Mid-rise lift thoughts

[Mike65]

I am looking at two mid-rise lifts, one is a 7000TL 110V Quick Jack by BendPak, the second one is a TMGALS61 6000Lb by TMG Industrial from British Columbia, Canada. Anyone have any insight or concerns for either one? Probably going to pull the trigger & get one next year, probably Spring time. Both say they will lift a car, SUV or light truck. So it should work for my 69 Mustang, my wife's 21 Bronco Sport & my 05 F150 2WD.

 

[472scout]

Those scissors lifts like the TMG look like they would block doing all types of work like exhaust and transmission. The Bendpak is fairly light so you can easily store it on or against a wall. So that would be my pick assuming it is built well.

That said, I wouldn't spend the money on either of them. Jack stands don't take any time at all to set up once you get good at it and for oil changes ramps work great for my vehicles.

 

[The Metric System]

Of the two, I would go for the Quick Jack because the lack of center access on the TMG would potentially make it unusable for transmission/driveline/exhaust or similar work.

The 24" lift on the Quick Jack would be a hassle more of the time, but it probably wouldn't flat-out prevent me from doing any particular job.

If you space and budget permits it, even a residential-grade post lift like a Max Jax will give a whole additional universe of utility and ease vs any of the scissor/parallel style lifts.

 

[Jagmandave]

I have a no-name mid rise lift and it works great for my front drive cars, saves my back. I don't think a 24" quick jack would be good for much more than oil changes and tire rotations. I need to get the car up higher than that. But as noted it does restrict what you can do down the middle of the car. However for my cars it's been terrific, since most all of my work is at one end or the other of the car, and those areas are completely unrestricted.

If you think exhaust or gearbox/clutch work is in your future I would buy a MaxJax if you have a ceiling height issue or a 2 post if you don't.

Since you're in Va, I don't think I would consider buying something made in Canada right now due to tariff costs.

 

[mikegt4]

My son has a mid rise lift (Norco 86002) that was gifted to him by his employer after it sat inoperable for years. I found that someone had replaced the power switch and mis-wired the connections, 1 minute fix. It now resides in my garage until he has room for it in his. It is identical to the TMGALS61 6000Lb by TMG Industrial lift that the OP is looking at. Many places sell the same China made lift under dozens of brands.
My opinion on similar style mid rise lifts after using it for about 5 years is that they are good for wheel, brake and suspension work but not much else. No driveline or engine work with the exception of a front wheel drive transverse engine. Most vehicles will require some sort of ramp and runway system to raise the vehicle high enough to straddle the lift. A good point is that they don't take up much space and vehicles can park over top them.

 

[Mike65]

I am going to be 68 years old next month & I do not see any engine/transmission work to be done by me anymore. I am looking at it for oil changes, trans services, brake work & tire rotations.

 

[pfbz]

The QJ is good, and I use it frequently, but far from perfect. And pretty expensive for what it is... I desperately wish I had the right layout for a two post service lift, but make do with the QJ. Far better than jacks and jack stands!

 

[mike93lx]

Lots of posts here on the quick jack, so searching would be worthwhile.

Each side of the quick jack weighs 100 lbs... They are hard to move around. I rarely use mine, but every time I do, I feel it.

 

[txvwnut]

I have used a Quick Jack a couple of times and didn't really care for it. Was kind of fiddley to get it set up then it really didn't lift much higher than a floor jack. I've got two Snapon mid-rise scissor lifts and love them. I've done several clutch and transmission jobs on them, you just have to think outside of the box to make it happen. Pretty much any mid-rise scissor will lift 48 inches where the QJ only goes 24 inches maybe.

 

[Mike65]

Thanks for the input everyone.

 

[Colin Len]

IMO, these two options are apples and oranges.

If you need ultimate flexibility and willing to deal with very low lift heights, then go with the Quick Jack. I would not call it "mid rise" at all, it's more of a low rise. I have one and it's been great but I really only use it for one car where any other lifting method is tough. But I rarely use it for any of our other cars. When I work on those it's usually just faster and easier to use a normal jack and stands. Although portable, the Quick Jack is quite heavy. It's not fun hauling it around and getting it setup. I'm only 42 and fairly fit and I hate dealing with it. I suspect at nearly 70 I'd have very little interest in moving those damn frames around. But if you have a small garage and need to store the frames off the ground to retain workshop space, then it can be a great option.

The TMG one will give you much higher lift heights and likely be more stable and easy to setup. Specifically, I imagine you'd want to just store it on the ground all the time, leaving it in place and just parking a car over it. If you have the room to do this so that you don't have to move it or set it up, then this is 100% your better option. Personally, my garage is so small that I can't have a lift sitting there all the time, plus the car I park in the garage is too low to clear it anyway.

 

[CraigStu]

I wouldn't even consider a lift that goes up 24". I worked as a dealer tech for 25 yrs and the key to getting tires back on is to be able to get them up to chest height, so your back is straight, and have the lift set to match the lugs to the wheels. Putting tires back on a car that has the lugs at 24" or so is going to kill your back. I guess doing brake work would be OK at 24" if you are sitting on a stool.