Lift for you DIY guys

Back when I was installing my pss9s, I was looking for something like this. I thought you guys might be interested in a home lift. There is a group buy going on for one of these. Quality wise, everyone seems to like it. It seems to be the lift of choice for smaller spaces. The biggest complaint has been that its pricey. Hopefully, with enough buyers the price can come down. http://www.gotogroupbuy.com/229/EZCARLIFT.aspx Thanks.

That actually looks pretty slick! Any word on the safety of it? Commercial lifts always include redundant safety mechanisms in case something fails, but I still don't like working under them. (I'll get over it eventually, I think!) They're not showing the details on this, but if it just uses a threaded rod, that's a single point of failure, and it's not a "lift" so much as a whole-car jack. I'd still set up jack stands under this as a backup before crawling under it. According to the specs, it sits 4" tall when completely lowered, so it's low enough for most of us, that's good. It looks like you spec the deck size to fit your car(s) when you order it; additional cross-spacers are $100.

What's the GB price? Is it the $1,795 on the web site? That seems excessive for they are providing. If you have the space you could get a good used two post lift for that amount. Maybe I'm off base, but something like that seems it should cost about $500.

When I was looking for a lift awhile back, I saw this. For the price, I'd rather get a Bend-Pak low-mid height lift. (LR-60, LR-60P, MD-6XP) (see pic of LR-60P below) You use your impact wrench to crank a part on this EZ lift. That's how it lifts. I think safety wise, it looks questionable although I'm not an expert. Here is their website: http://www.ezcarlift.com/ Up to 4400lbs only while BendPak lifts up to 6000lbs 140seconds = 2 minutes 20 seconds. The reason why it takes long is what I mentioned above, you use the impact wrench to crank the lift to raise. (See pic) Again, for the price, I'd consider BendPak. I don't think safety is one thing you're supposed to get "group buys" on.

I think its overpriced by a long shot

Slick but pricey, I agree. The rollers are pretty small diameter also. I think you probably need a very clean and smooth surface to work on. A small pebble could keep the roller from.. rolling...

most likely the "little wheels" are solid steel of some flavor... still should roll like a floor jack on "not so smooth" surface (i.e. work, but makes you wonder if you are loading some side forces that will give way at some point) I bet the thing works fine, and safety is good I am sure. I wonder what the drive mechanism is and how well it holds up to repeated loads being aplied to the thread in opposing directions...(up and down) If its just a "threaded rod" that might wear fast, needs more like a ball screw made from hardened materials and a bearing housing to run it thru...

Right now, everyone agrees its pricey. The original poster is trying to get a list of interested buyers together to see what kind of discount he can negotiate with the company. Nobody is willing to pay full price for it. I'd encourage you guys to join the group buy as "Interested" to let him know you are in if the price is right. Once you guys get a price on this thing, you'll be able join as "Committed".

I think I will keep my scissor lift. It was cheaper and lifts 48" or so

Quotes source post: 6428833

What brand?

I've had two friends killed when the cars they were working on fell on them....one was up on drive on ramps, and the other was a hydraulic jack and he was just going under " for a quick look" at the transmission drive line and park locking mechanism......the fellow who mentioned single point of failure is quite correct. All of the scissors lifts, or midrise lifts I've looked at had safety bars set every so many inches in the event the platform hydraulics or mechanical screw device failed. I see no mention of any fail safe mechanism here other than jackstands....and one of the selling points for this lift is freedom of access to the underside of your car. Jackstands would put four obstacles in your way, so you might as well stick with the jackstands. I'm not knocking the idea behind this design.... becasue I like the idea...and it definitely is lighter and much more mobile....but without some sort of safety back-up mechanism, I keep thinking of my two friends.

Right on brother!

Yeah...very cool concept, but that price is outta control....especially with no motor needed...my 4 post eagle lift was just about that much, just doesn't make "sense".....I don't think it's worth more than 500 clams. J

WAy overpriced for that ez-carlift.

honestly for that price you could afford to rent lift time from a local shop for years and years That is 48" mid rise hydraulic lift with pump and all the trimmings money, for a pretty weak looking product. i think you're probably better off with two quality floorjacks, a buddy and some stands

Useless piece of S#%t.

BAWAHAHHAAHAHAHHHA ^^^^^^ dont hold back how you really feel !!

LOL!!

Here's an idea if you are building a new house- when I built mine I had the guy dig out an old fashioned grease monkey "pit" in the center of the garage. Lined w concrete, steps built in, wood cover. Works great.

The only problem with this, they are illegal now due to safety reasons... They are illegal here in Canada anyway...

Through a quick google search, I was able to find much better scissor lifts in the same price range: http://www.shopwiki.com/search/6,000...ft+(B000BHNTFK ) One of them was $1,600 with 6-level locking mechanism as Chuck above was talking about.

sorry I didn't reply sooner. The group buy now has 6 committed buyers with more on the way. The vendor actually setup tier pricing, so I think everyone else is waiting on the next price level. Current price is $1405. Here is the link: http://www.gotogroupbuy.com/229/EZCARLIFT.aspx Vince

I just sent the manufacturer a series of questions about fail safe safety issues, as well as a number of other questions to include the lack of width adjustability (fixed by pre cut crossbeams), jack point adjustments or pillow blocks etc. There's also a question about availability. I read in the ad where it says it's immediately avaialiable, yet another post said 4 to 6 weeks. Perhaps this is a cottage industry and as such doesn't have an extensive on-hand inventory. Although it does say Made in the US, I am trying to confirm that none of the parts are outsourced to our overseas "friends". There may be an OSHA issue on the safety aspects.... I'm not knocking the product. I'm interested because the midrise and scissors lifts are just too heavy and cumbersome for small garages, and because of some physical issues, it's getting too difficult for me to go thru the jacking process, then crawl under there and install jackstands....but some issues need to be addressed.

Quotes source post: 6430242

Sorry to hear it. How exactly did the ramps fail, as they've always seemed by far the safest option.

It's certainly not a piece of $hit, and with the group buy price, quite attractive. I don't own one, but am considering it for various reasons. It has a place, depending on your needs. First, it is really just 4 scissors jacks, all tied together. Like any scissors jack, all the forces/stresses are horizontal and far far greatest while the lift is flat. Once lifted, even if the threads were to magically strip, the lift can't come down. All the force is on the rod part of the thread, not the thread. The lift is rated for 4400lbs at the horizontal lift positon (NOT fully down, there is a big difference), much higher once the load is elevated. Second. I spoke with the manufacurer, and the thread follower (for lack of a better description) is designed to fail while trying to lift when the forces are greatest in the horizontal, unlifted position. This part is user replaceable and does not make the lift permanently unuseable. Try to lift too much, and it will just not do it, rather than try to lift and then fail. Third, it is designed to be used as a temporary, portable, storable lift. None of the hydraulic based scissor lifts are. For me, that is very important & key. I don't want a lift permanently occupying the same bay in my garage. I use my garage for other things, and I don't want the lift to be a problem to relocate and a permaent fixture. Nor do I want to have to run a 220 servce to my lift. Fourth, there is nothing preventing you from using jackstands at full extension as a backup under the 4 corners of the lift itself. They would not be in the way, as they recess in each corner. I do not know what damage might ensue if you were to lower the car with the jackstands in place, but thats a user error. There is a pin/hole arrangemnt that can be used in one position, but should you forget to remove all 4 pins, you will damage the lift. Fifth IMHO, based on the design, it is far harder for the lift to get "out of sync" at any corner than a hydraulically operated one, a more likely mode of failure. THE most common problem with any hydraulic lift is getting everything synced. On a typical 2 post lift with notched dogs, if a dog gets stuck or slips back and prevnts a side from dropping, it is a royal PITA to get them back synced with the car on the lift. You almost have to have a forklift available. Pros and cons are everywhere. There are some "downsides", as well. If you were to lower the car all the way down with wheels off (for whatever reason), chances are, you will find that you will NOT be able to lift the vehicle back up. You would be trying to convert almost 100% of the lift force to the threaded part mentioned above and it WILL fail. It is designed (like any scissors jack), to store flat, but only lift when past a certain point. I don't think that the hydraulic ones have that constraint. It is much slower to lift, escpecially once you get past about 1/2 way. You need to buy a 6 to 8 amp drill, though Harbor Freight has them as cheap as $30. If portability/storability is not a priority, then it makes little sense to get one. You can get higher, faster, more capacity lifting for less.

Chuck, Widths are adjustable by exchanging fixed replaceable parts. He need sto be told in the order, what widths/vehicles you are using it for. Jack points, front to rear are adjustable by sliding plates. Max F-R is 60 inches. He has extensions for truck/recessed frames, and told me most 911 users just use hockey pucks on 4 corners for extra clearance between body and lift rails. Same pros & cons for me, as listed above. Definietly a cottage company, all made in the US, but I don't think he would know if, for instance, the threaded rods themselves are made in the US or not. He might..good questions, tho. I joined as interested, but I'm pretty sure I'd get one if we hit the 21 person price. $1425 shipped is a good price for something like this

DAVE: My friend was working on a Ford Tbird...and had driven the car up on front ramps. He had loosened the transmission bolts and was trying to break loose the transmission a bit by pulling backwards on the casing....HE HAD NOT BLOCKED THE REAR TIRES...and he was a pretty strong dude...so he actually pulled the front tires out of the recessed area in the ramps....it slid down the ramps and the transmission casing came to rest on his chest, crushing the air from his lungs, but not enough to kill him outright. He was under there for a number of hours till his wife came home and found him. He was alive but brain dead....lived for about three days on a respirator, then thankfully passed away....otherwise he would have been been comatose for years till he eventually died. Most of these accidents (and unfortunately there are quite a few of them) are usually related to "I'm just going to be under there for a minute to take car of XXX". Those quickie projects without taking the time to chock the wheels or put in jackstands or even toss a spare tire under the frame....end up costing a person his life.

the jacks configuration wouldnt allow for an engine drop?

Yes it does, the rear cross bar is for squaring the of the 4 jacking points alignment only. Once there is slight pressure on it, assuring square, then it can be removed. IMHO, the biggest drawback, besides price (which the group buy handles pretty readily) is the use on different vehicles, or heavy vehicles. The higher the lift goes when it contacts the frame, the more it can lift, but that is hard to determine. And it only lifts 27" which may not be enough for many trucks/suvs. Unless the L-R dimension of the jacking points are the same (within a few inches) then you either have to purchase the correct center pieces at $150 a size, or build some type of outrigger to use that supports the other vehicle at the correct points (and has the clearance to do so), but is lifted at the "bought" width. That would mean that if you changed cars often and you went from say a Mini to a Vette to a 911, you'd have to buy the correct width each time. Not so with most low rise lifts, as they have adjustable arms. But then most low rise lifts do not have the unimpeded access that this one does. On a plus note, I think it would have a very good resale value, because it is relatively easy to ship vs typical lifts which are too heavy and unwieldly to ship. If after it was used a few times and you decided it was not for you and had gotten it at a group buy for say $1425, selling it for $1100 or $1200 would be easy. Little to lose. Also, as I'm looking into here, as portable as it is, a few friends might go into it with me and purcase the required widths for their cars. Easier to do that with this one than with any other lift I've looked at.

Thanks for that detailed explanation, the price really isnt that bad when you look at shop rates and the ease of getting ones car high enough to work comfortably

I stand firmly (no pun intended) on my previous statement. If I can't spray wash the bottom of my car to keep it in as new condition, I don't want it. I can do the same with four ESCO 3-Ton Flat Top Jack stands. At $72.00 a stand you get the soft top so no scratches or dents to the four Porsche jack-mounting points. Now Now you wouldn�t want to scratch those would ya? Now, it's still a pile of Sh%^!!

Interesting lift, it seems like a good system for what I would need. It would be nice to have a twin post lift but my garage can not handle that. Some day when I get to design a garage and not just have to take what the builder sells......

I'd like to know how 4 jack stands are the same thing as a low rise lift.....I don't understand your comments at all. Escos are beautiful stands, but they aren't a lift...

I would get a mid rise lift for that amount of money. I can get a better look up other than being on the floor. I can clean the underside much better that way. I am after a clean car inside, outside and underneath. I can't do that with that EZ lift. I could do it with the jack stands but it would be much more work but it can be done.

To each his own, of course. But if I was to regularly power wash the underside of my cars (which I don't), I would think that you would want a lift that could be located outside of the garage easily, and gives unlimited access, which this lift does, and most mid rises do not, certainly none that I would own for $1425, shipped. The use of 1 or 2 hockey pucks at each lift point would easily give you clearance where the side rails are concerned, and you are 27" in the air..more than the Esco stands. But, whatever floats your boat, no big deal..

I'm liking the idea of this more and more......

I'm worried that it wouldn't be low-profile enough for me to get under my car with the RoW M030 suspension and aerokit.

There is no scissors or low rise type lift that I have ever seen online or in person that is less than 4" high drive over. If you want/can afford/have the room for a 2/4 post lift then you are better off with one, by far, of course. Unlimited adjustability, no drive over, higher capacity, etc, etc. No doubt. Just not very portable. According to his website, if you take a 2x4 and stand it on end, and can slide it under the car anywhere that you may need the clearance, then the lift will fit. Normally, tho, you park your car where you want, then just roll it under the car from the side between the wheels. You easily position the lift to the car. You don't have to drive over it to get it in the right place. Look at his videos on www.ezcarlift.com . I really like how you can enter under the car from the sides, while on a creeper, when the car is up on the lift. Can't do that with any other lift out there, period. It's as close to working on 4 jackstands as you can get, without the hassle of figuring out how to jack the car up evenly. If your car is really low, then you need two 8' lenghts of 1x6 or 2x6, (or 4 short pieces in the right place) and drive up on them. No big deal. At $1400, I'm going to get one.

I've been following this thread and as much as I want a proper lift, it won't fit in my current garage. I do like that there is room for jackstands under the corners. Going to join the list.

In your case, too, the lift will fit both the 911 and the M3, plus you can take it to the track.

Only 4 days left on the group buy. Total of 43 buyers so far, with another 40 interested.

I'm in

so the guys that bought, care to provide a review?

I like the MaxJax two post midrise "portable" better for access and "stowability" when not in use.

where did you get the Maxjax from? What was the cost?

Quotes source post: 7899498

Costco has them. $1900 which includes shipping. http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product...1&Sp=C&topnav=

thanks

Quotes source post: 6430242

Sorry for asking for details but "Ramps"? What kind of ramps? I just purchased those heavy black plastic ramps for changing oil and I didn't feel comfortable at all working under them. They seem really flimsy and poorly made (China?).

I used gorilla ramps and they seem pretty sturdy

CWhaley, Sorry I just got back, per falcon7x7 Costco is a good place. I got mine on sale for $1899 with a $100 gift certificate (so $1799) on the web from Garage Equipment. They list them for $2199 now. I have the posts and hydraulic cart stored in the corner of the garage and the arms under my work bench. The posts take up about 12"x26" and the cart is about 12"x14".

Fpb111, How well do the stay planted... while not fully anchored to the floor? Do they have temporary anchors?

I have 6" thick reinforced concrete floor, they spec at least 4". You drill for 5 WeJet anchors on each side. The posts bolt to the floor with 5 bolts ea. I have used it for the 996 and my Mercedes ML350 (4600lbs) There are two stops with holes for a saftey rod to lock it in place one at 24" and one at ~48". You can stop at any height inbetween but if you are going to work on it you should lock it just like anyother lift. http://www.wejit.com/index2.html http://www.garagejournal.com/?p=325 The posts and cart have wheels so it is easy to move them around. This is turning into a thread hijack, sorry to the OP. Do a search on MaxJax or google .