Maxjax Installs: Post Here

[anaxagoras]

it's a long story, but basically whoever made the plans F*$%'ed up and while the house was being built the ceiling was sagging so the beams were put in as afterthoughts. It's basically holding up the 2nd story floor. The garage was supposed to be one big door.

Anyways in the other picture you can see another beam, and how that one ties into it and some more poles.

 

[G-force]

That beam would make a great engine hoist point.

 

[anaxagoras]

That beam would make a great engine hoist point.

hmmm, you know i never thought of that, but that's a damn good idea.

 

[ovilla]

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

Just some ideas for using your I-Beam as an engine hoist.

Get a side door opener like a Liftmaster 3800 ($300-$350). Then get an electric I-Beam roller from HF. It will come with a plate that you can bolt a HF electric hoist to it. With these two you can then hit a button to raise an engine (or cargo from a truck bed) and then you can hit another button to move it for or aft as needed. These two items can be had for about $200-$300 if you wait for HF sales.

Anyway, your install looks great and don't ever worry about a dirty/messy garage. Pretty garagaes with plastic tile floors look great but people hardly ever work in them. It's a dirty garage (like yours and mine too) that will actually be more fun in the long run.

 

[anaxagoras]

any idea how much a lift master can lift? I don't want to try and hoist a fully dressed engine and have the thing burst into flames.

 

[thefirebuilds]

 

[thefirebuilds]

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.

i loosen the bolts and then use an air butterfly to spin them out. Just dont use a hammering tool like an impact gun and you wont wreck the floor or the wejits.

 

[thefirebuilds]

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 ??

5 bolts actually, and the way the base of the jack is set up it sort of levers against the front foot of the unit. I am a little leary myself but it seems very stable. Sometimes I get down on my hands and knees and verify that the back of the jack is still flush with the ground and not prying away

 

[Junkman]

If you are concerned with the anchors pulling loose, then install small magentic carpenters levels on the posts. If your posts are level when installed, even a slight change at the bottom will be reflected in the levels when mounted at the top.

 

[G-force]

Has anyone notice any fluid leaks at the base of your cylinders?

 

[FlameOut]

I've had my MaxJax for over 2 months now, and it was just sitting in my current (tiny) garage awaiting it's new home in my new 28 x 34.

Well, I got impatient, so gave it a temporary home in the old garage. I really don't have room to do much, but installation was a breeze and it works great!!

Oh, and of course it was raining and dark when I took the photos. I just finished the installation about an hour ago





I know the old garage is a mess, so I had to include a shot of the new one (the old is is right to the left of this photo)

 

[bazar01]

Has anyone notice any fluid leaks at the base of your cylinders?

I did on one column. I took out the hydraulic cylinder and tighten the fittings once more. No more leak at the cylinder rod port connection.

 

[PCW]

I installed my Maxjax today. It was a smooth install and took about 2/12 hours from start to finish. All the drop in bolts held below the surface at 100lbs of torque and the concrete was a little over 4" deep.

I placed magnetic levels on the posts, bleed the the system and the arms lifted even from the first lift. Put the STI on and lifted even and smooth. Both levels kept dead even all the way to the top. My spacing was 125" for the first layout and 130" for the second layout. Very happy with the overall quality of the lift. It was delivered in good shape and all the parts were there and accounted for.

PCW

 

[LWW]

That beam would make a great engine hoist point.

That is EXACTLY what I was thinking! That would make pulling engines in and out totally easy.

Mine came home today and I was greeted by my very excited fan club!

 

[LWW]

any idea how much a lift master can lift? I don't want to try and hoist a fully dressed engine and have the thing burst into flames.

The LiftMaster is to replace the garage door opener, it's not an engine hoist.

Here's the thread that talks about the iDrive, LM3800 and ZAP garage door openers:

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=36693&highlight=3800

 

[wachuko]

Let's see if this works... let's try again then with the link

www.youtube.com/watch?v=dV4OjDBGmko

 

[Nick-NY]

Mine came home today and I was greeted by my very excited fan club!

Just Curious, When did you order yours?

 

[LWW]

It was on the 20th. It took several days for me to extract my trailer from the cold dead hands of my brother-in-law so I could get down to the depot and pick it up. I'm too cheap to spring for the lift gate service!

 

[LWW]

I now have a serious dilemma...

I started the install of my MaxJax Sunday morning, inventoried everything, assembled the columns, the pump caddy, hydraulic lines... everything was going smoothly...

I had a friend over to help with the heavy lifting and to help with drilling the holes for one column while I drilled the holes for the other...

Seems like his hammer drill "walked" before it took a bite on two of the holes... The center hole in the back is about 1/8" off center and one hole on the side is about 1/4" off center...

I plan to call Danmar tomorrow and see if the engineers have any suggestions to offer to get me out of this dilemma. The last thing I want to do is jack hammer my garage floor and pour a new pad...

I'm hoping I can either re-drill the holes, fill the vacancy with cement epoxy and replace the anchors or one other possibility is to "open" the holes on the base with a file or my plasma cutter just enough to get the bolt to clear the anchor with the washers providing enough coverage to hold the base plate down.

Anyone have any other suggestions?

 

[ItBurnsWhenIPee]

I now have a serious dilemma...

I started the install of my MaxJax Sunday morning, inventoried everything, assembled the columns, the pump caddy, hydraulic lines... everything was going smoothly...

I had a friend over to help with the heavy lifting and to help with drilling the holes for one column while I drilled the holes for the other...

Seems like his hammer drill "walked" before it took a bite on two of the holes... The center hole in the back is about 1/8" off center and one hole on the side is about 1/4" off center...

I plan to call Danmar tomorrow and see if the engineers have any suggestions to offer to get me out of this dilemma. The last thing I want to do is jack hammer my garage floor and pour a new pad...

I'm hoping I can either re-drill the holes, fill the vacancy with cement epoxy and replace the anchors or one other possibility is to "open" the holes on the base with a file or my plasma cutter just enough to get the bolt to clear the anchor with the washers providing enough coverage to hold the base plate down.

Anyone have any other suggestions?

I'd drill out the holes both on the lift and in the floor and then go get bigger bolts/anchors for those holes.

 

[Junkman]

Re: MaxJax Installs: Post Here

I would not modify the holes in the base, and I would suggest that you enlarge the two holes that are lightly off center, and set the anchors with a high strength epoxy specifically for that purpose. I drilled some holes in concrete piers to set threaded steel rods to hold the bases for my deck posts. The next day, I tightened them down and torqued them to 200 PSI, and they didn't pull out. The epoxy that I used was purchased at an industrial supply house and is for holding studs in concrete that hold very large machinery. Keep in mind that the holding of the anchors with epoxy is only as good as the concrete that the epoxy comes in contact with. If your floor concrete is of poor quality, this will not work for you.

 

[FoMoCo_Mofo]

Miatas, Minis and STIs?!?!?!?

When are you guys going to really start testing the limits of your MaxJax

65 Buick Riviera (4310lbs)

I am going to be throwing a `58 Lincoln Continental on my lift this weekend (4888lbs)

 

[wachuko]

Miatas, Minis and STIs?!?!?!?

When are you guys going to really start testing the limits of your MaxJax

65 Buick Riviera (4310lbs)

I am going to be throwing a `58 Lincoln Continental on my lift this weekend (4888lbs)

Do yourself a favor and get one of those pneumatic round seat mechanic stools... perfect for these lifts and will save your knees...

 

[cw_racefan]

I've had my ~5000lb Chevy Tahoe on mine.

Miatas, Minis and STIs?!?!?!?

When are you guys going to really start testing the limits of your MaxJax

65 Buick Riviera (4310lbs)

I am going to be throwing a `58 Lincoln Continental on my lift this weekend (4888lbs)

 

[heathy]

Re: MaxJax Installs: Post Here

What was the name of the epoxy you used?

 

[FoMoCo_Mofo]

Do yourself a favor and get one of those pneumatic round seat mechanic stools... perfect for these lifts and will save your knees...

Yeah, I use a Ranger stool from BendPak, but that is my friend mike, who likes to do things the hard way...He's young and dumb.

 

[LWW]

Re: MaxJax Installs: Post Here

I would not modify the holes in the base, and I would suggest that you enlarge the two holes that are lightly off center, and set the anchors with a high strength epoxy specifically for that purpose. I drilled some holes in concrete piers to set threaded steel rods to hold the bases for my deck posts. The next day, I tightened them down and torqued them to 200 PSI, and they didn't pull out. The epoxy that I used was purchased at an industrial supply house and is for holding studs in concrete that hold very large machinery. Keep in mind that the holding of the anchors with epoxy is only as good as the concrete that the epoxy comes in contact with. If your floor concrete is of poor quality, this will not work for you.

Well, "lightly off-center" may be an understatement...

One side hole is off by about 3/8" and the center hole in the back is off like 1/4"...

Work has been crazy the last couple of days, so I haven't had a chance to follow-up with Danmar... Hopefully tomorrow morning...

 

[amishman]

Mine is now installed. I am excited and it works great!

tj

 

[wachuko]

Congratulations!!

 

[TRex-Dannmar]

tj,

Congrats on the new lift!

Btw, thanks for using the image uploader on the MaxJax website...

http://www.maxjaxusa.com/images.html

Posted your pictures today. =)

Tyler
Dannmar

 

[amishman]

tj,

Congrats on the new lift!

Btw, thanks for using the image uploader on the MaxJax website...

http://www.maxjaxusa.com/images.html

Posted your pictures today. =)

Tyler
Dannmar

Very cool. Thanks.

tj

 

[weicm3]

One question to all you who got the lift installed and running. When you put the lift back on, do you always torque to 100 ft.lbs?

Or is 100 ft.lbs just the initial installation torque spec. to set the drop-in anchor in place. For later install, should I tighten bolts less than 100 ft.lbs.? I'm worried if I'll be pulling anchors up everytime I torque it to 100 ft.lbs.

 

[snorky18]

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

My dad was in the shop one day laughing at me trying to loosen a bolt with a wrench while laying on a creeper. I kept moving the creeper across the floor instead of loosening the bolt. He called it "working in space".

Don't know why I didn't use an impact

 

[ArthurPE]

reference the anchor question:
the anchors more or less locate the lift...most of the force is downward, only a small % is inward or forward/rearward (moment) trying to pull (tension) or slice (shear) the anchors...

most is inward trying to slide (shear) the pad outward...inside bolts in shear
outside has tension, lifting...

PD58 specs in good concrete ~3000psi
tension (working) 3700 lbs (3.7 kip)
ultimate 14800 lbs (~15 kip)

shear (working) 2970 lbs (3 kip)
ultimate 11880 (~12 kip)

if the anchors are installed correctly in good concrete and the car is pretty well centered, the loads are only a small fraction of the working ratings...it ain't goin' nowhere
it's over engineered, in my book over=well when it comes to things like these...

as far as the load on the concrete:
let's say the pads are 10" x 10" ~ 100 in^2 (they are larger)
and you load it with 2500 lb per side, let's call it 3000 with the lifts own wt

3000 lb/100 in^2 ~ 30 psi, the compressive strength of average concrete is 3000 psi
not an issue...

 

[LWW]

Arthur,

I'm not sure this answered the question, which was: Do you have to re-torque the bolts to 100 ft/lbs EVERY TIME you "re-install" the lift after having dis-assembled it?

I've been re-torquing every time. If this isn't necessary, it'll save me a lot of time exercising my torque wrench...

reference the anchor question:
the anchors more or less locate the lift...most of the force is downward, only a small % is inward or forward/rearward (moment) trying to pull (tension) or slice (shear) the anchors...

most is inward trying to slide (shear) the pad outward...inside bolts in shear
outside has tension, lifting...

PD58 specs in good concrete ~3000psi
tension (working) 3700 lbs (3.7 kip)
ultimate 14800 lbs (~15 kip)

shear (working) 2970 lbs (3 kip)
ultimate 11880 (~12 kip)

if the anchors are installed correctly in good concrete and the car is pretty well centered, the loads are only a small fraction of the working ratings...it ain't goin' nowhere
it's over engineered, in my book over=well when it comes to things like these...

as far as the load on the concrete:
let's say the pads are 10" x 10" ~ 100 in^2 (they are larger)
and you load it with 2500 lb per side, let's call it 3000 with the lifts own wt

3000 lb/100 in^2 ~ 30 psi, the compressive strength of average concrete is 3000 psi
not an issue...

 

[amishman]

One question to all you who got the lift installed and running. When you put the lift back on, do you always torque to 100 ft.lbs?

Or is 100 ft.lbs just the initial installation torque spec. to set the drop-in anchor in place. For later install, should I tighten bolts less than 100 ft.lbs.? I'm worried if I'll be pulling anchors up everytime I torque it to 100 ft.lbs.

I had my pro installed and the guy told me, 85 foot pounds.

So, I wonder what it supposed to be,

tj

 

[ArthurPE]

re: re-setting torque...

I'm not sure, they don't mention it on the wej-it or simpson websites...

knowing how they work though, I would think you to torque to spec, in this case 90-95 lbs...

these are usually single use fasteners, set it, torque it, and leave it alone...
it's the tension that gives it a proportion of its strength, the other from the 'wedge' expanding a collar, which is driven into the hole sides by the wedge/tension...

 

[bazar01]

One question to all you who got the lift installed and running. When you put the lift back on, do you always torque to 100 ft.lbs?

Or is 100 ft.lbs just the initial installation torque spec. to set the drop-in anchor in place. For later install, should I tighten bolts less than 100 ft.lbs.? I'm worried if I'll be pulling anchors up everytime I torque it to 100 ft.lbs.

My theory here is that the 100 ft-lbs is the initial setting to make sure the concrete compressive strength will hold the anchor and will not break up or loosen the anchor. (due to low concrete quality).
Once it is set, the load will be carried by the cross-sectional area of all the threads that are engaged to both the anchor and the bolt. Imagine the bolt getting stripped by the pulling action due to the moments at the base. This is the shear stress on the threaded fastener due to tension on the bolt. It will require tons to strip the bolt if we calculate the shear stress. And to think there are five anchors. The anchors will pull out first before the bolts get stripped.

I use 70-80 ft-lbs just enough to keep the base stable.

 

[texmln]

I just got mine up last week and put the daughter's car up for the inaugural run... you never know!

I set the posts at 130" and will be lifting a 2008 Tundra DC, 2007 Suburban, 2004 BMW X5, 2002 VW Passat and a 2002 BMW 325 wagon. The Passat went up without a problem with the secondary arms about 3/4 extended.

I bought mine from an online retailer and everything went smoothly. It was delivered to the Con-way terminal in Dallas and Con-way went out of their way to help me get this awkward unit in my truck... we broke it down on the ramp and layed the columns (still in the shipping frame) on their side on a pallet to fork it in easier. Unloading the individual parts was no problem and the columns were an easy two man job.

I've seen some other posts about trouble with the rotary hammer 'walking' a bit when drilling out the pilot holes. I switched my hammer drill to 'drill only' and hit the pilot holes with the bit spinning moderately. I found doing this for the first 1/2 to 3/4 inch kept the bit from 'walking' and gave me a good lead in. After that I turned the hammer back on it was trouble free all the way to 5.5 inches. I found my slab to be 5-6 inches for each hole. All anchors went in nicely and all 10 pulled up to set at about 1/2 inch below the slab.

All in all, I am very pleased with the MaxJax! Glad I bought it.

 

[Justin311]

Re: 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

Hey, what part of Maryland are you in? I'm in AA county and looking at a maxjax alongside a couple other brands You 100% happy so far?