mid rise lifts

[DaveL.]

Due to my low cieling height (9 ') I'm considering a mid rise lift for tire rotations,oil changes,etc. I do quite a few oil changes and I'm getting tired of those Rhino ramps. Here are some examples I've been looking at.
http://eagleequip.com/page/EE/PROD/LI-LM/601-001
http://www.toolsusa.com/viewitem.asp?item=PBE+9RG+MD-6XP&cat=jacks&trackcode=Inktomi
http://www.americasprideonline.com/Mid-Rise-Lifts/-7007-1-16-.ViewProduct
http://rotarylift.com/library/post/marketingMaterials/151.pdf

I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions,ideas,advice....

Thanks...Dave

 

[mikeyr]

LOVE IT... MD-6XP LOVE IT

I got mine from Garage Equipment Supply ( http://www.gesusa.com/product_info.isg?products_id=165 ) and its $1501 there BUT includes free shipping within the USA. One of your links listed it at $1499 PLUS shipping, I can guarantee you shipping will be more than the $2 difference

Its a wonderful lift, it moves around easy, can move it into the driveway to work on the wifes car (or a friends car but look out once your friends know you have one). I have a car trailer and have even hauled it once to a friends house to work on his Mustangs suspension. Its about 1,000lbs so not the easiest thing to get onto a trailer as the wheels on it are rather small.

Although I would think suspension work is the primary reason people get this, in my case the car on it is down the bare frame and I love not having to bend over all day and break my back working on it, I lift the frame up to a comfortable working height, same thing when I get to the body work, no bending. Well built too. I have several pics if you need but you get the idea.

 

[kartracer55]

Ditch the Rhino ramps!!! Even if you dont get a lift...buy a floor jack and some good jack stands. Ramps are an accident waiting to happen. My dad had one shoot out from under the car when he was younger, and got rid of them. Dont even put the on the side of the road or out on junk day... cut them up and get rid of them. They are nothing but dangerous.

Jim

 

[DaveL.]

mikeyr - thanks for the advice. I like the idea of mobility in the shop rather than having something bolted to the floor. Does your lift have some sort of safety locks?
Any pictures you have would be great.

Jim - I've got plenty of jackstands and Aluminum floor jacks. The problem I have is when changing oil on several of my cars the placement of the jackstands under the control arm mounting area interfere's with the placement of the drain pan when removing the filter. I'm limited on where I can place jackstands on some of these unibody cars. Its not like my Corvette with a full frame. The ramps just don't get the cars high enough. I burned the $*@/ out of my arm last weekend on the daughters car down pipe.

Dave

 

[mikeyr]

Yes, it has stops, it has 4 built in stops, so somewhere around 12", 24", 36" and 48" are the stops, I have never measured them. Actually that last one can't be 48' since the highest the lift goes, so it must be around 46" or 47".

in this pic, you can't see the md-6xp lift, my wife and I are in front of it but trust me that car is not that tall normally, just finished putting in the motor and that lift helped out quite a bit as its a tight fit. The other 3 pics I took this afternoon in my garage, you can see the bare frame I was talking about, its nice to work at a comfortable height. The last pic shows the stops.

 

[69lkmno]

Check out http://www.kwiklift.com/ I heard a lot of good reviews regarding this lift at other sites.

 

[krooser]

TC, huh? A coffin on four harps as we used to call 'em. Too bad I'm too fat to drive 'em anymore!

 

[mikeyr]

A TC ? I just searched the entire thread and didn't find any mention of a TC, I have to assume that you just insulted my car by calling it a MG TC (that is HUMOR folks, nothing wrong with a TC if you are into MG's that is)

Anyway, nope, certainly not a TC, it is way too old to be a TC and not even a MG, the green car under the 4-post lift is a 1934 Singer 1.5Litre 4 Seater Sports and the car on the mid-rise is a 1934 Singer Le Mans.

Back to the subject, I too like the quicklift and seriously thought about it but mid-rise is only a few hundred more and much more versatile.

 

[DaveL.]

THANK YOU>

Thanks Mike! That looks like a very nice unit. I appreciate the photos. Now I need to take my findings to the finance minister (wife).

Dave

 

[stioc]

Ramps are an accident waiting to happen. My dad had one shoot out from under the car when he was younger, and got rid of them.
Jim

Anything can be an accident waiting to happen. I've heard of people dying after hitting their heads on the sidewalk while out on a morning jog

The Rhino ramps I have are rated for 10000lbs (that's more than what most of the two post lifts are rated for). They're made out of plastic not metal so chances are they won't rust and weaken. They also have built-in bump stops at the top where the tires rest so they won't shoot out from underneath - unless you didn't back the car up all the way to the top.

In fact, I feel more comfortable with the car on these ramps than I do with the jack stands. Unfortunately they're not high enough to be useful for big jobs like clutches etc so I'm stuck using jack stands. I'm so afraid of working under the cars on jack stands that I always throw a wheel or two under the car in case the jack stands slip or break

 

[krooser]

A TC ? I just searched the entire thread and didn't find any mention of a TC, I have to assume that you just insulted my car by calling it a MG TC (that is HUMOR folks, nothing wrong with a TC if you are into MG's that is)

Anyway, nope, certainly not a TC, it is way too old to be a TC and not even a MG, the green car under the 4-post lift is a 1934 Singer 1.5Litre 4 Seater Sports and the car on the mid-rise is a 1934 Singer Le Mans.

Back to the subject, I too like the quicklift and seriously thought about it but mid-rise is only a few hundred more and much more versatile.

Well...you've got to admit that Singer's aren't exactly as common as TC's....Sorry for the mixup...

 

[krooser]

My no-brother-good-in-law from across the street refuses to even be IN the shop when I have a car on the lift....he's skeered....

 

[jeostang]

Man I love this site.

That MD 6 looks like a nice lift. Can you leave it in place and just drive over it while your not using it? Is it pretty safe?

 

[Aahz]

As a lift salesman...I'll throw my two cents into this thread......I have a few "short-rise" lifts available that are used, btw...if anyone is interested. They are not portable, need to be bolted to the concrete, rise is 22".....godd for tires and brakes, not much else. $600.00 each is what we're asking...pick them up in Chicagoland....

The things to look for in a short rise or mid-rise lift are 1.) Drive over height 2.) Safety features
I've seen some of these things that are close to 5" tall....not bad for trucks, but cars tend to be a problem. Bend Pak's unit isn't bad....and I would recommend them over some of the others that are out there, but first choice is always going to be a Rotary Lift.
No matter whose you buy, doing oil changes or under chassis work is still going to be an issue. That frame is a bit bulky on all of them. (Not to say it won't work, it's just not the same as having a clear floor to work with.)
Just my two cents....

 

[mikeyr]

yes, you can leave them in place and drive over them, have to be careful to center the car but nothing can be hurt if you miss and drive on the ramp.

 

[jeostang]

What do you guys do when you have to change the ******? Are there any midlifts that are open in the middle?

 

[mikeyr]

What do you guys do when you have to change the ******? Are there any midlifts that are open in the middle?

none that I know of, look in the pics earlier in this thread, that is why the 4-post is there for ****** work (ok I had to brag ) Seriously I don't think their are any midlifts for ****** work.

 

[Mike F]

Well, that all depends on your car. I bought a Bend Pak MD 6XP and can drop engine and ****** with no problem. Lots of guys with 911's use these type of lifts. Then again, we have rear engine cars. For front and mid engine cars I can't see any way to work on a ******.

 

[Wolverine]

I would love a mid-rise lift. HOWEVER, I have yet to figure out how long it would last sitting in a pool of water winter after winter after winter from the snow/ice melt from a car?

I only have a 2 car garage and I would NOT be able to "hide" the lift from the effects of winter!


...... any recommendations?

 

[Mike F]

Here are a couple of options for using a mid-rise lift. Personally, I use the ramp method, but if I were able to, I'd certainly go for the in-ground. A friend of mine has a 11/2" lip around his in-ground setup and has 3/4" ply that he uses to cover things up when needed. This would offer enough protection against snow and some water.
By the way, neither of these are mine, just representative of some possibilities.