Garage 4 Post Car Lifts


BlackICE

GT Owner
Nov 2, 2005
1,416
SF Bay Area in California
I designed & installed a bracket cut from a sheet of 1/4 inch aluminum that bolts to the top rung of wunna my ladders ('runs the full width of the top of the ladder) which then spans the full width of the ramp, and is then bent DOWN 90* so it hooks over the "inside" edge of the ramp. That way the darn ladder CANNOT shift positions or fall under ANY circumstances. PERIOD. 'An ounce of prevention and all that...

'Submitted for your musing...

Paranoid Pockets

Your a smart own EP.

I guess you enjoy sitting in the top car so much you came up with the solution. I know it allows enjoy both cars without moving either one! :lol
 

JCSB

Ex GT Owner
Mark II Lifetime
JCSB, really hated to hear your story and hope that you are able to make the necessary corrections without too much trouble. Your Son deserves plenty of kudos for watching out for you.

Thanks, he's been trained to run if anything happens bad. I really should have gone with the plain HD9.

John
 

69RS/SS

Member
Dec 20, 2009
15
BlackIce, appreciate the experiences concerning the rolling jacks and I will incorporate them with my plans but I am disappointed to here how they have progressed. In my case, the usage will be very limited in a personal garage so I hope that I will be OK there. Never would have suspected that the quality would go in that direction but our country has been importing deflation through inferior chinese imports (lead base toys and everything else) and I guess if thats what America aggregately wants, then thats what they get. Problem for those of us that would gladly purchase the higher quality pieces that it is so hard to do without finding those things out by experience, which is normally a bad experience.
 

Empty Pockets

ex-GT Owner
Mark IV Lifetime
Le Mans 2010 Supporter
Oct 18, 2006
1,362
Washington State
Your a smart own EP.

I guess you enjoy sitting in the top car so much you came up with the solution. I know it allows enjoy both cars without moving either one! :lol


Ya know, I just KNEW it wouldn't be but a few seconds before you pounced on that opportunity!





Yeeeeew truely are a mizzerbull.........:lol
 

standj

GT OWNER
Mark IV Lifetime
Apr 23, 2007
755
Wyoming
I do have the rolling jack, only wish I ordered two!!!!

John
 

Superfly

HERITAGE GT OWNER
Mark II Lifetime
Jun 23, 2008
2,210
Edmonton, Alberta
I'm ordering the rolling jack and the oil dump catch pan in the spring. Really, 2 jacks are THAT much better??

EP, thanks for the concern. The way the lift and ladder are, there is NO way the ladder can fall, even if my dog or my kids are racing through the garage!! :thumbsup

JCSB, the only reason I even knew to look at this was the comparative tightness when I was putting my car onto the dyno. I was always going with the wide, but once I saw that on the edges of the brackets (support piece), I knew I had to go wide.
 
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MAD IN NC

Proud Owner/ BOD blah bla
Mark IV Lifetime
Feb 14, 2006
4,219
North Carolina
Larry and ladders have spent more time in related events than the time Larry actual drove his FGT.......:wink


What BlackIce said about the jack - watch out as the height also increased when they went Gen 3, where a car could and will hang up on the new ones... Dr. Jon bought one in town here and it cost him a front spoiler for the Carrera GT @$5K!

Re: Two Jacks or a tray & jack stand - to each his own... My jack has to be all the way in the rear of the lift if I drive the FGT out - if not it will bottom out (car is lowered 1.5").

I have my BP on the non symmetric ramp setting. Like BlackIce says makes working under the cars easier and for the drip pan - 1.5 sheets of particle board in three pieces cut to fit in the rails worked fine and yes - I did throw out the stock drip pans...

Easy to maintain - check the cables to insure they are balanced and you'll be fine.. Good luck!
 

jim gibson

GT Owner
Mark II Lifetime
Dec 13, 2009
199
warren, ohio
Get a Backyard Buddy, they are the best. I just bought one and love it.
 

theseeker

GT Owner
Mark IV Lifetime
Dec 31, 2009
46
Sugar Land, TX
You guys have me thinking. We are looking for a new home and one of the considerations is a six plus car garage. Needless to say, they are few and far between and we may move from Houston (Sugar Land) to Austin. We are also considering building a new home, no fun. Our current garage is four & half car capable, yes we have motorcycles too. My question is this: What is the height requirement for a two car lift? Meaning two GT's a Ferrari and the like. The height of my garage is about twelve - fourteen feet. This may solve some interim problems.
TIA,
Rocky
 

MAD IN NC

Proud Owner/ BOD blah bla
Mark IV Lifetime
Feb 14, 2006
4,219
North Carolina
I have a 69 Mach1 and the FGT on the lift and they fit with 6-7" of slack....

.... problem is my total height is limited by a center bean of 10' 6" or, take 6" from that for the lift - 10' max. I'll soon be adding another lift and going for 5 cars in a three car garage......

no more lawnmower space.....:biggrin
 

theseeker

GT Owner
Mark IV Lifetime
Dec 31, 2009
46
Sugar Land, TX
I have a 69 Mach1 and the FGT on the lift and they fit with 6-7" of slack....

.... problem is my total height is limited by a center bean of 10' 6" or, take 6" from that for the lift - 10' max. I'll soon be adding another lift and going for 5 cars in a three car garage......

no more lawnmower space.....

Thanks for that tidbit! Fortunately I don't own a lawnmower.

You guys make me very happy!:banana
 

Empty Pockets

ex-GT Owner
Mark IV Lifetime
Le Mans 2010 Supporter
Oct 18, 2006
1,362
Washington State
Thanks for that tidbit! Fortunately I don't own a lawnmower.

You guys make me very happy!:banana


12 ft should EASILY handle two exotics. I just went out and lifted my hot rod S-10 up to the top "locked" position on my Auto Lifters. THE TRUCK measures 10'-4-1/2" from the floor to the top of the cab when in that top "locked" position! There isn't an exotic 2-seater MADE that will be that tall when sitting up there!!! :lol

You'll be fine!
 

GTJIMMY

Permanent Vacation
Jun 12, 2009
228
Lloyd Harbor, NY
Just to add my two cents.....The Bend Pak is the ONLY lift to buy. Nothing in that price range will match the quality.

I have the narrow one and it is a bit tricky to back on to but you will get the hang of it.
If you are tight for space it will work.
 

Mullet

FORD GT OWNER
Le Mans 2010 Supporter
Oct 21, 2008
2,468
Houston Texas
Get a Backyard Buddy, they are the best. I just bought one and love it.

I have to agree. I have one. They are expensive but they work perfectly. I also have another US made one (Gemini). It is pretty nice but the BB lift is just nicer all around and is twice as expensive as the Gemini.
 

Mullet

FORD GT OWNER
Le Mans 2010 Supporter
Oct 21, 2008
2,468
Houston Texas
You guys have me thinking. We are looking for a new home and one of the considerations is a six plus car garage. Needless to say, they are few and far between and we may move from Houston (Sugar Land) to Austin. We are also considering building a new home, no fun. Our current garage is four & half car capable, yes we have motorcycles too. My question is this: What is the height requirement for a two car lift? Meaning two GT's a Ferrari and the like. The height of my garage is about twelve - fourteen feet. This may solve some interim problems.
TIA,
Rocky

others have said but here is what it comes down to.

measure the height of both cars and add 8-10 inches and that is the height minimum.
 

ChipBeck

GT Owner
Staff member
Mark IV Lifetime
Le Mans 2010 Supporter
Feb 13, 2006
5,783
Scottsdale, Arizona
Garage door tracks.

others have said but here is what it comes down to.

measure the height of both cars and add 8-10 inches and that is the height minimum.

Gentlemen,

Don't forget to measure the height from the lowest spot on your garage doors while they are open. My ceiling was high enough but my garage doors in the open position were almost 2 feet below the ceiling height. I needed to have a garage door company come out and redo the tracks so that they were as close to the ceiling as possible. Now the bottom of my garage doors in the open position is only 6 inches from my ceiling and that allowed me to use a four post lift. My GT resides on the top with a GT500 on the bottom.

My lift is an American made Rotary Revolution which, unfortunately, is no longer in production. Rotary now sells Chinese made 4 post lifts. I examined them both in the American lift is better but not enough better to justify its price tag which is three times that of the Chinese lift. I also believe that the Bend Pak is probably the best lift at it's price point.

In the top photo below you can see how the garage door would be a problem in the up position if I had not had the tracks relocated flush to the ceiling.

Chip
 

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Beach-GT

GT Owner
Mark II Lifetime
May 8, 2006
887
Seminole Florida
I have a HD-9 wide version, with the ramps set at the wide setting the car fits really nice (about 4" extra room on each side of the rear tires). The narrow version may work as well if you don't have the space but the mirrors may be very close to the posts.

I have the narrow one....forget it. I had to cut the lift supports to clear the rear tires and the mirror clearance is scary.
 

Thugboat

GT Owner
Jan 20, 2009
851
Humble Texas
The GT Guys sell replacement mirrors if you buy a lift that is too narrow or very close to being to narrow. DO NOT ASK ME HOW I KNOW THIS!!!:ack

Larry
 

RADGT

GT Owner
Mark IV Lifetime
Le Mans 2010 Supporter
Aug 31, 2006
858
Connecticut
Backyard Buddy. Pricey but solid construction. No complaints in 4 years so far.

Stu
 

centerpunch

ex-GT owner x2
Mark II Lifetime
Sep 16, 2005
952
OH/NC
I put a 4-post lift in my garage a couple houses ago, and was surprised how intrusive those posts are- really tightens up the space.

Next time I'll do a single post lift. Several people make them, just google "single post car lift."
 

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