Lift for garage

[Adrian B]

I read with interest the article in the latest SOC magazine about a lift to fit in a single garage,the one featured looked great but i expect out of my spend budget which got me thinking about the tilting car lifts,so if anyone has one can you slide it under the car from the back or front of the car and are they really any good for if you wanted to remove the rear suspension as i'm not sure of clearance for exhaust/prop shafts !!!

[Motorsport Micky]

I think they slide in from the side... awkward in single garage, could you do it outside on the drive maybe ?

Micky

[Adrian B]

That's what i was worried about if it had to go from the side,i'd prefer to have the car lifted in the garage rather outside in the English elements!!Always going to be a problem for home restoration work without a double garage i suppose.

[Goldstar]

You drive over them as far as I am aware

[new to this]

the one ive got you drive over it and wind it up to lift mine lifts on the cills

Dave

[69k4mbo]

Try EZcarlift Holden vintage & classic but pricey !

[RobinLegin]

Looked at the photos and had garage envy! There appear to be a variety of lifts out there. Not sure what the Stag weighs, but Sealey have a scissor lift for under £600.

[Chix]

I was thinking of digging a pit in my single garage... obviously it means the car is still on its wheels, but could always jack up.
Anyone got a pit? Advantages? Disadvantages?

[stag8manod]

I've had a pit for some 45 years, hand dug and hollow concrete blocked. Sons and myself have been able tp achieve all we wanted to, to our road, race and rally cars we have had.
Cheers Ian A

[Goldstar]

I was thinking of digging a pit in my single garage... obviously it means the car is still on its wheels, but could always jack up.
Anyone got a pit? Advantages? Disadvantages?

Water table? Making it wide enough at the bottom is a big digging job otherwise you risk tripping over your feet. Make a shelf for tools? There’s are good critiques of the available pre-made linings (nobody really thought they were any good in the bits I read) with a bit of Googling.

[dasadrew]

I had access to a pit in my younger days and it really was the pits (I found).

a) If your garage is, say, 6 metres long and the car is, say 4,5 metres long, then that only leaves you with 75cm front and back to put the stairs or ladder when you climb into the pit.
b) the amount of stuff you can do where you are in the centre 80cm wide part of the car's underbelly is pretty minimal.
c) jacking up the car for example under the diff? Spot the difficulty yet?
d) if you're doing something where the car shoundn't move forwards or backwards, then you need to push the car into place after you've clambered into the pit and hope you don't have a mate who pulls the handbrake on and goes for a coffee break when you're in the pit. Yes, if you're reading this I mean YOU - you barsteward!
e) after you've got yourself nice and comfy in the pit to change the exhaust, you'll find that the GunGum ist still in the workbench drawer
f) elfin safety? Boarding up the pit every time you move the car out of the garage.
g) water in pit, oil spills in pit? Great fun!

I think before digging a pit I'd seriously write down all the jobs which I'd use it for where a pit has an advantage over jacks or ramps.

Anyone noticed that those old local garages with pits now have lifts? As far as I can recall, countries like Italy which tend to have a more clement climate always seem to have a lift on the forecourt.

Just my tuppence' worth....

Drew

[dasadrew]

[Chix]

I had access to a pit in my younger days and it really was the pits (I found).

a) If your garage is, say, 6 metres long and the car is, say 4,5 metres long, then that only leaves you with 75cm front and back to put the stairs or ladder when you climb into the pit.
b) the amount of stuff you can do where you are in the centre 80cm wide part of the car's underbelly is pretty minimal.
c) jacking up the car for example under the diff? Spot the difficulty yet?
d) if you're doing something where the car shoundn't move forwards or backwards, then you need to push the car into place after you've clambered into the pit and hope you don't have a mate who pulls the handbrake on and goes for a coffee break when you're in the pit. Yes, if you're reading this I mean YOU - you barsteward!
e) after you've got yourself nice and comfy in the pit to change the exhaust, you'll find that the GunGum ist still in the workbench drawer
f) elfin safety? Boarding up the pit every time you move the car out of the garage.
g) water in pit, oil spills in pit? Great fun!

I think before digging a pit I'd seriously write down all the jobs which I'd use it for where a pit has an advantage over jacks or ramps.

Anyone noticed that those old local garages with pits now have lifts? As far as I can recall, countries like Italy which tend to have a more clement climate always seem to have a lift on the forecourt.

Just my tuppence' worth....

Drew

YES DREW! Thanks for saving me all those headaches. Pit is not the way forward!

[Niallcat]

I had conveniently forgotten all the advantages of a pit, and I cannot recall a day with a pit without them... oh good for fitness

[marshman]

I had access to a pit in my younger days and it really was the pits (I found).

a) If your garage is, say, 6 metres long and the car is, say 4,5 metres long, then that only leaves you with 75cm front and back to put the stairs or ladder when you climb into the pit.
b) the amount of stuff you can do where you are in the centre 80cm wide part of the car's underbelly is pretty minimal.
c) jacking up the car for example under the diff? Spot the difficulty yet?
d) if you're doing something where the car shoundn't move forwards or backwards, then you need to push the car into place after you've clambered into the pit and hope you don't have a mate who pulls the handbrake on and goes for a coffee break when you're in the pit. Yes, if you're reading this I mean YOU - you barsteward!
e) after you've got yourself nice and comfy in the pit to change the exhaust, you'll find that the GunGum ist still in the workbench drawer
f) elfin safety? Boarding up the pit every time you move the car out of the garage.
g) water in pit, oil spills in pit? Great fun!

I think before digging a pit I'd seriously write down all the jobs which I'd use it for where a pit has an advantage over jacks or ramps.

Anyone noticed that those old local garages with pits now have lifts? As far as I can recall, countries like Italy which tend to have a more clement climate always seem to have a lift on the forecourt.

Just my tuppence' worth....

Drew

Made me smile !

Had a pit in every garage I have had, wouldn't be with out one. Also have access to a four post lift as well. What I would say is it is horses for courses. As with most things in life there are pro's and con's.

Biggest issue with a pit is digging it ! Always dug mine before building the garage. If you are going to have one then don't mess about make it full depth if you can, deeper than you actually need to stand up under the car, you can always builds a false floor. Make it wide enough and yes if your garage is not long enough don't bother!

A pit doesn't have to be the full length of the car. I rarely use the full length as most of the time it is sufficient just to get under the front half or the back half. The crucial thing is having enough length in the garage to allow 18" of pit to stick out of the front to allow easy access.

Yes if you have dodgy knees and hips climbing up and down can be an issue, but you build in steps at the end to make it easy. When under the car it is usually easy to move it back and forth, I have no trouble moving my 110 Land Rover from underneath, just have a handy couple of wheel chocks to hold the car where you want - no worries about a handbrake - especially if you find some decent mates

Water table obviously needs to be catered for. In winter the water table where we are sometimes gets to within 18" of the top of the pit. When I built it half of it was under water. I was given an old fibreglass sheep dipping trough which was roughly the right size - a bit narrow but it was free. I sunk this, concreted around the top and finished the rest with concrete blocks. Previous ones I have built have been entirely made of concrete blocks laid flat.

I got hold of a second hand decent quality hydraulic jacking beam which I can slide along and position where I want. So raising the car is not an issue.

Pit boards - you only have to replace them when you drive the car out. SO most jobs they come off once and back on once, takes 2 minutes - about the same time as it does for a lift to go up.

A real advantage of a pit is when you are not using it it takes up no space, in fact because it is below ground it is always nice and cool, ideal for storing your beer

To me one big advantage is when you are taking an engine out and need to work from above and below it is easy. On a ramp/lift (assuming a four poster) you have either lower the lift or climb up a step ladder, with a pit you climb out and work at ground level, and the car is rock solid and not moving about. I always worry about 2 post lifts and their stability. Four post lifts the bed often gets in the way.

The other thing with a lift is you need clearance above!

Just my 2p worth


Roger