about how much height do I need for a lift?

[nhra1256]

Hi Folks, new guy here. I am getting a 24x32 Pioneer Pole barn/garage put up and I want to get a inexpensive 4 post lift in the garage. I will be lifting a 70 Chevelle and putting a 67 Camaro underneath it. About how much height will I need for the Garage ceiling? will a 10ft ceiling give me enough room or do I need to go to a 12ft height? This is my first garage, I've been working out of enclosed trailers for far too long...any input appreciated!

 

[Question]

I took out my tape measure and measured both cars and add the inches for the base of the lift, I can fit a 69 Camaro and a 62 Corvette with a 10' 4" ceiling. When I put my full size pickup on the lift I can comfortably stand under it.

 

[pattenp]

Depending what kind of lighting you're going to have and how far it hangs down from the ceiling a 10' ceiling will be questionable. I'd recommend going with 12' or higher. You need 60" to 68" for each car plus 4" to 6" for lift runway thickness that puts you at 124" to 142".

 

[Junkman]

When I built my home, I built it with an 11' high garage ceiling. I thought that would be enough for anything that I might consider lifting. Now, my collector cars have changed and they are much higher than the Corvairs that I owned when I built my garage. I could use a 14 or 16 foot ceiling to accomplish what you are thinking about with your cars. Just keep in mind that you can never have too much room. If at all possible, go for the highest building that you can reasonably afford, in both length, width, and hight. Your choices of cars can and will change, but once built, it is very difficult to change the building. Also, keep in mind that in the building trades, measurements are on the outside, so if the building is 24' x 32', you are going to loose between 8 - 12" of space due to the thickness of the walls. Measure the length of your car, and see how comfortable you are with the space that is left over. My garage is 38' deep which gives me 37' on the inside. If I had an additional 4' inside, it would double the amount of cars that I could get into the garage. Something that I didn't think about 25 years ago when I built it with Corvairs in mind.

 

[twostory]

I have 12ft 8 inch (floor to ceiling) that is enough to get a muscle car high enough to drive my full size pickup under the lift. I had to buy a slightly taller lift to be able to drive a pickup under it.

If I was building over, I would go with a slightly taller stem wall than I did, that way I would be almost 13 ft. That would allow some more storage on the high shelves I built 8ft off the ground.

I have a 3.5 inch stem wall, then 12ft 4.5 inch wood walls
(bottom plate + 12ft stud + two top plates)

 

[Marty256]

Go as high as you can. If you want a loft you may have to split the roofline like I did and only have the loft on one half. My loft side has an eleven foot ceiling and with my Expedition on the lift fully extended it travels several feet above the lower ceiling. You can see the support beam for the loft in the upper right hand corner of the second photo.

 

[ron in sc]

I have a 14' ceiling and it's working out very well. I can lift a full sized Mercedes station wagon as high as the lift will go with the car's hood completely open, that means the hood is vertical. I can use the lift with the garage door opened or closed and I can open or close the door with a vehicle completely raised to it's highest point on the lift.

I have recessed lights in the ceiling and a liftmaster door opener with a torsion sping.

 

[Matti]

There are lots of posts about this so there should be no shortage of suggestions. My take is that you need the max lift height of the lift plus the height of the car at minimum. This might be about 72" (depending on lift) plus 57" car height (approx) gives you 10'9". This does not allow for antennas, lights, clearance, etc. If you are willing to live with a lower lift height this will help too. Just pick the lift you want and the vehicles you want to accommodate and do the math. Just going 14 feet is nice but if you have a city lot a towering garage may not be aesthetically pleasing or permitted by bylaws. Going with vaulted ceilings can help somewhat with this. I compromised on an 11' because this is the max. I went with 9' walls and a vaulted truss/ceiling. I accept all the future shortcomings but am happy nevertheless.

 

[e-tek]

I took out my tape measure and measured both cars and add the inches for the base of the lift, I can fit a 69 Camaro and a 62 Corvette with a 10' 4" ceiling. When I put my full size pickup on the lift I can comfortably stand under it.

PICS (of your cars and shop) PLEASE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!thumbup:

 

[Question]

PICS (of your cars and shop) PLEASE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!thumbup:

Here's some pics of the car and truck on the lift.

This is the new garage with the lift. I have another 3 car garage at the same location where all the dirty work will occur.

 

[rburke65]

Question for Question....What kindo of door openers are those?...Do I see Lift master on the side? Is that how they are positioned, off to the side and to the rear of the door? I have never seen them offset like that but I learn something new everyday. Thanks

 

[Question]

Question for Question....What kindo of door openers are those?...Do I see Lift master on the side? Is that how they are positioned, off to the side and to the rear of the door? I have never seen them offset like that but I learn something new everyday. Thanks

Yes they are Liftmaster. They can be mounted off center only if you use torsion springs, with side springs they have to be mounted in the center. As you can see if I mounted in the center, I would lose a lot of overhead space and the truck or other cars couldn't go up to the ceiling. By the way the openers don't have to be Liftmasters, the guy who installed said the same company also makes the Sears opener.

 

[Nutty 5.0]

I'd go with 12'6" at a minimum.

 

[nhra1256]

Thanks to everyone for the helpful comments. I am going to try for a 12ft height and see if that will work for me. I am using Pioneer for the builder, I live in NJ and these folks were definitley the most reasonable for the price for what I need.

This is what I'm working out of right now:

 

[Junkman]

Living in NJ, I believe that you are going to want more insulation in the walls than the layer of pink that is shown in the picture. What town are you building in? I used to live in East Orange, so I am familiar with the weather.

 

[nhra1256]

I'm building in Long Valley. When they do the building in late November, it will not have insulation at first; that will go in in March when I have money again. So the Garage will basically be empty this winter while we do electric, then insulation.