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Car Lifts & Door Openers

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BobbyD

BobbyD

Jedi Knight
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For you lucky guys with a lift in your garage, what kind of a door opener do you have? My garage has a 9' ceiling but my door opener hangs down almost 2'. I've got a torsion bar on the door header so I guess you'd have to use something like a Liftmaster Jackshft or a Wayne Dalton iDrive opener. These things are pretty compact as the pictures below show. So what are you using with your car lift?

walljackshaft.jpg


iDriveTorsiongarage.jpg
idrive_banner_torsion.gif
 
I have a 4-post Bendpack lift and my doors are two 4 foot wide barn style sliders that slide on the outside.
 
I'M the door opener! Installed large hinged double-doors for the Taj Garage. Mostly for the external aesthetics but also avoids the overhead door hardware inside. You do have to do a good job shoveling out the snow if you want to use them in the winter however (which I don't much).
 
BobbyD said:
...My garage has a 9' ceiling but my door opener hangs down almost 2'...
Click to expand...

Mine was similar with a ceiling height of about 9.5' where the opener hangs (flat roof, slightly sloping ceiling). Here is a 'before' shot of the opener and tracks:

Footprint%203.JPG



Not bad but I thought I could improve things a bit w/o spending dough or doing much modification. I raised the opener box (and track) as high as it would go. The I raised the door tracks as high as I could and still have the top edge of the door not foul on the opener track when fully raised. Finally, I removed the 'elbow' from the end of the arm that connects the opener truck to the door as that was now the low point as the door opened:

Jiffy%20Lube.JPG



Everything still works fine w/o straining. It is probably a little more work for the opener (now pulling slightly uphill) but it is the same size opener on that single door that is on the double door nearby -- so that opener is probably oversized for a single door anyway.

Of course I had to adjust the lift distance and bottom stop settings (simple).

With the TRs well forward on the lift (so the windscreens clear the opener) I can raise them to the next-to-last stop which is all I want as that lets me stand under the car w/o hitting my head. With the aeroscreen on the TR3A it can go to that height w/o being in a forward position.
 
Geo,

I put old tennis balls over the pins on the lift posts that are used to attach the optional wheel dollies (mine is secured to the floor like yours.) The tennis balls save my ankles when I get too close. Once, a neighbor's dog came over once and promptly took off with one to play with. My other next door neighbors have tennis courts so there's always a supply of old ones.

I also added yellow and black striped safety tape to the ramps to warn me (and others) when walking under the lift - my uncle rang the bell once pretty loudly!

Your garage looks empty compared to mine. Where do you keep all your stuff?

-Pete
 
Geo,
Very slick idea and a simple solution.
Not to steal the thread, what make of lift do you have (my next purchase)?
I'm with Pete, where's all of the normal garage stuff...tools, parts, etc???
 
I just installed the lift master. Easy DIY installation and it works great. I also installed a warehouse type rollup door to clear the soon to be installed lift.
 
Al,

Bobby's getting a new toy.....I can feel it in my bad knee.....Al are you out there???
 
BobbyD said:
Rusty....... was the Lift Master an add on to your existing torsion bar or did you have to buy a torsion bar specifically for the Lift Master?

What kind of a lift are you getting?
Click to expand...

I had a typical residential door. I replaced it with a commercial door that rolls onto a spindle. The door rolls onto itself so when its up, there is no door above the car. The opener is wall mounted.

The lift will be a 4 post made by American Products, Model SS8000XLT. https://www.americanautomotiveequipment.com/4-Post-Lifts-p/ss7000xlt.htm

It has the highest platform so I can get my VW microbus under it and the TR3 above. Price delivered and set up is $2500.00
 
What I have:

https://www.eagleequip.com/page/EE/PROD/LI-SS/GLO-7000

Shipping was only $250 from the east coast to Tucson so the total was $2049 (price appears to have gone up a thou since January).

'Global' is a euphemism for "Made in China'. I can picture the assembly line: the lower welds are done by the 7 & 8 year-olds, the older kids do the rest of the welds in a progression of age/height.

Seriously, looks well made, easy set-up and works fine. I think there are several brands that are very similar as it is a proven design. One thing to look at is the spacing of the runways to be sure they are close enough for our cars' narrow tracks.

For unload and set-up I had a 'lift-party' timed to correspond with the arrival of the Fed-Ex truck. Serve 'em lunch but hold back the Guinness until the work is done. Took about an hour to unload the truck (uncrating one piece at a time) and set-up the 8 big pieces. From that point on I was able to do the various bits (stringing cables, mounting pump & tank etc).

As for 'all the stuff' -- I was very fortunate the house came with 3 large walk-in closets in the garage. One each for automotive, household tools & paint and seasonal/camping/other storage.

PS: I really like the side-mount lift and roll-up door idea.
 
BobbyD said:
Peter.....any pictures of your lift with your door opener?

What lifts do you guys have and did they have to be professionally installed?
Click to expand...

Paul,

There a few lift photos here in my workshop album. https://home.myfairpoint.net/~kentech0822/PhotoAlbums/backyardbritish/index.html I purchased my Bend-pak frrom www.asedeals.com. It was roughly $2000 including delivery to the nearest freight terminal. It came all bundled in one 1500 lb bundle so I had to unbundle it in the terminal; and move it to my trailer (by myself!) I had to call a friend though to come out and help lift the 300lb ramps.

I also installed it my self, calling the same friend when it was time to put the ramps on. My lift has two jack bridges that slide along the ramps for jacking underneath. They are made from 3/8" thick u-channel and weight quite a bit. Quality is superb, all welds are beautiful, and their support was responsive. When I first got the lift, it had the wrong bridge so I called with measurements and they freighted out two custom made of the correct length n/c.

My shop is "busy" and will never looks a clean as Geo's but there's always a lot going on at our place.
 
Bobby:

I think the type of lift you choose may depend on what you plan to use it for.

If you are primarily looking to store more cars in the space available, then a 4-post makes a lot of sense (or even one of those fancy single post setups). If it will be used most for working on the car, the two-post lift is a better option. It gives much better access to the underside, and full access to suspension and brakes.

You will also need to check with the manufacturer on the slab thickness/strength that they recommend. This is very important with a 2-post lift given the stresses these place on the slab. Also check on the required electrical supply - 120V or 240V.

BTW did I tell you how much I LOVE my 2-post lift!

Rob.
 
I just bought a 2-post lift. It arrives Monday.

Before I could buy it, I had to have my garage door replaced. I paid $1520 for a new 16 foot door, installed, with the lift master side jobber. He got it 5 inches off the ceiling.

I've got a 12 foot ceiling in the garage (11' 10", actually), so I opted for a two post with the bottom connector. It's from asedeals.com and is their cheapest 9000 lb. "Workhorse" model. It was $1800 delivered.
 
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