Hoist Advice for Home Use

[gslender]

What's wrong with these?

http://www.autohoist.com.au/two-post-ca ... pQod5yUAcw

Only $2500 and much more flexible in that you can do anything under the car?

G

[Apu]

Thanks guys, but I'd prefer to avoid the post-style hoist due to the layout of my garage...unless I renovate my garage as well.

For my needs, I'm thinking portable scissor-style hoist. Anyone seen those in use, or have (experience with) one?

[Apu]

I just received a response from Bill at Cartar (how's that for responsiveness!) - there are 2 types of portable scissor hoists.

The first (Cartar Mobile) allows the car to be lifted, and moved. That costs ~$5K...too much for me.

The second is the Cartar Econo, which is portable, but becomes static once you lift the car. Nifty little idea where the wheels are spring loaded, so once the hoist takes the weight of the car...well, you get the idea. That one is $3200. Yikes...still a bit steep.

The 2-post unit that Greg posted is attractive price wise, but I don't have a level garage floor. With a portable hoist, I can shift it out to a flat area on the driveway.

[greenMachine]

UPDATE:

Been looking around, and I am now concentrating on a clear floor 2-post hoist with LOW clearance lifting arms. I have my eye on one that is nominally 101mm, but can be modded to take another 10-20mm off - plenty low for an MX5 racecar. Don't believe the 30mm clearance quoted by one vendor, they have admitted that is a mistake. And speaking of shonky vendors, advertising prices without GST is (AFAIK) illegal.

I am prepared to pay for a clear floor hoist, as the new garage will be 3.6 or so wall heigth, and the humps are a nuisance.

Delivery is a bugger, unless you have forks on your tractor , but a flat floor car trailer and an engine hoist, and a few old tyres, should do the job - I will let you know ...

Do your homework, there are a few traps here - I just hope I have not missed any ...

[Mr Morlock]

There is more to this exercise than folks might imagine. Its worth looking at future requirements. A traditional hoist is a very useful item if there is room for it- and there are some traps eg buy a standard lift height hoist and then find you want a SUV and it will not longer go under. Fitting a full size hoist is a job not to take on. If you get some sort of portable thing it may well be a nuisance- it still has to go somewhere and take up space and there is the inconvenience factor. A 4 poster-you just drive under it and maybe keep the MX5 above. How often do you use it and how hard is to use say a ramp / stands etc?

[deviant]

A good friend of mine has a hoist in his garage which I have been lucky enough to have my car on to do a clutch change and is currently being used to build up his car.

A hoist makes life 1000 times easier. In the time it takes to get a car on to ramps or safely on to stands you can already have the sump plug undone and oil draining.

The car is always at the perfect height. You can be standing or sitting on a stool and have the brakes right there in front of you to fit brake pads at a comfortable height.

With the car on a level you can drain fluids far more thoroughly and fill them more accurately.

You are not having to lay on a cold, dirty floor to wriggle under the car to have mere inches to work on something in front of your face only to find you got the wrong tool so need to wriggle out again and then get back under with the right tool.

The safety side of things cannot be ignored either. With a car on a hoist you can rock things as hard as you like and dangle off the car with your full weight or have someone sitting in the car while you insect the underside with no risk of it slipping off of the stands. You also get far more room to use tools safely and properly.

With so much access to the car you can inspect it for wear and damage in a way that you just cant on stands or ramps. This is especially useful for the track guys.

[gslender]

A good friend of mine has a hoist in his garage which I have been lucky enough to have my car on to do a clutch change and is currently being used to build up his car.

A hoist makes life 1000 times easier. In the time it takes to get a car on to ramps or safely on to stands you can already have the sump plug undone and oil draining.

The car is always at the perfect height. You can be standing or sitting on a stool and have the brakes right there in front of you to fit brake pads at a comfortable height.

With the car on a level you can drain fluids far more thoroughly and fill them more accurately.

You are not having to lay on a cold, dirty floor to wriggle under the car to have mere inches to work on something in front of your face only to find you got the wrong tool so need to wriggle out again and then get back under with the right tool.

The safety side of things cannot be ignored either. With a car on a hoist you can rock things as hard as you like and dangle off the car with your full weight or have someone sitting in the car while you insect the underside with no risk of it slipping off of the stands. You also get far more room to use tools safely and properly.

With so much access to the car you can inspect it for wear and damage in a way that you just cant on stands or ramps. This is especially useful for the track guys.

+1

I'm sick of using stands and always feel unsafe when under the car.

[gslender]

UPDATE:

Been looking around, and I am now concentrating on a clear floor 2-post hoist with LOW clearance lifting arms. I have my eye on one that is nominally 101mm, but can be modded to take another 10-20mm off - plenty low for an MX5 racecar. Don't believe the 30mm clearance quoted by one vendor, they have admitted that is a mistake. And speaking of shonky vendors, advertising prices without GST is (AFAIK) illegal.

I am prepared to pay for a clear floor hoist, as the new garage will be 3.6 or so wall heigth, and the humps are a nuisance.

Delivery is a bugger, unless you have forks on your tractor , but a flat floor car trailer and an engine hoist, and a few old tyres, should do the job - I will let you know ...

Do your homework, there are a few traps here - I just hope I have not missed any ...

Got a link or company name of the one you are looking at now?

G

[Mr Morlock]

Does your garage really have that much height ie to take into acct clearance of the car about and it there any any beams in the way and if they have to be removed what about insurance? If you have a truss roof you cannot just get out a saw and remove them. You can easily spend more on a roof mod than the hoist.

One of the great features of a hoist for some is that a single car garage can be converted to a 2 car garage with the hoist but many single car set up are not suitable.

No argument about value of hoists but... If you put a car on a hoist it has 4 wheels on the ramps ( ie traditional style- so if you remove a wheel/s then it has to be supported by a stand or a jack and how comfortable are people with a car up high but not on 4 wheels? A mate of mine does it all the time but I reckon it would take some getting used to. Not saying its not a great idea but there are matters that have to be listed and considered. Even taking measurements has some traps- eg height below the ramp and height above the ramp and the need for tolerances and the hoist still has to engage in slots..

[MIMXV]

If you want to install a hoist in your garage the concrete should be at least 150mm or the posts will probably pull out!!!!!!

[Pamex]

With a 4 post you just get one with platforms to independently raise the car on the hoist. Pantos. Allows you to work on anything. I'd be going a four post.

[Mr Morlock]

4 post hoists are not fixed to the floor normally and probably most floors will be strong enough ie normal building standards. Hoists can be moved quite easily with a HD wheel kit.

[deviant]

No no no...Normal garage floors or concrete in existing shed floors is NOT strong enough to hold a hoist. Neither are pavers or bricks.

Some 4 post and 2 post hoists have the functionality to have your car in the air with 4 wheels off the ground. A 4 post hoist usually has beams that run front to back and a 2 post hoist has 4 adjustable arms with a pad on the end that sit under the usual jacking or axle stand points. Personally I find 2 post hoists with the adjustable arms the most useful as they can be positioned very out of the way.

There are hoists that are set up more for storage that don't lift the wheels clear of the ground.

[Mr Morlock]

People can do their own homework and certainly do not take what is written on a forum as facts from a pro. However my understanding is that most garages have floors at 125mm. 4 post sellers recommend min 100mm so the home garage should be ok. A home hoist is going to be hard to sell if domestic constructions are not suitable for them to sit on.

[Apu]

There is more to this exercise than folks might imagine. Its worth looking at future requirements. A traditional hoist is a very useful item if there is room for it- and there are some traps eg buy a standard lift height hoist and then find you want a SUV and it will not longer go under. Fitting a full size hoist is a job not to take on. If you get some sort of portable thing it may well be a nuisance- it still has to go somewhere and take up space and there is the inconvenience factor. A 4 poster-you just drive under it and maybe keep the MX5 above. How often do you use it and how hard is to use say a ramp / stands etc?

When you've got 4 cars to jack up and put on stands...it quickly becomes a PITA.