Finally bought a lift

[CTScott]

I've been thinking about buying a lift for over a year now. A couple of years ago we built an addition on our house that gave me a 1320 sq ft garage, which I designed with enough headroom for a lift. I designed the garage with clear span, where there are no posts or beams in the way. Because I was building the addition between the house and an existing studio building, I was limited in width to 30 feet (which makes for two nice wide bays facing the road), but it is 2-3 cars deep. I added a third garage door, centered on the back to make the depth a bit more useful.

I was all set to buy a relatively inexpensive ($1500) two post lift, and then a friend of mine showed me a video of that exact lift being tested and failing at far less than the lift's rated capacity. Here's the video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XLUjq6ijvVc

So, it was back to doing research and trying to find another lift that would fit, as my ceiling is just over 9 1/2 feet high, but all of the decent lifts needed 10 feet or more. After reading all positive reviews and talking with a couple of owners, I ended up deciding to go with the DanMar Max-Jax two post lift. It was $1999 from Northern Tool (with free shipping). I installed it on Friday evening. Drilling the ten 7/8" holes in my garage floor was bear, as I spec'd 5000 PSI concrete when I designed the garage. The lift is portable, where the two hydraulic lines have quick disconnects and the posts can be unbolted and rolled out of the way (although I plan on leaving it permanently mounted). I centered it on the rear garage door, so I can either pull a car into it from one of the front bays, or drive around the back of the garage to it.

The maximum lift height is 53". With the height of the ceiling in my garage, I can lift a Yaris liftback that height with 1/2" of clearance to the ceiling.

Here are some pictures of Crashy's first ride on it:

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[Nexus1155]

MAN If i knew you were getting a lift I know a guy in Cherry Hill, NJ who sells refurbs for $1200. We got our low clearance Mohawk A7 from him. I dunno about the lift you have, i have never seen or heard of it, but if it works it works and as long as it has locks. I would test it with a heavier vehicle too.

Be careful though with the doors of the garage open. If you didn't get a permit to put that in there sometimes they are sticklers about it and will fine you and make you take it down!. My friend built a 70K 3 floor addition to his house to put a lift and do work, and the zoning guy came by and shot him down hard.

How many bolts is that thing being held on by? is it shimmed at all? Looks a little scary IMHO. Might just be me and the way the pictures are angled.

[heeroyuy01195]

crashy has got to be the most badass/aggressive looking yaris i've ever seen lol

[marcus]

need to see the finish product..so sweet offroad yaris...

[fnkngrv]

I just don't get why for some reason every time I view your posts with pics attached they never come up. I always have to right click and choose to view the pics which requires me to log back in to YW....weird!

NM, I figured it out Scott...you must always load your pictures as an attachment? Your pics aren't being hosted on another site?

[CTScott]

MAN If i knew you were getting a lift I know a guy in Cherry Hill, NJ who sells refurbs for $1200. We got our low clearance Mohawk A7 from him. I dunno about the lift you have, i have never seen or heard of it, but if it works it works and as long as it has locks. I would test it with a heavier vehicle too.

Be careful though with the doors of the garage open. If you didn't get a permit to put that in there sometimes they are sticklers about it and will fine you and make you take it down!. My friend built a 70K 3 floor addition to his house to put a lift and do work, and the zoning guy came by and shot him down hard.

How many bolts is that thing being held on by? is it shimmed at all? Looks a little scary IMHO. Might just be me and the way the pictures are angled.



I looked at some used ones, but couldn't find any to fit in my garage. A buddy of mine bought a used bendpak for $500 and poured a slab outside for it. I like the idea of using mine in my heated garage.

It is extremely solid. No shims were required, as the base plates sat perfectly on the floor. Each post is secured by 5 bolts.

Here's a video of one being installed in Jay Leno's garage:

http://www.jaylenosgarage.com/extras/car-care/maxjax-portable-lift-system/

[silver_echo]

eventually, i will own one as well... but first i need a garage...

[Altitude]

I officially hate you now.

[2manywheels]

HAHA ^. I am with you Altitude.... ^

[daveprue]

crashy has got to be the most badass/aggressive looking yaris i've ever seen lol

Scott, the plow is not on Crashy any more?

[sleey0]

I officially hate you now.

Me too.

I need a new job that just gives me a bonus weekly:headbang:

[tk-421]

I officially hate you now.

+1 :biggrin:

I'm actually thinking about getting a similar one for my garage. I need another car to fit on the bottom though... Hopefully it won't get much more expensive than 2K lol

[CTScott]

Scott, the plow is not on Crashy any more?

The plow is just visible on a dolly in the first picture. I couldn't leave it on when I lifted Crashy, because with the plow on the center of gravity is right on the front axle.

[POORSHA]

How fast do you have to go on the treadmill to make it go up ??

[CTScott]

How fast do you have to go on the treadmill to make it go up ??

You just take the chipmunks out from under the hood and let them crank on the treadmill to make it go.

[silver_echo]

You just take the chipmunks out from under the hood and let them crank on the treadmill to make it go.

not chipmunks... hamsters...

[yarisugi]

now THAT'S a garage!
It's bigger than my apartment!

After seeing that failed lift, looks like your research paid off well.

May I ask what all those bags are on the two sides of your garage?
Looks like a 5-year supply of rice! :P

[PETERPOOP]

your garage is the size of my house

[chrisj]

You know someone's serious about cars when you see a lift in their garage. :) I have personally never seen one in a home garage. Guess I don't hang with serious car ppl. lol

[CTScott]

now THAT'S a garage!
It's bigger than my apartment!

After seeing that failed lift, looks like your research paid off well.

May I ask what all those bags are on the two sides of your garage?
Looks like a 5-year supply of rice! :P


The bags are 4 tons of wood pellets. We use a pellet stove to reduce our consumption of heating oil.

[henry33]

The bags are 4 tons of wood pellets. We use a pellet stove to reduce our consumption of heating oil.

that is smart from you ;):clap:
how much do you usually use during the winter ?

[CTScott]

that is smart from you ;):clap:
how much do you usually use during the winter ?

We actually just bought it last February (we always put our tax return money into improving the energy efficiency of our house). We just burned it during the day for the month of February and used about 40 lbs per day. By March we realized that if we burned it 24 hours per day it could heat the whole house and we wouldn't need to use any oil. Since March was a bit warmer, we still just used one 40lb bag per day. For us, one 40lb bag of pellets yields the same results as 5 gallons of oil (I actually have a digital meter hooked to my oil burner to assess our daily burn rate). So, with oil at $2.25 per gallon and pellets at $200 per ton, one $4 bag of pellets equals $11.25 of oil.

[henry33]

We actually just bought it last February (we always put our tax return money into improving the energy efficiency of our house). We just burned it during the day for the month of February and used about 40 lbs per day. By March we realized that if we burned it 24 hours per day it could heat the whole house and we wouldn't need to use any oil. Since March was a bit warmer, we still just used one 40lb bag per day. For us, one 40lb bag of pellets yields the same results as 5 gallons of oil (I actually have a digital meter hooked to my oil burner to assess our daily burn rate). So, with oil at $2.25 per gallon and pellets at $200 per ton, one $4 bag of pellets equals $11.25 of oil.

what do you mean by oil ? since it can have more explanations ? you mean like petrol ?
but yes it is cheaper and more ecological we were using the same stuff in our house to save the gas :)

[CTScott]

what do you mean by oil ? since it can have more explanations ? you mean like petrol ?
but yes it is cheaper and more ecological we were using the same stuff in our house to save the gas :)

By oil I mean heating oil, which is basically the same as diesel fuel, but is supposedly less refined.

[henry33]

By oil I mean heating oil, which is basically the same as diesel fuel, but is supposedly less refined.

so that is guite expensive heating :thumbdown: here is becoming very popular geo thermal heating . the first investment is huge but after that you have free heating :thumbup:with just one condition that you live in the thermal area which is basically 60 percent of the country ;)
something similar is on the island for ages :w00t:

[CTScott]

so that is guite expensive heating :thumbdown: here is becoming very popular geo thermal heating . the first investment is huge but after that you have free heating :thumbup:with just one condition that you live in the thermal area which is basically 60 percent of the country ;)
something similar is on the island for ages :w00t:

Geothermal is our next big step. I have designed our system and we are saving for drilling the wells. In our area there is too much rock to lay horizontal loops for geothermal, so we use vertical wells. In my case, I need two 350 foot deep wells, which will cost about $15,000. The geothermal equipment will be less than $10,000 and I will do everything but the well drilling myself.

[henry33]

Geothermal is our next big step. I have designed our system and we are saving for drilling the wells. In our area there is too much rock to lay horizontal loops for geothermal, so we use vertical wells. In my case, I need two 350 foot deep wells, which will cost about $15,000. The geothermal equipment will be less than $10,000 and I will do everything but the well drilling myself.

interesting but have you considered that the investment of 25000 will be back after 7 years of using the oil and 17 after using the pellets ? just for curiosity when the price is high if it wouldn't be more efficient to use pellets ? but on the other hand investing in geo thermal will be also for future generations where the oil will not be available and pellets could cost 2000 per ton :iono:
so I am your fan do it ;)