Approx. ceiling height needed for parking a car underneath a 4-post?

[Cobra4B]

Is there a general rule for ceiling height w/ a lift for parking a car underneath? I know it depends on the two cars being stored.

My father is looknig into a 4-post, but the center bay where he wants to put it has a structural steel beam that runs the length of the house. The beam is framed and drywalled in and the resulting ceiling height is 9'4", the other two bays are near 12', but the lift really needs to go in the center.

What height do most people shoot for when setting up a lift?

 

[Crusty Nut]

12 feet is the normal standard. If you are storing real short cars you might get away with it.

 

[jimmie jam]

i did a 13' ceiling in my new 600sf garage addition. the height needed will depend on what kind of cars you want to lift and put under. i own corvettes so the height is not as much of an issue. typically you want/need at least 8" IN ADDITION to the combined height of the vehicles. remember that if the beam will be over the hood or trunk of the vehicle you obviously will require less height.

 

[Cobra4B]

The beam runs down the middle of the house so it runs down the center bay longitudinally. I suggested he cut into the drywall and see how much space there is between the actual beam and the casing etc. I tink there will be 4-5" gained by re-doing it closer to the actual beam. There are electrical boxes in the bottom section of the drywall and those need at least 3" of space.

It'd have our Panoz on the lift with my mothers CLS550 underneath. The CLS is a sleek car, but the Panoz is pretty tall w/ the rear wing. If it was my dad's Z06 (sold and gone now) then it wouldn't be an issue.

I'll tell him to actually measure the two cars and at 8" and see where he's at.

 

[Stuart in MN]

My garage is only about 9'-5", but I was able to store a Corvette like yours above a lowered 5-series BMW. However, we had to take the wheels off the Vette. There was literally about a half inch to spare, it was that close.

 

[blkhonda1991]

what is the reasoning behind the fact that it must be in the center?

 

[Cobra4B]

Room to work on the car from both sides. My dad's truck has to go in the far right bay, and the door into the house is in the far left bay plus we just built a new worbench/storage steup in the back left corner.

It would be optimal to have it in the center.

The area

After new work area build over x-mas weekend

 

[Varkwso]

Cobra4B - funny running in to you here.

Drivinhard has his ceiling at 12'4" with a two post Rotary lift. You can get by with lower on a 4 post if parking and not walking under it to do work is required. Most have a 9'4" height in the literature. My house garage has a beam at 8'6" and the barn is at 8' so I am out of luck with both locations.

Good news is I am looking here for the ideas needed to build my new garage with two lifts and shop space.

jeff

 

[Goobzilla]

I was at 10' even in my old shop in Washington.

 

[Varkwso]

I was at 10' even in my old shop in Washington.

pictures put it in perspective - that setup could use 12' easily

 

[mad57]

that pics above has at least 14inches to spare..... just measure both cars height and add 8in like stated above why guess.

 

[Stuart in MN]

A couple things to remember:
1) You need a few extra inches to get the lift above the stop and then drop it back down.
2) The stops may or may not be in the right place to get the maximum amount of lift, depending on the exact height of your garage and the heights of the cars.

 

[e-tek]

If you just want to put one car under another, you need about 10' ceilings. To walk/work under one, you need your height, plus the height of the car on top, plus 4inches for the ramp, plus 4 inches to unlock the lift once lowered and locked at working height.

My ceilings are 11'3" and I can stand under cars, but not trucks. I'm 6'2"...

 

[ovilla]

Is there a general rule for ceiling height w/ a lift for parking a car underneath? I know it depends on the two cars being stored.

My father is looknig into a 4-post, but the center bay where he wants to put it has a structural steel beam that runs the length of the house. The beam is framed and drywalled in and the resulting ceiling height is 9'4", the other two bays are near 12', but the lift really needs to go in the center.

What height do most people shoot for when setting up a lift?

You normally just need the height of two cars, plus the height of the ramps and another 4" to be able to unlock the locks. Having said that, if you're working on a project car, keep in mind that you can store the top car on the lift with the wheels removed, which will give you more headroom for the car below. Also, I'd just order a caster kit so that you can wheel the lift outside or to the non-centered bays to do any actual work and not have to work in the cramped center bay. The only time you really need to have that much access on both sides is if you're doing axle work. I know you're father in-law might feel strongly about placing it in the middle but that will quickly change, especially once he see that it will limit which two cars he can park within the restricted height of 9'4". I have 10' ceilings and fit two 914's on my BendPak HD-9 with a little over a foot of vertical height left over. I can also stack one 914 and my Maxima with a few inches left to unlock my locks.

 

[Pro Stock John]

Hope it's okay to bump this one up, it had a lot of the info I was looking for. So it looks like 10 feet is really the minimum for storing two cars, one on top of the other, assuming they are regular size cars.

If I have a tight 3 car garage, will a lift kill one of the regular parking spots? I have not measured the width, but if I park three cars in the garage, let's say nothing smaller than a 2000 camaro, I have to park two cars tight with each other.

I'll take a measurement in the next 24 hours.

 

[danieldolin]

Hope it's okay to bump this one up, it had a lot of the info I was looking for. So it looks like 10 feet is really the minimum for storing two cars, one on top of the other, assuming they are regular size cars.

If I have a tight 3 car garage, will a lift kill one of the regular parking spots? I have not measured the width, but if I park three cars in the garage, let's say nothing smaller than a 2000 camaro, I have to park two cars tight with each other.

I'll take a measurement in the next 24 hours.

Similar issue for me with width... I have a standard 2 car garage that is 24" wide. Most "standard" width lifts are 110-120" wide. I do not want to have lift posts taking up the center of the garage as that would limit my ability to push a lawn mower / snow blower / anything else down the center of the garage between the two parked cars. I am going to go with the bendpak HD9-ST next spring as it is only about 100" in overall width and the power unit can be mounted on the end (not the side) to eliminate any aditional width restrictions. This will still preserve a 30-40" isle between the lift post and the other parked car in the garage for yard tools and such. The narrow lift limits the vehicles that can be stored, but will work fine for my needs.

 

[NitroPress]

Your situation sounds like one of the rare cases where a mobile lift would be an asset. You could move it from the right bay to the center as needed and have either 9-1/2 or 12 feet of ceiling to work with, ditto for both-sides access. Get a caster set and don't anchor the lift.

 

[Cars&Classic]

my ceiling height is 10.3 and the beam brings it down lower, I have to reverse most cars for more clearance, but i also have the lift back aginst the door so that I have a large walk way in front. when i modify the door tracks I can get another 6" of height, it is fine now but I cannot stand strait up getting out of the lowwer car. one I move the track i should be able to stand under it. I am 5'9"

 

[Pro Stock John]

Thanks for the info guys. I'll have to do some measuring.

 

[Briguy_123]

Do you want to be able to open your garage door with a car up on the lift? If so you need to measure the height of your open garage door. Even using low clearance tracks (tight to the ceiling), I have to go a minimum of 13' ceiling.

 

[Pro Stock John]

Yep that's another consideration for sure.

 

[buzz4041]

You can possibly open up your ceiling above the lift. I'll post a pic later.

 

[Kalstar]

I raised up my door tracks and adjusted the garage door opener only to open the door 6 feet high. The door does not come even close to the car now. And like I said, I have 11 ft to my garage door opener.

 

[Pro Stock John]

Thanks guys, this is all very informative. Like Buzz is saying I could maybe redo the roof structure. Also Kalstar, that's a great point about limiting the door opening, I've been wondering about that.

 

[ssffnomad]

I have 11' 8" Ceiling, they put up 12' Block Walls then poured 4" on Concrete. Wish i had 14' .