Lift or pit?

[rsk289ac]

Hi, I'm about to start building a new workshop/garage and am looking for advice on practicality of lifts vs pits.
My last two garages have both had inspection pits, which give easy access to above and below the car for those tricky jobs like trans switches, engine out etc.
I'm thinking about a lift, either 2 or 4 post, for the next workshop. The main advantage is the much cheaper concrete base, but with a pit you can cover over and forget it's there. There could also be issues with opening doors with a 2 post lift... what are peoples' thoughts on this? Main workshop is going to be around 6m wide by 8m long, lift/pit on one side to allow two cars side by side.

Thanks
Roger

 

[Dick in Wisconsin]

18feet by 24 feet?

Seems pretty small. With a lift, you can easily work under the car and remove wheels, tires, brakes, rear end, transmission, etc.

If the shop is only 18' deep, how do you get into the pit when a car is over it?

Granted the lift is always in the way (especially in a small shop I like think you're going to build), but I think in the long run it will be much more useful to you.

I would put in enough concrete for a two post lift where the posts fasten, use the shop for a while, then decide later what to do.

 

[mechanic217]

Don't see where you are at but before you go for a pit check with your insurance man, otherwise fly under the radar.

 

[rsk289ac]

I'm in the UK.
The garage will be 24' deep and 18' wide, so plenty of room to climb down into a pit. My current workshop is this size and I have a '68 Mustang over the pit, no problems, enough room in front to more the engine crane around.
The plan is to build this as a workshop element then three parking/storage garages next to it. I'm in the centre of town so height would be an issue for a large workshop, but I hope I can get permission for a reasonably tall workshop and lower garages.

 

[Spoiled Bradt]

The coolest setup I ever saw was a race car guy that cut a pit opening into his garage floor but had a full basement underneath it. The house had a sloped yard with a drive around back and a double walk in door entering the basement/machine shop.
All you saw up top, door opened, was the *** end of a Hemi Cuda. All the $$$ stuff was in the basement with man cave, bedroom, bar pool table mill, lathe welders. Name it and it was there.
It made me want a pit so I made one with shelves(cubbyholes) in the walls for tools, a box in the pit "wall".
Long story short.
Waste of time. I should have done a lift but the existing roof wouldn't jive. I should have raised the roof.
I use the pit but am not thrilled with it. It's certainly better than nothing or laying on a damn creeper. Not by much.
Do a nice lift and never look back

 

[RotaryTech]

Pits are dangerous imo. I myself fell into one but caught myself from going all the way thru.
Worked with a guy who told me he fell in one and broke his back.


Lift.

 

[slidehammer]

Hi, I'm about to start building a new workshop/garage and am looking for advice on practicality of lifts vs pits.
My last two garages have both had inspection pits, which give easy access to above and below the car for those tricky jobs like trans switches, engine out etc.
I'm thinking about a lift, either 2 or 4 post, for the next workshop. The main advantage is the much cheaper concrete base, but with a pit you can cover over and forget it's there. There could also be issues with opening doors with a 2 post lift... what are peoples' thoughts on this? Main workshop is going to be around 6m wide by 8m long, lift/pit on one side to allow two cars side by side.

Thanks
Roger

Pits are inconvenient and dangerous. You're in an enclosed space that can collect hazardous gases, you can't get jacks and carts down there, they don't help at all if you're working on the brakes/suspension, they can present a fall hazard, etc. Outside of dedicated oil change facilities with an entire well-ventilated basement below, I never see them any more.

If you have a small shop and you want a lift that doesn't block doors and disappears when not in use, I would consider a flush-mounted dual scissor lift.

 

[Jlbc212]

i agree with those who wrote that pits are dangerous. Most gases and gasoline vapors are heavier than air and a leak will settle in the bottom of the pit where you won't smell it. One small spark can be explosive.

 

[kaymccampbell]

I've got a mid rise scissor lift with an open center. Kicks the pit's **** any day. Works with an 8 foot ceiling. Cost is about the same.

 

[mmb617]

Main workshop is going to be around 6m wide by 8m long, lift/pit on one side to allow two cars side by side.

I would never want a pit, but at only 19 1/2 ft (19.69 ft to be exact) wide I don't see how you are going to park two cars side by side with a lift in there. In order for the second car to clear the lift column in the center of the garage the other column would have to be tight to the wall. Far from ideal and still would be tight for the second car.

 

[Richard Cranium]

I feel a pit is fall waiting to happen. I don't even like to go into a shop with a pit.
The guy who changes my oil has like a basement under his shop, so he does have a pit. But I walk very carefully around then when I am there. He even has catch nets that he puts over the holes.

 

[TangoFoxTrot]

I would do a lift, I feel a pit is primarily for monotonous, simple jobs like oil changes whereas a lift is far more versatile for things like suspension work, brake jobs, etc.

I would also recommend a 2 post over a 4 post lift.

 

[MrBalll]

If you really are only going to have two cars in there I think a two post lift in the marrow config will be good. It will still you roughly one'ish feet on each side of the lift when a car is in there to open the doors. Not a lot, but if you go with an asymmetrical, which I would recommend if you only do cars, then that will work out very well for you and give you much more room to open doors with. And you will still have eight feet from the outside column to the other wall, which a car will fit nicely into.
May be cramped but it will be much better than a pit.
Like other said you could always go with a flush mount dual scissor lift. Really up to you on how you want to go with it.

 

[joel]

Had a pit for 20 years. Loved it.

Have a 4-post lift with 2 rolling jacks. LOVE IT MORE than the pit!

 

[c39er]

Same as above^^^^^^^

 

[rsk289ac]

Thanks guys - the flush-mount scissor lift looks to be the best bet. Due to the planning laws in towns in the UK (and in what they call a 'conservation area' - huh) I'll be lucky to get permission to build a workshop this size, let alone any bigger. You have more space in the US!

 

[venturesomerite]

Maybe a scissor lift, counter sunk into the concrete would be a good compromise between the two.

 

[bobcatdan]

Never really used a pit, but after using hoist for years, I can't see liking one unless I bought a building already having one. Personally, for your size you are planning, look at a cassette style ingound two post. That way when lowered, you have no columns to work around.

 

[Dragfluid]

A pit is dangerous in a couple of different ways.
The risk of falling into it.
Fuel vapors settling into it.

Since you're concerned about space, let me suggest a modular in ground unit.
They've been around for quite a while and work good. Plus, if there's a leak, they're all self contained to no ground contamination like the old ones.

http://www.rotarylift.com/LIFTS/SL210/

 

[tgj7]

I wonder if some guys like Pits because it's reminiscent. Go for the lift, a 4 post with a caster kit, they are very versatile.

 

[rsk289ac]

I've had pits in the last two garages, so since 1985, so I'm pretty used to them. Never had an accident or problems with fumes/fuel etc. so far, touch wood.

This is the current workshop, which is what I'm going to rebuild in the new site. You see the problem with space. The current pit is on the left.

 

[redmondjp]

I wonder if some guys like Pits because it's reminiscent. Go for the lift, a 4 post with a caster kit, they are very versatile.

Back in the day, the only lift option (other than super-expensive alignment racks) was the single-post hydraulic in-floor lift. That didn't work for most people. Plus, there was the ceiling height issue. The pit is easily constructed by anybody with basic construction/concrete skills, and costs more in time than materials, plus has no ceiling height issues.

My friend put one in his garage 25 years ago. he put a piece of channel iron all around the edge, and uses 2-by dimensional lumber boards (flush with the surface) to block off the opening when not using the pit.

 

[rsk289ac]

he put a piece of channel iron all around the edge, and uses 2-by dimensional lumber boards (flush with the surface) to block off the opening...

...which is exactly how mine is constructed.