scottmoyer

Guys, I know some of you have them. I need to know what the height that some are getting away with in their garages for a four post lift. With the '82 Z28 and '87 IROC-Z, both being about 51" tall, that's 102". Add the recommended 6" for the ramp and an additional 6" clearance on top of the bottom car, I should have 8" above the top car. Now I know that the ramp size could vary dependent on the lift manufacturer, and the lock points will vary, but I need to know if a lift will work in a garage with 119" (9' 11") ceiling.

If you have a lift in a garage with the standard height ceiling, and have a couple 3rd hens on it, please post pics. Thanks

D&S 85 IROC

go to thegaragejournal.com you can find a whole bunch of stuff on lifts

scottmoyer

Been there. Unfortunately, the majority of what I've seen up there are cars or garages that are not the norm, so the pictures posted are not what will be seen in a standard garage.

F-body-fan

My Garage is 10'6" & I have a BendPack HD9 I can "almost" run my 3rd Gen's to the top of it's travel, but if I am working on something I never need it that high anyway. My Bend Pack is about 10 years old, & one thing they have added as an option is a limit switch. That would be a really cool way to prevent car & ceiling damage if the same car is going on it most of the time. When I have run taller cars all the way tight to the ceiling, I usually will jump on a ladder to see how close I am. So hard to tell from the ground & kind of a pain but seldom happens. Your only 7" less than I have so I think you have plenty of room.

Let me take a guess...... You have a 9' 1st floor ceiling heights in your house with TJI floor joists?

F-body-fan

Here's a couple of Pictures with the 3rd gens on it. 7" less would be no big deal at all imo. The lift can do more than store 1 car.

DynoDave43

iTrader: (11)

When I was building my shop, and was trying to figure out height too.

An acquaintance form a forum invited me to his house to see his...std. attached garage with 9' ceiling. He can get a '70s Dodge Dart (taller than an F-body) above, and another below. As mentioned above, he cannot run the lift all of the way up...he runs out of ceiling height before he runs out of lift travel, but it's very do-able.

As I wanted room to lift my 4wd suburban if needed, I went with 9'9" walls, and scissor trusses on the end with the lift, so I have over 12' at the peak on the inside.

A high lift kit for the garage door, which keeps it right up by the ceiling, helps too.

CPC Norwood

Another thing to consider is the post lock clearance.

If you have limited height then you need to stay significantly lower than the ceiling to allow for post lock release otherwise you are stuck with the car in the air.

Send me a PM and I can offer a few suggestions that may help.

Time2Fly

Scott, I see that you lock/close threads because they do not apply to the historical-originality significance of 82-92 Camaros. Yet you start a thread in the history-originality section about garage lifts? Sort of hypocritical don't you think?

scottmoyer

Not at all. Thanks for being so childish about your question though. The lift I'm looking for is directly related to my 3rd gens. I will be using it to store one car and will also be using it to gain access to the undercarriage so that I can continue with the removal of the undercoating on my IROC-Z and also use it to work on the '82 Z28. If you've read any other posts, you'd know that I'm having issues with the 4 speed trans on the '82. I also have a fuel boiling issue on the iROC-Z and the lift will be used to drop the fuel tank. So, the lift will be a tool for me to continue my restoration on the '82 and do the same on my '87. Thanks for replying with a post that has value to this thread.

By the way, I just checked and found that I DO lock threads WAY too much. I found TWO (2) posts in the last year, that I've locked, due to not being on topic. In the future, I'll do my best to be a better moderator and try to not be so hypocritical.

F-body-fan

You'll have enough room, but it for sure depends on the lift & the increments where it locks. If I am working under one of my cars, I don't normally run them tight to the ceiling. usually 1-2 click down which should be close to your ceiling height. I am 6' tall & just don't need them that high. I can give you locked heights on my bend pack if you are looking at those.
I highly recommend them. they have a very intuitive cable routing that prevents the cables from ever coming off the pulleys when the lift just sits & the cables slack. It also has a double locking system on each post. Very ridged not bolted down. Its also a no brainer to get the caster kit. So nice to reposition them. You could even roll it out in the driveway to aid in your undercoating removal. I want to do the same thing with the GTA. has undercoating on everything underneath. Probably going to be a big mess to remove. But, the good news is once its off, everything underneath should look better than it would if it was not covered all these years. I have a picture of what mine cleaned up like, but I only did one area by hand. I need to spray it down with some sort of solvent & hot water pressure wash it someday......

scottmoyer

What type of undercoating is on your car? The black stuff or the beeswax yellow type? If it's the beeswax, I have an easy process of removal. Use the Gunk gel degreaser. Spray it on, let it soak, (the gel holds well on the undercarriage), then spray it off. That's what I did. And got great results.



Now, I like what I see with the Backyard Buddy lifts, but they are extremely expensive, so probably not an option for me. I need to create a spreadsheet with the good and bad of all of the major brands. Bend-Pak seems to be on many of the competition radar, and the competition mention the shortcomings of Bend-Pak, but how true they are, I don't know. I want to look at Eagle Lifts, Bend-Pak, Challenger Lifts, Direct Lifts and Stinger Lifts.

F-body-fan

Mine has the black stuff. Wax & grease remover/cleaner does break it down, but thats sort of a really mild solvent more than a cleaner. I use it for final cleaning right before painting.

I also have a perfect park lift by gemini. Its worlds apart from the bendpack & not much less expensive. I have not looked at all the lifts, just read up on them before buying, but that was nearly 10 years ago already. You'll never regret buying one. I struggled with justifying it at first. But I will probably have a couple more in the near future. One of my favorite tools.

It would be nice if you could go inspect the lifts on your final cut list. There are some obvious differences, especially in the locking systems & how sturdy they are when not bolted to the floor.

F-body-fan

here's the floor of the GTA. Well preserved under the goo. But, its an ugly mess right now.
I just cleaned this one spot to see how it would come off.

TylerSteez

iTrader: (3)

a sandblasting place I used to work at would give us a propane torch and a scraper to remove the undercoating. definitely a crappy job, no doubt about it.

D&S 85 IROC

don't buy a Chinese made lift !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

scottmoyer

That I know!! I need to know where the steel comes from that makes the lift, also. Many companies say they are manufactured and assembled in the USA, but they get the steel from China. Definitely a no-no to me.

Buddy

With the exception of maybe backyard buddy, aren't pretty much all of them Chinese steel????

chazman

iTrader: (4)

Tough to do.

PurelyPMD

iTrader: (3)

Coat it with diesel and let sit overnight - powerwash it the next day with HOT water.

Get the wheel package for the lift too so you can move it as needed. Buddy of mine routinely places it out in the driveway to pressure wash the underside of his new acquisitions. Hook a lawn tractor to it and you can move it anywhere you want.

F-body-fan

That's what I would like to do someday. I think as far as cleaning undercoating, isn't thats what bentwheelbob did on the PY site with his 78? I have wheel kits for both my lifts, but I don't want to subject my lift, driveway or lawn to the mess.

I would never buy a lift without the wheel kit. It would be like parking a car in your garage & taking the wheels off. They are just so big its nice to be able to move them around. Completely agree!

67restoproj

My ceiling height is 10ft 3" I can raise the car high enough to comfortably work on it

LeonardS

Scott, I have an older Eagle(made in USA), a newer Eagle(made in China), and 2 of the extra height/extra length Direct Lifts(made in China). All of them work perfect. I like the lifts where the end sliders are contained in the posts and not attached around the posts. My Direct Lift pumps are 110 volt/30 amp, which is unique, and required me to install a special outlet and make a special drop cord for them.

PurelyPMD

iTrader: (3)

Yep, Bob Bennett - did that with the 78 SE and with his 73 TA. He may have done it with the Black HO Formula as well.

scottmoyer

If you look at my picture above, I used a tarp to protect my driveway. I have a brick paver drive, but the apron from the sidewalk to the street is concrete. I did all of my work down there with the tarp so the crap would run into the street. Anything that got on the concrete was easily cleaned off since it was only beeswax in my case. Not sure I'd want to do that with the black stuff!

Thanks for the info on the lifts. I also need to do some research on the high lift door option. A local company wants $1200 to raise my door to the ceiling. Ouch!

F-body-fan

That sound pretty pricey! I have mine going to the ceiling. It does require different torsion springs, high lift radiuses, tapered drums & longer cables. But, none of those parts are very expensive. I know there is a bit of a science to it. Not only do they need to know the weight of the door, they use the tapered drum to increase the springs strength as it unwinds so it can basically deadlift the door until it starts to roll back, then the door gets lighter as the spring unwinds as looses strength. After doing 4 doors like this I developed a new found respect for setting up garage doors, especially high lift. But, with all that said, most door companies use software & all they do is plug in the data & it only requires fine tuning after install. At least thats been my experience.

I'd call around. Maybe thats a "i don't want to do it" price.

DynoDave43

iTrader: (11)

$1200 is a lot of money. I don't have a break-out of the high-lift portion of the deal, as I had both oversized doors installed at the same time. So I really can't say how much extra they may have charged me for that. But it would not have been that much.

F-body-fan

The more I think about it, I am not sure sure mine even have different springs. It might be just the tracks, cables & tapered drums. Still some science to getting it to balance properly, but not a whole lot of $ in parts for sure...

DynoDave43

iTrader: (11)

Mine operates at a very shallow angle. 4/12 pitch outside, 2/12 inside, so I don't think there was anything special about doing it other than the tracks and cables. But I am not an overhead door expert.

scottmoyer

Well, I will need new springs. I'll explain why. The current track sits just above the door opening. When the door opens fully, it is 95% laying flat in the horizontal track, so the spring doesn't need to be strong to hold the door.

Now, with a high lift door, the bottom of the door still goes to the top of the opening, but with the track going to the ceiling, an entire panel, or more will still be held vertical. A heavier spring holds the vertical weight.

I watched a couple videos on making the hi lift door option and it shouldn't cost what these companies are charging. The parts are only about $200 max without an opener. I've seen parts as low as $125.

D&S 85 IROC

www.derekweaver.com

D&S 85 IROC

http://www.gregsmithequipment.com

PurelyPMD

iTrader: (3)

Checked with my friend Bob - he has two of the Atlas Garage Pro lifts that he bought at Greg Smith Equipment. He also went ahead and got the sliding jack attachment that allows you to jack the car while on the lift. He's been very happy with them and saved probably 40% over a Backyard Buddy lift.

robguitargod1

iTrader: (4)

I had a 4-post Atlas from Greg Smith for a few years before I switched to a 2-post






Garage is a standard 2-car with low ceilings. I had to move 2 beams outward with extra bracing but it gave me the overhead clearance I needed.

Here's the 2-post I use currently:

robguitargod1

iTrader: (4)

More 2-post pics start at post #105 here:

https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/memb...ml#post6045030

More 4-post pics start at post #6 here:

https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/afte...post-life.html

scottmoyer

Well, since I created this thread, we decided to sell the house. I was looking for homes with larger garages, but they all seemed to either be in "not the greatest area" or were older homes that needed the same things, or more, than my current home. The area we were looking was double the property tax and about $100k more for a home identical to mine in age and even built by the same builder. We decided to stay put!!

I got the garage door raised to the ceiling and got it done for less than $500 for all new track, springs, drums, cable and labor. I'm happy with the work.



I also researched the lifts and here's what I came up with. I wanted either the BendPak HD9 or the Direct-Lift. The BendPak is $2895, plus tax, plus the $275 wheel caster kit, plus $55 for the drip trays for a total of just under $3500. I would also have to run new electric in the garage for the motor and hook up an air line to release the lift locks. Without an air compressor, there's more cost there.

The Direct-Lift comes with all of the accessories for $2095 + tax, but the only distributor is 3.5 hours away for me to pick it up, 7 hours round trip plus trailer rental. If they delivered it and installed it, the cost would be about $3k, including all taxes.

While waiting for the Direct-Lift, I stumbled across Advantage Lifts in Minnesota. This lift is similar to Backyard Buddy, but seems better, for less. I worked out the numbers with the owner and I can get it for $2900 with all of the accessories, including a 4k pound "rolling" jack tray, and I can pick it up here in Orlando! I'm sold. Advantage Lifts it is. Now I just need to wait until they deliver some to the warehouse in Orlando.

PurelyPMD

iTrader: (3)

US made or US assembled?

Croz

you will love having a lift. Bought ours about 2 years ago. It is a 2 post because I need it for work working on more then storage. It seems like a lot of money to lay out at first, but after the first use you will kick yourself for not doing it years ago.

scottmoyer

Not sure if it's US Made or not. I can't find any information on that. I bought a safe for my house a few years ago. The owner of the company was an old locksmith and knew of all of the downsides of each manufacturer, so he designed his own safe improving on the flaws of the others. To keep the prices in line, he had them made in China, but to his specs.

It sounds like the Advantage Lift is the same idea, where the owners created a new lift with all of the best features of the other lift manufacturers. It seems many people are concerned that the lift isn't ALI Certified, but they are happy to explain why. Also, the certification is just a third party cert, and if you build to a higher standard, having the cert is just a waste of money. Those are my words, not theirs.

Big&BadGTA

iTrader: (1)

I read the thread with interest, and can add that in my opinion, you should be fine with most lifts, in your existing garage.

I have three BackYard Buddy Lifts in my garage, and have 10 ft ceilings. I can fit a Corvette on top of a sedan, or vice versa, with no clearance issues.

One thing though - ditch the "factory ramps" and save your back with a set of Race Ramps for 4 post lifts. I got mine from Fred at Reverse Logic. Awesome vendor.
They are 48" long, for super low cars, and weigh only a couple lbs each.

Big&BadGTA

iTrader: (1)

Also, FWIW, I had considered Advantage Lifts, and understand they now have the redundant 2nd safety lock of the BYB. As such, my next two lifts might be Advantage. Look forward to your real world report after use. Thanks.

PurelyPMD

iTrader: (3)

Some really great things are made in China - both of my nieces were.

Keep us posted on the delivery & set-up. I'll be shopping later this year.

scottmoyer

I'll post pics when I get it installed. It'll probably be about a month.

Firm

Little late to the party, but I'll add my info anyway...


I've had a Direct Lift 4 post for about 3 years now and I love it. No issues at all, very handy to have, and best of all it allows for some much needed extra parking.


My ceiling height is just over 10' (124") and I can comfortable run a car all the way to the second lock from the top, and at that point I've got about 6-8" to the joist from the top of the car. I really have no need to go higher than that as it allows my truck to park underneath, and enough height to work.


My typical parking situation has my SLK320 (about an inch or two shorter than an F-body) on the top, and my Sonoma on the bottom, so that's what I happen to have photos of. That said, I've had my f-bodies on the lift before and there's no significant difference.


Worse part of the whole deal was getting my door modified to roll up to the ceiling - few companies around here know what they're doing, so it took a few tries and a lot of wasted time.

someone972

iTrader: (2)

Some very nice setups here. I hope to get a lift when I finally move out of the apartment.

What made you switch to a two post? Which do you like better overall?

scottmoyer

Ok. I finally have an update. I ordered the Advantage Lift back in April and it came in this week. That was a long wait, but I picked it up Friday morning, and by Friday night, it was in use.

While I waited, I installed cabinets in the garage (still need to be painted) and painted the garage walls from the boring white to something a little more "cool". I like the lift so far. It's very sturdy and was very heavy, so I believe it's quality made.

Picking it up in South Orlando at the warehouse:


Unpacking and unloading the lift:


The next day!!!

1988 Iroc 5.7

iTrader: (3)

Looks good Scott! Was assembly fairly straightforward?

CPC Norwood

Scott,

Well done!!!

chazman

iTrader: (4)

Looks like a nice lift. I'm pretty sure I'll need to get one soon.

scottmoyer

The lift install was fairly straight forward if you watch the install videos that they have on their website. The documentation they sent with the lift was very brief, and I comprehend better if I can see it, so the videos were my guide. They weren't 100%, but they were close enough. There were some changes from the videos to the hardware I received, but if I can figure it out, anybody can.

Charlie, I investigated so many lifts and I don't like making a purchase decision unless I feel confident about the product. I think this lift is the best bang for buck out there. The locks, the safety features, the structural rigidity, etc made this a great product. When I started looking, I was planning on spending around $1800-$2200 for a lift, so paying 50% more is a huge cost, but I think I'm getting more than 50% better product.

puma1552

iTrader: (1)

Looks great and I like the red as well. How is your air/power supply handled, did you need someone to come in and do that?

Unfortunately I think my garage is just a hair short at 9'6" or 9'8" or so (can't remember but it's a little under 10 feet).