ro.co3

I've been thinking about getting a lift for my garage. I'm limitied on space both in width and height. I looked at the kwiklift but for around the same money I can get one of those small motor driven lifts (accordian type). I want to get the best bang for my buck, what works the best . Also if anybody has the motor driven model does it have to be bolted to the floor . Thanks for any help.

Denney

Mine is a Stinger Lift that I have had for 8 or 9 years and am very pleased with it. Not sure what you mean by motor driven, this has a motor driven hydraulic pump. I do not bolt mine to the floor (I have the castor kit for it as well).

78Vette-SA

I think it will depend on what you want to do with it. Do you want to be able to remove front and rear suspensions and do a lot of work underneath (if so, perhaps the two post type would be better). Do you just want to change oil, clean underneath, or storage (then a 4 post might be better).

There was a recent post on 4 posts lifts and comparisons which si excellent. Search back a few and you will find it.

GregP

We were limited in height (beam across roof) and width (4-posts were so wide it would turn our marginally 2 car garage into a 1 car, so went with a scissor style lift. This one gives good access to motor/trans/rear, allows suspension removal, and is capable of going high enough to push the car up through the roof of the garage if I wanted to. It's definatly the best thing we did for ease of working on the cars.
http://corvetteforum.net/classics/gregp/lift/lift.htm

-Greg

ro.co3

greg, thanks for the reply and pictures. Thats a slick looking outfit you got there. After talking to a couple of buddies they asked if there was something out there that we could split cost wise and would be portable to share. It would be nice to share the cost but that might be asking to much to find something portable enough to move from garage to garage. Any ideas. Thanks in advance for any help.

GregP

Ours is certainly not portable. It comes in one piece (the cross bar between the two lift platform assemblies is welded) and weighs about 2000#. I had ours delivered to the installers, then they brought it and put it in place with their bobcat.

There are smaller scissor lifts that lift as a singe unit in the center that are "somewhat" portable. Browse through this link for some ideas. http://www.gesforless.com/default.is...&view_all=true

Our lift is the 7000# BendPac model. http://www.gesforless.com/product_in...roducts_id=572

-Greg


[Modified by GregP, 10:13 AM 2/26/2004]

56chev

ro.co3
Here's a link to a post I remember from a couple of weeks ago. http://forums.corvetteforum.com/zerothread?id=749989

I have had the kwiklift for about 4 years.
It has really been great !!

I looked at several of the scissor type lifts, but I would not have been able to pull a transmission, or any of the other stuff under the middle of the car.
Thats the reason I went kwiklift, and as I said, have been very pleased.

Cliff63

Kwiklift works great for me. :yesnod:

Mike Smith

Love my Kwiklift. You can remove and install both front and rear suspensions, transmission, clutch, etc.

Got a buddy who also has a '66, but uses a hydraulic-powered scissor lift. He doesn't have nearly the access I do.

GCD1962

I have an Autolifter 4-post and am fully satisfied. No need to bolt it down to the floor (they even recommend you don't) In my opinion this is a much safer setup than a two-post and really don't find any hinderances in the 4-post

bk2w

How do you use the Kwiklift to get the wheels free for suspension work?

-Brian

64roadster

I have a Backyard Buddy 4-post lift that I couldn't do without. It requires a 10' ceiling if you want to stack your cars. I have a 3 1/2 car garage with the lift in the middle stall. I park my '64 Convertible on top and my '68 Z28 underneath. The 3rd stall is currently being used for engine assembly and work area.

I'd actually love to get another lift for the same garage.

56chev

cj2w
the bridge is like a sliding jack tray.
just put a scissor jack or a bottle jack of some sort on it, jack up the car.
you can then set a pair of jack stand right on the bridge, and use the stands to support the car http://www.quiklift.com/centerlift.htm

I have used mine for a multitude of things, wish I had 2 of them !!

LouieM

Greg - VERY nice setup. :cool: I like the power up feature in a compact lift. At the Bend-Pak web site they show your lift with a sort of tall console in the right-front area. I suppose this is the electric motor. I don't see this item in your pics. Is it there unseen, or is it off to the side somewhere? How many inches does this console add to the width of the entire lift? Also, does the price include installation?

Louie

GregP

The console has the controls and houses the hydraulic pump and reservoir. It is remotable, has about 12' of lines but could be made longer if needed. You also need to run an air line from your compressor to the console (the safety locks are air powered to release) In our case the control console is against the garage wall at the front (away from the door) end of the lift. It is about 12x12 and 36" tall.

The cost doesn't include installation, it was about $600 for ours. Installing it is pretty easy (really just lagging it into the floor), but being able to unload if from the truck and get it into the garage was way beyond what I could do, so the installation made that part painless. If you call Bendpak they can give you a list of installers in your area to call and see what the local costs would be.

Not to knock the quiklift type of systems (as I know many that are very happy with them) but it would be a poor choice in my application. Since my car is under construction and doesn't run it would be difficult to nearly impossible to get it up the incline of the quiklift. I have very little difficulty pushing it up the 4" to get on our lift. Just one more thing to think about.

-Greg

56chev

Gregp
I have had several "dead" cars on and off my kwiklift.
All I did was use a ratchet strap to pull the car right up on the lift. Took 3-4 minutes. Really quite easy !!

I appreciate your concern, but it was really not a problem at all

GregP

Actually, I never thought of that. I use the truck and a tow strap to get my car "off" the lift (move it up to the top of the driveway).

-Greg

ro.co3

The kicklift seems like it would do every thing I need. And the more I think about shareing a lift it doesn't make sense. Now if I could only find a used one that would make my day. Thanks for all the comments.

LouieM

Greg
I'd have to buy a (hopefully small) compressor to disengage the safety locks. Do you know how much line pressure is needed for this task? I presume the compressor only would have to be operated for only a minute when you want to disengage the safety locks and lower the car, right? I'm converned about the compressor making enough noise to bother my neighbors.

Louie

GregP

I'm sure a small compressor would work, it only needs about 40 psi and enough volume to run two small air cylinders. I have a seperate regulator on my compressor hard-lined to the lift.

-Greg