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Hi all, keep looking at a number of these as I'm a codger and wriggling under the car getting increasingly hard and getting up again even worse! Budget and space doesn't allow a super garage style lift.

Anyone had experience with any. 

Regards  John Mellor

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Much depends on the depth of pockets. 

I have a pair of CJ Autos hydraulic ramps found on eBay - they are pretty helpful. I was actually looking for one of their tilting lifts but never found one I could afford! I think all TR’s are under 1.5 tonnes, so the cheapest version (of the tilter) would do.

.......Andy 

Edited by AndyR100
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Hi John,

I am fortunate enough to have an old 2 post lift. It makes working on the car easy, but unfortunately I still have to grovel on hands and knees to position the arms under the cars.  In the other garage I have a drive over hydraulic lift that lifts to about 3 feet, and then tilts each way as required, problem again with that is you have to get down to position the arms, and the lift itself blocks access to large parts of the underside of the car, so no good for doing things like exhausts.

A friend has a pair of hydraulic drive on ramps, you just position them under the front or back, drive onto them like you would a normal pair of ramps, but then you can use the hydraulics and lift to about 2 feet. If you have some big axle stands you can then let the car down onto those and remove the ramps to work on the wheels, brakes etc.

My ideal, if I had the space would be a 4 poster like I used to use when I worked in a garage. Drive on and lift the car up, then there were 2  beams running front to back that could be locked into place to support the vehicle while the main ramps were lowered to leave the wheels free. You could get the car at a nice working height and take all wheels off and use the main ramp as a workbench. Bliss.

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I got a 2 post lift from Liftech. Designed for normal height garage it has a 1.4m lift. Very pleased with it. About £1000 plus delivery.

Alan.

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I took the "most compact to store" option, because I no longer have a garage  ..and not least because the budget . . .

P1380569s.jpg

I investing in a good quality trolley jack, of low profile but still with 425mm of lift, that when placed under the front cross beam.. lifts the front of the car high enough (in one shot) to sit the wheels on car ramps.   That 12" higher makes a load of difference to bending and reaching in to work inside the car or under the car.   When removing a wheel I use a jack stand under that corner, leaving the rest of the car sitting securely on the ramps.

Pete

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3 hours ago, Jase said:

I'm thinking about a scissor lift:

 

https://strongmanlifts.co.uk/product/tamar/

 

Although looks like they are having problems importing these at the moment

The Tamar model offered here has the familiar problem that all single cylinder lifts have. Invariably they are positioned in between the ramps and the steel work and junk makes one end of the car difficult to work on without turning the car around. Their Clifton model has individual hyd cylinders under each ramp so you get a 820mm clear space between the ramps down the length of the car with the wheels hanging loose at each corner. Because the TRs are narrow I work off moveable crossbearers across the ramps which still allows the full access. I bought my Clifton lift used for £500 off e bay from Strongman but without the hydraulic controller, a generic model cost another £250 then I sunk it in the floor.1389755695_Scissorlift.thumb.JPG.fc52d20fe95018917b9b7058c7f2a9de.JPG

There are loads of threads with many posts if you use our search box and review all alternatives offered, alternatively search on Google under " TR Register Forum Car Lifts" and it will give many hits to review, make sure you " at the beginning and end of the search title.   

Mick Richards

Edited by Motorsport Mickey
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John

you are a bit far away but I have a CJ lift if anyone want to borrow it !!

great for projects where it up for a week or 2

I’ve just bought a halford trolley jack for quicker jobs and wheel changes (which I seem to do a lot !!)

https://www.halfords.com/tools/garage-workshop/axle-stands-trolley-jacks/halfords-advanced-2-tonne-low-profile-trolley-jack-657305.html

£104 with trade card

with a 500mm lift this gives you good clearance with good axle stands  

 

Edited by Hamish
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Mick - wonderfully neat installation.

Axles hanging there for weight training in advance of the next Olympics ?

Ian Cornish

Edited by ianc
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1 hour ago, ianc said:

Mick - wonderfully neat installation.

Axles hanging there for weight training in advance of the next Olympics ?

Ian Cornish

Thanks Ian, these limited lift scissor lifts are ideal for home use, the ramps are contained within it's own individual steel "cassette" and the hydraulic sliding "gubbins" and ramps fold down into it, giving a flush floor when you've sunk the ramps into the garage base.

The large footprint from the cassetes gives a well spread footprint dispersing stresses easily throughout a solid base floor. As many of us my house is old stock built in the 1930s and the standard concrete garage base was laid at the time, when drilling the floor until hardcore came up about 120 mm thickness...not enough. So my builder (on site for a bathroom modification) was persuaded to cut a square out the size of the ramps square and then excavate a further 120mm plus hardcore amount below the original floor base and concrete back smooth...cost £150. A little home handyman woodworking skills fabricated a frame between the cassetes and a plywood covering to give a flush floor in between to walk on ...no jacking there, not needed with the ramps anyway.

The axles have been on the wall for a good few years and I had to get angry walking around slapping my face before "cleaning and jerking" to get them onto the wall frame. I've snapped a couple of tendons (mountain biking) in the left shoulder and so my overhead weighlifting efforts are curtailed now, although I can still manage a block as long as not more than knee high. No 1 son at 6' 7" and 19 stone will take the axles down when I ask him.

Mick Richards  

Edited by Motorsport Mickey
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Because it is raining outside I have been stuck here at the computer, looking on ebay, always a bad move.  I have just spent £120 on a low access trolley jack because my standard jack will not go under the skid plate on the front of the TR. Even when I use the 2 post lift I have to jack the car up a bit initially to get the arms underneath. Should make lifting the front of the car at least less of a chore.

Ralph

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3 hours ago, Z320 said:

Congratulations from my wife for this clean garage!

Now I know what I have to do next.....

Aha...don't let your wife see this next photo,

P1010201.thumb.JPG.ec7456ee10526d548577b94ca71af5ff.JPG

it's where I had to sweep or stoor all the junk I have so I could floor this end section and lift...not so good eh ! What the eye doesn't see, the heart doesn't grieve over...Arf Arf.

Mick Richards

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I have also been thinking about a lift. Unfortunately my garage does not have the hight so I have been looking at mobile mid rise lifts. Has any one any experience of the ones listed on ebay? Advice would be appreciated.

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/284382368672?hash=item42368293a0:g:VzYAAOSwTFJg-s4h

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/334090869457?hash=item4dc95e1ad1:g:VtYAAOSw-sVb~VIQ

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38 minutes ago, Phil Read said:

I have also been thinking about a lift. Unfortunately my garage does not have the hight so I have been looking at mobile mid rise lifts. Has any one any experience of the ones listed on ebay? Advice would be appreciated.

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/284382368672?hash=item42368293a0:g:VzYAAOSwTFJg-s4h

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/334090869457?hash=item4dc95e1ad1:g:VtYAAOSw-sVb~VIQ

The first one of these is retailed by Automotech, a well known firm. This lift is very similar to the Strongman Tamar lift which has a single hyd cyl centrally mounted, this design all suffer from lack of access down the centre of the lift, it being full of the hyd cyl and other extraneous junk.

Automotech also supply a twin ramp scissor lift very similar to the Strongman Clifton scissor with the same 820mm unintruded space between the ramps, which is a little cheaper than the Clifton. Both Strongman and Automotech are mid rise lifts which stop at 1 metre, I use mine underneath the across garage rafters and just get a full 1 metre lift on it.

The second lift I can't see any markings on it, and don't know the firm selling it, but again the same between ramp inhibitions for access apply. Don't forget to search the Forum via Google for threads, there are more details there.

Just a comment regarding your description of "mobile mid rise lifts", ...they are not very. Even the Strongman  which has an integrated lift system with heavy duty castors under each ramp and a "hook under and lift" which needs a trolley jack under it to move makes moving them something you'd rather nor do regularly, and "glass smooth concrete" makes it easier. The Strongman is about 530kgs (the extra lift cylinder and framing making it slightly heavier than the Automotech model above which comes in at 430 kgs

 Mick Richards

Edited by Motorsport Mickey
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i've had the Automech version of the Strongman Clifton for about 5 years. Lifts up to 1 metre and has been invaluable looking after my cars. No breakdowns, always reliable, and very safe.   I'd definitely recommend it. If you have room for a full height lift though, I'd be tempted to go for that.


Dave

 

===

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Quickjack do a lift BL-3500SLX at £935, raises electrically capacity 1587kg,  also appears not to obstruct the underside central part of the car. Perhaps someone has one and could comment?

 

Rob

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Hi, This is totally dependant on sufficient garage height but a completely different approach is to install two RSJs in the rafters approx. 10ft apart, attach one of the fairly cheap but powerful 250V electric winches to each RSJ and devise your own means of attaching the cables to the car, once done the car is up in the air in seconds (safety chains once desired height is achieved), and then totally hydraulic paraphernalia free access is available to the whole of the underside, .... wheels off ( loosen nuts first, with the car on the ground) and the brakes or suspension are there to play with at any convenient height .... and just think, body off restoration? ... just undo a few nuts and bolts, all the umbilicals and woosh, the body is in the air and you can wheel the  chassis away!!

Cheers Rob   

PS ... ask me how I know this.

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  • 3 weeks later...

John, for exactly the same reasons as you, I wanted a better solution for working under the TR.  I bought from BH Repairs.  See my post (MikeyB1)  Oct 18th 2020, under Scissor Lift.  Cheers, Mike Bambridge.

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  • 1 month later...
On 8/10/2021 at 11:12 AM, Robert Price said:

Quickjack do a lift BL-3500SLX at £935, raises electrically capacity 1587kg,  also appears not to obstruct the underside central part of the car. Perhaps someone has one and could comment?

 

Rob

I bought one of these earlier these year.  Very happy with it, gives easy access to the centre of the underside of the car.

Doing the grease points has never been so easy!

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I wouldn't dismiss a 4 post ramp - all you need is the clarance for the posts - you don't need to lift to full height

I've got an ancient 2 post but when/if I build my new house it will hopefully have a 4 poster with cross beams.

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