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Looking for feedback on any of the not and actual lift lifts. I have a standard 2 car garage that I would like to be able to get my cars off the ground in a more quick and safe manner than just using a jack and stands. The 4 post drive-ons are out because I want to be able to do wheel off work as well. I have a C4 and a Thirdgen. I would like to keep cost under $2500. TBH, the quick jack looks very attractive due to it's portability and not permanently taking up floor space in the garage, but I read somewhere a guy had some issues with stability.
Any recommendations and experience with these or other products would be very helpful.
I have a QuickJack, I have no stability issues. It works great for my C6 Corvette, but not at all for my 89 TTA. Since the frame rails are unequal widths between the front and back, you cannot have the lift platforms parallel as required. Additionally, you could use the jacks side to side, but the front rails are too narrow to readch the most narrow point of the lifting area. Quickjack does have some pinchweld lift blocks, but I'm really not crazy about that solution. Once I have subframe connectors installed, maybe I'll revisit this.
Quickjack is working on a solution for this, but it won't be out this year. If I had the room for it, I would have gone with a MaxJax as it lifts quite a bit higher, but does cost twice as much.
Once I have subframe connectors installed, maybe I'll revisit this.
I do have welded in subframe connectors on my IROC. Are you saying a Quick Jack would be fine on the subframe connectors?
Originally Posted by soulbounder
If I had the room for it, I would have gone with a MaxJax as it lifts quite a bit higher, but does cost twice as much.
I feel you on this one. Wish I had the space for a full lift tbh... but it's just not in the cards right now. I don't have the accessible funds to buy a piece of land, build a garage with 12' ceilings, and install a lift. That will probably come after the kids are out of college and will my youngest is 4
I can verify they work fine with subframe connectors on my Camaro, but the Trans am is a no go. Aside from having to use the pinch weld, the cat hits the frame of the jack so I can’t even slip it under. An aftermarket exhaust would probably clear, but you would still need to lift from the pinch weld.
Making progress today I got the bumper and right fender hung today....
I hope you have better luck than my brother and I with the TTA I put back together. Between the two fenders, headlights (which you won't have to fight with), hood, and nose cone... it took a minute to get everything lined up with the gaps right. This was before my brother had started painting... we ended up taking it to a shop and paying for a couple of hours labor to do the final alignment on everything. It was a test of resolve for sure.
I can verify they work fine with subframe connectors on my Camaro, but the Trans am is a no go. Aside from having to use the pinch weld, the cat hits the frame of the jack so I can’t even slip it under. An aftermarket exhaust would probably clear, but you would still need to lift from the pinch weld.
Very cool video. I like when people show the struggles as well. The only issue I may potentially have is I have a true Y pipe on my IROC where the Cat used to be. I will get a picture of where it sits and post it up here so you can give me your thoughts on where it sits. Your undercarriage shot gave me some concerns about where the jack frame sits relative to where my pipes may be.
recently installed 2 post. it can be used as mid rise and you can raise roof later for full lift. can explain more if you r interested
I considered this as I have an attic over my garage. However, just the way my house sits relative to my lot and driveway, we always enter and exit through the garage. Putting an actual 2 post in would get in the way of walking through the garage. The Max Lift looked attractive because it looks like you could unbolt it off the floor and wheel it away when not in use.
I'm 100% going with the updated MaxLift if height is an issue at the next house. $2250, 12 month financing.. sounds like a winner to me.
Either way, a 2 post of some sort will be the first purchase for my house! The idea of having to crawl under cars gets on my nerves after a while, lol.
I'm 100% going with the updated MaxLift if height is an issue at the next house. $2250, 12 month financing.. sounds like a winner to me.
Either way, a 2 post of some sort will be the first purchase for my house! The idea of having to crawl under cars gets on my nerves after a while, lol.
It wouldn't even be a discussion if I had the room. I would put a two post in immediately LOL.
I have to slightly disagree with Matt (by the way, big fan here, watching every vid from you and big big regards from Switzerland) :-)
I got away with my 2-post lift as it was really annoying to park the car and being barely able to open the door so I bought a double scissor lift.
Lifting the car at the pinch welds is not the problem as long as they are solid and not rotted/rusted away. I use weight spreader rubber supports, so the weight will be not just on 2cm instead on 20cm. Working like this since 10 years, no issue at all.
You have to drive your car up on some ramps or wood, like in my pic below and just use 2 or one really big rubber support to lift the car without the cat hitting the lift area but that is not really an issue. These rubber things are also available in much bigger dimensions. just got them for free in this size and a bunch of them.
Double Scissor Lift up to 1.9m high, love it
If you have to work on the exhaust or under body I have made me some wooden stands. Also good when you want to tighten suspension stuff loaded:
To have the lift mobile was never on my radar. This scissor lift will also lift my Durango without an issue (it's a 3000kg lift) so it has to be mounted solidly on the ground but its never in your way actually. You simply park your car over it. No posts annoying you and your other car besides. On the right of my lift my Durango is normally parked, so it was really tight with the posts of the 2-post lift. This solves everything and the height is just under 10cm to drive over. I just need one layer of small plywood on the ground to clear my 2" dropped TransAm. I even had Porsche and Ferraris on this lift without an issue, they not even needed the wood to drive over.
I don't daily work on Exhaust or under body stuff so the only really negative poinst of a scissor lift is not really that much of a bad thing for me. If you are constantly changing your exhaust setups (like a good friend of mine, haha) then a 2 post is maybe the better solution but you need one with a good arm setup to reach in enough so that you can lift it on the sub frame because the arms of a 2-post tend to drift inwards or outwards, hence the pinch welds can be damaged. The scissor lift goes up straight.
On the Vids from Matt on youtube you see him using the quick jack a lot and from the looks of it they seem sturdy. As said they should even work for the TransAm if your pinch welds are in good shape and using some weight distribution rubber blocks. I have them in several different sizes and shapes up to 50cm long to use a large length of it to support the weight of the car.
Last edited by firefox7518; 09-14-2019 at 07:34 AM.
It looks like Matt's video shows SFCs that protrude below or at least even with the pinch weld. Lifting with the QuickJack seems easy like that. I think Quick Jacks' pinch weld blocks are good, but their size may interfere with the GFX when trying to position them. Still haven't looked into those measurements yet.
After watching the videos and reading the opinions, I am really think I may bite the bullet and buy the quick jack. It seems there is a couple of options to make them work, but since I have welded in SFC's it may just work easily for me. Plus, I need to get pinch weld blocks anyway for my Corvette. Maybe they will work on both cars?
Still have some more things to consider, but I am really leaning towards thw quick jack now. Thanks for the feedback.
Very cool video. I like when people show the struggles as well. The only issue I may potentially have is I have a true Y pipe on my IROC where the Cat used to be. I will get a picture of where it sits and post it up here so you can give me your thoughts on where it sits. Your undercarriage shot gave me some concerns about where the jack frame sits relative to where my pipes may be.
Forgot to mention that I have the 7000lb model. The 5000lb model below that may actually have a lower profile and not stick up as high, so it may clear the exhaust.
Forgot to mention that I have the 7000lb model. The 5000lb model below that may actually have a lower profile and not stick up as high, so it may clear the exhaust.
You mentioned it in the video. I think you covered it all in the video... and I just want to mention it again... it was great you included the struggles.
Making progress today I got the bumper and right fender hung today....
Some day as well. I like these small home setups. But I personally just would not trust it to get under without any other backup failsafe.I personally like the max jack setup. Maybe I'm just paranoid. But I always use 4 6 ton Jacks and the rhino ramps under each wheel. Plus I pump a low profile jack head up against either the k member or rear end depending on area I'm working on. Good info video.
Some day as well. I like these small home setups. But I personally just would not trust it to get under without any other backup failsafe.I personally like the max jack setup. Maybe I'm just paranoid. But I always use 4 6 ton Jacks and the rhino ramps under each wheel. Plus I pump a low profile jack head up against either the k member or rear end depending on area I'm working on. Good info video.
I hear ya. Even on jack stands I usually lower the jack to let the car come to rest on the stands and the bring the jack up just to touch. Incase one of the stands fail. Then, I usually stuff what ever wheel I have off under the side sill as well as an additional back up.
Just because you use a Quick Jack or other low lift, doesn't mean you can't use other additional fail safes.
Thought I would add into this post given my recent experience working under a set of Quick Jacks. My uncle bought the 7000 pound setup to drop the engine and transmission under his VW minibus. I was the only one there under 65, so volunteered to do the work under the vehicle. The jacks are nice and sturdy, lifted up the minibus to its full height quickly. Definitely easier, quicker and more convenient than a hydraulic jack and jack stands.
The downside i experienced while working underneath was constantly bumping into the large structure of the Jack's while rolling around on the creeper. I mean, those things seemed to be ALWAYS in the way. Nothing impossible for this project, thankfully all the stuff we were working on was in the rear. But on a traditional front-engine/rear-drive vehicle, would be a lot more of a pain.
I really like Firefox's pic of the wheel stands he made for his mid-rise. Going to forward that pic to my uncle as an idea of he has to do any work like that.
My lift of choice has been the Kwik-Lift ramps. Get the car up high, great access underneath. Just depends on needs and I.
Well, it's been a while but the weather finally broke here in Michigan. So, I pulled everything out yesterday. With my 5 year old and dog bothering me through the process, it took about an hour from un-boxing to having it all assembled. Following LsxMatt's video, I too found the best placement to be to lift toward the rear. I used the supplied blocks at 3 points on my subframe connectors and a pinch weld adapter to lift on the pinch weld by the catalytic converter. My car does not have one, but it has a custom exhaust with a true Y in this area and it is tight. This arrangement allowed me to keep the frames wide and parallel.
I will eventually get some more pics on here for explanation, but I think LsxMAtt covered it all.
Without subframes, I think you would need to come up with some creative solutions to get it on the torque boxes and be parallel - and they have to be for stability. Or, you will be lifting on the pinch welds. If you use the right "blocks" or "pucks" this probably isn't a big deal, but a lot of members are against this. I didn't use the Quickjack block with slot reliefs, I had a set of shorter ones that I use on my floor jack to raise my C4. Just so happened one of these on top of a block was a close match in height to hit the side sill about the same time the blocks contacted the subframes.
It did exactly what it advertised. Our cars, and I am sure some others, will provide unique challenges but I think once you find the solution you can go from pulling these off the wall to having all 4 wheels off the ground in under 5 minutes.
Been meaning to update my lifting solution, glad this post got refreshed and reminded me!
My 85 does not have SFCs, and my pinch welds have been bent over sometime in its past. I created a brace to place under the car and between the Quickjack lifts. A member here, FormulasOnly, was very helpful in posting some pictures of what he built a few years ago. Thread is here on TGO. I started with his measurements but quickly found I needed to change the design, maybe because i have a manual transmission. I took a 2x6, 8' long. Cut the first piece 53" (going from memory, FormulasOnly has a pic of his length, i used the same). That tucked it in nicely between the pinch rails.
I had initially thought that adding some L-channel from HD to the edges of the 2x6 would provide enough strength to lift the car from the offset points. The brace did lift the car, but I could see some bowing, so took off the brace and made a modification. Using the rest of the 2x6, I cut it to 34" (again, best of my recollection, I just measured between my QuickJack frames and cut it a could inches shorter. Then, i centered the second piece on the first and glued-and-screwed them together in a "T". Let the wood glue cure overnight.
This setup has worked great. The y-pipe does rest on the brace, but is not lifting the car. The brace makes contact with the subframe points first.
And I'm in complete agreement, these little QuickJack units are amazing. I like how quickly and easily it lifts the car, and then stows out of the way when not in use. The 85 is currently up in the air getting a complete front suspension rebuild.
Certainly more costly than using a floor jack and jack stands. No argument there. I just hated jacking up all four wheels so much that it was keeping me from doing work on the car, which is my favorite part of the hobby. Decided it was time to spend some money and enjoy the result.
Some pics of my car lifted. Ignore the cedar chips, they are there to keep the mice away, not ready to blow them out just quite yet.
1st lock position Full Lift This is the catalytic converter location, very close to the pipes... even touches a little at the edge About 7.5" off the ground at the wheels - Full Lift About 18" Of lift at the side sill.
There is a square tube that slides up as the hydraulic rams lift the car. When you clear one of the two lift points, you the lower the lift and the tubes make contact with the stop. Quick Jack has several videos on their channel on YouTube that can show it in action.
What's the locking mechanism so it doesn't come down?
you can see the lock rod in the picture I took with a measurement to the side sill. There are two locks in the track this engages. You actually lift and the lower to a lock for use.
I still use a few jack stands near myself when I am under it. Doesn't matter where since they aren't actually supporting any weight. Then if something happens, I don't care what happens to the floor pans as long as the car won't drop on me.
The problem I see with that Quick Jack is the point of contact with vehicle could end up on the left or right side of the pad (not centerline) which is really near the same vertical plane as the edge of the base. Doesn't matter how wide the base is, only matters where the point load is relative to edge of base and how little extra encouragement it would take to tip. I've tugged pretty hard on stuff with my car on jack stands, enough to topple those Quick Jacks, I'd bet!
And aren't you the same guy that doesn't trust them and uses jack stands "just in case"?
You're Missing out, even used them to throw my riding lawn mower up in the air to install a new friction disc. I have used them to change the oil/pugs on my IROC, to change the oil on my C4, plus some work on the mower as mentioned. Bonus that everything sits level.
I don't know if I said that, but yes I do. As a secondary safety. The car is not actually resting on the stands, but while changing the oil I did have them by the sway bar bushings. The stands were maybe 1/4" away. This is no different than when I would use a jack and stands as the primary hold. I usually put the rims under the side sill as well as a secondary catch. I will always put something somewhere that would keep me from getting pinned under a car. Even if it needs to be in an area where the car may get damaged, obviously you try to avoid that, but primary concern is always to protect yourself. Cars are replaceable.
I have shook and pushed on both cars while they were up and it was very secure. Your point is valid. You do have to load them properly. Same as with a set of stands. You have to make sure the loading is square and safe.
09-12-2019, 01:33 PM
