Extra Long vs Standard 4 Post Lift - Maximize Garage Space?

[DallasGuy]

Backing a car on every day/regularly just to fold up ramps sounds like a royal PITA, IMO. You could do it, but I'm not going to.



If you remove them, or in some cases, fold them down, then the safety factor of having said tire stops is gone. Regardless, we're back to putting the vast majority of the weight all the way at one end of the lift.




Me either. My point is that what works for a '58 Vette on a large lift doesn't necessarily apply to a lot of other situations. It isn't the answer for all.

Backing a car on every day/regularly just to fold up ramps sounds like a royal PITA, IMO. You could do it, but I'm not going to.



If you remove them, or in some cases, fold them down, then the safety factor of having said tire stops is gone. Regardless, we're back to putting the vast majority of the weight all the way at one end of the lift.




Me either. My point is that what works for a '58 Vette on a large lift doesn't necessarily apply to a lot of other situations. It isn't the answer for all.

last comment:

Whether you back up or not was not part of the original thread contemplating lift length and ramp setup- though you may feel differently if you had double the ramp/runner width and 12” plus off both mirrors.

I don’t know how to respond on the stop comment- I don’t depend on those to not roll off a lift when driving on, but those don’t impede most of the cars I store. YRMV

Me saying this is my setup and I think it’s interesting shouldn’t insinuate that my setup works for everyone… that being said, I still feel it’s a great answer if you have the room

Back on topic comment on foam ramps under steels. Make sure you have something to grip the foam ramps of there isn’t connectivity between steel/foam ramp. If you stall/stop
half way up ramp and then give it too much gas, you risk spinning out ramps from under car. I’d feel better with rubber or something underneath them.

 

[racecougar]

Me saying this is my setup and I think it’s interesting shouldn’t insinuate that my setup works for everyone…

Fair enough. I took your first post as "the answer to which ramps is...", not "my answer to which ramps is...".

The answer to which ramps is- the longer aluminum ramps (with the swivel bracket) so you can rotate them up towards the car when storing.

The real answer is "it depends".

 

[pbon]

Back on topic comment on foam ramps under steels. Make sure you have something to grip the foam ramps of there isn’t connectivity between steel/foam ramp. If you stall/stop
half way up ramp and then give it too much gas, you risk spinning out ramps from under car. I’d feel better with rubber or something underneath them.

Not a bad idea to glue rubber to the bottom of the race ramps. I have had them skate when not attached. My attachments are failing after years of use so I may end up with cut down steel ramp stubs over the race ramps eventually unless I decide to spend the money on aluminum, but Bendpak just raised the price significantly and I need the 48”.

 

[logical]

Not a bad idea to glue rubber to the bottom of the race ramps. I have had them skate when not attached. My attachments are failing after years of use so I may end up with cut down steel ramp stubs over the race ramps eventually unless I decide to spend the money on aluminum, but Bendpak just raised the price significantly and I need the 48”.

I suppose it's possible, but the race ramp material on relatively rough broom finish concrete and the weight of half a car...they are not going to slide away from the lift...toward it I suppose could happen but I'm basically idling up the ramp in reverse.

 

[pbon]

I suppose it's possible, but the race ramp material on relatively rough broom finish concrete and the weight of half a car...they are not going to slide away from the lift...toward it I suppose could happen but I'm basically idling up the ramp in reverse.

Again, I have skated the race ramps before so in my experience, the rubber would help me. Maybe your floor surface is different and that helps you. Also, you reverse up your ramps and probably some people back onto their lifts. I drive forward onto mine and I think that is more common. My tool chests are in front of my lifts not behind them and my engine is in the front of all of my cars so this works best for me. If my lift was just a storage lift that I moved a car in and off of occasionally, that would be a non issue and backing on would make as much sense as driving on forward.