Thought I'd share my thoughts and get Forum advice after a few months of car-lift research. I have a 10'-4" ceiling in my garage, so can almost go full height with my Vette on most affordable lifts.
- Nixed the 4-post lifts, they take up too much space.
- Nixed the 2-post lifts as my concrete is only 5" thick (not enough IMHO).
- Would like more lift than 24", so no QuickJack or such (would like to do more than oil changes, install an exhaust, etc).
- Retirement budget restraints put me at a $6K or so max, plus accessories.
- Scissor lifts seem to fit the bill quite nicely...

We have 3 cars and I am tired of crawling under them, so narrowed my search to mid or full-rise scissor lifts. AMGO LIFTS has a warehouse 20 minutes away in Manning SC, so I could p/u myself and use a hoist to unload. AMGO also just came out with a new low-profile mid-rise, their MRL09; 9K lifting weight, 48" lifting height, Safety locks are hydraulic (not pneumatic, so no air lines), and Stepped approach-ramps are built-in, perfect for Corvettes.

BUT: No online or YouTube reviews yet... AND for just $800 more I could go with their full-height XL-7 but would need approach ramps ($600 or DIY). Both of these models take up about the same amount of space, and though I'd love to stand under my car I would not do that very often. So what says the Forum about these two AMGO lifts? Thanks as always!

 

Why not just reinforce the concrete at the spot where you're putting the lift and get a 2 post?

Do it once, do it right, IMO.

 

I don't need a full-height lift and this AMGO 48" sounds about twice as good as 24", and when I park on it every day it takes up less room. I'm basically seeing what you guys think of this new mid-rise concept from AMGO, as it seems perfectly built for a Vette

 

I put a full size two post lift in my garage and when they installed it, they told me the concrete has to be at least 4" thick. Mine happens to be 6", but before we knew that the discussion was that 4" would be fine. Also, in my garage at least, I can raise my C5 all the way up. That's not true about a SUV or something along those lines as the rear will hit the ceiling. But the C5 goes high enough for me to walk standing straight up under the car with no problem. By the way, this picture is old enough that it shows my garage before I finished the ceiling. It looks a lot better now..

Depending on what you want to do, having it all the way up can be very beneficial. I put a .373 rear end in mine and it wasn't a big deal at all.

 

What lift is that? I was wondering if a C5 could drive over one of those.

 

Atlas, but I don't remember the exact model number. If you need to know, I can get it off the lift tomorrow if you want. And yes, my car drives over the hump with no problem. If yours is lowered a lot, it may not. I'm not really sure.

 

Might want to consider the Max Jax. I thought about one of these but in the end I got a Quck Jack instead because of cost and space in my garage. FWIW there are many folks in this forum that have done TT, Trans and Diff R&Rs with the QJ. It's great for brakes and suspension work. Those scissor lifts you mentioned appear to have platforms that may be a tad intrusive.

 

I have a QJ and regret not getting one sooner. I have a run-of-the-mill attached 2 car garage and the QJ stores nicely out of the way against the wall.

QJ is portable, runs on 110V wall outlet and you don't have to worry about floor space to store the legs/power unit like with the MaxJax

 

I have 4" reinforced concrete floors. Had them in my previous garage. I have a 2 post, 9,000lb lift, and also had it in the previous garage. 5" concrete is overkill. If thats what you want, go for it. My concrete has never cracked anywhere, even in Michigan Winters. I also had a treated lumber grease pit in the first garage, and I and also have one in my current garage. This allows you to lift trucks only 4 feet or thereabouts because you can start out 3 feet below the garage floor. Pit measures 14ft long×30" wide×3 feet deep. People said that would weaken the concrete. Nonsense, never even a crack. The MOST important thing you want to do is pour the concrete over UNDISTURBED gound. Sure, you or the cement contractor can smooth and level it first, just dont backfill it and pour over it. Some will say its OK. My first polebarn we did that, and used the vibrating pads to settle it. Done in October. That was the only 5" thick concrete floor I ever had done, and by Spring it settled, shifted, and had cracks everywhere!! Like everything, preparation is key. ALSO-DO NOT use the fiber reinforced concrete. Use only metal/re-rod. My .02.......

 

I checked it this morning. It's an Atlas model # BP8000, which makes it an 8,000 lb capacity lift. I use it quite a bit because I run a part-time service shop through my garage.

 

IMO, you go with something like a QJ or a scissor lift you can stand under. Anything in between is not worth it. To me lifting 24" of the QJ is the same as 47" of the MRL09...it's "all or nothing" to me.

You need to justify how many times you need to stand under a car for something. Also consider the accessories you need. With the QJ, you can use a Harbor Freight trans jack. If you lift 47", then that jack will be too short. Maybe they make stuff for a "mid height" car lift. If you get a full height lift, then things like hydraulic trans jacks/stationary tripod jackstands etc are plentiful.

To be honest, sometimes doing something as simply as an oil change you take more time setting up q QJ than it takes to do the job. However, if you are doing a brake job, suspension work or anything that may take more than an hour to do....the QJ is real nice.

 

VERY TRUE! I often make the statement " Nothing quick about the Quick Jack". LOL! For this reason I usually have it "semi stagged" to make the process a bit easier.

 

Fantastic. Do you know your ceiling height?

Using the online visualizer for our homebuilder, I think this is the way I will go eventually.



I used the dimensions of the lift from the atlas website. The big wide rectangle at the bottom is the 4' extension to the garage our house will have (can't make that happen in the online visualizer), and the cars has the C5 at the left and the wife's Caprice PPV at the right in the 3rd door, but it could obviously go in either. Hmmmmmmm.... and I can still walk all the way around it.

You've helped a ton!

 

Stingroo, rather than tie up someone else's post, I sent you a PM.

However, if anyone (including the OP) wants detailed pics of my setup let me know by PM.

 

I need a set of QJ's. I just keep spending money on Car mods and doing it the hard way. May need to change my priorities.

 

I don't know anything about those scissor lifts you posted, however I feel the MaxJax would be better than those. Free up the sides more and I've seen plenty of people using them and all good reviews. Just not cheap as they went up substantially after Covid, like everything else. If you decide on those scissors, post up reviews and be the first. I second QJ's, comes in so handy for all vehicles and everything I need to do.

 

@Stingroo I figure this is good info for the OP and others. That is called a baseplate, symmetrical two post lift. I have one in my garage. If you have 10ft ceilings, one of these should work. Most likely a non lowered C5 will drive over it with no issues. Ive driven over mine many times. I did make up some wooden ramps so the lift arms could swing under the car. Ill try and post some pics........

 

Ramps I built, with hole in concrete floor for stopping each ramp from skidding as you drive up. Note hole drilled in ramps for storing stop bolt when ramps aren't being used.....

 

Phone is whacked right now!! Sorry! Let's try this again.....

 

Here it is for the 3rd try......

Note grease pit between ramps......