My Mohawk Lift | FerrariChat

My Mohawk Lift

Discussion in 'Technical Q&A' started by EastMemphis, Nov 28, 2020.

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  1. EastMemphis

    EastMemphis Formula 3
    Owner Silver Subscribed

    May 25, 2019
    1,717
    Memphis, TN
    Full Name:
    John
    I bought a Mohawk mostly because it's maintenance free and doesn't use cables under tension in any way. It's fully hydraulic. The System 1A-10 has a capacity of 10,000 lbs. and a stroke of a six feet. It fits under the ten foot ceiling of my garage and has a three and a half inch height for the arm pads. The arm pad fits comfortably under my 360 Spider with a hockey puck.

    The lift arrived on an 18 wheeler and required a forklift (I had to rent one) to remove from the truck and move to the garage. The install went pretty smooth and as expected. I learned some valuable lessons about drilling concrete and flaring stainless tubing. On a DIY scale from 1-10, I'd rate it a pretty close 8. Lots of potential danger from heavy things crushing bones and wrecking parts of the garage. Luckily, hardly any blood spilled.

    Here's the 2,500 lb. package on the way to the garage:

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    Raising one of the 1,000 lb. pillars:

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    The finished lift with my car near the top of stroke. It's at the perfect height where I can walk under it without bending and not hit my head on anything except the arms. They're yellow and obvious so I should make contact with them regularly.

    The lift is positioned in the middle of the garage, which is 26' long by 24' wide. That gives about eight feet in front of the car and six behind it. Plenty of room for tools and equipment. When parking normally, the lift is about even with the front tires so completely out of the way.

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    I can raise the 360 all the way to top of stroke and still be short of the ceiling by about an inch and a half.

    The pads are very low profile and fit nicely under the car. I stacked a hockey puck on the pad to protect the car.

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    They don't list the cost of their products on the Mohawk website (https://mohawklifts.com/automotive-lifts/2-post-lifts/system1/) for a reason. The first time I heard the price, I nearly laughed out loud. Then I did a lot of research on competing systems that matched my requirements and Mohawk became worth the price. It's an impressive piece of equipment that's way more massive than anything else I looked at.

    I ordered my lift in August and it was delivered in November. Total price including a rotary hammer, bits, forklift rental, flare tool and other things was about $10k.
     
    Redneck Slim, MK1044 and jimshadow like this.
  2. JCR

    JCR F1 Veteran
    Silver Subscribed

    Mar 14, 2005
    9,991
    H-Town, Tejas
    The "Cadillac" of lifts.
     
    EastMemphis likes this.
  3. 74dino246gts

    74dino246gts Karting

    Aug 6, 2004
    126
    Northern California
    Without question, the best shop purchase I’ve made. I spaced my towers 11ft apart, and I am happy I did.
     
  4. EastMemphis

    EastMemphis Formula 3
    Owner Silver Subscribed

    May 25, 2019
    1,717
    Memphis, TN
    Full Name:
    John
    I went with the standard 10 feet. I could have gone a bit more but it looks fine at the standard width.
     
  5. Schumi

    Schumi Formula Junior
    Owner Silver Subscribed

    Jun 5, 2002
    827
    Missouri
    Full Name:
    Daren
    How thick was your concrete where you drilled for the columns?
     
  6. EastMemphis

    EastMemphis Formula 3
    Owner Silver Subscribed

    May 25, 2019
    1,717
    Memphis, TN
    Full Name:
    John
    I built the garage with the knowledge I'd be installing a lift so I designed the floor so the concrete under the columns would be at least six and up to eight inches thick. All that's needed is about five inches so the floor was overbuilt. In addition, I placed 1/2" rebar as suggested in the design documents from Mohawk. That led to hitting the rebar while drilling one of the holes. This proves the old adage that the best metal detector for finding rebar is a drill. Luckily, I had purchased a special 3/4" SDS+ bit that was made for cutting rebar so it was only a hiccup.
     
    Pawilly likes this.
  7. Flyingbrick242

    Flyingbrick242 Formula Junior
    Silver Subscribed

    Feb 26, 2017
    603
    Northern AZ.
    Smart purchase...!! I had a Mohawk lift when I lived in upstate NY...most likely to be the best of the best....today I have a 10K two post Forward lift which has served me well for many years..Without a doubt the best tool in the workshop.
    Congratulation...Enjoy.!!
     
  8. versamil

    versamil Formula 3
    Rossa Subscribed

    Apr 28, 2013
    1,147
    Gaston, Oregon
    Full Name:
    Brian Healy
    Some people might think that a lift like this is overpriced, but the fact is at ten grand, you're into the lift at four bucks a pound. I manufacture machine tools, and I pay two dollars a pound for my steel, and four dollars a pound for my castings. So Mohawk has a pretty sharp pencil to make money on these. I bought one twenty five years ago, used it for several years in my Ferrari repair shop and it's back in use. By far, the most robust lift made. I have three Challenger storage lifts, and they're toys in comparison..
     
    JCR and EastMemphis like this.
  9. vincep99

    vincep99 Formula 3
    Owner Silver Subscribed

    Jun 8, 2009
    1,929
    Great move!

    I got my lift ~ 15 years ago, I can't remember life without a lift
     
  10. NbyNW

    NbyNW F1 Rookie
    Silver Subscribed

    My A-7 is close to 10 years old. Works great... just not using it as much lately.
     
    EastMemphis likes this.
  11. 2dinos

    2dinos F1 Rookie

    Jan 13, 2007
    2,772
    I installed a single column ACL parking lift. It's manufactured in Texas, and has an American hydraulic pump and ram. I've been fairly happy with it for the past ~15 years. I have a friend with a Mohawk service lift he bought many years before me, and it's indeed very nice!

    I recall renting the forklift to get it of the truck. Fun stuff. Crazy how heavy that column alone is! I had four strong friends and a winch help make it vertical.
     
    EastMemphis likes this.
  12. NbyNW

    NbyNW F1 Rookie
    Silver Subscribed

    Looking at your yellow lift arms - did you get an optional arm that has the drop for lower cars? Mine has the yellow arms that are straight and not low enough to easily fit under. I have a routine I have to go thru that’s a pain. Looking on their website and nothing obvious.
     
  13. J-P

    J-P Formula Junior
    Silver Subscribed

    Nov 15, 2007
    331
    Best part is that it is made in the good old US of A.

    Great choice.
     
  14. EastMemphis

    EastMemphis Formula 3
    Owner Silver Subscribed

    May 25, 2019
    1,717
    Memphis, TN
    Full Name:
    John
    I see on the Mohawk site that the A7 appears to have straight arms vs. the System 1 which has the stepped arms.
     
    NbyNW likes this.
  15. NbyNW

    NbyNW F1 Rookie
    Silver Subscribed

    No easy drop arm conversion for the A7. The A7 is mounted at an angle with one set of arms shorter, so adding the drop arm would add too much length and due to the swing angle might not hit the car jack point.
    I could add them to the longer set of arms but not sure if that would help.
     
  16. 26street

    26street Formula Junior

    Jan 30, 2021
    343
    Westchester New York
    Full Name:
    Mark k
    Top Quality lift my friend who owns a shop has 2 and he has no problem lifting anything I seen a 3/4 ton pick up once with a full load of stuff in the bed on the lift and it was like nothing for it
    Plus like the 2 post better then a drive on this way you can unload the suspension on the car when stored



    Sent from my iPhone using FerrariChat.com mobile app
     
  17. don.advantagelifts

    May 17, 2021
    32
    Full Name:
    Advantage Lifts
    Try Backyard Buddy lifts, they are 100% made in USA, American made & American Strong. Check out our premium lifts made in USA before making any decision.
     
  18. EastMemphis

    EastMemphis Formula 3
    Owner Silver Subscribed

    May 25, 2019
    1,717
    Memphis, TN
    Full Name:
    John
    I'm afraid your BBL lifts look like toys compared to a Mohawk.
     

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