Car lifts, but not 2 or 4 posters

Honest John Back Room » Motoring discussion
View Threaded
Tue 8 Aug 2006 19:45
Car lifts, but not 2 or 4 posters - martint123
Has anyone any experience of them? I've been lusting after one for years, but there's always a niggle about safety.
I don't have the height in the garage for a 2 or 4 poster, but have seen one or two lifts in the form slightly similar to a manual fork lift - push it underneath from the side, adjust the arms to locate at the jacking points and press a button an up it goes. Another type is one you drive over and likewise adjust the arms (Machine Mart? but no longer listed). I've even seen one that tilts the car back and forth as well.
Or am I just dreaming?
Martin
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Tue 8 Aug 2006 19:48
Car lifts, but not 2 or 4 posters - Hamsafar
www.frost.co.uk/free_catalogue.asp

I liked the look of the one on the Frost catalogue this month.
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Tue 8 Aug 2006 20:49
Car lifts, but not 2 or 4 posters - bell boy
if you have limited space a scissor lift run by single phase is available for less than £2000 all in from the unipart company (brown brothers) they are ideal if space limited,they just sit on a flat floor.
Lots of garages are buying the upper market ones that are concreted in place but cost £4000 +
With regard the tipping mechanism, i actually saw one in use the other month that did indeed have a tipper on it,so you werent dreaming.........
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Tue 8 Aug 2006 20:56
Car lifts, but not 2 or 4 posters - none
Martin123
The sort of lift you are considering has serious limitations. OK for wheel off work, and some work under the car, but for jobs like exhausts, prop shafts, long brake pipes / fuel pipes etc you'll find the lifting arms are a real pain. They're always in the way, and usually seem to be right under the unit you want to remove.
You'd be better off with a pit and a small jacking beam. Or, as oldman says, a scissor lift.
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Wed 9 Aug 2006 14:10
Car lifts, but not 2 or 4 posters - martint123
Thanks guys. The tipping one was like ebay item 330005910077 with a duff motor.
There was a couple of new scissor lifts for around a grand in Hull, but I was on holiday when they popped up (as little brother grinningly informed me).
Two grand is off limits for home use for me - maybe in my youth when I could have said OK if it would give me 20 years of use.

I'd though that the frame/arms would get in the way of long stuff, but so far, most of my work has been at the ends rather than the middle. I could see how a clutch change wouldn't work though (RWD car).

Thanks again
Martin
Reply | Report as offensive | Link

A guide to how much VED you will need to pay on your car.

Road Tax Bands and Rates