Installing a lift in my garage...

[BadBlue98GT]

My wife and I are building a house that will probably be our "forever" home. Because of that, I'm making the garage friendly for my car projects. It's an oversized 3-car garage with 11.5 foot ceilings. The floor is 4.5 inches of 3000 PSI concrete with .5 inch rebar reinforcing, except where the posts for the lift will be. I had the contractor pour 2 x 2 foot pads at least a foot thick.

Questions for those that have experience with lifts:

What brand and model would you recommend and why? I think I've got it narrowed down to the Bendpak XPR-9S or the Danmar D-9X. Both have very similar motors, capacities, and overall heights.

Would you install it yourself or have someone do it? I'm very mechanically inclined, but I don't know if I can handle the weight of the posts and getting them into place.

Any other words of wisdom would be greatly appreciated.

 

[ford fanatic]

Bendpak, just like anything else you get what you pay for.

11.5' may be pushing it for clearance depending on what you want to lift...

I would also look into a high lift garage door track along with a wall mount opener for the bay the lift is going in.

Also check out http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/
Lots of good ideas there especially since you haven't started building yet.

 

[BigFatMatt]

Both of those are very similar to the Triumph NT9 that I've decided on. It's an "off brand" but only costs $1600 or so.

The posts are heavy but most people say it's not too hard to stand them upright. People reviewing the NT9 have "walked" the posts up themselves without help... I'm gonna get my brother to help me with mine though just in case.

You probably have more money to spend than I do, so it might be worth it to you for a professional to do it. I wouldn't half ass anything that can kill you if you do it wrong. I'm doing mine myself, but I'm not taking it lightly.

I'm also going to take the heaviest car I own and use it to "test" the lift before I get underneath it by leaving it on the lift overnight and measuring before / after.

 

[DHG1078]

No input here other than 11.5 ft sounds a little low for ceiling height, especially if you want to park cars under the lift or have a tall truck you want to work on. I would double check that before your contractor starts building.

 

[DHG1078]

Max rise on that bendpak is 72 in. So 72 inches, plus the height of the vehicles you want to lift from the lift points to roof plus a little wiggle room should be your minimum.

11.5ft. ceiling gives a cab height of less than 5.5ft at max lift. Not sure what typical cab height is on a truck.

Take into account if you want any lighting fixtures, garage door openers, etc. above the lift.

 

[TRBO VNM]

My ceiling is 12' and that works well. When I was looking they wanted a minimum of 12'. Anything lower and you will just limit your use. Depending on what is above the garage you might be able to use different trusses to gain more room in that one bay. I know people who have done this and it works well.

As stated above, lower ceiling you need to worry about the garage door opener and light fixtures. I will tell you that my opener is typically above the rear glass on a terminator or mustang basically and I can go all the way up with the garage door open and do not have an issue. At 11.5' I would have an issue and would not be able to go all the way up. I have 9' tall doors. So if you go with a shorter garage door then the location of the opener motor will be different and help you with clearance. Or for that one bay do a motorized roll up door.

My light fixtures are mounted to the ceiling in front and behind the car. The front ones I should have moved a bit because with the hood up it could hit the bulbs. It just depends on if I have the car shifted a little forward or back. I have 8' fixtures. I'd consider doing LED. And I would mount a couple 4 or 1 8' between the bays and one on the wall next to the bay with the lift.

I have a Rotary symmetrical and I have a 4 post. My mind wasn't thinking different when I built mine. I never thought I would have a 2 post. So with the 4 post I only needed 4-inch thick slab and that is all I did. With the Rotary(2-post) they want a minimum of 6-inch slab because it is a 9000# lift. When I explained I typically do 3-4000# vehicles they said that 4-inch would be fine.

Now, I want to get rid of my 4 post and buy another 2 post. I absolutely love the 2 post. Also make sure you go with the 240 volt motor and not the 110. I have 110 on the 4 post and it takes forever compared to my 2 post with a 240v motor.

Next recommendation, while you might be buying new, when you do, buy a few cylinder rebuild kits to have on hand. Luckily most cylinders are standard and have parts readily available, but It was a pain to figure out what cylinders I had and then get the correct parts. Rotary couldn't tell me because they used different cylinders depending on the lifts and even different on the same model lifts.

Lastly, air.....make sure you plan that out. My neighbor did his with the modular kit where they are pushlock, but he put them behind his drywall. I personally don't like that, but mine is a shop. I like having access to it all in case something happens. I used typically sch40 pvc. cheap and easy to assemble or modify. the modular stuff is nice, but not cheap. Plan out where you will have a hose reel or a couple. one mounted to the ceiling? Or maybe just one mounted to the wall? Drop lights with retractable cords from the ceiling so make sure you put outlets in the ceiling if you do that.

Oh yeah, paint the floor. another head scratcher in my initial planning. I figured it was a shop I wasn't going to bother with that. I wish I did, it would have made cleaning up easier and looking nicer.

 

[kirks5oh]

I have a four post bendpak and my 12' ceiling in the part of my shop where I have the lift is pushing it. You need at least 12'. I park a sports car on the lift and have to take the ramps off to store a sports car under the lift. It's tight. But I've had the bendpak for five years without an issue. Had it professionally installed for $700 and most would say I paid too much but it was well worth it. Would have taken me and someone else more time to install it than was worth my time.

As others have stated plan on running air to it and 240 service.

 

[BadBlue98GT]

Well, the house is 2 months from completion so there's no changing the ceiling height. I should have been more clear with that in my original post. All that I will be lifting are my two Mustangs, which are both about 4.5 feet tall. That gives me 7 feet to play with and since the max lift of the one's I'm looking at is 6 feet, I think I'm good height wise. However, after reading some of these posts, I realized I'm going to have to go with a manual garage door versus using an opener. That's actually a good thing because I need to save every penny I can right now!

Thanks for the information everyone! They're about to start insulating followed by sheet rocking so I will take everyone's advice and make sure all the outlets and overhead lighting are where I'll need it while it's still easy to move them around.

I think I'll probably also talk to the contractor about installing it for me.

 

[offroadkarter]

Bendpak is one of the best, they are who I'll be going with when I get room for a lift.


Don't buy anything from Dannmar, EVER. Absolute Chinese crap, a friend of mine has a Maxjax, a lift that was at one time recalled because the lift arms might snap off. It took them half a year to come up with a fix for that one. They also have a very high turn over rate in the customer support department, every time my friend calls its someone new.

 

[Thump_rrr]

No offense but your floor is at minimum code with 3,000psi concrete for what is determined to be a moderate environment (Georgia)according to international residential code. For a severe environment (Pretty much anything above Georgia) 3,500psi is minimum international code.
The American Concrete Institutes recommends a minimum of 4,500psi concrete for a severe environment.
This is assuming everything was done correctly with less than 0.5 water-cement ratio using air entrained concrete with super-plasticizers.

An air entrainment test as well as a slump test of every batch is also important to ensure that you are getting what you specified.

This is an excellent article on concrete garage floors.
http://www.concreteconstruction.net/how-to/construction/better-garage-floors_o

 

[TRBO VNM]

No offense but your floor is at minimum code with 3,000psi concrete for what is determined to be a moderate environment (Georgia)according to international residential code. For a severe environment (Pretty much anything above Georgia) 3,500psi is minimum international code.
The American Concrete Institutes recommends a minimum of 4,500psi concrete for a severe environment.
This is assuming everything was done correctly with less than 0.5 water-cement ratio using air entrained concrete with super-plasticizers.

An air entrainment test as well as a slump test of every batch is also important to ensure that you are getting what you specified.

This is an excellent article on concrete garage floors.
http://www.concreteconstruction.net/how-to/construction/better-garage-floors_o

I agree and any concrete exposed to weather needs to be 4500 psi minimum per ACI. And what is sad is that there isn't much cost difference to go with higher strength but yet these builders do the minimum. And the problem now is it is too late since he mentioned he is ready for insulation.

 

[ashleyroachclip]

We do 6k psi for garage or driveways here in Oregon.

 

[RX1Cobra]

However, after reading some of these posts, I realized I'm going to have to go with a manual garage door versus using an opener. That's actually a good thing because I need to save every penny I can right now!

You can always get a jackshaft opener and it won't be in the way. My parents have one and it's really quiet. Can add it later too if you don't want to spend the money now.

https://www.amazon.com/LiftMaster-3800-Residential-Jackshaft-Garage/dp/B000MT7WV4

 

[CobraBob]

There is a lot of very good info in this thread. It's going to help others going forward who are interested in installing a garage lift.

BadBlue98GT, post a photo here of your setup when it's complete, along with a list of all the equipment/parts/garage work. That, too, will help others in the future who browse through this thread. Just a thought.

 

[Phil'scobra]

There is an thread in Garage journal about flood lights in the floor, I love that idea. If I was building a garage I would do that.

 

[AustinSN]

Before they drywall and insulate, run air!

My folks built a new garage and my dad had a little room built for the air compressor and ran air to 4 different spots. He will have 4 different reels, which is probably overkill but it beats dragging a long ass hose whenever you need to it.

 

[Thump_rrr]

I did 8"x8" porcelain ceramic tile in mine about 12 years ago.
My only regret is my choice of light grey for the grout.
I've done everything you can imagine from welding to differential swaps, suspension and engine building.
It doesn't cost much if you lay it yourself. I paid $0.98 a square foot at the time for the tile itself.

 

[DAVESVT2000]

When I had my 4 post installed, the company I purchased it from offered delivery and installation for $500.
(They were somewhat local to me)

I jumped on that for mny of the reasons listed above. Took two guys about 6 hours to install, as they had done so many over the years.

 

[Malern28us]

My wife and I are building a house that will probably be our "forever" home. Because of that, I'm making the garage friendly for my car projects. It's an oversized 3-car garage with 11.5 foot ceilings. The floor is 4.5 inches of 3000 PSI concrete with .5 inch rebar reinforcing, except where the posts for the lift will be. I had the contractor pour 2 x 2 foot pads at least a foot thick.

I researched everything last year on this same subject.
The best is MOHAWK, hands down. Pricey but the only lift you can resale at close to what you paid for it, American made, and amazing build quality.
Check into them. Don't believe the internet prices. I was quoted $6000 installed last year from a guy in Michigan for the one I was interested in.


Questions for those that have experience with lifts:

What brand and model would you recommend and why? I think I've got it narrowed down to the Bendpak XPR-9S or the Danmar D-9X. Both have very similar motors, capacities, and overall heights.

Would you install it yourself or have someone do it? I'm very mechanically inclined, but I don't know if I can handle the weight of the posts and getting them into place.

Any other words of wisdom would be greatly appreciated.

 

[BadBlue98GT]

No offense but your floor is at minimum code with 3,000psi concrete for what is determined to be a moderate environment (Georgia)according to international residential code. For a severe environment (Pretty much anything above Georgia) 3,500psi is minimum international code.
The American Concrete Institutes recommends a minimum of 4,500psi concrete for a severe environment.
This is assuming everything was done correctly with less than 0.5 water-cement ratio using air entrained concrete with super-plasticizers.

An air entrainment test as well as a slump test of every batch is also important to ensure that you are getting what you specified.

This is an excellent article on concrete garage floors.
http://www.concreteconstruction.net/how-to/construction/better-garage-floors_o

I agree and any concrete exposed to weather needs to be 4500 psi minimum per ACI. And what is sad is that there isn't much cost difference to go with higher strength but yet these builders do the minimum. And the problem now is it is too late since he mentioned he is ready for insulation.

We do 6k psi for garage or driveways here in Oregon.

Well, if it cracks and the car falls on me, I probably won't know about it anyway and my wife will be a rich lady!

In all seriousness, the installation instructions for both lifts specify 3000 PSI at 4 or 6 inches to support a maximum lift capacity of 9,000 pounds. My Cobra Convertible doesn't even weigh half that much and my GT is a stripped down to bare bones drag car that weighs less than 3,200 pounds. I've got 2 x 2 foot piers over a foot thick with rebar in them continuously poured (no cold joints) in a 4.5 inch floor so there would be a lawsuit opportunity if anything were to happen. However, I'm not discounting anything you all are saying and I appreciate the words of wisdom.