Parking Lift Car Storage Width Height HELP!!

[driverinmyhead]

I did a search. Several in fact...

In the process of buying a shop (Zoned Commercial). The size isn't ideal, but we all have to start somewhere.

Shop is 28' x 40'. It is Concrete block construction and has an upstairs. My question is about car storage. I currently have 5 classic/ old cars. The new shop is pretty much an over sized 4 car garage (whether you load them from the front or from the side).

Ideally, if I can install lifts the capacity would be increased to 4 + a decent sized shop/ work area that could fit 2 cars door handle to door handle for storage. I might be able to install a 2 car carport immediately, as well. That is a NON working capacity of 8 cars. Working capacity of 7.

My question is: what types of lifts do any of the GJ'rs have? I know they run about $2k apiece.

From my research they seem to range from 8 feet wide to 9 feet or so. Also read that 10' height is a minimum.

I am looking for pros and cons of different types, brands and am even open to different solutions...

Also, I am into different cars, but right now have a 1965 Mustang, 1967 Mustang, 1968 Pontiac Firebird, Vintage VW and a 1976 BMW 2002. Of course, weeks or months later I might have 5 + different cars...


Thanks in advance.

 

[rburke65]

Does the shop have only one door? That's not going to help your quest. I assume you are looking for 4 post lifts?

 

[Junkman]

What are your cars? Lifts are available in a variety of configurations. Getting them at the $2K each, might be more of a challenge, then the sizing.

 

[lakeroadster]

...
Shop is 28' x 40'. It is Concrete block construction and has an upstairs.

The shop you posted a photo of has "an upstairs"? Looks like a 10 ft ceiling in the photo?

 

[bmwpowere36m3]

Plan more for 12' in width for each lift.

 

[driverinmyhead]

Thanks,

rburke65: Going to cut another door in the end. That one door will be the "Shop" area.

junkman: Mostly American Muscle, some 50's battleships and the occasional 20's/30's Hot Rod or Foreign car.

lakeroadster: It has a mono-pitch roof (kinda like 1/2 a roof). Upstairs is narrow, but 7' ceiling.

bmwpowere36m3: Why 12 feet per lift?

The building is commercial. The plan is to use it as is for now (hold as many cars while still using a "Shop" area). Will be submitting preliminary plans to more than double the foot print and add a full flat roof 2nd story.

Need to double down on car storage, which is why I am looking for lift advice. BTW, just need the storage type lifts.


Thanks.

 

[scottmoyer]

The $2k price you're mentioning might get you some of the cheaper lifts that are questionable in quality. The Direct-Lift models can be had for a little bit more, but then you need to pick it up at the local distributor, if you have one. My Direct-Lift distributor is 3.5 hours away, so the cost for me to take the day off, drive there and back, is more than having them deliver it to a local warehouse for pickup. So, I would bank on $2500 each as a starting point and you may find yourself around $3k once you're done investigating manufacturers.

I also believe that the standard width of most that I was looking at was 103" - 120"

 

[Falcon67]

The cheapest 4 post from where I got my lift is $2600 unless you pick it up at the warehouse, then it's $2200 ($2199 but what's a dollar). Tt's a hair over 9' wide including the motor/pump according to the specs. You might could **** them side by said, post to post but I kinda doubt it - hence the 10~12' spacing.

You don't have a location in your profile, if you did someone close might have a recommendation.

https://www.derekweaver.com/rodders...ro-park-8-standard-certified-4-post-car-lift/

 

[driverinmyhead]

Thanks.

I close on the property sometime in July. Still weighing options.

Lifts seem cheaper than a big carport (with permits).

 

[firebirdparts]

Two post lifts are a lot more convenient for work and they're wide, like 10 feet. They tend to be cheaper also. 4 posters don't really appeal to me, but you can drive on. They're a bit narrower. Some people don't fix them to the floor, but that is pretty risky.

 

[driverinmyhead]

I need them mostly for storage. Being able to use them as a lift is just a bonus...

 

[keen]

My question is: what types of lifts do any of the GJ'rs have? I know they run about $2k apiece.

From my research they seem to range from 8 feet wide to 9 feet or so. Also read that 10' height is a minimum.

....

Also, I am into different cars, but right now have a 1965 Mustang, 1967 Mustang, 1968 Pontiac Firebird, Vintage VW and a 1976 BMW 2002. Of course, weeks or months later I might have 5 + different cars...

The answer, as always, is "it depends" - on a lot of factors.

Most of your cars are short (assuming the vw's are not busses) - so you can stack them 2 high in less space than if you were trying to stack trucks (or busses).

If you're just looking for parking lifts, 4 post lifts tend to be better. Finding them for $2k, as other folks have mentioned, can be a lot harder. OTOH, your cars are light, and you're specifically looking for parking quality lifts, not service duty. (your parking lift won't be going up and down a few hundred times every day.)

To figure out how much height you need - just figure in the roof height of the two cars you want to stack, factor in garage door clearances (or use rollup doors...) and light clearances, then add the "thickness" of the lift you're looking at.

It sounds like you probably need to shop for a lift based on your specific space requirements, thin deck, narrow width (you dont need to roll full size truck with wide tires on it and open the doors), short length. (no 20 or 24 foot long trucks, etc).

Lower priced lifts aimed at the parking lift market are probably going to be your ticket - but there are other options too. single post parking lifts take up the least floor space. two, 3, and 4 car wide "4 post" style lifts are available - reducing the overlap space between lifts (but complicating car stacking).

2 post lifts with drive-on decks are also available - and other than 1 posts, are probably the most flexible space wise. Get a floor plate style with short posts and a drive on deck, and you can stagger them forward/backward in a tight space. but 1 and 2 post lifts have more specific floor requirements.

You probably should drill a few test holes in your floor to determine thickness - even 4 post lifts have floor requirements.

People do put 4 post parking lifts into "standard" 8 foot garages - if you're parking the right toys on them and you dont mind it being a tight fit. A pair of corvettes, for example, easily pull it off.


I think your best bet is to start drilling down specific models of lifts in your price range, as well as models that fit your space requirements, and find the sweet spot in the middle. Measure measure measure.

sketch your floorplan out in software, or even just grid paper, and start mocking up your lift installations inside there to figure out door/lift relationships.

dont forget that 4 post lifts have ramps - you'll have to deal with those (take them off, typically, and store them somewhere) as well. And if your cars are low, you may need longer extended ramps, just like on a trailer.

...david (who doesn't own a 4 post, but shopped them a lot 10 years ago before getting a 2 post)

 

[keen]

to get you started, here's a typical chinese built parking lift - "$1625!"

6-7k capacity is all you need for the cars you mentioned, unless you've armor plated them.

https://www.bestbuyautoequipment.co...rage-lift-car-park-7-7000-lb-p/car-park-7.htm

http://www.bestbuyautoequipment.com/v/vspfiles/WebAutoLiftPDFs/Car-Park-7/fp7k-brochure.pdf

http://www.bestbuyautoequipment.com/v/vspfiles/AutoLifts/InstructionManuals/fp7k-manual.pdf


14.2 ft long, 9.2 ft wide (or 9.03 depending on which spec you read) on the floor. the deck is 13.3ft - that limits you to a <13ft wheelbase (front/rear can overhang). Posts are 82" tall - and you've got 99" between the posts (that's not a drive-through clearance though). At full height, the lift clears 64" below the deck. They dont mention maximum deck height nor deck thickness - so a precision fit under a short ceiling could be a challenge. otoh, do you know you won't be parking a 70" tall car under it.


Here's a bendpak - better reputation, but usually still china sourced - seems to be around $3000 commonly.

http://www.bendpak.com/car-lifts/four-post-lifts/hd-7p.aspx
http://www.bendpak.com/HD-7P-HD-7W-Rev-M-BendPak-Four-Post-Lift.pdf

the HD-7P is a "short runway, narrow width, high lift" variation.

minimum deck height of 4.5" - 14.5ft long, 8.3ft wide on the floor. drive through of 6.3ft (effectively your wheel width. post width is 7.5ft to clear mirrors, etc) Deck is 13.6ft, so a 13ft wheelbase is about the limit.

You might notice the de-rating of the lift capacity for shorter wheelbases - an 85" wheelbase is only allowed a 3500lb weight. Probably fine....but good to know.




Also remember you'll probably want either drip trays, or a fully closed deck, to keep the top cars from leaking on the bottom cars...

I'd recommend bolting the lifts down - some require it, some dont - but if you DID bump one with a car......you'd probably rather it not move with a car on top of it.



Here's a few cool options I haven't seen before (but probably not budget options)


http://www.bendpak.com/car-lifts/parking-lifts/pl-6kdt-pl-6kdtx

http://www.bendpak.com/car-lifts/parking-lifts/plt-6s.aspx

 

[SILVERPLATE]

Looks like a lot of Studebaker logo in skull like pic.

 

[kbuhagiar]

4 posters don't really appeal to me, but you can drive on. They're a bit narrower. Some people don't fix them to the floor, but that is pretty risky.

Sorry, I disagree.

Nothing risky about using a 4-post lift that isn't bolted down; it is merely a personal preference.

 

[keen]

Sorry, I disagree.

Nothing risky about using a 4-post lift that isn't bolted down; it is merely a personal preference.

that very much depends on the lift design - open C channel columns tend to require being bolted down, where square tube columns with outside sliders that wrap the leg tend to be OK unbolted. but even some of those are at risk of leg movement causing them to unlatch.

I recall a video (that I cant find at the moment) some years ago showing various 4 post lifts being tested with a load lifted, then bumping a leg that wasn't bolted down. (so with a car parking under, or next to, or moving a car around the shop, etc)

the results were...dramatic. for some lift designs. pulling 16 nuts or bolts with an impact gun to move the lift doesn't seem as bad. and if you want it in multiple working locations, threaded inserts and bolts into the floor seem like a good idea.

there are also a number of failure modes associated to cable/pulley breakage or dislocation that can cause collapse when unbolted but merely wedge when bolted.


for -parking- lifts, however, where you're squeezing the most parking space available into your space, you definitely dont want those moving around for any reason, so bolts seem obvious.


...david (who has had 1 side of a 2 post lift drop while a car was on it, as well as hydraulic cylinder fail while a car was on it.)

 

[Stuart in MN]

To figure out how much height you need - just figure in the roof height of the two cars you want to stack, factor in garage door clearances (or use rollup doors...) and light clearances, then add the "thickness" of the lift you're looking at.

You also need to allow a little extra (~ 6 inches or so) because the platform has to be lifted up above the stops and then let back down to sit in the final position. In addition, it will depend on the height of the stops themselves, hopefully they are at elevations that work with the height of the cars as well as the height of the ceiling.

This can all be figured out, generally the manufacturers have drawings of the lifts on their websites you can inspect.

 

[driverinmyhead]

Thanks for the input.

Commercial Real Estate moves at a snails pace sometimes... MAYBE close on this property by August 1st.


In the meantime, still doing research!

 

[landlord30]

https://www.bestbuyautoequipment.com/auto-lift-4-post-lifts-s/505.htm

 

[nes999]

You will get a better price buying multiple lifts so that should help.

Sent from my VS988 using Tapatalk