[pdxmike]

Met up with Ken today to fit the first set of 968 liftbars. They are very well made and substantial without being overly heavy. 

 

They were a tight fit on my car due to PO deformation of my front lift points but fit fine with a little coaxing. They don't need to fit perfectly as the car's front lift points can flex a fair amount - once they get some weight they just sort of "pop" into the sockets in the lift points. The "cradle" end of a standard FLAPS jackstand - problematic with our cars - fits the liftbars perfectly. 

 

Ken is ready to take orders - not sure if he would consider a group buy but I am guessing it would be an easier run for him if multiple parties were interested. Individually, I believe he will be asking $234 + shipping per set. 

 

info@liftbars.com

 

   

 

   

 

   

 

   

 

   

 

Partial Post: Please Login or Register to read the full post.

[MLB]

Thinking out loud

Last fall I built my own interlocking jackstands that can be stacked to different heights, and they have a flat hockey puck pad on top.

They are a pain in the butt though because they rely on using a skinny car trunk style crank jack on each side of the car at the same time. But i can lift the car somewhat evenly as I place progressive levels of lift blocks, and once theyre in place the job is done they are very secure .

And the puck makes a stable grip on the jackpoint, unlike the dumb top of typical jackstand.

So now im a bit nervous about his design because it relies on conventional jackstands, which I no longer have, and the bottoms of his ends is round and small so im concerned about lateral stability of the car, for instance when youre jacking up one side before the other is in place.

Also the spot in the middle where you put your floor jack appears to lack a wide support to stabilize the bar against rolling.

Of course the pegs on the tops of his ends will fit in the cars Jackpoint holes, but Im just not convinced its a stable enough design ...?

Partial Post: Please Login or Register to read the full post.

[az968]

Hey, Michael. Thanks for the great pics!  They do seem to fit well.  Did Ken think he needed to make any changes or was he ready to go to production?  I can certainly ask him about group pricing. What did you think of the usability?

 

Matt, I've used these before. A friend has them and uses them with his Cayman.  There's no stability issue when jacking up the car.  The floor jack is centered on the middle of the bar and then lifted high enough to slide jack stands in at each end. The bar sits in the jack stand cradle (you do need jack stands with cradles for safety) and doesn't move when you lower the floor jack.  To go higher you alternate jacking up each side and raising the jack stand settings.  I tried rocking my friend's car and it didn't move.  Also the car's lift points are far enough apart to be stable front to rear, just as if it were only on jack stands.  The bars just make it easier to lift the car, the jack stands are what provide stability. He's sold a lot of these so stability probably isn't an issue or he'd not be still designing and selling them.

 

FYI, I have no financial interest in liftbars, only wanted to have a set to use on my 968. And it looks like that's close to happening.

Partial Post: Please Login or Register to read the full post.

[pdxmike]

The main potential stability issue is when lifting or lowering the car. Just like when lowering the car without the liftbars, if the trolley jack can't slide on the concrete (for instance if it's on really rough asphalt), the car can shift laterally as it's lowered. As far as I can tell, if you were to use these on reasonably smooth concrete where the jack can roll without obstruction, there should be very minimal risk of the lift bars rolling out of position. Most trolley jacks have a slightly recessed "cross" in the actual jacking circle which fits right into the liftbar and would prevent it from sliding off. 

 

Once the car is up on both lift bars, it is rock stable. 

 

Ken does recommend lifting one side to the minimum height of the jackstands - then the other side to the minimum - then going back to the first side and resettling the jackstands to make sure the weight is evenly distributed. Then raising higher than the minimum on each side if needed. 

 

The only modification Ken mentioned is going to be reducing the amount of clearance with the plastic rocker covers. This prototype has about 1 cm more clearance than needed. 

 

To me, these seem super usable. They standardize the process of jacking and stabilizing the car and reduce the risk of human error causing a failure. I was considering a quickjack but I think I prefer the liftbars as they provide a lot more access under the car, are super easy to store, and are, of course, much less expensive. 

Partial Post: Please Login or Register to read the full post.

[az968]

"Bob,


 

968 added to purchase page.


 

http://liftbars.com/priceslb.htm


 

Regards,


Ken"


 

And, Michael, your car is famous!


 

Partial Post: Please Login or Register to read the full post.