All,

I am rebuilding the garage, very small NE garage 19' x 10' and about 8' clear.

I am thinking about installing a 2 post lift where each post would be against the walls, out of the way.

I am concerned about the safety of these lifts, I would only be putting 914s or 911s on this lift.

1. Is the anchoring of the pad sufficient to keep these from tilting (forward/back)?
2. How deep do the anchors need to be placed into the floor? Very little detail on web sites.
3. Are there any preferences as to vendors? I have been looking at this one:

https://www.toolots.com/two-post-car-lift-l...#productDetails


My requirements are that the lift be as small (footprint) and safe as possible.

THANK YOU ALL TEENERS!

CTC911CTC

I have this one:

https://www.maxjaxusa.com/buy-purchase-maxj...rd-package.html

I really like it and you can unbolt one side and leave the other installed to have more room when not in use. (it has wheels) I just cover the holes in the floor with a matt when not installed. If I remember the anchoring system goes 4-5" in the floor and there are 7? anchors per post.
Good luck!

The lift should have specific installation instructions as well as minimum thickness for the concrete pad.

You are not going to get most two post lifts under an 8 foot ceiling. My garage is 10ft ceiling, and it is ok for short cars (and a short mechanic). When I put my truck on there, I have to sit on a stool to be able to work.

If you are doing construction on the building, make the ceiling 12ft. Then you get a lot more choice in lifts.

My $/02.

Clay

Not going to happen, brick carriage house, rebuilding would ruin many things,

Thank you,
CTC911CTC

They make a few short versions of the two post lifts, but they are not clear floor lifts. The mechanism that syncs the two sides has to cross over somewhere, so if it can't cross over above, then it has to cross over below the car. Some of them can be installed with the crossover mechanism embedded in the concrete. That would be more expensive and invasive of the old carriage house's floor. If the floor is not original, you could buy the lift and replace the floor in the carriage house that was thick enough for the lift and had the crossover channel poured with the floor.


Hope that helps.

Max Jax is pretty much your only option. That is what I had in my garage in a city rowhouse.

I agree Max Jack is fantastic at that ceiling height. I have to dolly around underneath, but the entire undercarriage is basically open and available to you. I have a 911 2.7 in my car and take it out and put it in for regular maintenance and there is no problem with car balance on the lift. I would say the height of the car underneath is approx. 4'6" with the 914. Not enough to stand under, but with a rolling chair, you can do almost anything.

Great hobby lift.

Quick Jack is another great option. The lift sections are trapezoidal so they don’t need to be anchored to the floor and there’s no minimum concrete thickness. It doesn’t lift as high as max Jax, but the 21 inches or so is more than adequate to work on a creeper. In my opinion, there are really only two workable heights anyway....on your back or above your head. If you don’t have the ceiling height for the latter, quick jack is an easy and portable solution. I use it in my small garage and there’s an unboxing, setup, and 914 lift video in my signature...

Click to view attachment

I decided on the EZ Car lift, light weight, very portable, lots of options like the caster kit.


Click to view attachment

Get one of these and you are set.

Click to view attachment

After carefully considering what was posted, my limiting factor is height. I thought that I could get 2 914s into the garage with a 2 post lift, however, all of the 2 post systems I saw on-line are at least 112 inches where my ceiling is exactly 100.5 inches. I cannot raise the ceiling, no way. I most likely will go with a roll-away floor lift like EZCarlift or similar. Only one car only will ever fit in the garage........

Thank you AGAIN all teeners
CTC911CTC

Each of the two Rotary lifts (7,000# and 10,000#) are clear floor, asymmetrical two post lifts. Each of them (and many others) call for a minimum of 3,000 PSI concrete with a minimum thickness of 4 1/2". They both require 3/4" concrete anchors with a minimum length of 5 1/2" with a minimum anchor embedment of 3-1/2".

The anchors must be properly installed and the torque rating is supposed to be at least 150 ft-lbs.

My floor is more than 6" thick and I had no problems drilling and torquing my anchor bolts to my floor when I installed my lifts. At least Rotary Lifts does have ways of making the lifts fit low ceiling clearance, and narrow or wide bays, but lift height might be affected.

If you can't go up, what about down?

Cut the floor, drop it 6"and pour it as thick as you need and gain a bit of height without touching the ceiling.

Expensive but possible an option. Might have to check with an engineer before you remove the floor next to a wall.

Good thing I am an engineer!

The concrete is 100 years old and not a crack. Not sure why it survived 100 winters but I would not cut it up.......thought about it.......just can’t do it.

There's a one post lift, plus it can be rolled out into the driveway.

https://www.atlasautoequipment.ca/atlas-psp...PRoCEu0QAvD_BwE

Absolutely!

Click to view attachment
The Maxjax works with the 3” pad extension for 2 cars.My ceiling is 98” tall with plenty of room. I would recommend using the epoxy anchors.

Whoa, very, very cool - exactly what I thought about- dream garage!

Those are on sale this weekend at home depot for 1100. Tempting

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yV_VgG_KDZg


Less money. I think the same thing.

Bob B

There's a greg smith equipment about 15 minutes away from me. No sales tax in DE. No installation needed. Other than money, I can't think of a reason not to buy.

Single side option.

https://aclifts.com/lifts/m-1-single-post-car-lift/

Couple of comments.

there is a Craig Smith Lift shop up in southern NH.
No sales tax.

I don't like the 911 on a two post lift...its really tail heavy and you can easily lift the front end off the lift points with one hand....makes me scared.

I ended up with a drive on lift, works great.
You may want to take a look a those also.

Or, possibly a storage facility??

Rich

Our shop has 7 - 2 post lifts and a couple midrise lifts. The midrise are used for metal and bodywork. The 2 post lifts are for mechanical. 98% of the business is 911's. No car has ever fallen off the lift and the guys drop and install engines everyday.

One more thing to note is that in my uncle's shop and before that my grandpa's they always had a tripod screw jack underneath to ensure if something were to happen there is a safety

Unless I am doing engine or trans work on our 914s, I keep a pole jack under the back of the trans. If the lift decides to fail, the car won't come down on me.

a lift should automatically lock if it fails.

I chose this exact lift and could not be more pleased. Does exactly as I need, can add blocks for higher lift if ever needed (haven't yet), is easily moved, quick, and silent. The brakes to hold it at height are very re assuring since gravity actually works with you to stop motion. I use back up jacks just in case, but they're just not necessary.

I especially like the 'clear' area underneath, allowing full vehicle access once raised. Literally, not one thing in the way from front to rear. Also quite easy to move around and store when you're done (or under the vehicle as many do.)

And for a thousand bucks? I've extracted this many times over. Set up was straightforward and you have Costco to deal with if anything goes awry. (Nothing has or did.)




That's a nice lift and an interesting option. The crossbars are what backed me off of this option. Also, using a drill seemed mildly primitive, especially when the lift was double the cost.

Though this has nothing to do with the lift itself - the owner (who answered the phone, designed, sold, did customer service) was extremely rude. Seems others have had issue with him as well. I felt any after-sale needs would be difficult.

I did like the rise height, which beats the QuickJack.

Any lift is better than jack stands.

Max Jax for me. Works great. I have a 3 car garage and wanted room around the car to work without interference. 112' ceiling clearance, so I mounted it right in the middle of the 2 car bay. Wife's pissed as her car now must go into the singe car side when I work on the 914. She says it's too tight. Scares her to drive in on that side. Tough !!




Click to view attachment

If the ceiling is the limit on going up, build a pit and go down...

Maxjax is a great option if you like/need to work seated and want a more robust installation. If you're ok with working on your back, the QuickJack is much cheaper (about half) and simpler (no concrete testing, roll the lifting units out of the way when not needed, etc.). The EZ-car lift is also nicely portable, but is close in price to the maxjax and requires a drill for raising/lowering. Of course, since I've been using a QuickJack for several years, I'm partial to it for low-ceiling installations...but I totally agree that anything is better than jack stands. Once you get a lift...any lift...you'll wonder how you lived without it. Be safe!

Pits are not safe plus not very useful.

Key word there is "should". I am a bit paranoid. I have seen a truck roll off a center post lift and fall upside down on a Honda Civic. Kinda made me paranoid about cars that high in the air.

When I turned 50 I petitioned for a rack. I chose a full lift 2 post rack from a car show special price. It was the best thing I could have done to keep wrenching. I use it constantly. I've had my 914 on the rack for the last 8 months. It's gone up and down maybe inchs at a time to get it to the exact best height to make it the easiest on this old body. i can't even raise it all the way up because I have a 9 ft ceiling. But I use rolling seats. It works for me. 20+ times a day I'm adjusting the height. It's a lifesaver.
Click to view attachment

Nice Shop - I have shop envy.

Some offshore budget lifts don't lock automatically, mine's a USA made asymmetric AAMCO, clack-clack all the way up.

I never had a worry with my lift, I have a 996 C4S on the lift right now, engine out, new 4.0 going in shortly. The 996 lump must weigh 500 pounds.
Any lift you have to use common sense when tackling high torque bolts, shifting loads, etc.

Putting stuff under the lift like auxiliary jacks can quickly become a safety hazard. It's very easy to forget they are there and lower the lift. You think you will remember but it only takes a moment to get distracted. Better to have a newer lift that you can trust.

I always do a walk around under the car before lowering the lift. Again because I am paranoid. I had to buy a new oil drain bucket for the shop I was working at early in my career because I smashed the funnel on top trying to lower a car. So I made it a habit to do a clearance walk around before the lift goes down.

Bendpak:

https://www.bendpak.com/grandprix/

after looking at many many many lifts and lift manufactures, doing as many 914s as we do we chose rotary lifts. They work perfectly with a 914 and other Porsche modelsClick to view attachment

That's what I use.

What two post lift did you purchase?

Just bought a maxjax for 1500 today delivered.. Was a flash sale.. Looking forward to using this..

Wow! Great price.

As some of you know, I just bought a mid rise lift used. $900. New 1500. 6000lbs.
Max lift height of around 60in. Depending on adaptors used, can be more, less. Haven’t used it yet. But some have chimed in already. Nobody regrets buying a lift.

One thing I don't like about some of the scissor lifts is no rubber pads, sitting on steel does make for a car slipping around. I don't know how many times I almost lost an engine on my steel top lift table, till I grew a brain and started using a rubber sheet on it. The above lift I'd use hockey pucks on the lift points to give it some grip.