[mike]

[quote name='flash' date='Feb 22 2006, 08:06 PM']seems i've been following his lead a lot lately - garage, denali, lift - what's next?



[right][post="16407"]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post][/right][/quote]



Next would be the 996, yes?



mike

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[Ryan]

Tim, funny you should mention that...I got a call last night from a buddy with a old TR6 that wants to book some time and I have only had the lift a couple weeks.



The last time we worked on his car he had just gotten it and on the way out to my house for a party, the headlights quit working. He stayed at my house that night and the next day we worked on his car out in my yard. We fooled with it for a couple hours and could not get the lights to come on. We got some beer and just set there pounding a few down, when I looked up and the lights came on all by them self.



The motto of this story is..."if you drink enough beer, your car will fix its self"

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[Lemming]

[quote name='Ryan' date='Feb 23 2006, 09:48 AM']The motto of this story is..."if you drink enough beer, your car will fix its self"

[right][post="16448"]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post][/right][/quote]



Car fairies <img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/huh.gif" class="smilie" alt="" />

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[968bill]

I would like to get a sheet of smooth aluminum (not diamond plate) to go under the lift before the lift gets here. I would like it to go under the roller end by about 3 in. and go all the way to the stationary end. IOW, when the lift is raised the sheet can't move because it's being pushed against the stationary bar.



So, what size do I need and what thickness would be recommended?



The reason I need this is my parking area in front of the garage is not smooth concrete and I don't want the rollers to gouge it up. The P-cars can be raised inside the garage but the SUV could not. Wouldn't you know it, I finally get a 3-car garage and the ceiling is the shortest of any I've ever had.



TIA

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[flash]

that's my problem here too



if it's on concrete, and it's dead flat, i'd say 1/8 if it's 6061 and 3/16 if it's 5052 - if there are any anomolies in the surface, go up to 3/16 on 6061 and 1/4 on 5052 - size would be at least 6 inches beyond the outline of the lift components for weight distribution and reduction of potential of buckling



keep it clean, especially the wheels - chunks of crap will gouge the aluminum and make operation degrade

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[Lemming]

[quote name='968bill' date='Feb 23 2006, 09:22 PM']I would like to get a sheet of smooth aluminum (not diamond plate) to go under the lift before the lift gets here. I would like it to go under the roller end by about 3 in. and go all the way to the stationary end. IOW, when the lift is raised the sheet can't move because it's being pushed against the stationary bar.



So, what size do I need and what thickness would be recommended?



The reason I need this is my parking area in front of the garage is not smooth concrete and I don't want the rollers to gouge it up. The P-cars can be raised inside the garage but the SUV could not. Wouldn't you know it, I finally get a 3-car garage and the ceiling is the shortest of any I've ever had.



TIA

[right][post="16481"]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post][/right][/quote]



Bill,



I won't comment on thickness, but I'll try to get you an estimate of width and length this weekend. It may not be till Sunday night, since I get to drive and instruct at Barber this weekend :-)

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[earossi]

I've been following this topic for some time and would still like to see some discussion on storage lifts, since that is what I am contemplating. I originally looked at the Backyard Buddy, but have pretty much passed on that option since they have priced themselves out of the game ($4000+).



My current focus is on the Bend Pak lift which is handled by a number of different vendors. They have a lift that is capable of 9000#. And, you can get it in a narrow version so that it will work well in a 2 car garage. Looks like the all in cost including shipping would be about $2700 which includes castors to move it around and the usual drip trays and the jack tray. The Bend Pak also has a pneumatic locking system that is a backup for the mechanical latches and the hydraulic system.





Any comments? What other storage lifts have you guys tried?



Regards,



Ernie

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[968bill]

[quote name='flash' date='Feb 24 2006, 08:45 AM']if it's on concrete, and it's dead flat, i'd say 1/8 if it's 6061 and 3/16 if it's 5052 - if there are any anomolies in the surface, go up to 3/16 on 6061 and 1/4 on 5052 - size would be at least 6 inches beyond the outline of the lift components for weight distribution and reduction of potential of buckling



keep it clean, especially the wheels - chunks of crap will gouge the aluminum and make operation degrade

[right][post="16493"]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post][/right][/quote]

Inside the garage is no problem, that's smooth concrete though I might still want to use the alum. sheet. However in the driveway area it's a base of concrete then another layer of "chunky" concrete thats power washed before it's set. It looks almost like crushed shells imbedded in the concrete. There's a name for this process but I'll be darned if I can remember it. My last 2 driveways have been asphalt, they would have required a 1/4 sheet or thicker to go under the lift.



I'll need to use the driveway when lifting the SUV and also when pressure washing the underbody of the P-cars, that would make a bit of a mess inside the garage!



Thanks for the suggestions on the sheet size and thickness and for getting the dimensions of the footprint, I'd like to get the sheet before the lift gets here so I can start using it right away.



It looks like we hijacked this thread from Ernie, maybe we could copy/paste all this stuff on the scissor lifts into a new thread and let Ernie have his thread back?



Sorry 'bout that Ernie,

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[earossi]

There's been a lot of discussion about using a backing plate to set these lifts on concrete or asphalt. For insurance against damaging the surface finish of your asphalt driveway, I can see the logic to putting such a plate down on asphalt; but, fail to see the point on concrete.



The issue is contact forces on the driveway/garage surface, right? Well, since most of these lifts have a 1 sq. ft plate on each of the posts, the loading on your parking surface is going to be substantially less than the contact pressure from the tires on your car. My guess is that the contact patch from a tire is about half what the mounting plates on the lift are. If that is the case, then the stresses passed onto the concrete/asphalt will be approximately half the tire patch loads, even when you throw in the weight of the lift in addition tot he car's weight.



Looking at it from another angle, ordinary concrete develops approximately 2000 psi of strength. With a strength of 2000 psi, a one square foot section of concrete should have sufficient strength to withstand loading of approximately 288,000#! Assuming the weight of the car and lift is 6000# spread over four posts, then the load passed thorough the base plate would be approximately 1500# per post. Since concrete can handle about 20X that load, you should be able to use the lift about anywhere (assuming a hard surface without any cracking)



Just my 2 cents.

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[968bill]

[quote name='earossi' date='Feb 25 2006, 08:32 AM']There's been a lot of discussion about using a backing plate to set these lifts on concrete or asphalt.  For insurance against damaging the surface finish of your asphalt driveway, I can see the logic to putting such a plate down on asphalt;  but, fail  to see the point on concrete.



The issue is  contact  forces on the driveway/garage surface, right?  Well, since most of these lifts have a 1 sq. ft plate on each of the posts, the loading on your parking surface is going to be substantially less than the contact pressure from the tires on your car.  My guess is that the contact patch from a tire is about half what the mounting plates on the lift are.  If that is the case, then the stresses passed onto the concrete/asphalt will be approximately half the tire patch loads, even when you throw in the weight of the lift in addition tot he car's weight.

[right][post="16533"]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post][/right][/quote]

I think you're getting confused on the 2 types of lifts. The 4 poster or even the 2 post w/ 4 arms you would be correct. However the scissor lifts have apx 4' of roller that rolls on the concrete (or floor) as the lift raises and lowers. It is the action of the rollers on my non-smooth concrete that would cause the damage, not the overall weight of the scissor lift and I think the contact patch would be measured in sq. in. not sq. ft. (on the scissor lift).



HTH,

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[jww968]

The problem is that on the scissor lift, one end is on rollers. The contact patch of these rollers is very small and assuming 1/4 of the weight on each roller, there may be a problem. I think you are smart to put down a plate - especially with an SUV on the lift. Bill - are you back from VA?

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[flash]

ok - just thought of something - let me a throw a monkey wrench in to the works - is the driveway level? most driveways are at a pretty good slant - that won't work with a lift, scissor or otherwise - very unsafe

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[earossi]

Live and learn! I guess I did not know that a scissor type lift had a roller. I was thinking in terms of the fixed post lifts, which is what I am looking at.



On Flash's comment on driveway levelness........the manual I have for a four post lift indicates that the lift can accommodate up to 3 degrees of slope without making any adjustments. That's not much.

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[968bill]

[quote name='flash' date='Feb 25 2006, 11:04 AM']ok - just thought of something - let me a throw a monkey wrench in to the works - is the driveway level?  most driveways are at a pretty good slant - that won't work with a lift, scissor or otherwise - very unsafe

[right][post="16540"]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post][/right][/quote]

I have a very unusual driveway, though its not real long it is 3 1/2 cars wide. Some of it is sloped and some is mostly flat. I did think about that but I do have a section big enough and flat enough to use in the driveway.



John, yes I'm back and I did drive home in the car. Completely uneventful trip, no problems. By the way I ordered the flywheel lock from PP too, no sense driving all over town for a tool I can buy and use when I need to (never can have enough tools).



Bill

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[Ryan]

Ok, the footprint of the lift is only 40" x 80", but that is still a heavy chunk of metal to put down. I think you could get away with two 12" x 88" strips of 1/4".



This is no light-weight lift though and rolling it over any irregular surface is going to be fun. (ask me how I know)



If the surface of the cement will support the weight and it is just the texture you are worried about, I would think you could use a sheet of Duron or tempered Masonite as the base. That stuff is compressed with tons of force in production. Just a thought.

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[968bill]

[quote name='Ryan' date='Feb 27 2006, 09:30 AM']Ok, the footprint of the lift is only 40" x 80", but that is still a heavy chunk of metal to put down. I think you could get away with two 12" x 88" strips of 1/4".



This is no light-weight lift though and rolling it over any irregular surface is going to be fun. (ask me how I know)



If the surface of the cement will support the weight and it is just the texture you are worried about, I would think you could use a sheet of Duron or tempered Masonite as the base. That stuff is compressed with tons of force in production. Just a thought.

[right][post="16593"]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post][/right][/quote]

OK, thanks for the update. I suspected one single sheet of AL would be a little hefty though I use a small hand truck for things like that but (2) 12"x88's sounds like a better idea. Any idea where to get the Masonite or Duron?

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[flash]

i too have been thinking about the "mobile" unit - not sure how i am going to move that thing around though - i suspect it's pretty heavy, and not a one-man job



i would have the same problem though with the moto-floor - would probably crush it, and definitely be tough to roll on



this may have to wait until i move to the new place - arrrrrgh - i see another jack and bigger stands in my future

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[968bill]

[quote name='flash' date='Feb 27 2006, 11:41 AM']i too have been thinking about the "mobile" unit - not sure how i am going to move that thing around though - i suspect it's pretty heavy, and not a one-man job



[right][post="16605"]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post][/right][/quote]

You are aware that the motor/pump unit is attached to a "dolly" like thing, it has wheels and a hook that grabs the non-roller end of the lift for moving the lift. Kinda on the same idea as the dolly's w/ trailer hitch balls that you move boat trailers around with. Maybe someone could post a photo of it.



HTH

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[Ryan]

Bill,



Masonite or Duron should be available from good lumberyards. Make sure to get tempered as the regular stuff is no where near as tough.



I will try to get a photo of the trolly for the lift tonignt.

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[Lemming]

One person can move the lift from one side of a garage to another, but it's not simple. One person cannot move it in and out of the garage if there is any tip of lip or irregularity, it's just too heavy.



Call me crazy, but I don't think that masonite or other similar material will hold up. Why, well those wheels are starting to wear ruts in my flat concrete floors!



And yes, I have used it to pick up my F150.

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