Article about german dream garages with some nice pics http://www.bild.de/auto/auto-news/oldtimer/horst-lichter-autos-oldtimer-sammlung-fernsehkoch-traumgaragen-deutschland-buch-23582284.bild.html
http://autos.yahoo.com/blogs/motoramic/see-5-million-garage-driveway-elevator-used-park-133847141.html
Amazing house in Mississauga, Ontario Canada. Check out the video to see this l modern palaca.. The entire house is of "a specific taste", however the underground garage is spectacular! http://watch.bnn.ca/trading-day/august-2008/trading-day-august-15-2008/#clip83714
Saw that episode actually. Very cool. Although I was let down by the car collection....at least the cars they showed. That house is ugly. I felt like I was looking at an atrium inside a building going to the doctor.
just reviewed all 327 pages of garage pics, so much WIN! Cutting to the chase I need recommendations for the BEST choice car lift (if it is even possible with the low ceilings I have), I don't know the concrete depth, so should stay with four post for that reason if possible. Looking for the lowest profile, takes up the least room, etc, still full featured. There is no way of increasing height, so what is the one to go with? I have researched and it is overwhelming the number of options out there :/ Thanks for any help! Thought this thread might find the experienced folks on this matter
Best I can do is approximate as I can't get in right now! 102" is as accurate as I can tell right now. Thanks! Not sure if it even possible :/. I've got two cars at 48" tall each. I guess to summarize, if I can squeeze just one inch extra from one recommended lift over another, I would go with that choice, just looking for real world experience with this stuff before I get into it! Thanks again for any help.
I was curious of your ceiling height because I also have a standard 102" garage, 2 cars right at 100" and have researched this topic quite a bit. And as far as I can tell its not possible. I'm bummed as well as I hate parking anything outside. I even called a contractor out to see what it would take to raise the ceiling height a foot. He confirmed my thoughts that it would need an engineer and more money than its worth.
Sometimes it's not just about the ceiling height guys. One of the main things to consider are the lock stop points on the hoist itself. I have two four post hoists that I use to stack on, and a two post for working and storing. I recently added two more cars to my collection, and wanted them to live on top of each other in a specific areaa in the garage. Basically Americans over there, and Italians over here! So I measure up the cars and ceiling heights and everything is fine, with even plenty left. Like 200mm / 8" or so! But, the problem is that the stop locks on the hoists have very large increments between each other. In my case about 130mm from the bottom of one lock to the bottom of the next lock, so the hoist can only be locked at a few very specific heights. You would never walk away from one of these hoists with it only sitting on the hydraulics, as hydraulics 'creep' and your lower car will be a cnvertble next time you see it! Add to this another complexity. You need about 40mm of additional height to lift the hoist OUT of it's stop blocks so that you can take all presure off the lever that disactivates the stop locks so that you can lower the hoist. My measurements looked fine, in fact I thought that I had plenty of room, turns out with taking the above into account, I needed an extra 40mm which just isn't there.
Read my post above relating to stop lock heights. If you found a lift that worked for you withing it's lock stop range, then you can take the option to set the legs into the ground a little. Doesn't cost too much to cut 4 square holes in your concrete and then lay some more concrete finishing at the required height below your current slab level. These hoists dont need to be bolted down, just need a decent pad under them. No matter where the legs are at, the hoist will only ever lower untill the legs touch the ground.
this option of cutting DOWN into the concrete was one I never considered. Have you or have you seen this actually done and functioning? any photos?? thanks for taking the time amigo.
Sure, I do a lot of this type of thing when installing machinery into factories. Here's an example as best as I can describe it. Imagine your hoist has a footplate of 250 x 250mm and your slab is 100mm thick. You need to set your legs down 50mm for example. Cut a square hole approx 500 - 600mm in your floor and remove the old concrete. Drill into the side of the cut concrete and drive 12mm reinforcing bar (reo) into your existing slab. This will assist to support your new pad footings and tie them to your existing slab. Excavate soil to the depth to allow 150mm under the foot plates. You can even scratch a bit out so you are undercutting the earth under your existing slab, go back in about 150mm if you can. Create a wooden form thats about 280mm square internal and 50mm high with a flat base in it. Fit two lengths of timber across the top that will rest on your curent floor. This acts as a guide to set the concrete level. Then get some concrete and fill it in. Be really careful and make sure that you get full fill under your current slab and also under your formed box. Sometimes it's a good idea to get lots of concrete in there and then 'shimmy' your box down, compressing the mix which will ooze up the sides anyway. Makes sure that no air voids are left. Screed everything off nice and level to your current floor. Crack the form out after a few hours and there you have it. Four 50mm recessed footplate holes. Curing time ten days till weight of car and hoist goes onto it.
Almost done one side ceiling to go then off to the bike garage.... Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Nice little space you have there! For a working garage, you really need to have room around both sides of the car (which you do). I am about to paint a coating on my floor as well.
Quick shot from inside my garage . . . I keep my toys separate from the family garage given that I have a 4 year old who tends to spring out of our SUV with no regard for door dings. All great cars . . . GTR is my daily driver, ACR for the track, FGT and CGT for fun. Lee Image Unavailable, Please Login
Thanks . . . all very different but all great drives. GTR is a great car and a fantastic daily driver--20,000 miles and never missed a beat. Tanabe exhaust and Cobb tune make all the difference. Lee
Is your gtr a MY10? After the tanabe exhaust and Cobb tune do still get lurching of the gearbox from slow speeds in abrupt changes? Thanks And I love your cars
My GTR is a model year 2011 and the gearbox can still feel a bit agricultural at low speeds under the right conditions. However, I have learned the gearbox idiosyncracies over time and find it to be quite rewarding. Because it is my daily driver, I went with the Tanabe cat back system (including the non-resonated Y-pipe) which gives the car the sound that it should have had when it left the factory (it is still the quietest car in my garage!). And the Cobb tune is really only noticeable when you get on the boost but it is by far the most cost effective HP gain you can make for the GTR (roughly equivalent to a MY2012 and maybe a bit more depending on the tuning map). Lee
My 2010 ACR poised and ready for action at MSRHouston . . . fantastic driver's car. The new Viper will have to be pretty good to match the rawness of the ACR. Mods include Belanger headers, Corsa racing exhaust, Mopar racing PCM, 6 point harnesses, etc. It is a beast. Lee Image Unavailable, Please Login
