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Service Pit

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OSB

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Curious if anyone else has installed a "Service Pit" in their shop? Made a couple searches of the forum and didn't find any references to them.

Too dangerous? Made obsolete by the modern post jacks?

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GTO

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OSB said:
Curious if anyone else has installed a "Service Pit" in their shop? Made a couple searches of the forum and didn't find any references to them.

Too dangerous? Made obsolete by the modern post jacks?

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Click to expand...

Jiffy Lube FAIL
 
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Aberdale

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I've got one in my garage. It was here when we moved here. It has about 8" of water in it all the time, so I just covered it up. I should probably just fill it in someday. I would consider it 1950s technology. It was great in it's day, but there are better options now.

A 2 or 4 post lift is nicer. You don't have to crawl out of the pit to get the tool you forgot. A lift also allows more ambient light under the vehicle. There are probably other advantages too.

Dale
 
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Torque1st

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Pits can collect water if they are not constructed properly or are outside etc. Unfortunately some of us don't have the overhead clearance for a lift. In that case there are pit lifts etc which require reduced headroom. Pits have safety rules and regulations involved with them for ventilation etc. Check with your local codes department. The standard width for a pit is 36-38" but applications vary.
 
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OSB

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Lippyp said:
We have a company over here in the UK that manufactures prefabricated fibreglass pits, dig a hole, drop it in, backfill with sand and you have a fully waterproof pit with lighting, steps and everything moulded in.

http://mech-mate.co.uk/Motor-Pits.html
Click to expand...

Very cool. Never heard of this option. Pretty slick indeed.
Ideal for those with high water table issues too.
 

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OSB

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Nicest pit I have seen to date was one I worked on for the "Tri-Met" bus service shop in Portland, Oregon. Full dept, long enough to go end to end on an articulated bus!! Painted with epoxy white paint. Continuous tool trays on both sides. Ventilating system and very well lit with class 1 division 1 fixtures.

PS. They also had a rolling Devilbiss bus paint booth. Painter positioned on each side as it rolled down the bus, pretty fancy.
 
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Justanoldguy

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You can see part of it in this pic.
Sorry haven't got any of it open that I can find.

DSCF9665.jpg
 
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OSB

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Very cool!! That is a long pit, a long garage!! 2x6 cover, with a angle iron rim?

I love New Zealand, some of the best times of my life were in NZ!!

Used to be allot of very sweet vintage drivers on the roads. I was there when imports
were still limited. I will never forget sharing a bridge with a TRAIN!!!
 
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Justanoldguy

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Yes it's a beautiful country.
The rebate for the timber is in concrete.
No steel channel.
There is recessed lighting all along the pit
and points for power access as well.
I'm sure it was originally designed for trucks
as it is not quit deep enough for me working
on lowered cars. I have to bend a bit..
The shop is 40 ft x 80 ft and is an old mobil station/workshop.
 
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sberry

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Made obsolete by the modern post jacks?
Click to expand...
Yes, for the most part especially with auto's. A lot of the work is on axles, wheels, etc and a pit still leaves you on the floor with that. Also the cost, no real savings there either. A 2 post hoist is hard to beat for cars.
 
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Richard Givan

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I don't think anyone has mentioned the safety hazards. Gas and gas fumes can collect down low. When the fuse gets lit, you have little time to get out of a cramped space. CO2 could build up if any engines are run in the vicinity. Then there's the chance of a misstep putting you in it if it's not covered.

I once thought of building one into a new house garage, but reconsidered after mulling it over.
 
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STORMEASTON

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A friend of mine has an old service garage he runs and that has a pit in it. Every morning he has to pump the water out and a few people over the years have fallen in. He's got it covered with planking when not in use, but still uses it from time to time. I've been in it..... a PITA to crawl in and out of.
 
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OSB

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Yes, all very valid points. Class I , Division I area electrically speaking. The water might also deplete the O2 if left standing.

I just thought it was the coolest thing, as a kid on my families farm in northern Minnesota. It was a very primative pit, made from huge treated timbers. I remember being able to get under a tractor and thinking. "Wow, this would smash me like a bug if it fell". I guess that is yet another hazard, kids would love to hide in them. I swore that when I built my first garage it would have a pit.

The post lifts are really pretty reasonable in price these days.

I was thinking a guy could also build a jack that would run in the track along the top of the pit, for transmission work, probably more trouble than it is worth, just a thought.
 
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TruckJunkie

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It is true, they are a problem in most building codes, they are not impossible though. I have a garage which has two levels with a four foot difference between them. The stairwell between them extends into the floor of the upper level ten feet and is full depth with a removable set of steps. This well happens to line up with the overhead door making it possible to drive a vehicle over the stairwell. Stairwells are not a problem and since it is open to the lower level it does not have a tendency to collect fumes and it is easy to get into and out of.
 
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OSB

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TruckJunkie said:
It is true, they are a problem in most building codes, they are not impossible though. I have a garage which has two levels with a four foot difference between them. The stairwell between them extends into the floor of the upper level ten feet and is full depth with a removable set of steps. This well happens to line up with the overhead door making it possible to drive a vehicle over the stairwell. Stairwells are not a problem and since it is open to the lower level it does not have a tendency to collect fumes and it is easy to get into and out of.
Click to expand...

Love to see this! Photos please?

I had a really cool neighbor that had something similar yet different. His property is sloped from the street level down. He built a platform out the back of his garage which effectively elevates the car above you. Very slick.
Somewhat interesting to drive the car onto it. It feels like you are going to go off into space. Built in the 40s after the war. We had the Kaiser ship yards here and the homes were built for the higher ups. Lots of clever older fellas lived in the neighborhood, most are gone now, shame.
 
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caper

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I worked in a service station with a pit for many years.They are a pain for most automotive work.They were ok when rear wheel drive was popular but since most things are front wheel drive now they don't give proper access to axles and wheel end service can be tricky since it's hard to jack up cars over the pit.I'm sure I still have several scars on my back from hitting trailer hitches when coming out from the pit to run to the gas pumps.The vid of the car in the pit reminds me of the time an old guy in a Toyota Corrolla drove in my open bay door and directly into the pit.He wasn't even a customer,just looking for directions and too lazy to get out of his car and come in and ask.Drove right in the pit and then proceeded to flip out at me about it.Sorry bud but I didn't tell you to drive into my building without a guide.The faces customers used to make when you were guiding them into the bay over the pit were priceless.
 
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1969

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My father had a pit in the garage back in the 50's. He used it mostly to service his trucks. I recall helping him when I was a boy and even though their was no water problems, I never liked being down there. Always could smell oil/gas fumes, and depending on the location of the truck, almost always had to crawl out to get out. When he finished trucking, we just filled the pit in. I am aware that today most if not all safety issues can be addressed satisfactorily; personally, don't care for them. JMO
 
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russlaferrera

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I had one. I never used it much. IMO there is little you can do in it. I filled it in and put up a 2 post lift. I like working above ground and there is so much more you can do with a lift.
 
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thump186

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I've worked in a few oil change places in my time and they all had in ground pits. One was a complete basement under the service floor which allowed for storage and made it handy to get to waste oil storage. One of the others was just a service pit made for just oil changes and under carriage inspections. It had slidable steel safety grates on top, no skid fiberglass grates on the floor of the pit with a sump hole and pump in one end. on one end was a ladder entry and on the opposite end was a stair entry point that was a complete PITA to use.
 
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OSB

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Hard to tell from camera angle. It does look like he is pointing with his right hand/arm to his left (driver's right). He was very quick to wave the driver off. Looks like the driver hit the gas instead of the brake? I wish they would have shown if it was a man or a woman. :) , Silly me, of course it is a woman :lol_hitti
 
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ct96ek

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I have a pit in my old garage that I am rebuilding. I am not sure how effective it will be. If I don't like it I can fill it or make it deeper.

IMG_3258.jpg
 
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TruckJunkie

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Finally Took Pictures...

You will have to excuse the mess, have been pretty busy and the garage had to be put on the back burner for a while. But here are some pictures of the stairwell/service-pit built into my garage. The four pipe fittings around it are for a removable railing and each has a short piece of 3/8" chain inside which is anchored with re-bar to the footing. These can be used for various purposes such as dragging in dead vehicles, anchoring equipment, etc..
 

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O

OSB

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Re: Finally Took Pictures...

TruckJunkie said:
You will have to excuse the mess, have been pretty busy and the garage had to be put on the back burner for a while. But here are some pictures of the stairwell/service-pit built into my garage. The four pipe fittings around it are for a removable railing and each has a short piece of 3/8" chain inside which is anchored with re-bar to the footing. These can be used for various purposes such as dragging in dead vehicles, anchoring equipment, etc..
Click to expand...

Now that is clever!! Avoids some of the "Pit Falls" of a normal four sided pit.

Forgive the pun!!
 
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Junkman

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kmav​

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Last seen 16 minutes ago Viewing thread Service Pit

Record time to find a 16-year-old thread and make a single post and then disappear, all in just 2 minutes.
 
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BurtEggley

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don't know much about them other than we bought a 41 pre war Packard deluxe 4 dr back in our youth that we found sitting on one out in the country near Pala Mesa (San Diego Co). The Dr who owned it lost his wife and ended up in assisted living. Pit was interesting, open air. Must have been good in its day for changing oil and things like that. Freeway is where his house was. No way could I put a lift in this garage, and outdoors it would bake in summer, be so hot it would burn you, rust in winter.
 
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