3 feet of lift! Oh yes!

[splatterdog]

Maybe not what you were expecting or hoping for. But this is why it's in tool talk. Just brought home my biggest and heaviest tool yet. Feel free to envy me.

[ARCHINSTL]

OH - WOW ! ! !
Tell us more - did you just win the lottery or the last child finally moved out of the basement - or did you just now open that duffel bag you found years ago with D.B. Cooper's name on it ?
I didn't know things like that existed for cars!
Not scary to use?
MORE INFO NEEDED - I just went out and bought some more lottery tickets.
Tom M.

[splatterdog]

If the lottery was involved, everything including the garage would be much bigger. I just sold my 74 Bronco project for the cash. It was never going to get done. Been far too busy fixing other peoples stuff. So I freed up floor space that had been clogged since 1994 and replaced it with something far more usefull.

Just another craigslist score. It has been very productive lately. And I am a master scrounger. Paid $1500. This was a pretty good price as it's Snap on brand. But 1000-1500 is typical for a used one. I've seen new for under 2000 even. Just enter "mid rise lift" into your search...

At about 1/3rd the capacity(6500lbs)with a terc it's pretty stable. Arms are set as narrow as they go to fit it. Have to see how it goes with some real weight. As with most things, common sense applies. With the right amount of effort I'm sure it could be tipped over. Weight distribution needs to be assessed too. All I know is it's going to save me tons of time and effort compared to one end at a time with the jack. Stand up brake jobs and susp work too! At least for cars. Only have 8 foot ceiling clearance. BTW, they recommed at least 3 inches of good concrete beneath one.

The only real drawback is the center of the car is obstructed by the table top design.

[Neu]

I'm sure I speak for everyone, but damnit we're jealous.

[takza]

I've seen those in catalogs. Think I'd want to lag it into the concrete. With any job under the car...I spend half my time getting it off the ground and finding the tools to use.

[keith]

I'd like to have a garage.

[ARCHINSTL]

keith -
I guess those of us who are garage-challenged could always combine splatterdog's mid-rise lift and the following...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TBYkay_r ... re=related

I am so tired of al fresco auto work...
Tom M.

[splatterdog]

Here's a shot unloaded with the rest of my lifting equipment too. Takza- can't be bolted, not without some sort of added on hinge plate. It's designed to be portable. With my limited space it will also need to be repostioned depending on the car. I'll still have to do it the old fashioned way for trans or exh work too. During these times it will be rolled off to the side. The pump dolly hooks on the front to move it around. The nice thing about the snap on closed deck style is it will work for cycles too. Or a temp work bench. All the others have a more open design that only helps center access slightly.

[Petros]

I could have used that tranny jack more than a few times. I say it the lift looks nice, but is it unsafe at that height? It appears a lot of heavy torquing on the car could knock it over.

[splatterdog]

While it could be toppled with careless operation, it is pretty stable. I jostled the car and it didn't seem any worse than a regular above ground hoist. It actually seems a hair more stable without the long hoist arms that flex. But tippable. Even regular hoist can be ripped out of the floor with improper loading. The previous owner said he had his full size chev conversion van on it! It still has almost another foot to go in the pic too, 4 foot total. My ceiling has limits...

I feel it will be far safer than my maxed out jack/jack stands. Just did a starter yesterday on my rolling stool instead of the creeper. That was nice. I may also fab up some short screw jacks for outboard support when persuasion needs to be maximized. Until I have a real shop this will have to do.

The 2000 lb tranny jack was 250 at harbor freight. It's well worth the extra 50 over the next one down. It has almost another foot of lift. After a couple of tranny jobs and several in tank fuel pumps I don't know how I got along without it. At least it was paid for on it's first job.

[splatterdog]

Well, I went and got some 12, yes 12 ton jack stands for stabilization. That rating is for each. These will make floor operations much safer too. Had my 6 ton stands maxed out most the time.
Placed under this Voyager minivan it was rock solid. Gave it some pretty good effort to move it too. I'm lovin this thing.

[terceldude]

splatterdog, is that actually a car lift, because like Petros was saying, it almost looks like the car will fall off the lift with real heavy torquing or the shocks won't hold the car enough. I'm scared for you. I hope you have a successful lift period and not a lift that falls apart due to stength issues and then the car falls off the lift and kills you. Oh god, that would be horrible. So glad I used the lifts provided at the Toyota dealership for my Terc.

[splatterdog]

Yes it is a real vehicle hoist http://buy1.snapon.com/catalog/item.asp ... ir=catalog

Already had a variety of vehicles on it and it works fantastic. It's built way heavy. Not sure about other brands. I really put on the persuasion while replacing 4 rusty struts on a ford contour at comfortable working height. The 5 foor prybar got lots of use that day. It didn't come down. So it passes the test as far as I'm concerned. It's no less safe than any other hoist in the right hands. I also tried(not too hard) to knock my 84 off it at about a foot up and couldn't do it.

All the dropped cars I have seen were directly caused by stupidity. Natural selection always left the perps unscathed somehow.

Consider yourself lucky to have a hoist available to you. Most dealers prohibit employee cars in the shop unless you pay full price.

[takza]

Those 4 jackstands look like good insurance...I know when I get into a tough job...I can forget all about safety at times. Which is why I don't get under anything without at least 2-3 jacks/stands under it.