Maxjax Installs: Post Here

[G-force]

*pictures below*

Well since it seems everyone is getting there lifts up and running I thought it would be good to have a dedicated Maxjax picture post for all the different installs.

I am leaving soon to go get my ATF fluid so I can get my lift bled tonight and hopefully post some pictures.

I mounted my posts at 125" from outside edge to outside edge. I will be lifting a 2008 Tacoma, 2008 FJ Cruiser, 1990 VW Cabriolet, 1951 International Pickup along with a Harley, a couple quads and my Kubota CUT.

I think I will need an extra set of pad extensions for the 1951.

 

[Junkman]

Re: MaxJax Installs: Post Here

I asked Gabe about extending the hight of the pads, and he said that he will have to first check with engineering to make sure that it will not cause any undesirable effect. The higher that you go with the pad pins, the greater the chance of twisting the arms.

 

[PowerDubs]

Re: MaxJax Installs: Post Here

One spot in the manual says you can stack to 9 inch, another place says don't go more than 6....

 

[Junkman]

The manual proof reader didn't do a good job....

 

[G-force]

I got everything bled and working. It took 8 qts of ATF rather than the 7 qts the manual stated. It lifted nice and even and had minimal air to bleed out. The install was done by myself from start to finish.

Danmar customer service was great through the whole process. I had some items damaged during shipping and Gabe sent out replacements right away, free of charge with no questions asked.

 

[tatra]

hey junk, maybe you can answer this..........when you disconnect the hoses and put them away, the chances of air being reintoduced to the system when reconnected, neceesitate the rebleeding of the system?..........and hardly made a dent in the shop to even unload it...........damn i gotta stay focused and stop rockin to the tunes

 

[Junkman]

Re: MaxJax Installs: Post Here

Here is a picture of the hydraulic fitting. Because this is a flat faced full flow connector, it would be just about impossible to introduce air into the system with this design. I don't see air entrapment as being much of a problem for the future. The only place that I can see any air getting into the system is if you were to have cavitation in the pump itself, causing an aeration of the fluid. If that were the case, then you would have a defective pump.

 

[tatra]

that's what i kinda figured and was hoping to hear..........any body have any suggestions for this little dilema...........my floor isn't the best and i figured i would drill piers and box in a pad on top for the anchors.........this is pretty easy for me as i have an old dig-r-mobile post hole digger with 6,8and 10 inch augers with the capability to go down 7 feet, which may be the thing to do as far as frost goes, unheated floor and all..........so any suggestions are appreciated..........over engineered is okay with me but no need go to nuts either.........of course rebar will be part of the formula too, so i bow to the collective wisdom on here for guidance...........and no keying the pad underneath isn't a viable option safty wise...........as for concrete, depending on the amount i may buy from a supplier but alos have the capacity to mix my own too as my mixer is two years old and the old m250 is capable of at least a yard and a half of gravel...........won't get to this project for at lest two weeks if the weather holds..........or maybe until depeuty dawg pops back into town.............

 

[jrj3rd]

Happy Maryland Customer

Installation was quick and easy. Had to put it in wife's side of garage since concrete was bad on my side. Will pour new floor in next couple of months and redo.

Extremely happy with the lift. Just the ticket for a normal garage.

John

 

[Junkman]

Re: MaxJax Installs: Post Here

that's what i kinda figured and was hoping to hear..........any body have any suggestions for this little dilema...........my floor isn't the best and i figured i would drill piers and box in a pad on top for the anchors.........this is pretty easy for me as i have an old dig-r-mobile post hole digger with 6,8and 10 inch augers with the capability to go down 7 feet, which may be the thing to do as far as frost goes, unheated floor and all..........so any suggestions are appreciated..........over engineered is okay with me but no need go to nuts either.........of course rebar will be part of the formula too, so i bow to the collective wisdom on here for guidance...........and no keying the pad underneath isn't a viable option safty wise...........as for concrete, depending on the amount i may buy from a supplier but alos have the capacity to mix my own too as my mixer is two years old and the old m250 is capable of at least a yard and a half of gravel...........won't get to this project for at lest two weeks if the weather holds..........or maybe until depeuty dawg pops back into town.............

I am willing to offer advise on almost any subject that I have knowledge about, however, when it comes to advise where safety is a major concern, I will only advise that you get professional advise on the piers. There are too many variables to be considered, from the soil types to depths. What might work well here in CT, might not work at all in NV. Even mixing your own concrete might be fine if you know how to determine the strength from the mix formula, but if you just throw in some cement, sand, and stone, mix with water, and set in place, it might not be any better that what you already have. Junk..

 

[wachuko]

Here is what it looks like when you get it:

It weights 800-900lbs... so without a lift it is going no where...

For those getting ready... the instructions tells you that you will need 7 quarts of ATF fluid. That assumes that your bottles and hoses are full. So plan on using 9 quarts.

System needs to be bleed to get the air out. Easy to do, just follow the instructions. You will need to bleed it a couple of times to make sure you have all the air out...

Since I have a three car garage, I wanted to have the ability to use it in the single and in the double bay. You can ask for additional anchors when ordering the lift or you can buy them via the web...

The anchors are WEJ-IT® POWER-Drop - 7/8 x 3-13/16 (5/8 Internal thread) -
http://www.alliedbolt.com/wejit.html

I found serveral places on the web that sells them:

http://store.eberliron.com/products/wej_it_concrete_anchors/power_drop_drop_in_anchor

http://www.drillspot.com/products/43499/Wej-IT_PD-58_Drop-IN_Anchor

Another great suggestions is to also pour some epoxy for concrete before dropping the anchor and/or to fill any space on top of the anchor.

Specs on the anchors?

How apart to install the columns?

In the single bay I have mine at 115" (measured from the outside of the base). Getting out of the car is a tight fit. Moving the arms into position is also a tight fit... arms need to be all the way in and, depending on the car, I need to have someone in the car to move forward while I slide the arm in, and them backwards a little to slide the second arm in. Keep in mind that test cars were Porsche 911 ('83, '91, '02). Something with a longer wheel base will not be so much of an issue. I also took into consideration being able to close the garage door with the car on the lift, sounds stupid, but I just want to make sure you don't drill it with the right width only to find out that half the car is sticking out of the garage...

In the double bay I have them at 128" (again, measured from the outside of the base) and it works great... easy access to the lifting points, easy to open the doors, still within the 130" limit in the install manual for trucks (eventhough I am using it for smaller cars), and I can slide the arms in and out without having a second person moving the car around.

Electrical?? Be sure to have a 20amp outlet... you will trigger the 15amp breaker from time to time if you decide not to go with a 20amp setup.

Holes?

You really need to follow the directions on the drilling... after following the instructions all holes aligned perfectly. I made additional holes to swap the towers between the single bay and the double bay. It helps that the hole are symmetrical so turning the tower 180 degrees only requires drilling one more hole for that column.

I did used the shims on one column to make the distance at the bottom of the column and the top to be equal.

I also needed to cut some of the washers to make them fit the colums as some of the holes were to close to the welds...

Washers cut to fit...

Another useful thread:

http://garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=31570

I hope that helps.

This lift will get used a lot! Best purchase I have made, and coming from having a midrise lift, I really like not having all that metal under the car while working on it. The ability of getting back my garage space when I am done is also a major plus. Thank you Dannmar for giving us a two-post lift we can use in our low ceiling garages!!

 

[mbutler]

BTW, wachuko, the first link for anchors isn't the correct part number. That one
is for the WD-58, which is rather different from the PD-58. Far as I can tell, toolfetch
doesn't have the PD-58.

 

[wachuko]

BTW, wachuko, the first link for anchors isn't the correct part number. That one
is for the WD-58, which is rather different from the PD-58. Far as I can tell, toolfetch
doesn't have the PD-58.

Good catch. I removed the link.

I ordered mine from http://www.drillspot.com

 

[thefirebuilds]

testing placement

 

[accord driver]

This question goes out to Junkman and thefirebuilds, Just curious but it looks like both of you have adequate clearance for a small full size lift, what made you decide on the MaxJax? Again just curious as some of the others may wonder the same thing.

 

[thefirebuilds]

This question goes out to Junkman and thefirebuilds, Just curious but it looks like both of you have adequate clearance for a small full size lift, what made you decide on the MaxJax? Again just curious as some of the others may wonder the same thing.

We bought it due to its portability. We bought two sets of wej-its. What you can't see here is the other half of our shop which is better insulated and cheaper to heat in winter. This side of the shop is $350 to heat in the winter, the other is about $150, so our plan is to move the system over in the winter to our "warm storage" and allow this side to go cold. Due to the position in the sun and the way our roof is the other "half" of the shop is generally 10-20* hotter. Great in the winter, terrible in the summer

What is hard to convey is that our shop is in a constant state of flux, cars coming and going, so we needed the flexibility to move the lift and couldn't leave them permanently really...

 

[anaxagoras]

Another question for thefirebulds. I see you have a the 'bone' creeper how do you like it?

 

[thefirebuilds]

Another question for thefirebulds. I see you have a the 'bone' creeper how do you like it?

meh. sometimes it rolls too easily. Also there isn't a great place to rest your head and no place for tools. Save your money.

 

[G-force]

meh. sometimes it rolls too easily. Also there isn't a great place to rest your head and no place for tools. Save your money.

I have one too and I agree that sometimes it rolls too easy. I like mine personally and think it's worth the money compared to others on the market. Plus if you ever need to use it outside, even on gravel it rolls very smoothly.

 

[thefirebuilds]

I have one too and I agree that sometimes it rolls too easy. I like mine personally and think it's worth the money compared to others on the market. Plus if you ever need to use it outside, even on gravel it rolls very smoothly.

I am pretty claustrophic so laying completely prone on the floor is really hard. You lose all leverage with your bank flat out.

 

[thefirebuilds]

Here is what it looks like when you get it:

Mine came like this too. Cept the instructions were buried and although it was over a week ago my hand still hurts from the ram sliding and nearly breaking it.

My hydraulic pump cart was shipped "wheels up" and of course conway smashed that. They also smashed one of the wheels off the upright. All this stuff should have come in a box so i could install it, rather than getting it all broke on its way here.

 

[anaxagoras]

Mine came like this too. Cept the instructions were buried and although it was over a week ago my hand still hurts from the ram sliding and nearly breaking it.

My hydraulic pump cart was shipped "wheels up" and of course conway smashed that. They also smashed one of the wheels off the upright. All this stuff should have come in a box so i could install it, rather than getting it all broke on its way here.

I'll raise you're nearly broken hand with a busted a finger with 5 stitches on the knuckle of my middle finger from unpacking my maxjax. I'm lucky I didn't break it.

 

[G-force]

Mine came like this too. Cept the instructions were buried and although it was over a week ago my hand still hurts from the ram sliding and nearly breaking it.

My hydraulic pump cart was shipped "wheels up" and of course conway smashed that. They also smashed one of the wheels off the upright. All this stuff should have come in a box so i could install it, rather than getting it all broke on its way here.

Conway busted up my cart too. Gabe had to send out a replacement.

 

[G-force]

I'll raise you're nearly broken hand with a busted a finger with 5 stitches on the knuckle of my middle finger from unpacking my maxjax. I'm lucky I didn't break it.

Holy cow! Ouch!!

 

[tatra]

picked mine up on monday and my cart too has a bent axlw and a damaged wheel bracket on the upright also.........still on the back of the merc as weather and a twisted ankle prevented unloading at this time.........this weekend looks good for sat.......and it's a long weekend for the old biddy, the queens birthday.........will assemble and play with placement before pouring new piers and footings..........gotta buy a digital cam but last one i bought was **** and need some suggestions...........simple like me is best...........

 

[rustbucket49]

I'm an engineer by trade, but not a mechanical engineer - so not completely confident in the calculations of load on the mounting bolts that keep this thing from cratering in on itself (and me...). So my balls don't seem to be big enough to be crawling under one of these things with just 4 concrete anchors. Can one of you qualified engineer guys shed some light on the reliability of the mounting technique? Their website really doesn't speak about it.... OR, is there a link on the Garage Journal website that discusses this ??

 

[G-force]

One of the legs on the metal frame they bolt these to when shipping was bent out about 15 degrees right where it bolted to the post. Luckily no damage, but I was weary about having my foot under it should it decide to bend the rest of the way. I talked to Gabe about maybe re-thinking the way they ship, as it seems fairly unstable.

I found that if the axle on the motor cart is bent, it's easy to pound it straight with a rubber mallet. Unfortunately my first motor cart was completely twisted from impact while shipping. The replacement motor cart also came with a bent axle, but was easy enough to pound straight.

The shipping arrangement of parts should really be changed. Other than that, no major complaints here.

 

[anaxagoras]

I'm an engineer by trade, but not a mechanical engineer - so not completely confident in the calculations of load on the mounting bolts that keep this thing from cratering in on itself (and me...). So my balls don't seem to be big enough to be crawling under one of these things with just 4 concrete anchors. Can one of you qualified engineer guys shed some light on the reliability of the mounting technique? Their website really doesn't speak about it.... OR, is there a link on the Garage Journal website that discusses this ??

I have a friend who's an aerospace engineer and I asked his opinion before I ordered the thing, he said at least the anchor bolt calculations check out and they should be ok to handle the weight. He couldn't speak for the rest of the lift as there were no specs on it, but he seemed to think it would be ok... for what little that is worth.

 

[Gasket]

It was very top heavy, I was afraid it was going to tip over when they were loading it into the back of my truck. I was sweating the whole ride home because I was afraid it was going to tip even though I wedged a few pallets on the side to give it more support. The only casualty I had was one missing wheel and one broken wheel on the columns.

I also had a close call with the ram sliding. I was expecting it to be attached to the part that holds the lift arms. When I made the column upright for the first time, the ram slid nearly catching my fingers.

I ending up unpacking the MaxJax in the bed of my truck taking it apart piece by piece. It was fairly easy to get out as long as you have a helper to lay the columns on their side so the shipping frame could be removed.


<a href="http://s579.photobucket.com/albums/ss234/jzajac/?action=view&current=0422091942b.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i579.photobucket.com/albums/ss234/jzajac/0422091942b.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

 

[ColoradoBob]

I first tried to install mine in our detached garage. The concrete on one side was less than 4 inches, but after speaking with Gabe we decided to cautiously try it. The anchors seemed to torque up fine, but after lifting a 3300 pound car, the anchors on the 3 inch side pulled up flush with the floor and were loose, so obviously the concrete was not up to par. Yesterday I set up the unit in the house garage, which has 4 inch concrete throughout. No issues with the anchors and it seems to work great.
I did notice that the Dannmar instructions for installing the anchors is different than the manufacture's instructions, the basic difference being that the manufacturer's instructions call for a long bolt that is not turned when tightening and nut to pull up on the anchor (ie no torque on the anchor) versus using just a bolt. I used the manufacture's method without the lift in place and it worked well. This also allows you to verify that the anchor seated properly by checking that it seated well before getting flush with the floor. Had I used this technique on the first install, the anchor problem may have been obvious before putting weight on the lift.
Lesson learned: don't assume the anchors are ok because they torqued up under the lift base plate. Either remove the lift to check the anchors or use the manufacture's installation technique without the lift in place.

 

[tatra]

glad you brought the anchor method up........thats how i plan to install mine and to also use a stud when i set the posts up for use...........i feel that by using a stud bottomed out finger tight will allow for less stress on the anchor threads when tighteneing the hold down nut ..........

 

[rberga1]

The install went pretty smooth. I ended up buying a 6.9 amp Bosch Bulldog SDS Rotary Hammer Drill and SDS bits 5/8, 3/4, and 7/8. I first used the 5/8", then 3/4", and then 7/8". I wanted the holes to be perfectly circle so I made 1/8" increments. When I got to the 7/8" bit, in some holes I seemed to hit metal...it looked like I had some sort of rebar or something, but the metal rods or sheet wasnt as big as rebar. My cement was 4"-5" thick in some places, but I feel more secure now knowing that my concrete had some sort of rebar in it.

Some pics... I'm sooo stoked that I got a lift now!

 

[bazar01]

Here is mine on a tight 2-car garage.

I set my anchors without the lift by using the supplied bolt with a 1/4" thick washer until it torqued to the spec (100 ft-lbs) with the top of anchor below the concrete surface. I had 2 suspect anchors so I just drove them back into the ground and installed another anchor with epoxy. Waited for one hour then torqued to 50 ft-lbs. After 24 hours, torqued it again to 70 ft-lbs. It failed to torque over 70 ft-lbs, but I figure with 3 good anchors and 2 anchors at 70 ft-lbs, I am good.

 

[tatra]

just finished unloading and found i didn't receive my motorcycle adapters...........if you disassemble on the vehicle, more than easy enough to unload by yourself..........the uprights were more than manageble.........i did have help but wasn't necessary, imo..........have to do an inventory but that can wait til later...............watching the u tube video was helpful...........

 

[Junkman]

Re: MaxJax Installs: Post Here

Possibly some pirate stole your motorcycle adapter or it isn't included in the Canadian version.

 

[rustbucket49]

So you have to unbolt the columns when you want to store the lift?? Wish there was a "quick release" or different set-up to avoid having to retorque the anchors every time.

 

[tatra]

doubt anybody stole it, as the plastic wrap would've taken more than a sabre to get thru it.........gabe mentioned that i would be recieving the adapters as well........

 

[G-force]

I noticed today one of my cylinders seems to be leaking out the bottom very slowly. I'll check he pipe fittings, but I was pretty sure I sealed them up good.

Guess I have to pull the damn post out again.

 

[anaxagoras]

here's a shot of my install, ignore the fact that my garage is a total mess.

 

[Junkman]

What are you supporting above that you needed such large beams in the garage? Is the lolly column supporting a steel beam also? I have never seen a steel beam that one end was set over a garage door opening. What is giving that end of the beam its holding strength?