Four post garage lift journey and installation

One of my "Ferrari Friends" (wife's term for fellow members of our local Italian Motoring Enthusiasts group ) asked me to take pictures during my garage lift journey. For that reason and because I have received a wealth of excellent advice here I present my story, from beginning to end.

Many of us have probably wished wistfully for a lift just as that torrent of petrol rained down on us or that blast of searing hot oil drenched us as we lay on our backs on some cold filthy floor. In my case it was my rag tag collection of old cars and my motorcycles. My wife started pushing for this project just so she could get her daily driver back in the garage.

Below is a before picture.

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So the first step was making sure the lift would fit and actually store the 308 and my daily driver underneath. Most of the dealers have web pages with dimensions or little formulas for calculation. I took a couple of those and plugged in the details. The garage measuring I did myself. The cars have owners manuals with dimensions but I measured them anyway. Good thing my garage had a load bearing beam just to make things more interesting.

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Convinced the lift would work the initial measurements indicated the first obstacle which was the garage door (picture taken after raising door ).

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I had the garage door lifted at least twenty inches and had a LiftMaster 3800 jack shaft motor installed.

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If you do not have a load bearing beam in the way you may be able to get by with moving the existing motor back and adding extended rails.

With the garage door fixed I decided to have the floor done. A motorcycle riding friend also happens to be work in the concrete coatings business. I went with his company and had the floor coated using Xylene.

Next came the lift. The primary purpose was storage so a four post lift was the choice. I wanted to service the cars also so I chose an option with two sliding jacks that can raise the car while it is on the ramps. There are many reputable companies as you will know if you search here or elsewhere. I chose the Direct Lift from Greg Smith Equipment based on testimonies here, a height adjustment system that offered variable lift points, and because another one of my riding buddies has a Direct Lift two-post lift and is happy with it.

I spent a small amount of time trying to find an installer but without success. Most are customer installed and in truth I preferred that option because if I am going to get under that thing and work I would rather know in great detail how it was put together.

You also have to pick up the lift at the shipping dock. The shipping company cannot deliver it to your residence. They convinced me they could and I foolishly believed them only to witness the guy driving the semi literally scratching his head when he couldn't unload it. I ended up renting a truck and trailer.

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It is not too hard to unload 90% of the pieces, including the instructions which really should be outside somewhere or emailed to you. They are buried inside all that stuff on the trailer.

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The reason the instructions are important is because they cover the unpacking. The ramps are heavy. You must have help unloading them from the trailer. The one with the hydraulic cylinder is probably four hundred pounds. With a friend and an engine hoist we were able to detach it from the packing frame and slide it off the trailer. Once inside the garage the engine hoist and my motorcycle jack made things easier. You can see now how much better the floor looks.

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These comments are not meant to replace the instructions. They just highlight areas that were confusing to me and show how we worked our way out of confusion during assembly.

You can put the cross members (already assembled) into the column posts by yourself if you do so with everything on the ground.

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That point was the end where I could assemble myself. I have a hard time asking for help. But, the pieces here are just too heavy and it is just plain smarter and safer to have two or three friends help.

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Once we got the lift sighted where we wanted it and measured according the instructions so it was all right front to back and corner to corner then we attached the ramps. The engine hoist came in handy here.

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Good tip is to set the cross members at some convenient height. Because the locking tracks are in the columns at this point you can lock the cross members a couple feet off the floor. Putting on the ramps at this point allows for access to string the cables later.

The ramps can now be seated onto the cross members.

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Probably obvious to others but one point of confusion was "the four drop-in ramp plates will be used with the spacer side facing the lift and through-bolted from the outside of the cross rail, through the runway". Very obvious after the fact but the spacer shown below holds either the ramp for loading/unloading or the vehicle blocking plate. You need these in place to bolt the ramps to the cross members.

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Another tip is the cap plates for the posts. Note the notched protruding end for the cable attachment lines up over the hole in the cross member slot where the cable enters the cross member.

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In addition to the locking pieces that engage into the locking latch bar to hold the car in position when raised, there are right next to them the "emergency" locking pieces that engage when there is slack in the cable. As you route the cable note how they go through the metal sheave/pulley and how they engage the plastic sheave/pulley. If you play with the cross member plastic pulley ahead of time you will see that as the cable provides tension on the plastic pulley it pulls the locking piece away from the locking latch bar so the lift can be lowered. If you install this incorrectly or if some failure introduces slack then the secondary lock will engage.

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The other tip I got from my friend Ulf was to wrap the fittings without O-rings with the hydraulic oil equivalent of plumbers tape. No leaks when we finished!

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Here is one of the fittings attached.

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The finished product is a bit surreal. The 308 is not wearing its "hat" but it fits fine up there with the top in place also. And, thanks to my friends Matt and Ulf, in the picture, for their help.

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Slainte!
Seamus

 

looks great,I have 10' ceiling in my garage so that same lift that you have should too in mine,and where did the lift come from?

 

It's the Direct Lift Pro Park 8S from Greg Smith Equipment.

http://www.gregsmithequipment.com/

Seamus

 

Seamus,

Very nice thread documenting the process. I have the same lift from Greg Smith -- had it now for 1 year, still working flawlessly. Hasn't even required any adjustments.

I'd be interested in hearing how well the sliding jack works -- I've been thinking of adding that option.

- Eric

 

I admit I have not had to use the jacks yet to lift the car. I have operated them and they seem to be of high quality and have nice locking mechanisms. They are extremely heavy -- about 300 lbs each. So, "installing" them is not trivial. But, installed properly they slide with not too much effort.

Seamus

 

Thanks for posting the pics and details. It looks great.

 

That's incorrect. Flare fittings should absolutely not be taped. It may prevent you from tightening them correctly. Unlike pipe fittings, where the threads seal the joint and tape is required, with flare fittings the flared ends seal the joint and the tape may either prevent tightening or get displaced into the joint. Personally I would re-do all the taped fittings.

Otherwise it looks great!

 

He's right. The seal takes place at the tapered part of the fitting, not the threads. If none of them leak and the nuts didn't split I wouldn't worry about it.

I like the floor as well. My garage is old and there are oil spots everywhere. I'd love to have it coated like that. Let's have an update when you get those jacks in there.

 

+1

 

I have mentioned this previously. Get your lift delivered to your friendly flat bed guy. He can winch it onto the truck and slide it off in your driveway or even in the garage. Cost me $60.00 bucks. Mike

 

The jacks are in there. Everything showed up together. The jacks are on the pallet in the picture that shows the lift on the trailer. Each one is 300lbs so I wanted to put them in while I still had the engine hoist I borrowed.

They slide on the ramps. The arms can extend out to find jack points. The adapters stored at the center can be used to provide additional height when lifting vehicles that sit higher off the ground.

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The jacks are hydraulic with a hand pump. The quality seems good. Here is a picture of the other side of the jack with the pump handle.

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Seamus

 

good job, and a great write-up Great post and thread!

 

Seamus...my project this year is a suspension upgrade (and now replacing the water pump that failed...which has turned into a partial cooling system refresh). Next year I'll add the lift and will probably order from the same company...and request your help. How long did it take from start to finish?

 

Nice job! I also have a four post lift, and have been thinking about buying the jacks you have. How much were they?
BT

 

Glad you were successful with the install & looks great! I also have a DirectLift and it came with one heavy "tray" that is suitable for using manual bottle jacks or stands to lift a vehicle. It only came with one, but you could order an extra to lift an entire vehicle. The hydraulic jack trays are cool, though. But just wanted to mention that you don't have to buy them to lift your vehicle off of the rails if you don't want.

 

Hey! I have the same lift also!

Yeah, I know they sold more than one. I love it! I was actually just under it moments ago finishing up my clutch slave cylinder seal job.

A simple trick I do with mine: My fore/aft tolerance of the car on the lift is pretty tight - pull too far forward and I could bump my toolbox and not enough and I won't clear the garage door when going up in the air. My solution? Put a piece of blue masking tape (or paint a line or whatever) on the lift's runway directly below the car's left-rear wheel hub. When I pull onto the lift and get near, I open the driver's door and look back at the tape. When the rear wheel is aligned with the tape, I'm there. Set the brake. It keeps me from having to get in and out of the car and eye-balling the position to make sure I'm in far enough.

Enjoy it!

 

$595 each if purchased separately. They integrate nicely and the quality seems very good. I really wanted to be able to work on any part of the car in addition to using the lift for storage. I purchased a package that included the lift and the two jacks.

Greg, I will be happy to help when the time comes. I probably spent six hours from start to finish just getting the trailer, picking up the lift at the shipping company dock, and unloading it at home. It took three of us about five hours to assemble it.

Seamus

 

Installed the same lift last month, very little clearance - only about 10cm per car, but provides an extra garage space.
Lift works well, instructions could be better though.

M
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great post thanks

 

mike - any photos of what your garage doors look like from the outside?

 

Picture from the outside:
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thanks! that style of exterior would look really nice with some carriage style doors, but the rollups aren't half bad ... i may have to consider it.

i have a 4 post lift (bendpak hd9) which i use for working on the car, not for storage, so i didn't bother to modify my doors for extra height. but now i'm considering getting some extra storage and I think I will have to go with rollups.

BTW, the bendpak is awesome, i highly recommend it. Made in USA also (except the motor, made in mexico). The bridge jacks are air operated which is nice. Pricier than the greg smith model, but if you primarily use it for working on the car I think it's worth it. If I put in another 4 post it will be for storage and I will have to consider the greg smith.

 

I bought this lift as a quick solution to car storage problem (too many cars), not for working on cars. My workshop & tools are at my old house where there is not enough height to install a hoist in the garage.

But I'm in the process of trying to obtain planning permission to build a detached 6 car garage at the new house , which will have sufficient height to accommodate a 2 post hoist, which i'll use for working on cars. I haven't decided on doors, I prefer panelift style doors, but the rollups take up no roof space, which is a benefit.

The Bendpak hoists are great, but REALLY expensive in Australia , upwards of 7K USD

We get ripped-off even on the Greg Smith hoists, they come from China, ( Tufflift) but the price in Australia is double the US price, and that was when the exchange rate was nearly 1.1 about 2 months ago.

I worked out I could have bought , the hoist in the US, had it shipped to Australia by sea, paid duty & tax and still been better off than buying it from the local importer.
I was in a hurry though, so I had to pay up

M

 

oh yeah, i would have gotten a 2 post, but the height clearance problems are even worse (as you know). the only one that would fit is a mohawk (IIRC) ... and i don't like not having choices ... but it turned out i don't have enough concrete thickness. i decided it wasn't worth it to cut/fill the pad so ended up with the 4 post.

6 car garage sounds awesome! select your lift first and then make sure the garage will accomodate it. as long as you're building new, i'd consider in-ground (if you are allowed), or run the lines on the floor in a channel between the posts. easy to do at construction time. an in-floor channel will probably have a bump though, making it difficult to roll heavy things around underneath.

 

Agree, the Pro-Park manual is not very good. However, the Eagle SS7000 is basically the same lift design, and it has a great assembly/instruction manual -- it was very helpful to me whan I assembled my lift.

You can download it here: http://www.eagleequip.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Store_Code=EE&Screen=PRODMAN

- Eric