RocketDawg

Yeah, a lift is a bit of an overkill if all you're going to do is oil changes. But ... if you have spare money laying around, and just want one, why not?

Are these things, the lifts, safe to get under? They just seem sorta unbalanced to me.

CSixDude

Beware of any lifts made in China. Harbor Freight sells a motorcycle jack from China and they use cheap grade hardware to bolt it together. I've heard of bolts breaking on them and causing the lift to fail under load and causing extensive damage to whatever vehicle they had on them.

I'd assume the same probably holds true for Chinese made car lifts. They may work ok IF you replace ALL the bolts with good quality grade 8 hardware. I have a Sears motorcycle lift that was made in China and the first thing I did was order all new bolts for it. It has worked fine since.

Not So Fast

When we installed my headers it was on a brand new Rotary 2 post asymmetrical lift, I wish I had photos of it, my car was sitting 2/3rds behind the posts, looked so edgy but it was the only way we could get it lined up with the lift points. We did have the stability jacks that we put at the back for safety but I was nervous as hell. It seemed stable thou


I hear you loud and clear, unfortunately I think the Bendpac product is made in China also, could be wrong thou. Don't think I'll chance it with the HF lift.
Thanks
NSF

HOXXOH

My plan is to have tables to support the front and rear cradle, then I can lower the lift and put jackstands under the normal jack points and then raise the lift with the car on the jackstands. That'd allow me to raise or lower the car to whatever was the comfortable height to work on wheels or any other components that require all 4 wheels to be off the ground.

The lift I mentioned includes a cross beam jacking tray in the event I need to use a bottle jack to raise any portion individually.

windyC6

This is exactly why I try to never purchase anything from Harbor Freight that may put safety at risk. At times though they are the only game in town as far as having certain items. If I do resort to buying a Harbor tool then I am very careful on keeping an eye on it for signs of it falling apart...LOL.....

ben z

I have low garage clearance also, but what I realized fortunately before I had spend a grand or two on a lift, is that if I can't stand up under the car, I have to lay down, and if I have to lay down, the most clearance I need is arm-length while lying on a creeper. A set of ramps and/or a floor jack and 4 stands, while slower to set up, would get me there for far less money. My main use is maintenance, I've got a warranty for the next 5 years that would take care of any major repairs.

Not So Fast

The Bendpak scissor lift will raise the car between 48-53" at max so that would be enough to sit on my mechanics roll around chair, and that would be perfect.
I've done the jack stand deal like you said and it just isn't enough room to do hardly anything, plus getting up and down off a creeper at my age is very difficult.
Is it worth the money as some have said still having that battle with myself, $2000 is a lot to me
NSF

windyC6

I know this is right. Getting down on said creeper or just the ground isn't too hard yet. It's the getting back up or off thats a killer....

CI GS

I have the MaxJax and love it. I also needed a mid-height lift because of ceiling height constraints. I had to figure out the dimensions for positions the lift posts that worked best for the Vette, but after that was done, it was a straightforward install. I can use it without any ramps, and it barely gets under the jacking pucks. I've used it to lift the car to put it on race ramp 12" wheel blocks, if I need to work on it with the suspension loaded.
Or sometimes I put it on the first level to work on it using a creeper. In that position, you can easily get under the car and work on things like the exhaust, etc. whilst lying on your back. I've used this setting when I I'd my cam change and it's the perfect position for that, because it allowed me to get under the car to work on the rack, etc. whilst keeping the car at the perfect height for me to work on the front of the engine by standing and leaning over the car. Or, with the lift all the way at the top, I can use some adjustable height creeper seats that in their lowest position allows me to roll under the car with my head just about touching the bottom of the car (I actually have to lean back in the chair a bit to keep from banging my head). I've used this setting to remove the rear cradle, transmission and differential to swap my converter and diff. as well as change transmission oil, trans pan, etc.
I'm very happy with my MaxJax lift, which fits perfectly in my garage. As you can see in one of the photos, with it in the lower setting, the hood barley clears the ceiling with 1/2" or so to spare. It's like it was custom made for me.
I also like that it can be unbolted and rolled away, although I've never bothered to do that. If necessary, I just lift the pins out of the arms and remove those for storage.
Here's a few pics:

CI GS

Forgot to say that I also looked at the scissors-type jacks, but for me that made no sense, simply because it gets in the way of working on most things under the car.

ben z

Wow, wish I had your garage configuration. Mine is a 2-car but with individual doorways separated by about 2 ft. About a foot of clearance against the side wall, and no way to drive anything longer than a Fiat 500 in on an angle.

Brandon619

I really like this set up, you can get a good height to remove transmission and diff for clutch jobs.

Not So Fast

I've got the space but not the headroom darn it