Chuckscorvette

What is the minimum height of a garage ceiling to use a 4 post lift ? Thanks

dbratten

Depends on what you're doing with it. If parking two cars you'll need the total height of the two cars plus 8 inches for ramp and lock engagement. If doing service work, like I do, I am fine with much less. I spend most of my time when working on the car looking into the wheel wells -- changing tires, brake pads, rotors, adjusting sway bars, CO shocks, bleeding brakes, installing parts, etc.. For me, having the car at a low chest height is perfect where I can reach out comfortably without bending. For this, an 8 foot ceiling is plenty. To walk under the lift you'll need more like 11 foot clearance. I park on the lift normally. Keep in mind you need to account for any garage door hardware you have and if the door is raised while a car is high on the lift.

--Dan

pkincy

I prefer 12 feet. But that allows me to get the lift all the way up with my C4s hood up.

For parking 2 cars it is a bit different. I would say 10 foot would be good.

I have seen people do it with a 9 foot ceiling but the car underneath better be a Triumph or old MG

VettininJersey

My ceilings are 12 foot cathedral style with no hanging light fixtures.

I can fit a number of car combos in with that height.

pkincy

I should have mentioned that when my house was built and we decided on 12 foot ceilings in the garage I also speced an industrial garage door opener and it pulled the garage door virtually straight up, so I didn't have the opener rails to contend with.

CO YGOSLOW

MINE!!!

My garage has 106" clearance. Want to stack my C5 and 427 with a Pro Park 8S. After measuring a million times I've determined that I've got the vertical clearance barely...427 will have 1" clearance driving underneath. Now I'm realizing that my drive thru width is only 83". The C5 is 83" but the 427 is 84". Looks like I'm going to have to fold mirrors when entering and exiting...not something the wife is too keen on.

What a pain when you have limited space. Now waffling on keeping C5, going with the lift (which is then pretty much permanent), using storage unit, or keeping our 300 in the driveway throughout the winter.

Decisions...decisions

bearphoto

I bought the extra wide pro park 4 post lift so I can get my vettes on the rack with no issues. I did have my lift in the house garage which had 9 ft ceilings. I parked a couple of Trans Ams on them but never could lift the cars to completely walk under the hoist at its highest point. So I built a 2500 sq ft garage out back with 19 ft ceilings and of course there is no issues.

The lift is really a necessity to work on any of these cars!

barduch

I so agree with that!!! I have said this many times before on the CF, so from my own personal "Department of Redundancy Department", the 4 post lift (Pro Park 9 Plus in my case) is the single best accessory available for your corvette.

runutzzzzz

Depends on what you want the lift for? Working on cars? Parking?

I have a 11' Garage and I can park my Vette on top and have about 5'5" under it, that's with a garage door opener up above.

JoesC5

I have two 4-post lifts and have a 10' 6" ceiling. Used primarily for storage (56 and 64 Vettes) and oil changes, but I did restore my 56 using one of the lifts.

I can raise my lifts to their maximum height with my C6Z06 or the 64 coupe on top. With my 56(hardtop in place) or my Mercedes sedan on top, for an oil change, I can only raise the lift to it's next to top lock position. My locks are on 5" increments.

For storage only and changing the oil occasionally, I could get by with a 10' ceiling(or slightly less depending on how the cars are racked).

CO YGOSLOW

I'm now re-researching the popular brands looking for one that will give me a little more drive thru width (so as not to encroach on the other parking spot) and enough locking points for my very limited vertical space.

HOXXOH

Part of the problem becomes how tall the lift is, so it'll fit. I'm in the process of building a house with an additional attached workshop. The lift I have chosen is 11'11" tall, so my ceiling must be 12' minimum, regardless of the vehicle size.

Even though a 4-post lift is usually much lower, you'll need to know how much vertical space is available where the posts are mounted, as well as where the top of the cars will be. Overhead doors can kill space quickly.

jperaino

I would say that for parking 2 cars you need at least 11' 6". I have a Bendpak HD9 and this height with a jackshaft door opener works quite well. If you are not going to park 2 cars then a 2 post lift might be more advantageous.

johnodrake

I have 10'3"

Chuckscorvette

Thanks everyone!

VETFEVER

Pro Park 8S?

vetfever