Life / Garage Info Needed

ricklove

ricklove

Senior Member
Can someone kinda point me in the right direction for a lift for my needs? Looking to build an oversize, detached 2 car garage (24' x 26') and what I need for a lift and ceiling height. 1948 Ford tudor sedan and Gold Wing will reside, but I also want a lift for doing stuff underneath. Any "lessons learned" from your mistakes greatly appreciated. Many thanks!!!
 
Make sure you have a 12 ft ceiling as most of the old cars are quite "tall". I have 2 Backyard Buddy lifts and I am very pleased. Make sure you use Loctite when you assemble your lift......ask me how I know...
 
Hi

I did a fair amount of research on this. There are many brands out there and some are pretty pricey. After all was said and done, I decided on a four post, extended height Atlas lift 8000 lb lift that runs off of 100V.

My garage height is 14' and with the lift all the way up I can fit a large 4x4 under it. I strongly suggest, you have it professionally installed (install cost me about $900) The lift provides more than enough room under it and it comes with a bunch of extra stuff (ie wheels if you want to move, oil catch panels & a movable tray to out a bottle jack to get wheels up)

Next to my car, best thing I have purchased.
 
If you check online a lot of the lift manufacturer/suppliers provide all of their products demensions including total lift height. Add the height of the largest vechile you will want stored on the lift and add a foot or so for clearance. Be sure your builder understands what you are wanting to accomplish! My son had a house built and wanted to install a lift. The builder used the correct ceiling height but it was constructed in such a way that he couldn't install it in the finished garage.
 
I'd suggest 14 foot ceilings. I put in 12 foot and I can't store one woody on top of another woody. I'd suggest a bendpak 4 post lift. I have two 4 post and one storage lift and they are the best out there. I wasn't looking for a storage lift(two post lift with a tee on the floor) but got a good deal on it. Many(most) mechanics shops have bendpaks. I bought two of them on craigslist and got a $3000 lift for $2000. I installed all 3 lifts myself with an engine hoist. It can be done yourself. I used to have a 2 post lift but got tired of bending over to position the lift points and they aren't good for storage either. 4 post lifts also doesn't require pouring any footings. To work on wheels I built a cross member and use bottle jacks. A rolling jack can also be purchased. Do your own comparison and you will find there is no higher quality than bendpak. Note you will need a high lift kit to put your garage door up near the ceiling with a lift(standard garage door is to store at only 8 feet high.)
 
When the budget allows I plan to buy a Backyard Buddy - because my garage height isn't high enough inside and it will roll outside onto the driveway so I can get full lift there. I don't plan to use it to stack cars for storage.
 
I seem to recall bend-pac needs both electric & an air compressor. Is that correct?

Another consideration if correct.
 
My Bend-Pac requires 220V to raise the lift and air to release the locks in order for gravity to lower. I have 14' ceiling and can park a '31 woody wagon over a '46 Ford coupe with no problems. The wheels are borderline useless for my installation. I ran conduit for the 220 so moving the lift would be problematic. I have a Dodge 2500 Diesel that weighs in at around 6000 pounds. The lift handles it quite nicely.
 
unless you keep the back wall empty, 26' is not enough. mine is 28', entire wall lined up with tools about 3' out, and while its ok with old cars, a full size pickup fills it right up. 30'deep would be better, and the cost of those few feet added on is about nothing. have fun! skip
 
I have a two-post BendPak - installed it myself with a 6" reinforced concrete floor. It uses 220V for the hydraulics and no air. There are a lot of cheap knock-offs out there . . . with many of them using the same color and paint scheme as Bend-Pac (to look like them). I've looked at quite a few of them - most do not have the same metal thickness and quality that I've seen in BendPak . . . and most don't have the certifications and/or warranty to match.

Frankly, I didn't want to compromise on something that i have to work under all the time. The price of this high-quality unit isn't that much more than the Chinese clones . . . so invest wisely as it is your life that is at stake when you work under them.

http://www.bendpak.com/car-lifts/
 
I can't help with lifts but think about the usable square footage before you build. All of that ceiling area around where your car on the lift isn't will be wasted. Consider an eight or ten foot ceiling with a second story loft for storage. If you have project cars in various stages you have to store the parts properly and organized.

P.S. #1 Include a compact (or maybe structural) steel I-Beam in your build for a trolley hoist. You'll use it more often than you think.

P.S. #2 Fill the loft ceiling-to-floor with your stuff before family and friends can.

Lonnie
 
I had a champion two post 7000lb lift, it measured 12'-3" , I like the fact that I didn't need jacks on a lift to pull a wheel or brakes. However as mentioned above they are not meant for storage but they do have locks. My point is go high with the ceiling even if it is only where the lift is. Also if money allows finish floor and drywall before you begin filling with stuff. Good luck.
 
BoredandStroked
You hit the nail on the head
I've looked at quite a few of them - most do not have the same metal thickness and quality that I've seen in BendPak . . . and most don't have the certifications and/or warranty to match.

Frankly, I didn't want to compromise on something that i have to work under all the time. The price of this high-quality unit isn't that much more than the Chinese clones . . . so invest wisely as it is your life that is at stake when you work under them.

Many people are driven by price . later they will learn how much money they saved when one of these fail. It may be to late. As I have done research on purchhasing 8 of these I have found that many do not even carry manufacturers liability insurance on their product. That is because they are built off shore some where are not going to be required to have any insurance. Some of you will say so , I do not care . Nothing will happen to me , but I do not want to be that guy.
I value my life and vehicles to much to roll the dice.
Like the old saying goes. You get what you paid for !
Vic
 
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