Lift Placement & Clearance

[Crazy68Dart]

Still working through the design and estimates for the new garage. The plan was to dedicate a 9x8 stall for a lift. Is this doable, or am I going to run into interference issues with the overhead door tracks? Ideally, the lift would be centered in the opening.

As far as wall/door height, does it really matter? I can see where it might with a 4-post that has ramps, but otherwise floor to ceiling height seems to be the real measurement to worry about, or am I missing something obvious?

Thanks.

 

[wnstwolf]

Crazy is that feet or meters? 9x8 feet is not going to cut it..?
I have a Bend Pak xpr-10c 2 post lift and off set it in the garage lining up the actual position of the car on lift with the right side of my overhead door rather than the column itself. This gave me about 5 feet of clear space to the left of the garage to freely get stuff by. If I did not off set I would have had about 4' on each side which to me would have limited what could get around a car that may have been parked in the lift area. My overall width is 19 feet depth is overkill at 40'. I believe outside to outside measurement of my columns is around 12'

On wall door height put as tall a door as you can fit and still have the design look good. I have 14' clear interior height and only put in a 8' door. STUPID on my part and the biggest thing I wish I did differently..

 

[Crazy68Dart]

Sorry, it is feet, and I was talking about the garage door itself. The bay will be larger. I want to maximize the space in the garage without "wasting" a bunch to get a lift in there.

Ideally, I would like to line up the lift with the door opening. So, centering on the 9' door opening. The bay will be 2' larger on both sides, so the bay will be approx 13-14' wide.

My concern was interference with the lift posts to the overhead door tracks.

This make sense? Sorry if it is a little confusing.

 

[Stee6043]

Very interesting - I've invested a fair amount of time and money this year dealing with both of your questions! Four years or so ago I installed a four post life in the "third stall" of my three stall garage. I have a single door for that stall (10') while the stall itself is 13-14' wide.

First off, just a few weeks back I paid a garage door professional to install a "high lift" setup to get my garage door tracks up to the ceiling with now just enough clearance above for lights. I suffered through four years of not being able to maximize the flexibility of my lift because of the door position when the garage door was in the up position. So my suggestion to you would be to get your garage door tracks as high as possible now so you don't have to mess with it later. Just my two cents.

Second, as far as centering on the door opening this is exactly what I did four years ago and just last week I changed it while installing my Racedeck. I found that 18" +/- of space I had between my lift and the wall was a complete waste. Nothing useful was happening over there. So when I installed my new floor I moved the lift over to within a few inches of the wall. Perhaps it's all mental but it really made a difference for me. My lift is no longer centered on the door opening but I also have an extra foot or more of space where it can now be "used". Again, just my two cents.

 

[Coloshaver]

Check out the site for whatever lift you are considering. The downloadable instruction manuals for BendPak show you the recommended footprint and clearances.

 

[wnstwolf]

Sorry Crazy read into what was not there. By all means try to get that door out of your way if you do not have a lot of depth in the garage. As mentioned by stee you may have unusable space on both sides of the lift if centered. Between the column and the car door you may have 12-18" offset due to the lift arms. sliding everything over may not look right but is effective

 

[djd99]

Here's some pics of my lift to give you an idea of what your thinking my room is 14' wide and 14' high I barely have enough room to make what I have work.

My door is 10 x 10 as well.

 

[Crazy68Dart]

Thanks all.

Stee, so are your ramps now fudged a little towards the wall and not exactly centered in the door opening? You garage door is 10' wide? Which lift do you have? I am leaning towards a four post rather than two.

I thought I was over analyzing this, but apparently not. Space is valuable so I definitely don't want to waste it if I can help it.

 

[Wastedwagesracing]

Here's some pics of my lift to give you an idea of what your thinking my room is 14' wide and 14' high I barely have enough room to make what I have work.

My door is 10 x 10 as well.

Do you have enough clearance on the sides to be able to pull axles out of a rear end? Just wondering because I need to plan for my lift and that is one concern I have.I need to be able to pull axles out of one ton trucks

 

[Devildogs]

My understanding is that a 2 post lift requires a little over 10' while a 4 post requires more like 9'. The down side of the 2 post is overall width while the down side of the 4 post is the ramp height reduces your over head height. looks to me like a dual scissor lift setup is ideal. It does not take up the width of the 2 post nor the height of the 4 post. Instalation is more involved on the scissor lift setup.

 

[rackeu]

Check out the site for whatever lift you are considering. The downloadable instruction manuals for BendPak show you the recommended footprint and clearances.

Not trying to hijack the thread but I am getting ready to install a HR800 lift in a small single bay. The manual calls for 11 feet clearance forward and 13 feet to the rear. Seems like overkill....why???

I am going to put this lift in a 13 by 18 space.

 

[Stee6043]

Thanks all.

Stee, so are your ramps now fudged a little towards the wall and not exactly centered in the door opening? You garage door is 10' wide? Which lift do you have? I am leaning towards a four post rather than two.

I thought I was over analyzing this, but apparently not. Space is valuable so I definitely don't want to waste it if I can help it.

You are correct, Dart. My entire lift is no longer centered on the door opening like it was previously. I'd say the one set of posts is a full 12" +/- into the door opening now. Still plenty of room to drive in and out. The posts closest to the wall are rough 2-3" away from the wall at the baseblate. I'm much happier with this arrangement compared to the centered approach I had previoulsy.

I've got an import 4 post lift.

 

[djd99]

Do you have enough clearance on the sides to be able to pull axles out of a rear end? Just wondering because I need to plan for my lift and that is one concern I have.I need to be able to pull axles out of one ton trucks

Yes I have room to do anything required even pulling axles in fact I did have to replace the brake dust shields on my dads and my blazer a few months ago witch requires both axles pulled to get to the dust shields.
I had plenty of room to do the job. But as you can see it's a tight fit just walking between the lift column and the wall. If I had 1 or 2 more feet that would be ideal.

 

[Crazy68Dart]

My issue is that I don't really have a line on any specific lift other than I am 90% certain I want a 4-post style.

So, what have some of you ended up doing for track clearance into the ceiling? My shop will be 28' deep, but again don't want to waste a bunch of room (anywhere) if I can keep from it.

 

[rackeu]

I am getting ready to install a HR800 lift in 13x18 single bay. The manual calls for 11 feet clearance forward and 13 feet to the rear. Seems like overkill....why???