Lift Placement in Shop

[muckdp]

Looking for feedback on placement of a 4 Post lift (please don't turn this into a 2 Post vs 4 Post religious discussion, I have access to a 2 post if I want it). Trying to decide if I should put the lift at the front of the bay, or the back of the bay.

It's a multi use shop - agriculture, wood, automotive, welding. Not commercial. This is NOT a trailer queen beautiful man cave. Lift usage will primarily be for scheduled maintenance on ~8 vehicles, and an infrequent major project. Not storage. I've got enough height in the building that lift placement doesn't matter for my tallest vehicles. It's a 14k lift, so it's not moveable like some smaller ones.

I see value in having a slab in front of the lift available for non-liftable projects (ie: pulling a trailer or something, into the shop to work on it to get out of the sun), or even parking/storing a 13' jeep there.

The downside of having the project/parking space there, is I might fill it full of junk, and the task of having to clean it out every time I want to use the lift to do something easy like changing oil, might be a deterrent from actually getting it done.

On the other hand, if I did put the project space behind the lift, 2 of my 8 vehicles, both rock crawlers, could easily be able to drive over the lift, and park in that space for storage. But I couldn't do that for trailers, etc obviously.

What did you do? Are you happy? Why? Why not?

Lift in the front of the bay:

Or, lift at the back of the bay:

 

[Chuckster in NJ]

I vote for the "front" of the bay (first drawing) because most of your work will be in the front of the vehicle and you will have space for a rolling cart or engine lift PLUS when you are done working on the car you can do a "roll out" without cleaning up your tools or parts then do a return to the lift if needed.

BTW! I have a four post and this is how I have it set up so I can speak from experience.

 

[muckdp]

I vote for the "front" of the bay (first drawing) because most of your work will be in the front of the vehicle and you will have space for a rolling cart or engine lift PLUS when you are done working on the car you can do a "roll out" without cleaning up your tools or parts then do a return to the lift if needed.

BTW! I have a four post and this is how I have it set up so I can speak from experience.

Really good points. thanks.

 

[sweetk30]

if longer crew cab long beds the tail can hang out . found this out years ago in a shop in the middle of the winter and 12ft tall door up blowing snow in .

 

[MattRMagnum]

Question: Are the dimensions listed exterior dimensions, or interior? Is the garage finished? I think I would still agree with Chuckster, but how much usable space you have might not equal exterior dimensions, and might change my view.

 

[Jking24]

I vote for up front you can always raise it all the way up to gain floor space or back a trailer in to work on it. At least an open trailer. Also my opinion is any space between the lift and the door becomes dead space because as you said you need it clean/ clear to access the lift and being a owner of nine vehicles my self not including my race car. Even doing just regular maintenance is quite a frequent thing. Another point worth making is one of the benefits of having a drive on is how simple it is to throw a car in the air to glance at somthing so you definitely don't want to hinder that luxury

 

[Handyandy23]

I vote for the "front" of the bay (first drawing) because most of your work will be in the front of the vehicle and you will have space for a rolling cart or engine lift PLUS when you are done working on the car you can do a "roll out" without cleaning up your tools or parts then do a return to the lift if needed.

BTW! I have a four post and this is how I have it set up so I can speak from experience.

I agree with all of this. You might be inclined to leave junk in the project space, but the other way you don't want to be forced to move a trailer or a project midway just to access the lift.

 

[muckdp]

Question: Are the dimensions listed exterior dimensions, or interior? Is the garage finished? I think I would still agree with Chuckster, but how much usable space you have might not equal exterior dimensions, and might change my view.

The building is actually a 40x100 exterior dimension building. But only 60 is ground level, the other 40 is elevated, and currently used for something else.

The second line on the right hand side is meant to take up 1ft of graph paper, which just roughly uses up the 6" wall thickness on the exterior of building. The building is not finished yet, but will be soon. Insulation, plywood walls, electrical, etc.

I placed the order for the lift today. Rotary 14k. Will be here in a few weeks.

 

[muckdp]

I vote for up front you can always raise it all the way up to gain floor space or back a trailer in to work on it. At least an open trailer. Also my opinion is any space between the lift and the door becomes dead space because as you said you need it clean/ clear to access the lift and being a owner of nine vehicles my self not including my race car. Even doing just regular maintenance is quite a frequent thing. Another point worth making is one of the benefits of having a drive on is how simple it is to throw a car in the air to glance at somthing so you definitely don't want to hinder that luxury

Yep, this makes sense, and is why my original plan was to put it up front... I got second thoughts today as I was laying things out, but I think I'm now back on that track for the reasons you described. A lot of the benefit is being able to just quickly throw something up there, so I think I'd be setting myself up for failure by leaving all the dead space between the door and the rack.

 

[LifeLongWNYer]

I am watching this with interest. I'm planning a building approximately the same size, and am thinking about putting my lift at the back ( away from the OH doors), about 10-12' from the rear wall.

Many of my lift projects seem to take a bit of time, so if the lift is at the rear, I still have space at the OH door to run in vehicles for quick jobs.




.

 

[king nero]

Another vote for in the front. Mine's in the back, with a weekend car parked on it, and I've changed my oil of my DD again on ramps because I didn't want to move the weekend car outside because it rained (not a garage queen, but just polished and waxed and did not want to put her in the rain).

If you got 8 vehicles to maintain, I'd say that's about 1x per month you're going to use the lift (8x per year, probably not during winter), meaning you'll have to clear out the space in front every month ? That's going to **** real soon.

 

[infinkc]

my vote is for the front, you could raise the lift and park an even longer car under it if needed. It would piss me off every time to move stuff out of the way if it was in the back. for the reason for your trailer to work in the shade, you still have the no slab area to do that.

 

[glentre]

I also agree with the majority that the front location is the best for the reasons mentioned. You haven't said but you probably have your work bench and tool cabinets on the rear wall so that 15 ft of project space in the drawing is probably much less. Both of my four post lifts are in the front near the doors and i do not regret having chosen that location.

Glen

 

[slowTA]

I have a 32x50 with the overhead doors on the 32 foot end (10 and 16 foot wide doors). I put my lift in the back because I wanted to fit 3 cars wide by the doors, the back needs to fit a trailer, the lift, and a work bench. Also, I usually back in so pulling an engine wouldn't leave me pinched up against the back wall. Backing in seems easier to me because it's easier to crack the door open and see where your tires are on the runway... or even easier if you have a backup camera!

In this picture the 16 foot wide door is on the right and there is room to drive onto the lift.

 

[LifeLongWNYer]

Okay, thanks for the info, I've decided to place the lift at the opposite side of the building from the overhead doors.

Now for the details.... Presuming a 2-post asymmetrical lift, how far from the back wall should I place the center of the lift posts?




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[nadogail]

IMHO, the lift should be placed in the floor.

 

[PhantomEB]

Definitely keep the lift closer to the door, maybe 2’ in for walk around room.

 

[ormachine]

Where to place the lift? What is the longest vehicle you plan to put on the lift? What type of vehicle is it? WHERE is CENTER of balance for most difficult vehicle going on the lift?

Answer these questions & you will probably get an idea of where your lift has to be.


Don't forget to figure in an OPEN overhead door in relation to a vehicle on the lift.

Each individual will have a different answer due to different vehicles/ garages.

Hope this helped.