Lift options for garage with 10' Ceiling

[Davida]

I'm going to be having a detached garage built, it will be 23' by 32' with a 10' ceiling. Does anyone have suggestions for a lift that would work in this space? Would it be possible to store a car under a lift in a garage with a 10' ceiling? I have smaller/low cars, a 68 BMW 2002, 928, and GTI.
Thanks,
Dave

 

[jsaw]

I have a midsize scissors lift that works with 10 ft ceilings

 

[logical]

For storage, I assume you are asking about a 4 post lift. I think any out there will be under 10 ft.

Add about 10 inches to the combined height of two of the vehicles and if its less than 10 ft it works. I would think the 928 and 2002 would stack with room to spare.

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[ItsNemo]

If it's not built yet, can't go up to 12 feet? The extra cost is minimal.

 

[Davida]

Unfortunately, I can't go taller, I am in a historic district in Southern California, and I have a lot of restrictions to deal with.

 

[ItsNemo]

Scissor trusses or any other options to raise interior while maintaining roof line?

 

[Davida]

The garage is required to have a flat roof, to match the design of the house. I don't think there is any way to raise the interior while maintaining the roof line.

 

[atch]

How about lowering the floor? Keep the exterior the same. Walls, roof, lawn, etc. Dig out and install 2-3 foot concrete walls below grade. Install sump pump. Ramp down to the door.

 

[pbon]

I had an Atlas BP8000 in my old garage with 10’6” ceiling and could put my E36M3 up 6’. Obviously you could not go quite as high. I did often leave a car on it and park another under. The suspension will droop. I now have a 4 post because I moved and could not have a 2 post. 4 post is better for storage but worse for working on the car. Like with the 2 post, you could have a car on top and a car under with your ceilings.

Scissor lift would be my last choice. Blocks access underneath for working on the car and you can’t park underneath. But any lift is better than no lift for working on cars.

 

[andersen24]

If you are looking at a 4-post lift, with the height of your cars, it looks as if your GTI (not sure what year) at 58” and your 2002 at 56” are your tallest combo. That puts you at 114” so only about a 6” buffer, so it would be extremely close and would depend on the specific manufacturer and where the locking positions land. If you do the 928 (51”) with the 2002 you’re at 107” and would have a 13” buffer which SHOULD easily be done.

When it comes to 4-Post lifts, I imagine you wouldnt need anything over 9k, which all of those size lifts would easily fit in your planned garage. If you are going to do any work on a car with a 4-Post lift, you can plan on at least another 3k to the price for two rolling bridge jacks.

If you are looking more to work on cars than storage, there are numerous 2-Post lifts that will fit in your garage as well, both overhead (i.e. BendPak Grand Prix 7k lift at 107” tall) and floor plate lifts. You “can” park a car under a 2-post lift, but I definitely recommend against it, and the manufacturers always say absolutely don’t do it.

Also, you want to think of things like a Jack shaft garage door opener, and have your garage door guy carry the door as close to the ceiling as they can.......some garage door people complain about it, but I have always had all of mine done that way.

Good Luck!

 

[396_425]

My small shop is 25 X 30 and 10' ceilings. I have a narrow Bendpak 4-post lift and it works really well in this space. I use an up & down computer chair to navigate under the car and it works.

 

[volaredon]

I have a Weaver floor plate lift (AFH90 I believe is the model, floor plate style lift, 2 post) in my garage with a 10' ceiling but a walkup attic. I used it like this for a couple years but I had to scrunch down and work with bent knees with car at highest I could lift it without the roof contacting ceiling joists. It was great for brake jobs, front end work etc but oil changes, trans R&R, etc wasn't great. I wound up "headering off" and taking out several ceiling joists so I could use the full height my lift provides. I have a big hole in my ceiling/attic, should have gone 1 more joist to the back of the garage and 2 more joists toward the door as I can get "most" vehicles up to full height... my Durango barely will go all the way up, if I position it right/ but a Tahoe/Yukon won't quite....a couple of clicks from "all the way up" is as far as I can go..OK for "most" jobs on one.
I can lift a full size reg cab (8' bed/conventional cab) all the way if I drop the tailgate.... otherwise the tailgate will scrunch my door opener mount.

 

[Davida]

Thanks for all of the replies. I would like to use the lift for repairs/maintenance, but the main reason would be to get more cars in the space. Most of the time, I would probably have the 928 on top and the BMW on the bottom, so it sounds like this would work with a 4 post.

 

[Garry]

I have 10'6" celing height and I am 6'3" tall and can stand straight up under my C2 Corvette. I installed a Jackshaft opener which gained me an additional 1' foot of lift height. Liftmaster 8500W and my lift is an Advantage DX-9000HD 4 post lift which I think is the best lift on the market with all you get for the money! Contact Tony Weber at Advantage Lifts, he's a great guy and customer service is second to none!

Cheers,

-Garry

 

[roc_on_the_rocks]

My small shop is 25 X 30 and 10' ceilings. I have a narrow Bendpak 4-post lift and it works really well in this space. I use an up & down computer chair to navigate under the car and it works.

Fantastically beautiful car, nice shop too.

 

[volaredon]

before I cut the window in my garage ceiling I could put my 78 Sport Fury all the way up and stand straight up beneath, but not any of my pickups or my Wrangler. I'm about 5'11.

 

[Vahispd]

Fantastically beautiful car, nice shop too.

+1^^^^ love that car too.

 

[396_425]

Thanks for the comments...

 

[regguy1]

The Max Jax is a 2 post mid rise, 2 posts give you full access to underside of the car. I am able to store a C7 Corvette under the lift with a car on it. I have a 8' 9" ceiling Here is a good comparison of the MaxJax and scissors lift. https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=75488&highlight=maxjax+installation+comparison

Here is my MaxJax install thread: https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=71225

 

[Garry]

OP, you never closed with us, what did you end up doing?

Here is a pic of mine with the 10'6" ceilings and I can stand under my C2 and I am 6'3"

-Garry

 

[mercifiknow]

I'm going to be having a detached garage built, it will be 23' by 32' with a 10' ceiling. Does anyone have suggestions for a lift that would work in this space? Would it be possible to store a car under a lift in a garage with a 10' ceiling? I have smaller/low cars, a 68 BMW 2002, 928, and GTI.

Thanks,

Dave

I have 2 older Mercedes and I needed 10’4” for setup like yours. That was with an Atlas and Bendpak basic 4post lift.


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[Lessons]

I've been in a relatively similar situation. For me, I'm trying to get the maximum amount of lift I can, so restricted this list more since the midrise options only get you about 4' total.

Full or mid rise scissors (ideal would be flush mount for minimal impact when down and open center when up)

Maxjax

Mohawk System 1 or A-7 (spendy)

Baseplate 2 Post Lifts (Atlas, Bendpak, etc.)

Grandprix Lifts from Bendpak (I believe the midsize option works with 10' ceilings) - may be the best option if you can fit it

The lift manufacturers all strongly advise against parking another car under a 2 Post lift, but it seems to be done pretty regularly.

 

[firebirdparts]

The ultimate would be a floor plate 2 post with wheel adapters. There wouldn't be anything under the car but air, and the suspension would be compressed. Fortunately, that's not an overwhelmingly expensive or weird option, and it would be very handy for maintenance or even restoring a car. I have a 10'4.5" roof in the low part of my shop and I've often thought about having a go. I am not quite that desperate to store cars yet.

 

[firebirdparts]

I've been in a relatively similar situation. For me,
The lift manufacturers all strongly advise against parking another car under a 2 Post lift, but it seems to be done pretty regularly.

I have never heard this before. Does anybody know what they are thinking?

I do it on the second floor and park a car in the basement for a vertical stack of 3, so that would really bother them.

 

[nzjkb5]

Is it possible or feasible to install a base plate lift with the base plate flush with the concrete? We are moving in to a house that has a detached garage, and the ceiling is exactly ten feet. Maybe the base plate isn't as big of a deal deal as I have been led to believe?

 

[HoosierMark]

Surprised nobody ask if he could put a sunroof on his flat roof. Designed right to size and height it would give him the extra height he needs. Make it look old and glaze it to be opaque and it might conform to regulations.

 

[sz0k30]

My small shop is 25 X 30 and 10' ceilings. I have a narrow Bendpak 4-post lift and it works really well in this space. I use an up & down computer chair to navigate under the car and it works.

A Willys gasser. I love it

 

[Davida]

I haven't made a final decision yet, but I'm leaning towards the Advantage Lift. I'm still waiting on approval/permits from the city, so I have some time to think about it.

 

[mdformula350]

just took a bunch of measurements of my garage and its 10'6 it appears, so calling it 10 then alittle less once i get the door up higher so overall going with a lift that can lift 6 feet only so that would cover my shortest car on top and another short car underneath. my truck can park next to the lift. also could lift my truck about 4 foot in the air which would be high enough to do lots of stuff. going with the 4 post atlas pro 8000

 

[Vtor]

We went with flush mount scissor lift - take a bit more planning, but in end you get clean floorplan with ability to go up when needed. Every choice has compromises ( 2 post vs scissor vs 4 post, etc). Example in a small garage, this is 21x21.

 

[Burbman]

Reviving this thread from last year. Just bought a house with a 34x26 3-bay garage and finally have room to add a lift. I'm looking at a 10k 2-post lift that will handle my Ram 3500 crew cab long box diesel that weighs in around 8500 lbs. The challenge is that the ceiling height is 10' 5" (125").

I started doing some research this week, and I've found a couple of 2-post lifts with multi-stage arms that mimic an asymmetrical setup to reach the rear of the truck. The cars in the family are a Malibu and 2 Grand Prixs so they shouldn't be a problem, but all the 10k lifts that I see that will handle the truck are 145"+ tall. I like the MaxJax product but it's only rated at 6k.

Does such a lift exist or is this a fool's errand?

 

[Burbman]

Well, it's always the next search that delivers results...what's the general opinion on Challenger lifts?

9K Open-Top 2-Post | Challenger Lifts

With a 9,000 lb. capacity and 10’ 7/8” overall column height, Challenger’s 2-post automotive lift is ideal for low ceiling applications. Learn more!

www.challengerlifts.com

 

[kumquat]

I have that lift. Works fine for me, but my heaviest vehicle is <5K lbs.

 

[Crabman]

A friend has a Challenger in his shop and likes it.

Here is an alternative that a lot of people like. Made in USA.

Advantage Lifts AL-SF10 - 10,000 lb. - 2-Post Lift with Floorplate

The AL-SF10 2-Post Lift features 3 Stage Arms, single piece S-column design, universal pads, dual lock release, and truck stack adapters - all at a great value!

www.advantagelifts.com

Same company I think, just a different style and price.

 

[428PI]

A friend has a Challenger in his shop and likes it.

Here is an alternative that a lot of people like. Made in USA.

Advantage Lifts AL-SF10 - 10,000 lb. - 2-Post Lift with Floorplate

The AL-SF10 2-Post Lift features 3 Stage Arms, single piece S-column design, universal pads, dual lock release, and truck stack adapters - all at a great value!

www.advantagelifts.com

Same company I think, just a different style and price.

I worked for an independent shop and used a lift like this for at least 10 years. Pulled trannys (not real often) but did and one can get by. Just have to push the ****** jack wheels a little over the center cable cover. Certainly better than not having a lift. The guy I worked with is in a shop with limited height and purchased one like this.