A few of us guys who track our cars have been talking about renting out space for a lift because we are always working on them. Personally, I am tired of jacking up the car even just to put on the race tires before the event

But it looks renting space for a lift is gonna get expensive and it may not work out.

In the past I have been looking at MID-RISE Lifts. There seems to be lots of them out there, but NORCO seems to be the most popular followed by BENDPAK. I've run into some other obvious poor-looking clones with crappy warranties but then I ran into this one. The 1st impressive feature is the whopping 3 3/8 min height which really (the others have a 4.75 height) although I will still probably need boards to park over it - no biggy.

While the NORCO is still is a consideration, this one is now in the race. Whadaya guys think?

http://www.challengerlifts.com/pdf/C...ure_Master.pdf

BTW, in case you havent noticed, the most important feature about this lift is its RED

 

Nice looking RED lift
I didn't see a price

 

Now that's pretty nifty. I agree on the red and that would be the deciding factor for me.

The only thing for me is I wouldn't have anyplace to put it!

 

The MID range lifts range anywhere from $1189 to $2000, depending on whether you want a 37" or a 48" lift. A Forum meber had a NORCO that I saw 2 years ago and it was sweeet. We got my car on his lift with no problems. He had the 86002 model, (48 max height) and used a stool to roll around whenver he needed to work under the car. It uses electric or air to power it


I'm still waiting on a price for this challenger unit but I dont anticipate its going to be more than the NORCO which I can get for $1700. BTW, if ya like BLUE, BENDPAK has one and you can get it for $1410 shipped.

IMO, these lifts are perfect for the home user dont have high ceilings for post lifts. Also, these lifts dont bolt into the ground and are portable. Only drawback is you wont be able to remove drivetrain components but I'll never be doing anything like that is this lifetime anyway.

 

Interesting lift. Since I can't put in a full size lift in my garage (steel beam prevents that), this may be a good alternative.

 

Damn nice option!

 

Very nice, looks like a handy accessory!

 

MAN!!!! Would that make working on the car for detailing, wheels, etc. easy! I wonder if you could store it under the car full time?

Very very cool!!!

Only problem is that the minimum height with the pads is about 5.5" - how would a lowered Vette fit over that?

 

 

I like it. Let us know when you get a price.

 

I've also been considering some kind of lift. I'm getting tired of the dragging the floor jack around and doing one wheel at a time!!!

Looks like something I might look at!!

 

Yes, the car can park right over it. The min height can vary with some of these. I've seen one claim to have a min height of 3 3/8 inches and in fact, I am meeting with that rep tomorrow to discuss this particular lift in this thread. Here is the link again

http://www.challengerlifts.com/pdf/C...ure_Master.pdf


As you can see with the lift not in action, a car could park over it.

About 2 years ago I visited a CF members house with a NORCO 86002, a similar lift to the one in this thread, and another model I am interested in. This is how he did it.

He used TWO 12 ft x 2 FT x 2" boards on each side of the lift. He anchored the boards in placed (He anchored them only because he was tired of always moving them). He then used your typical self-made wooden ramps infront of the boards to get the car onto the boards. The boards would be a lifting point as well as a parking point. Real simple. We got my car on the lift with ease and my car is lowerd an inch.


The only drawback is if you parking the vette over the lift, whenever you take the the car out, you just had to back out slowly because of the ramps.

In my case i have an easier solution, I have a 2 car garage and I'll just park my lexus of over the lift since the Lexus wll have NO clerance issues

Let me tell you something, aftre seeing this thing in action, this is a cool friggin lift.

 

The NORCO 86002 can be bought for $1700-$1900.

I've seen the BENDPAKS (which come in BLUE and is pretty much the same thing) ) as cheap as $1410 delieverd!! Just Google BENDPAK MID RISE LIFT

I'll find out what the CHALLENGER Costs tomorrow. I meet with the rep at 11am

 

I'm afraid of drilling into My concrete floor CEMENT and hitting something. A 2 post lift requires you to what you doing when anchoring the posts. And if you can only get the car up 4-5 feet in the air anyways because of ceiling clearance (My ceiling is 9 feet), the mid-rise lift is a solution. Again, only drawback is serious drivetrain work is not doable.

 

That is the killer for me. I have decided to install a 2 post lift inside the garage, and a 4 poster outside. (Once I win that pesky lottery).

Here is the pros/cons I see for lifts:

Kwik lift:
Not high enough for drivetrain work
You still have to jack the car up for wheel/tire work
Price
Better than floor jack and jack stands

NORCO lift:
No access to tunnel plate, tranny, or exhaust
Stores out of the way easily
No permanent installation

2 Post lift:
Awesome clearance
Requires adequate concrete support
Basically Permanent

4 Post Lift
Portable (with wheels)
Again, must use bottle jact to get wheels/tires off
Ramps are so freakin wide, so ALL cars can fit on it
You can park under it

There are many more, but these are the high points.

 

I agree with your kwik-lift cons and to be honest, I dont understand why one would pay the money for that style and then you still have to jack up the car?

You can actually work on the exhaust on a NORCO with the height adapters. But you are right about the tunnel plate and as I mentioned, drivetrain components. Not a problem for me though as I have no business messing around with that stuff.

As often as I am changing out street and track wheels and the fact that I want to move to an all out track pad before the roadcourse events, this lift is a no brainer for me.

 

I just came back from meeting with REP on the challenger model. The cost was $2369 but he said he could get it to me for $2214 (delivered). He was a real nice guy, very informative. The problem is the rep was through a local auto parts company who puchases the lift through a company who purchases the lift through a distributor who then purchases it from the CHALLENGER manufcaturer. Too many middlemen here.

I can purchase the NORCO 86002 Model, which is really the one I have wanted all along, directly from a local distributor who said he woudk sell it to me. I spoke with the NORCO rep from this distributor lives close by to me. Whats very conveneient is the NORCO rep has delivered them before so he's going to get it into the gargae for me. Otherwise I would need a forklift because it weighs 1000 lbs. I like the fact that the local NORCO rep is really working with me on this its total cost is $1849 and that includes putting it in my garage. I've yet to see aNORCO 86002 less than $2K and the prices seem to be going up. So I'm going to double check the garage dimensions this weekend so that I can get the larger 86002 model and order it on Monday. It mght be here befoe my next roadcourse event, which is April 15th. I cant wait for this` badboy!

Here is the LINK to NORCO Industries and the 2 models.

http://www.norcoindustries.com/portlift.htm

 

Guys
I have a kwiklift and love it.
I think you guys are trashin' a product that you dont know anything about !!!!

I have dropped several transmissions and have done a couple of engine pulls as well.
It has much more height than what you guys are thinking.

I also have a 4 post, and i prefer to do the work on the kwiklift verses the 4 poster.

Why would I pay the money for it ???
Lots of good reasons- portable, mobile, adjustable, etc .....

Look around the forum here. MANY Many guys will love their kwiklift.

 

No, not at all really. No trash-attempting here. I thought about a kwik-lift awhile back but dismissed it because one still has to jack up the car and I couldnt see any real benefit to it. But now that you mention you do tranny work, then that would definitley be a benefit. So I guess it all depends on what you are using your lift for. There seem to be drawbacks to every lift no matter what it is.