year
2000 Supercab
Make / Model
Stepside
Engine Type
V8
Engine Size
5.0L GT40
Transmission
Manual
2WD / 4WD
2WD
Is that 4-post bolted down or no?
If it's just setting there I don't see what difference the thickness of the floor would make as long as it's some reasonable minimum.
4-Post don't require nearly the concrete strength of a 2 Post, any marginally half-decent residential pour will suffice, because it spreads the weight across four spots just like the car itself sitting on it's 4 tires, the car just happens to weight 2000lbs more, or 500lb per corner, which is basically nothing to even just a few inches of concrete.

These are not required to be bolted down. This one is not, I have the caster kit and have moved it a few times for different projects, I wired power outlets for it in the ceiling of all 3 bays so I can roll it anywhere and just plug it in.

Below is some pics of the lift turned 90 degrees (I easily moved it with the car still on lift), for more access when I was building this IS300 for a friend.

Engine Build almost complete:

The car went on to become this: http://www.speedhunters.com/2014/12/when-usdm-doesnt-suck-lexus-attack/

IMAG3196.jpg


IMAG3197.jpg
 
Last edited:

Sponsored Ad


Sponsored Ad

Staff online

Member & Vendor Upgrades

For a small yearly donation, you can support this forum and receive a 'Supporting Member' banner, or become a 'Supporting Vendor' and promote your products here. Click the banner to find out how.

Truck of The Month


Kirby N.
March Truck of The Month

Recently Featured

Want to see your truck here? Share your photos and details in the forum.

Follow TRS On Instagram

TRS Events

25th Anniversary Sponsors

Check Out The TRS Store


Sponsored Ad


Sponsored Ad

Sponsored Ad


Amazon Deals

Top