MaxJax installed...TR lifted...let the major service begin!

After buying the MaxJax as a birthday present to myself back in October, I FINALLY finished the install!

It wasn't difficult, just very time consuming. I'd say I have about 20 hours of work into the install. Assembling the lift was pretty straightforward...just make sure that all of your hydraulic connectors are super tight...I had to take a couple pieces apart again due to small leaks.

Marking, Drilling, hammering in, and setting the anchors took the most time. A friend who works in maintenance at a hospital had a concrete rebar scanner that looked and worked like a large studfinder...highly recommended especially if you have a post tension slab like mine. Drilling rebar will ruin those.

Mapping out the anchor positions was challenging...you'd mark out all five anchors on one side, then three on the other side...then find rebar blocking the fourth and have to start all over! That alone took over an hour.

My friend also borrowed a great Hilti hammer drill and brand new 7/8 bit from work...that part was easy but dusty. My concrete was 6" thick and I drilled the required 5.5". Setting the anchors took a LOT of muscle and the cheap-o washer Wej-it supplied for the sacrificial nut just shredded after the first anchor. Went to my local hardware store and got a Grade 8 washer which worked awesome.

I had to set up the lift somewhat narrow because my third garage bay is narrow and it also will service my '66 911, '76 930, and V70R. All cars *just* fit under the door opener with the lift all the way up. I have 9' ceilings. The TR is on it now for the major service!
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The 911 pics are from last night when I did a valve adjustment...having the lift saved time, not to mention my back from not having to constantly bend over and contort.

 

good luck by doing your TR major service

if you would have some problems just ask, we also ask sometimes because don´t know everything

 

You will love the lift. Best tool(s) I have ever owned. I have three lifts, just ordered a new Bendpak 2 post to upgrade my 40 year old 2 post. This should arrive next week BendPak XPR-10A Two Post Lift, 10,000 Lb. Capacity, Asymmetric, Clearfloor Sold my old lift on Saturday to the first Craigslist caller, who unknowingly turned out to be the father of a friend of mine. It's a small world sometimes.

 

I wonder if you shouldn't tape a piece of foam or something soft to the bottom of the garage door opener. Just in case? Good thing you have 9' ceilings, that extra foot will make a lot of difference. Good luck on the engine out!

 

The lift maxes out before it touches, so it should be OK.

 

Good.

 

I just installed mine a couple of days ago. Haven't used it yet because it's been so damn cold.

 

Very Nice! I have a scissor type lift currently in my 2 car garage. It's really nice other than the ramps getting in the way of the areas between the front and rear wheels. I'm entertaining the idea of upgrading to a MaxJax, but have wondered if I have width enough. From your pics, it looks like It might work. Could you tell me the width between your posts? Thanks!

 

You mean like this? I was thinking about getting one of these
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Which sciccor lift do you use Eddy ? (Link please) ...

Me too ...

 

I thought that max jacks had a certain mandated set back from any expansion joints or breaks in the concrete?

 

The "expansion joint" you see on the driver's side is not a break in the concrete or an expansion joint...it is a solid piece with just a shallow crevice. As you can see in the factory demo, they positioned both sides of their lift on a similar crevice:

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QSUAXQOoXuY]MaxJax Car Lift - YouTube[/ame]

 

The shallow crevice is a control joint so that when the slab cracks (and they all crack) it cracks in a controlled manner at that location. That's why they put them there. With out those you just get random cracks wherever the stress is highest and the slab is weakest.

Obviously it's your garage and you're going to do what you want, but I would recommend that you keep a very close eye on it. At least with the MaxJax you can easily roll it out of the way and inspect the concrete under it from time to time. You could also spend ~$2K and have that section chipped up and re-poured properly so that you have a continuous slab between the two posts and never have to worry about it again. Mohawk Lifts has some good concrete details in their literature if you decide to go that way. Very much overkill from a design standpoint, but I like overkill when I'm sitting under a car.

 

Looks great. How high off the ground is the car when it's at the top? Can you work on the car without stooping? If so, how tall are you?

--- Rob

 

My anchors are not actually in the control joint...they are two inches away from them similar to what you see in the MaxJax demo video. These anchors expand at 4" down the 5" holes I drilled. mark, so well below the control joint. Below is a pic of the anchors.

My slab (6" thick post tension, we scanned for rebar and did not drill through any) is only 10 years old, so there are no major cracks yet. When cracks form in these control joints, do they typically go all the way through the slab or are the just surface/superficial?

I will definitely inspect for cracks every time I mount the lift posts.
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There is about 3.5 to 4 feet of working space under the car at max height. Here are the specs: Specifications - MaxJax Lifting System by Dannmar

I am 5'10" and I can either kneel or squat for short jobs, or use a shop stool like this for longer jobs.
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Your thickness is good. The potential issue is that the control joint will likely crack most of the way through. As such, you should in theory have the anchors as far from that joint as you would from a free edge (per whatever guideline the manufacturer of the anchor provides).

Check out page 17 here to get a better idea of anchor failure modes and how proximity to joints or edges can impact those failures.

http://www.toggler.com/wejit/images/product_doc/t__719_techmanual.pdf

I would look up the exact specs for the anchors used/provided and go by that. I'd trust the anchor manufacturers specs over any info (or lack there of) provided by the lift OEM.

I went through all these same issues when I did my lift install. In the end my slab wasn't quite thick enough for comfort so I ended up splurging for additional concrete work.

 

Felt like my slab was a little thin for my new Bendpak two post lift. We attacked the floor today to prep for it's install. Cut a 4'x15.5' rectangle in the existing slab (3.5-4" thick). New depth will be 8+" thick and we augured two holes under the post locations. Holes are 16" diameter and 4' deep. All reinforced with rebar. Pour tomorrow morning with 3500# concrete. Let cure for the next 10 days while I attend the 24 hr. of Daytona. Then install new lift when I return!
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The cost for 5000 PSI mix will be nominal, don't skimp. I'd do fiber mesh as well..

 

Yes we are getting fiber. 3500 is what we use in all of our new construction oilfield buildings which see much heavier equipment than this, I think it will be ok. I do appreciate the input!

 

Yes, it will be fine. My point is, the concrete cost is insignificant to the project such as the labor. To use 5000 PSI, I'd guess it will cost $100 more. Food for thought.

 

Already ordered yesterday, be here in 15 minutes. I understand your point. We just always buy 3500, we build office warehouses for a living, and that's what we use. Never even thought to order anything else-LOL!

 

While your digging, how about a deep pit also.


Ago

 

Don't really need a pit, as this will be the 3rd lift in my shop.