Got a Lift... get one

I have a bendpak. Installer was fine. He hurt himself before he got everything assembled, but he was professional about it. I finished off the assembly myself, no problems. And BendPak was great about support. Had a few minor issues and they took care of them quickly. Love the lift. Have two bridge jacks as well, so I’m really spoiled.

I dealt with a local seller that has stores nation wide. Thought at the time this would be the best way to go, sales and support one stop shopping. Insisted they send out someone to inspect installation. So here comes Tony with an excuse for everything, nothing is wrong. Anchors are torqued to at least 90 PSI. What psi, torque is measured in ft. lbs I said. No should be 90 psi? Instructions say 90 ft. lbs. (idiot who claimed to be an engineer ) Fluid level is below min. mark, it’s fine.
The three stooges never greased the columns and arms seized in up position.
Put an extension ladder between arms and asked my wife to hang from it to free it up, no luck. (no pictures) Took buckets of rock to free it up. Tony said it was not their job to grease columns. When cleaning up trash they left behind found a zip bag of grease.
Take a deep breath Glenn

I also bought a bendpak 4 poster and am very satisfied with it. Only complaint is that it was bought 40 years too late. Instructions with mine say to use wd40 to lube the sliders on the uprights and this makes it very easy to do.

Geez, Glenn. That’s a very unfortunate installation experience and I would be pissed too. Doesn’t take an engineer to understand PSI and ft. lbs. Sheesh.

Having a lift is a pretty special thing that I hope to do some day. I had the concrete in my garage slab poured and inch thicker in the areas where a lift would sit just to make sure I was beyond spec. Hope your issues are resolved soon.

–Drew

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Rolling jacks, the one thing I wished I ordered when I got my 4post Bendpak.
Mine is free standing so I can use the casters to move it around once a year to clean the garage floor. Best tool in the garage!

I’m looking at a scissor as I don’t have the head room under my truss roof. Can get 4’ of clearance - which, thinking ahead - might be just fine for a comfortable chair in 20 years. Here, lots of pretenders claim to be engineers. The question for us to ask is are they chartered? I know because I are won. Paul

You mean you’ll only be able to lift the car 4’?

If that’s the case I’d be thinking about a set of raceramps and a really comfortable crawler.

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4’ is plenty. Can work under the car on a mechanics seat. Better than on your back on a creeper.

I consider myself a short-arse (so does most of the rest of the world), If the mechanic’s seat is much higher than 8" then I’d have my head bent over most of the time, and if it’s less than 8" my knees would be up at armpit height.

I use a lift which goes up above standing height, and if your building permits it it’s definitely the way to go.

When the guy I work with bought the race ramps (you can imagine what they cost with shipping and import duty) I thought he was just wasting money. It didn’t take long before I changed my mind. They’re a bit more bother than a lift if you need to take a wheel off, but not that much more once you’ve got a set of long axle stands. Being able to remove the center sections of the ramp and leaving the car sitting on 4 corners makes getting out with the creeper a lot easier.

They’re great for stuff where you need access to the top and bottom of the floorpan (like fitting a racing seat).

The one drawback to them is that they are not really fuel proof, so if you’re removing a fuel tank and there’s a leak you have to be sharpish about getting the fuel off them.

Paul

You could go the max Jax route. Just make sure the windscreen is between the trusses. 24 inches on center gives you a little wiggle room.

Thanks for all thoughts. I’ve been going and froing on this since Christmas. I am now 5’9" and depreciating. Roof trusses are spaced at 18", unfortunately, and run across the garage. I will have a look at race ramps. One attraction the scissor has is that it lies flat under the cars. Paul

Just make sure the scissor jack you choose works with an E-Type. Not all of them do.

–Drew

Hi Drew, I still have to do this - the upper deck is framed as fore and aft “U” in plan view - clears sump etc. More homework :books: required. Paul

I bought a scissor lift which is a fantastic compromise if you don’t have the height or foundation for a four post lift. It raises the car to almost head height and has a H section which gives access to all areas underneath. I haven’t found a job yet, which can’t be achieved from underneath with it

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Thanks. Too many toys there! Paul

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how is it that thing doesn’t tip over? narrow track, steel wheels.

I would expect my floor is too wavy to securely raise a car on it. I can also imagine my self pulling on a long handle ratchet and rolling the car right off it.

I was thinking the same. As a means to get it raised it seems fine but I’d want to secure it with tall jack stands like these before poking my noggin under it.

It is unbelievably steady. Absolutely no concerns on that score.
You do know these things are designed by engineers?! :wink:

Very low C0fG

It has a ratchet lock built in for safety obviously. No different to a 2 or four post lift for locking

To Bill’s point, it doesn’t have the same footprint that a wider lift has, or as much mass. Not saying it’s not a good piece of equipment. I just don’t think I’d be willing to bet my life on it without added insurance. That said, how much does something like that run? Like you, I have neither the room, nor a strong enough slab to be able to consider a full lift.