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It can be a twinge in your neck, or a persistent ache across your shoulders,
or a dull soreness that never quite leaves your lower back. A day spent
working under a car, flat on your back, twisting and straining, blind hands
groping for tools that have rolled just beyond reach, is a workout that leaves
you feeling like a used punching bag. Besides the discomfort of assuming
awkward positions, there is the time-consuming hassle of safely jacking each
end of the car and making sure that it rests securely on the jack stands. Who
hasn’t deferred needed maintenance because the thought of squeezing between
the concrete floor and the car for hours on end just makes you want to stay in
bed?
If you are a serious DIY’er, it’s time to invest in a garage lift. The prices
have never been lower, the range of manufacturers and model choices has never
been greater, and the installation has never been easier. Currently there are
about 60 garage lift makers selling products in the United States, with prices
ranging from about $1,000 for a simple electric scissor jack to $10,000 for an
in-ground hydraulic lift that propels your vehicle upward on a cylinder that
rises out of the floor, giving your humble home garage some of the capability
a full-service car dealership.
Once you have changed your car’s oil while sitting comfortably on a stool,
swapped out an exhaust system without ever kneeling to the ground, or stacked
two cars on top of each other in a space where you used to park only one,
you’ll wonder how you managed without a garage lift for so long.
With so many lift suppliers, lift types, and models to choose from, it’s hard
to determine where to start. A lot of money is on the line, so it pays to do
your research before you buy. Not only are the lifts themselves expensive, but
the damage that a poor quality lift or a poorly installed lift can do to your
car and your house is also expensive, as well as dangerous. Installed and used
properly, a car lift will perform years of perfectly safe service, but it
behooves the lift shopper to spend some time researching the options and
pitfalls.
The Space Case
Before you start the hunt for a lift, you need to do some measuring. Lifts
don’t fit very well in garages that are less than 22 feet deep. Ideally, the
ceiling should be at least 11 to 12 feet high (though this author has used one
– carefully – with a 9 ½-foot ceiling). Don’t forget about overhead hazards
such as garage door openers, door tracks, and the doors themselves. Chances
are excellent that you’ll want to open the garage door with the car on the
lift at some point, so measure your clearance with the garage door both opened
and closed. For garages where the open door may collide with the roof of a
lifted car, consider backing the car onto the lift. It requires extra effort
and precision, but a car’s lower hoodline may squeak under the open door where
a roof or a trunk collides.
Now that you’ve measured the ceiling and the walls, take a look at the floor.
Although weighing it at 1,500 to 2,000 pounds (yes, without a car aboard),
most garage lifts will work on a typical residential concrete slab, or one
that is between 4.5 inches and 5 inches thick. If you don’t know your slab
thickness, buy a 3/8-inch concrete drill bit at the local hardware store and
slowly and carefully drill into the slab near where you plan to locate the
posts of your lift. Don’t drill at the corner of the garage; concrete
thickness can vary near the perimeter. Use a light-duty drill rather than an
impact drill, which could fracture the concrete when the bit breaks through.
Once you hit dirt, clip a straight section of coat hanger and bend a little
90-degree elbow at the end. Stick it down the hole and try to catch the edge
of the concrete with the elbow. Mark the wire where it emerges from the hole
and measure the length. If the hole bothers you, fill it with concrete epoxy,
which is strong enough to repair fractured holes as well.
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