Garage Lifts

[Patrick67BJ8]

What are you using for a lift to work on your Healey? Looking for ideas/info to raise my Healey to work on it. The Jack with four Jack stands do not work for me anymore.

 

[Healey Nut]

All depends on how much you want to spend and how much room you have . If you have the height and the money go for a four post drive on lift with bridgejack . Great for oil changes , brake jobs , cleaning without bending , etc etc . Also doubles for storage in winter .With a chunk of aluminum beam across the ramps and a chain block it becomes an engine hoist as well .
other option is Quick Jack .
I have a four post drive on …..best tool I ever bought .

Just to add , I rarely walk around in my shop , smooth floor , old wheeled office chair . Car on the lift at appropriate height and just scoot around from car to tool chest to workbench etc . A TV, good stereo and a fridge also help the days go by in my “office”

 

[bdcvg]

What He said, going on 20 years with a 4 post. Best thing ever especially if You have a 10 foot ceiling

 

[gonzo]

Wildfire 4 post lifts are a popular choice.

 

[PHulst]

I did extensive looking prior to purchasing 4 lifts a couple of years ago. 2 went to my place, and the other two to friends. We saved money in a group buy.

I would highly recommend this one:

Advantage DX-9000-HD | 9,000 LBS. 4-Post Lift

The Advantage Lifts 4-post lift DX-9000-HD is tailor made for residential garages. A five-year warranty along with all of the auto lift accessories you could possibly need. ETL Power Unit. Free standing 4-Post lift does not need mounted to concrete floor. 9000LBS weight capacity.

www.advantagelifts.com

They often are at car shows and give discounts. There is also a military discount.
I could not find one with the same quality anywhere else. Having used my two extensively I am still very satisfied.

 

[Patrick67BJ8]

I don’t have ten foot high ceilings for a four post lift so something other than a post lift will have to do.

 

[PHulst]

I don’t have ten foot high ceilings for a four post lift so something other than a post lift will have to do.

You can get the short ones, but they're sometimes more problem than they are worth; see Quick Jack.
I would look at a MaxJax then if I were you.

 

[Bob_Spidell]

Something to consider:

The ALI Independent Car Lift Certification Program

ALI Lift Certification Program is the only accredited program in North America to independently test and validate car lifts & meets industry safety standards

www.autolift.org

 

[dougie]

Four post lifts are fine if you're just need to store more cars. To do any real car maintenance a two post system is the best. I've own both, with the amount of pre and post race work I do on # 414 a four post would be ridiculous. If your plan is to park the car go four post, if you like to work on your car and would enjoy the addition space in your garage go two post and be free of the cumbersome dimensionally challenged four post.

 

[vette]

I was just going to chirp in with similar comments to Dougie. I have a Danmar 10k , 2 post lift which gives much more versitality than a 4 post. I almost was persuaded that the 4 post was the better way to go because of the ease of driving on but the ease of doing all sorts of repairs convinced me that the 2 post was the better way to go. But then the big kicker for me was when I realized that the 4 post system cost almost twice as much.

 

[Healey Nut]

You don’t have to have 10ft plus ceilings to fit a four post lift . The lower ceilings just make it less useful .
The lift in my pic used to be at my old house where the ceiling was only 9 1/2ft I had to modify the garage door tracks so the door was close to the ceiling as possible and had to install a direct drive garage door opener .A direct drive opener with the elevated tracks to get the door way up out of the way is a must . It clears the ceiling area of the clutter of the regular garage door opener and tracks .
I could park her Z4 on top with the Vantage below , it was a squeeze but doable .
No such problems in my new shop 13ft ceilings

A two post lift will give you more working room if your only using it to work on but personally I wouldn’t use it to store a car with all the suspension components left hanging while the car is up .

 

[PHulst]

I had to modify the garage door tracks so the door was close to the ceiling as possible and had to install a direct drive garage door opener .A direct drive opener with the elevated tracks to get the door way up out of the way is a must . It clears the ceiling area of the clutter of the regular garage door opener and tracks .

A two post lift will give you more working room if your only using it to work on but personally I wouldn’t use it to store a car with all the suspension components left hanging while the car is up .

These are some key points.
I'd recommend having the tracks raised no matter how high your ceiling may be, or you will find them in the way.
The direct drive (side mount) opener will also give you a lot more room to raise the car.

I purchased a rolling air jack for use with my 4 post lift:

RJA-Advantage Rolling Jack (Air-Operated)

What Are You Waiting For? Make Today the Day You Get More Use out of Your 4-Post Lift Air pump for maximum convenience and efficiency. Various locking positions for your safety, and to remove pressure off the cylinder. Comes with various accessories, and a 2-year warranty. Fits most four-post...

www.advantagelifts.com

It gives me a lot of the same ability as a 2 post, and I can now use the lift to store cars or do other work. Highly recommended if you have the ability to buy one.

 

[Guido36]

For compact and unobtrusive storage the single post parking lift is another option I have been considering for a while.

https://aclifts.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Maximum-One-4.5-and-6.5-date-Jan-2018.pdf

However for your purpose, as others have said, the MaxJax rollaround two post may be the best compromise. I used one recently to work on my Healey but I had to be very careful not to bang my head when sitting on a rollaround stool. The advantage of these is that they can easily be stored out of the way when not in use and you can roll them outdoors. The photo shows the maximum working height.

MaxJax®

The M7K. The bigger, badder MaxJax®. Everything you loved about the M6K is back, but now with an even higher lifting capacity. Our engineers found a way to let you safely lift up to 7,000 lbs. while still retaining a minimal footprint. Thanks to its unique portable two-post design, the MaxJax...

www.maxjax.com

 

[John Turney]

I'm jealous of all you guys who have room for lifts in your garages. I have barely enough room to get the Healey in, much less a lift too.

 

[vette]

I'm jealous of all you guys who have room for lifts in your garages. I have barely enough room to get the Healey in, much less a lift too.

First rule of a car guys garage, no domestic stuff. No bicycles, no lawnmowers, no boxes of stored stuff unless they are car related. Then you will have room. Oh, also a large sign that says “ DON’T YOU DARE TOUCH ANY TOOLS or for that matter anything else in this room”.

 

[Jack T]

Not having ceiling height for a standard lift and not wanting to permanently tie up a garage bay permanently, I settled on a MaxJax. The almost 4' lift height makes it possible to work underneath from a mechanic's stool, and when the lift is not in use it can be unbolted from the floor and stored against the wall. Installing an additional set of anchors gives you the flexibility to use it for various size vehicles. I find it to be perfect for a hobbyist level mechanic.

 

[JHaydon]

The photo shows the maximum working height.

Guido36, I just found out about MaxJax last night and was looking on their website. They say it goes up to 48" lift height. Your photo looks lower than that, with plenty of headroom. Is it an optical illusion? Was the car 4 feet high?

 

[Healey Nut]

Not having ceiling height for a standard lift and not wanting to permanently tie up a garage bay permanently, I settled on a MaxJax. The almost 4' lift height makes it possible to work underneath from a mechanic's stool, and when the lift is not in use it can be unbolted from the floor and stored against the wall. Installing an additional set of anchors gives you the flexibility to use it for various size vehicles. I find it to be perfect for a hobbyist level mechanic.

That’s why you build your own house and shop to suit .
my shop is 32X40 and I kind wish I had built it a bit bigger but then it would have overpowered the house .
My problem now is keeping space to work when storing cars for people over the winter .
maybe a second lift is in my future .

 

[Jack T]

Guido36, I just found out about MaxJax last night and was looking on their website. They say it goes up to 48" lift height. Your photo looks lower than that, with plenty of headroom. Is it an optical illusion? Was the car 4 feet high?

Pretty sure that photo shows the car at the intermediate lift height. Using the 4" extensions that come with the Maxjax the bottom of the chassis is about 4' above the floor at maximum lift.

 

[Guido36]

I am pretty sure that photo is at maximum height but optical illusion/perspective may give a false impression. The underside of the Healey is below chest height for a 6 ft person - about stomach level. The extenders on the swing beams do not fit under the Healey unless you jack the car up first and lower it onto the swing beams with the extenders fitted. Even without them it is very close on clearance to get the swing beams under the chassis rails. I’ll take some better photos on my next visit to the car. Cheers, Guy