For those that haven't been following the mini saga of my new garage lift (my wife hinted that there might be some of you that don't hang on my every word. Weird.), I picked up this lift last week from a local place.
I had a failure of one of the cylinders about 30 seconds into operation, not cool. That did illustrate why I like to deal locally though, not through the interwebs. I had a place to go to and talk to a guy face-to-face. Plus, I think it would have been exceedingly difficult to fit the new cylinder through the interweb pipes that connect our computers.
Anyway, after replacing the cylinder I discovered that my car (1999 Golf, stock susp and wheel/tires) wouldn't fit. The lift was 1.5" taller than the specifications stated. Basically, there used to be a tapered bolt that went down through the arm and the lift plate and was fastened from underneath. Too many consumers couldn't figure that out. HUH? You have the mechanical abilities to need/use a lift but you can't figure that out!?!? Anyway, they replaced it with this part
It goes in from the bottom, and there is a nut and washers that go on from the top. That stud is what sticks up 1.5" proud of the arm. I'm going to buy some tapered-head bolts to replace that assembly to get the stack height back to 4.75" since that's what they used to use.
So, I finally got the Golf on the lift after laying some 2"X10' planks on either side, notching a clearance channel for the hydraulic hose. I used the lowest profile pad in the front, the next step up in the rear. I was able to get the centerline of the hubs 45" from the floor with the lift resting on one of the locks. I was able to change the oil while sitting on my butt-creeper and rotate tires/inspect brakes while standing. Man that's nice to be able to do that again!!
I snapped some pics, but sorry, my battery went dead before I got pics of the rear and center.
Here's the front, I have 100% clear access to the subframe bolts and everything ahead of the door openings.
sorry for the bad pic, it was hard to get.
The rear is basically the same. Rear suspension work or RWD axle work will be no problem at all. Getting to a RWD trans or a driveshaft will be tough. You can use the spacers to gain clearance between the lift and undercarriage, but you need more garage height than I have to do that.
So, what do you get for $1500? Well, the 6,000 pound capacity lift that goes 48" high and most cars will drive over with no problem. It also comes with the hydraulic hose and safety release cable to make it work and plenty of pads/adapters. Here's an over all shot of the adapters that come with it
Here's some closer shots
I made just about every compromise in purchasing this lift, but I have no regrets. I want what I used to work on in the dealership, a 9,000 pound twin-post that get's the car into the clouds. I didn't have the garage for that. The next most desirable was a flush mounted scissor lift with NOTHING between the sides like this
but I didn't have the $5,000+ to spend, or the garage height (this has a 72" lift height). The Max Jax would have dominated my garage, effectively turning it into a 1-car shop because I knew I wouldn't want to drag the posts out and bolt them in to change the oil on my car. So I'll live with this until I get another house with a real garage.
If there is anyone in the area that wants to check it out, or even try it out lemme know.
Keep us up to date on how it is over a longer period.
