Portable 2-Post Car Lift

[lupinsea]

Sort of. . .

I like the idea of this lift, especially to keep tight garage space flexible for multiple uses. Basically, set some internally threaded anchor bolts into the concrete slab of your garage. Then bolt/unbolt the two main lifting posts as needed. Said posts and the hydraulic motor are fitted with quick disconnects for the hydraulic lines. And the posts have built-in wheels to help roll the posts out of the way when not in use.

It only lifts cars up about 45" but in my experience it seems like that would be good for a whole lot of uses.

Cost is $2000.



http://www.maxjaxusa.com/index.html

http://www.maxjaxusa.com/images/ready.jpghttp://www.maxjaxusa.com/images/set.jpghttp://www.maxjaxusa.com/images/go.jpg


http://www.maxjaxusa.com/maxjax-lifting-system/maxjax-portable-two-post-lift.jpg





http://www.maxjaxusa.com/maxjax-lifting-system/features/two-lift-in-one.jpg
There's even an accessory
for a motorcycle / atv lift.



.

[BahnBaum]

NFW I'm getting under that thing. Call me paranoid.

Alex

[Nick M3]

The utility of that thing when you can't even stand under it is low. Jack stands or a real lift for me, please.

[ff]

NFW I'm getting under that thing. Call me paranoid.

Alex

Ditto. For me, it would have to be permanently affixed to the floor. And the steel thick enough that there's no way one man could pick it up and move it.

[BahnBaum]

Ditto. For me, it would have to be permanently affixed to the floor. And the steel thick enough that there's no way one man could pick it up and move it.

Zactly. At least with jackstands I can use my floor jack as my backup safety device.

Alex

[kognito]

Ditto. For me, it would have to be permanently affixed to the floor.


This puppy gets mounted the same way as the "real" lifts.

But, does "Joe Homeowner" know if his home was built with enough inches of the correct strength of concrete to support the required anchor bolts???

[Rob]

Wow. What a bunch of ninnies. I would rather be under this thing than a car on jack stands any day. The problem with this lift is two fold imo. First, my concrete slab is post tension, so I can't just install some bolts. Second, the cost is way too high. For $2k, I can get a four post lift that comes with a jack and stand option for getting the wheels off (as long as I buy it RIGHT NOW at the show as if it won't be at the next show). Four posters don't necessarily even have to be bolted down.

I am making the assumption that the lift shown here has a mechanical stop like all other lifts do. Assuming it's anchored properly (and that really isn't that hard) I think that support mechanism is WAY safer than jack stands. The height it will lift is actually a benefit imo as well - for the consumer garage, you won't have much more clearance than this. Even if you do have ceiling height, the garage door will limit your clearance. I understand the product. I just think it's over priced.

[BahnBaum]

Wow. What a bunch of ninnies. I would rather be under this thing than a car on jack stands any day. The problem with this lift is two fold imo. First, my concrete slab is post tension, so I can't just install some bolts. Second, the cost is way too high. For $2k, I can get a four post lift that comes with a jack and stand option for getting the wheels off (as long as I buy it RIGHT NOW at the show as if it won't be at the next show). Four posters don't necessarily even have to be bolted down.

I am making the assumption that the lift shown here has a mechanical stop like all other lifts do. Assuming it's anchored properly (and that really isn't that hard) I think that support mechanism is WAY safer than jack stands. The height it will lift is actually a benefit imo as well - for the consumer garage, you won't have much more clearance than this. Even if you do have ceiling height, the garage door will limit your clearance. I understand the product. I just think it's over priced.

I didn't realize it was anchored. I thought you set it up when you wanted to use it. I admittedly only looked at the picture.

alex

[lupinsea]

I'm not necessarily trying to defend this thing but it seems like a neat idea for an occasional-use lift.

To me the lift idea makes sense. With a 4-post lift or even most normal 2-post lifts they take up space in the the garage. If you have a big enough garage or several garage bays that you can devote one to the lift then this thing is pointless.

But if you have a single car garage and/or are tight on space this makes a ton of sense to me. I use my garage as a place to work on my cars as well as a general project space. Actually, most of the time it is a general project space that I use occasionally to work on my cars. It would be nice to be able to move the lift out of the way so I can have an unencombered works space for other things.

All this for $2k?

Doesn't seem too horrible and about what a "normal" lift runs. And I haven't seen other lifts on the market that offer the same flexibility. Granted, I haven't really been looking.

And the lift height seems fine to me. 36" is the height of a kitchen counter and I can sit on the ground comfortably without my head poking above the counter top. 45" offers plenty of room to sit and work on things under there and I think plenty of room to be able to pull out components from under the car (drivelines, transmissions, axles, etc.).

Rob makes a good point with lift height limitations anyways due to most garages not having all that much room due to either low-ish ceiling height or the garage door track/mechanism.







I didn't realize it was anchored. I thought you set it up when you wanted to use it. I admittedly only looked at the picture.

alex

That's part of the problem . . . :D

Each post of the lift has 5 anchor bolts permanently embedded in the concrete, and each bolt has a pull-out resistance of 14,800 lb. in tension (11,800 lb in shear). The system is designed to work with a 4" thick concrete slab with 2500-3000 psi strength concrete (which is usually the bare minium rating concrete yards ship out in their trucks). It's also the minimum rating of the cheap-ass bagged concrete you get at Home Depot. So the system was designed for typical concrete slabs. I wouldn't install this in my current garage because my slab is cracked too much for my comfort. But you can retro-fit your existing garage by cuting and pouring larger "feet" in your existing slab.

The anchor bolts are internally threaded. Once they are set you have a hole in the concrete with an anchor bolt in it that has female threads that is permenantly left in place. Just place the post over the series of anchor bolts and bolt in the 5/8" regular bolts to 100 ft-lb of torque and you're good to go. Unbolt when done and roll the posts out of the way for storage.


Installation Guidlines (http://www.maxjaxusa.com/installation-guidelines.html)


http://www.maxjaxusa.com/images/marking-floor.jpg
Mark location of bolt holes


http://www.maxjaxusa.com/images/drilling-floor.jpg
Rotohammer drill 7/8" holes in concrete


http://www.maxjaxusa.com/images/anchors.jpg
Install the anchor bolts


http://www.maxjaxusa.com/images/position-columns.jpg
Place post over anchor bolts.


http://www.maxjaxusa.com/images/tighten-anchor.jpg
Tighten down w/ torque wrench


Note that the same basic anchor bolt technology is used when bolting down regular two-post lifts anyways. The only difference is these anchor bolts have internal threads that accept a secondary bolt to allow repeated installtion and removal of fixtures (the lift) without screwing up the concrete.




And general FYI . . .

http://www.maxjaxusa.com/maxjax-lifting-system/image-gallery/safety-bar-engaged.jpg
Yes, there are saftey blocks. . . that's what the red handle is
in this photo. Also, loking at the rest of the construction I'd
suspect this is built fairly stout.

[Rob]

If I end up having to move (probably), this may make it pretty high on my list. I wonder what installation would cost from someone that knows something about concrete . . .

[lupinsea]

If it's based on hourly work you might end up paying a minimum to have the holes drilled. I wouldn't think it would take a pro too long to do. Maybe a few hundred dollars at the most.

Or you can rent a rotohammer drill and DIY.

[Rob]

I have been thinking about this setup most of the day. Since I don't foresee having the room for a real lift anytime soon . . . want.

[Terri Kennedy]

For folks who have questions about the MaxJax system, there are a number of lively discussions going on over at the Garage Journal Forums (http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/) (they used to be GarageJunkies, but apparently got bought during the Web 2.0 craze).

There are also MaxJax group buys over there which drop the catalog prices a little bit, but have the great offer of free shipping. You need to be a member there and not just swooping down for the deal, but there's a lot of stuff to keep most of our crowd entertained over there.

[lupinsea]

Thanks Terry, that's a very cool site.

Garage Journal review of the MaxJax system (http://www.garagejournal.com/?p=325) for those interested.

Comments at the bottom of the review article. Still seems like a decent lift. Major complaint is that there aren't enough "saftey holes" in the upright posts to rest the lift and various heights. So far as I read, only two positions: really tall, and semi-close to the ground.


http://www.garagejournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/stored.jpg