Is there ANY solution for a parking/storage jack that works with 8' ceilings?

GoatPuncher · Feb 14, 2021

I've googled this to death, spoke to Bendpak, searched the forum, and I'm coming up with nothing. I have 8' ceilings and I'm trying to stack 2 cars. Basically I just want to fit 3 cars in the space of a 2 car garage. My cars are both below 46" in height.

The issue is this: Every lift I can find needs to raise 2" in order to disengage the locks and begin lowering.

Shorter 4-post lifts like the Bendpak HD-9ST would technically work for me if it wasnt for this 2" issue. I could fit both cars above one another and each one would have about ~0.25" from the cars roof to the ceiling/lift platform above it.

Is there any solution for this? Maybe something other than a 4-post? I'd really like to be able to use it to work on the cars as well, but that clearly is out of the picture. At this point I just want to be able to stack cars or fit another one in this garage somehow. Surely something must exist?

Lowering the slab/raising the ceiling is not viable in my case.

firebirdparts · Feb 14, 2021

You gain quite a bit using a 2 post with wheel adapters. That way, the platform height is negative. You might have to do some creative diapering, though.

GoatPuncher · Feb 14, 2021

I'm not actually sure of the reason, but isnt using a 2 post for storage typically recommended against?

Edit: Well, nevermind. That doesnt matter because I dont think an 8-foot tall 2 post exists. They're all 10 feet at the minimum.

Don1357 · Feb 14, 2021

If you can't modify your ceiling can you dig down? As in cut your slab on the parking space and recast 6" lower? If gaining that extra space is that important to you something will have to be modified.

Moosefire · Feb 14, 2021

Did you check out maxjax? Looks like they lift tall enough for what you're looking for. No clue about the locks though...

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CombatNinja · Feb 14, 2021

Would an Autostacker work?

Lowest locking position is 52.5" I believe, so that top car would have to be something low.

Docbentley · Feb 14, 2021

Chop the top and install a low profile windshield on 1 car. This will give you the several inches you need. Or to save whatever originality there is to the car, just deflate the tires after loading the top car. Maybe this is the reason you have been looking for to trade for another car that is lower?

Moosefire · Feb 14, 2021

Docbentley said:
Chop the top and install a low profile windshield on 1 car. This will give you the several inches you need. Or to save whatever originality there is to the car, just deflate the tires after loading the top car. Maybe this is the reason you have been looking for to trade for another car that is lower?

Similarly, remove rims and tires on the car in the air. That will inevitably be the lowest point if the car, especially once the suspension is relieved of the weight of the car

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mepstein · Feb 14, 2021

I bought a Maxjax for my 8.5' ceiling workshop. I will be able to fit 2 Porsche 914's. One above, one below.

Cars often sit on a 2 post lift for days or months. A lift doesn't know time. It works or it doesn't

rjacobs · Feb 14, 2021

I looked at a 4 post that would have fit in my 8' ceiling garage at my last house. I think the posts were 6'8" or something like that. It would have been TIGHT even with a high clearance tracked door just to get the lift posts in there.

Problem was the combined stack height of the two cars plus the runways... And I was trying to stack 2 Corvette's which are ANYTHING but tall(about the same height as your two cars)... I think I figured I needed 102" or 104" basically to make it work... I had like 98"...

ace10 · Feb 14, 2021

Pretty rare for a car to be 45" or shorter.

If you've got a couple of Ford GTs, I can store one for you.

joe_padavano · Feb 14, 2021

If you have 8ft ceilings, and your cars are each more that 4ft tall, well, do the math...

joe_padavano · Feb 14, 2021

ace10 said:
Pretty rare for a car to be 45" or shorter.

If you've got a couple of Ford GTs, I can store one for you.

Must be a NoVA thing - I was going to bring up stacking Ford GTs also.

like2wheel · Feb 14, 2021

joe_padavano said:
If you have 8ft ceilings, and your cars are each more that 4ft tall, well, do the math...

46" is more than 4ft these days?

That darn new math again... :headscrat

sz0k30 · Feb 14, 2021

I think you're just S.O.L.

JRC3 · Feb 14, 2021

GoatPuncher said:
...raising the ceiling is not viable in my case.

Why not, what is the garage like? Trussed? Rafter ties? I'd be looking at it from a different angle instead of trying to force 92" in what is more than likely les than 96". Imagine maybe doing it and it works...Then imagine something goes wrong with the lift and it requires more than 4" to rectify. Or is the garage in a basement or an apartment building, townhome or something?

Also, does this garage have an overhead door?

D100CMB · Feb 14, 2021

Moosefire said:
Similarly, remove rims and tires on the car in the air. That will inevitably be the lowest point if the car, especially once the suspension is relieved of the weight of the car

Sent from my SM-G991U1 using Tapatalk

This is what to think about. Your cars are below 46" while sitting on the ground with the suspension compressed. Depending on where you are able to lift the car from with a two post, you will have to account for suspension droop while on the lift. With the space you're working with, I doubt you could make it work.

GoatPuncher · Feb 14, 2021

Hey all

The reason I cant lower the slab or raise the ceiling is because its a 2 story house. If it was a 1-story I'd just punch a hole in the ceiling, shave back the rafters, get an earfull from code enforcement, and be done with it. 2-hour fire rules and all that jazz prevent that. Lowering the slab is just insane, at that point I'd pour a whole new slab for an additional garage. I'd love to do that, but if my entire house burned down I think I'd wish I didnt.

I'll look at maxjax. I'll admit, I skipped on them because I think they look incredibly sketchy, but if that will work I think I could make do.

Autostacker actually would work if it had a lower 1st lock position. They dont need 2" to raise off the locks. Unfortunately their 1st lock position means my second car has to be 43" or below. I dont have a Porsche 962 to store, so that wont really work. I'd still have to find 2", just like with the 4-post.

Lowering the car is a good idea, but thats been done already hence the ride height. The first car is a f355 and/or miata, the second is an ariel atom. (The one going on top).

Funny thing, though. The atom has a roll bar that runs above the rear intake. Its removable and will give me about 3". It would technically work if I removed that. I just know I'd always be too lazy to put it back on and wind up cursing myself if I ever got into an accident with it. I'm seriously considering it, though. Deal with the tedium of bolting on a roll bar every time I drive it, or spend $50k to build a garage? Hmmm.

bdymnjm · Feb 14, 2021

Did you inquire with a few parking lift companies? Maybe the lock can be customized. https://www.hardingsteel.com/carloft-2 looks good. Could you cut out the floor in just that spot and ramp down a bit? That is a tight fit your working with.

mepstein · Feb 14, 2021

D100CMB said:
This is what to think about. Your cars are below 46" while sitting on the ground with the suspension compressed. Depending on where you are able to lift the car from with a two post, you will have to account for suspension droop while on the lift. With the space you're working with, I doubt you could make it work.

The wheels, tires and suspension will droop but they will be over the body, not the car's roof.

The maxjax is rated to 6000 lbs. My 914-6 is about 2300, less than half the rated weight. Your Atom is probably the same or less. So 1,200 lbs on each post and 600 on each steel arm. Not really much weight.

It sounds like it will be close but doable. I would try to find someone with a maxjax so you can do some real life testing and measuring.

If you are using the lift for storage and not a daily driver, you could buy some small tires and wheels or use spare tire "donuts" to get some extra clearance for the car on the floor.

JRC3 · Feb 14, 2021

How about changing the orientation of things. A column type lift perpendicular to the car parking under it. Kind of like this.

bBo3fOOLwxSDncV9xct3-JDxH_I06LdGOWa91Ifvxpx9iEET6UPwuN3nfYKmnLi_oaSTGqnkoyofGEibzvr_1-w9bnXscIjfbMuPnUsqvJZFHYuOKQ

But that Atom looks pretty small and maybe use a regular or portable column lift instead of a drive on Colum lift.

20180223090948948__12404.1570376718.1280.1280.png

Maybe there are other options using different orientations to think about.

Mike in Ohio · Feb 14, 2021

JRC3 said:
How about changing the orientation of things. A column type lift perpendicular to the car parking under it. Kind of like this.

But that Atom looks pretty small and maybe use a regular or portable column lift instead of a drive on Colum lift.

Maybe there are other options using different orientations to think about.

What kind of lift is that? It would be perfect for my setup.

JRC3 · Feb 14, 2021

Mike in Ohio said:
What kind of lift is that? It would be perfect for my setup.

Thumb around these results. https://www.google.com/search?q=sin...h=881&biw=1745&rlz=1C2CHFX_enUS834US834&hl=en

If I ever found a good used portable frame-contact type column lift for a decent price I'd consider replacing my mid-rise.

GoatPuncher · Feb 14, 2021

Holy ****! That seriously might work.

I didnt consider that if my garage is long enough (will have to measure), I could just have the hood of the bottom car under the lift, and the roof doesnt have to fit. That would give me tons of space. I couldnt have one car sideways, but I could maybe stagger them lengthwise.

I drew some artwork below of what might work. Gonna have to take some measurements and see if this will do it. If the measurements work out, I'm going to need your address so I can order you a pizza as a thank-you. I think it will either be very close or slightly too short to do this, but it gives me a few other ideas that might be doable.

JRC3 · Feb 14, 2021

GoatPuncher said:
Holy ****! That seriously might work.

I didnt consider that if my garage is long enough (will have to measure), I could just have the hood of the bottom car under the lift, and the roof doesnt have to fit. That would give me tons of space. I couldnt have one car sideways, but I could maybe stagger them lengthwise.

I drew some artwork below of what might work. Gonna have to take some measurements and see if this will do it. If the measurements work out, I'm going to need your address so I can order you a pizza as a thank-you. I think it will be close. Might have to shorten the workbench or something

http://i.imgur.com/hSyUtYE.png

I thought about that orientation too. And maybe even with something like a midrise lift. That little car on top could sit on a midrise with the lift more towards the front of the car leaving more overhang to the back.

I had my brother's little XB on the midrise last week and there was tons of room under at the front and back. That was the smallest thing I ever had on it. Looking at my pic imagine if it was positioned all the way to the front wall...And parking the second car under like your pic. A midrise takes up no space around the car itself. It's also a piece of cake to move and position elsewhere. I get anywhere from 48-54" of max lift. The further you lift the smaller the footprint gets on the floor. And the bumper of the bottom car has extra room inside the scissor V area. If that sounds like a possibility I could measure and see how much room it might have.

GoatPuncher · Feb 14, 2021

Is using a midrise scissor lift for storage a good idea? Never used one.

Update:

Yeah it isnt even close. I've just now discovered these lifts are 200" long. I have no idea why they're so damn long. I thought they were a bit more than the average car length, didnt know they were the length of a bus. Half the bottom car would be hanging out of the garage. I have a pretty lengthy garage, too. Not sure how these ever fit in the average garage.

I'm just going to have to get a quote for knocking down trees, leveling and compacting the land, pouring a slab, and putting a pre-fab metal building on my property which will surely kill my property value.

Update 2:

Okay apparently bendpak includes the ramps in the length for some reason. Measuring again. Its going to be so close. Will probably have to convert my garage doors to swing-open because I dont think even a low-profile one will work with this thing in here.

You know what else? How much do you want to bet I'll buy this thing and find out I have to cut and repour the slab anyway because with my luck it isnt thick enough.

Dustball · Feb 14, 2021

How about an angle/tilt type stacker?

Search Google images for angle car stacker or tilt car stacker.

https://www.herculescarparking.com.au/product/angle-stacker/

https://www.gglifters.com/products/parking/tilting_car_parking_lift.html

Glemon · Feb 14, 2021

Stance all things. I am not a fan of this, but you say you need a couple inches and the space isn't really reconfigurable.

Glemon · Feb 14, 2021

I fit two cars at 9.5 feet, I could probable make my Porsche and Triumph fit at 9', but don't think I could go any lower. The angle stacker looks interesting, do you have a garage door to deal with too?

JRC3 · Feb 14, 2021

GoatPuncher said:
Is using a midrise scissor lift for storage a good idea? Never used one.

Set the safety lock and I don't see why not. This is what you want to store on top, right? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ariel_Atom Curb weight 612 kg (1,349 lb)

Glemon · Feb 14, 2021

See also folding windscreen. I used to have one, great fun.

GoatPuncher · Feb 14, 2021

Sent out a few emails to get started on building a detached garage. This lift thing just isnt practical.

Guess I'm one of you guys now. Lol.

JRC3 · Feb 14, 2021

GoatPuncher said:
Sent out a few emails to get started on building a detached garage. This lift thing just isnt practical.

Well, the new garage will still need a lift. :rocker:

Daniel Dudley · Feb 15, 2021

Yeah, you need a tall outbuilding big enough to park a full size truck at the least.

I think your reasoning is sound, consider your options and placement carefully.

CraigStu · Feb 15, 2021

While this doesn't actually create more height for the cars themselves I will ask anyway. Typically ceiling joists are 2x10s. So if you cut away some of the drywall in your garage ceiling, you could get your 8ft + 10 inches for the lift posts to fit into. Would that be enough for a short two post lift? Also maybe look at how that removeable rollbar is attached. Possibly switching to different style nuts/bolts you could make it a 5 minute swap. Or maybe the rollbar could fit into a roof pocket made by removing a piece of the drywall like I asked about for the lift posts.
One more thought. If the car is 46 inches tall sitting on the floor, if it has 4 inches of ground clearance, you may only need 42 inches to store on the top since the wheels hanging down may be wider than the roof of the lower car.

Is there ANY solution for a parking/storage jack that works with 8' ceilings?

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