Expanding the garage

firstgear · 10-09-05, 07:43 PM

We added onto our house a 32X40 garage, but the better half was worried that there would not be enough room for everything, so when we were at Carlise, we bought a couple of lifts.....the first one was up this weekend, the second one I put off until mid November for delivery....there really isn't enough room with the 10' ceilings for anything but Corvettes on the top and underneath.....but then that was what the lifts were for anyways.....actually wasn't bad putting together.....the ramps that the car sits on with the hydraulic cylinder mounted on it is heavy as sin, but other than that, everything else just gives you a mild hernia.....The C2 will go up on one of the lifts and the other C5 will go underneath......be nice and cozy for the winter that is coming...grrrrrrr......

JonM · 10-09-05, 08:18 PM

Nice "Man Digs".

studiog · 10-09-05, 08:28 PM

Awesome! Very neat and organized. Does it run on 110V? How many hours to assemble? What is the brand? Do they make any kind of a "bib" for under the top car to catch that occasional oil drip or just sand and grit that can come down on the bottom vehicle?

firstgear · 10-10-05, 07:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by studiog

Awesome! Very neat and organized. Does it run on 110V? How many hours to assemble? What is the brand? Do they make any kind of a "bib" for under the top car to catch that occasional oil drip or just sand and grit that can come down on the bottom vehicle?

I think we had about 5 to 6 hours putting it together and that included running out to the store several times....they forgot to drill one 3/4" hole, I didn't have a drill bit for that size and had to run out for that and then a second time to get some ISO 32 hydraulic oil to put in the system. A little better planning on my part would have saved that second trip. Yes, 110V, according to manufacturer takes 90 seconds to lift the car, it does come down much faster. The manual on the internet shows more steps to assembly than what is required. They have made some design changes and assembly changes. The manual that comes with the unit, packed with the hydraulic unit is up to date with the current design, while the manual on line is behind what came. For instance, you dont have to figure out where the cables run nor attach them tot he cylinder, they came already attached tot he cylinder and just needed to be run the last little bit and up to the top of the support columns. The washer that they give with the units that holds the cables at the top of the columns, had some relatively thin and smaller diameter, I went to the hardware store (when I got the drill bit) and bought some heavy duty washers.

Unit comes with 16 BIG lags for the floor if you decide that you want to lag it. We didn't do that, we are keeping it mobile. Actually, once we had ti together I decided I wanted it turned around so that I could tuck up near the corner walls. Put the wheels under it, lowered the lift and away we went.

The aluminum ramps are nice, but when the lift was down all the way, the ramp had a gap underneath it of about 1/4", first car I put on there was my VW bug and it "bent" the ramp enough so that it sits flat now. The ramps go on and off easily. I am going to look for some wheel chocks to put on either side of the tires. I have the parking brake set as well as in gear, I guess if I ever forget to set them for what ever odd reason, I can always see that the wheel chocks are in place.

When you lift the car off the stops and then pull the handle to release the pressure, if you look under the lift frame you can see the bottom of the lift locks have been disengaged as they pull DOWN. I will get some white paint to paint the back of the locks so that I know it has come off the locks.

The brand is Eagle, they were at Carlisle and were running a good sale on them, that is why we picked these. The first unit here is the XLT, or bigger unit. It lifts higher (not needed in my case), has a higher payload, longer and slightly wider, all my better halfs idea.

It does have 3 drip pans that are about 18" or so wide each, so you can catch whatever falls from the car. They are made out of cheap plastic and if you step on them, well, it isn't going to support your weight, but it will catch what ever falls off the car and down below.

One of the things I really like is the ability to get all of the car at some point on the lift at eye level. Much easier to clean and wax, that is for sure.

studiog · 10-10-05, 10:36 AM

Good luck with it. Sounds like a great investment.

Tom Bryant · 10-10-05, 11:43 AM

I have to get one of those. I'm limited by 10 foot ceilings too.

Vette66AirCoupe · 10-10-05, 02:17 PM

I have a Backyard Buddy and it is very similar to the Eagle. I have a suggestion. Use your ramps for wheel chocks. I do that all the time and it keeps them out of the way by getting them off the floor as well. That's assuming they are like the ones on the Backyard Buddy and have a vertical support in the middle of the ramp. If not, it would be too risky to use them as they could slide off the side too easy and fall. You could probably get some galvanized sheet metal drip pans fabricated fairly cheap if you wanted to get away from the plastic. That's what Backyard Buddy sells. I had to laugh when I read that you put the VW up first. I used a friends mini-pickup truck as the guinea pig! Oh we of little faith!

Kid_Again · 10-10-05, 06:10 PM

Forget the brand name of my lift but it looks like I go the same capability that you did. I got the casters, 3 drip pans and a sliding center jack support. I took a gamble and bought the 220v version and have no complaints. I took one leg from the 220 and added a 110v duplex outlet right below the pump motor. Man, is that handy. Worked the first time. I'll be darned. I would say that the component parts (especially the ramps) are the heaviest things I have ever experienced. I did most of the work alone but had help setting up the four posts. I marked the ramps in the center and lifted each with my engine hoist that used chains going to 2 4x4s equidistant from the center point. Scary but it worked. I wanted the slightly higher lift since my CR-V has a roof rack and the extra clearance is useful. Interesting story. It's my second lift. The first one I ordered was from a shop that went bankrupt. Luckily, I bought with a credit card and I got my money back. Those that paid with a check weren't so lucky.

JohnZ · 10-10-05, 07:58 PM

I have a Cytech Double-Park (www.doublepark.net) I bought five years ago with all the options, including the bracket that offsets the power unit to the front so it doesn't stick out the side where it's in the way all the time. Well-engineered, beautifully made, nicely finished - not a sharp corner on it anywhere. Works like a champ, very pleased with it. I have a 12' ceiling, had the garage door on that side done as a "high-lift" with the tracks only 9" from the ceiling so I can open the garage door fully with a car at full working height. Should have bought one many years earlier.

IH2LOSE · 10-10-05, 11:26 PM

Herb congrats on the garage and the lifts.

Just think
Saftey saftey saftey

Pay attention each time you raise it and lower it. Make sure the locks are realised 100% on each corner when lowering the unit.Sounds imple right? I have some mecanical knowledge and twice the locks hung up on me when lowereing a car (one time was with my wife in the 62 on the lift) both time completely my fault for not paying 100% attention and realising the lock 100%.

Just make sure you pay attention,Some folks may comment hey Larry get you head out of your ass these things are safe. Well I am just saying this as a reminder.It real easey to make a mistake and weather or not the legs are laged in once it goes off balance (not all of the legs supporting the same amount ot weight) its easy to have a collapse.

Now the bad part of a lift is you will se the bottom of your cars every day.You know the old saying out of sight out of mind,well when you have a lift you will be able to see al of the falts on your car and will be compelled to correct them .

Also put a sign on the entrance to the lift you can see when your parking a nother car under it that says turn off radio.The antena in my 62,my 66 and My c5 all hit the lift when pulling under the lift.

IH2LOSE · 10-10-05, 11:27 PM

PS a nice pellet stove would heat that area up nice in the winter.

Vette66AirCoupe · 10-11-05, 01:06 AM

Since Larry brought up safety, here's my horror story. I had the '66 in the center bay working on it as it is a pain to work under another car on the lift. Soooo, the wife's BMW 545 was parking under the '62 for about a week. One day, she came home form the grocery store and parked under the '62. Before getting out, she popped the trunk. I don't hve to finish this do I? Of course it was all my fault.

IH2LOSE · 10-11-05, 06:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vette66AirCoupe

Since Larry brought up safety, here's my horror story. I had the '66 in the center bay working on it as it is a pain to work under another car on the lift. Soooo, the wife's BMW 545 was parking under the '62 for about a week. One day, she came home form the grocery store and parked under the '62. Before getting out, she popped the trunk. I don't hve to finish this do I? Of course it was all my fault.

I understand what you mean,

firstgear · 10-11-05, 07:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by IH2LOSE

PS a nice pellet stove would heat that area up nice in the winter.

The house had a 2+ car garage on it already, this got attached to the side fo the house so that the original 2 car is on the side of the new garage. My plans are to use the inside garage for working on the cars and the outer garage for the parking and stuff.....I have got a lot of stuff to move out of the smaller garage, when I get it sorted out I will post some pictures.....The inner garage should be warmer in the winter and cooler in the summer than the new garage.....we'll see how that goes....

Tom Bryant · 10-11-05, 01:52 PM

That sounds similar to what I did. I had the 24x24 on the house then went out with basically a 24x36 but went 10 feet then angled it. That opened up more work room to the rear of the shop and my wife likes the look. We still use the middle garage for parking and the big one for the shop. I have a high efficiency gas furnace in there with 5 runs to ceiling registers. Real comfy plus I can ad central air when I can talk the wife into it. It is so well insulated that it doesn't get hot in the summer unless I leave the door stand open. I keep a portable dehumidifyer running in the summer and it feels like a/c when you walk in there.

Here is a lift that looks like a good deal. Any comments?

http://www.completehydraulic.com/cl8000csp.htm

Tom