[Captsteve123]

Hi all,
I’m looking into lift options for our garage to be able to safely work under my Spider (exhaust, tranny, suspension, etc.). We don’t have the floor space for a 2-post hoist, let alone a 4-post hoist. What should I consider as lift options?

I purchased these wheel dollies and cut 2x4’s to 12” and then stacked them and screwed them together. Had the car up plenty high, and was able to remove transmission and rebuild drive train while lying on a rolling creeper.
Also was able to move the car around in my garage and felt perfectly safe.

 

[XR4Tim]

I have a Grand Prix two post lift from BendPak. They have slim posts and are designed to take up a minimum amount of floor space. They do this by putting the hydraulic cylinder in the top bar instead of in the posts. That said, if you are operating in a standard 2-car garage found in most modern homes (the kind that can barely fit two cars), the lift will take up more than one spot.

 

[gdaquilina]

I have a Grand Prix two post lift from BendPak.

Lots of convenience and flexibility with that set-up! Wish I had the headroom and width for something like that! Beautiful building- looks somewhat new. Is it heated?

 

[XR4Tim]

Lots of convenience and flexibility with that set-up! Wish I had the headroom and width for something like that! Beautiful building- looks somewhat new. Is it heated?

Unfortunately, it's not heated yet, but still better than working outside! I would love to get a waste oil heater.

BendPak does make Grand Prix lifts for ceilings as low as 9', but obviously that limits how high you can get the car off of the ground.

 

[PSk]

How often do we need to lift our Hobbie cars. Some of these options are really expensive for a couple of oil changes per year (thinking 2 car fleet)
Pete

 

[alfaloco]

How often do we need to lift our Hobbie cars. Some of these options are really expensive for a couple of oil changes per year (thinking 2 car fleet)
Pete

Well, that's the good thing about a 4 post parking lift too. I keep both my S4 Spider and my son's GTV 6 on one side of the garage. When we need to work on them, we just shuttle them around to free up the lift. You never really finish a restoration anyway, right?
The other side of the garage? It's for Irene's Stelvio when we get a snow dump.

 

[XR4Tim]

How often do we need to lift our Hobbie cars. Some of these options are really expensive for a couple of oil changes per year (thinking 2 car fleet)
Pete

My lift has been occupied almost 100% of the time I've had it. Granted, I have done extensive work on some of my cars, and regularly work on friends' cars, so I'm always working on something.

 

[Dr. Lo]

Hi all,

So, I decided that it doesn't make much sense for me to get a QuickJack. The best size for the Spider would be the smallest model (3500), which would be too small for our other cars. The next model (5000) could be made to work with the Spider, but a few sources (including QuickJack customer support) indicated that it would be tricky to avoid having one end of the lifting platforms catch either the front or rear tires. A workaround is to use a floor jack to lift either the front or rear end a few inches to give the QuickJack the clearance it needs, which rather defeats the purpose of a simple, easy solution. Thus, I find the QuickJack option too expensive for what it would give me. I'm likely going to use the following approach to work under the car:

1. Drive front or rear end of car onto high-quality, high-capacity ramps (which I already have).
2. Lift opposite end of car with professional floor jack that can lift bottom of frame up by at least two feet (either at differential or front cross member, using one-foot long 3x6 between jack and car to spread the weight a bit).
3. Place professional six-ton capacity jacks stands (two-foot height capacity) under jack points at the end lifted with the floor jack.
4. For safety, lower floor jack a bit and then raise back up until it makes contact with the car without lifting it.

I can't imagine that this process would take me more than 15-20 minutes. Also, it would allow me to work under the car from the sides rather than always having to creeper my way under from either the front or the rear. The only equipment I would have to buy would be the professional floor jack and jack stands.

 

[nealric]

How often do we need to lift our Hobbie cars. Some of these options are really expensive for a couple of oil changes per year (thinking 2 car fleet)
Pete

I suppose only the owner can answer that question, but I've gotten a ton of use out of mine. Doesn't make sense for a couple of oil changes of year on daily drivers, but someone doing more serious work will appreciate it. I've had my lift for a year and a half and have done the following:

Oil changes and tire rotation on daily drivers (3x)
Transmission and differential fluid change on daily driver (1x)
Watts link conversion on Spider (big project with cutting and welding under the car)
Brake fluish and bleed on spider (2x), "nut and bolt" for new build
New fuel lines on spider
Tear down and metal work on the GT

Several of those items would have been nearly impossible, or at least very uncomfortable without the lift (especially the watts link and GT floor pan replacement). I think the GT has gone up or down at least 100 times since I started working on it. Now, I really need to get the floor pans done on the GT so I can change the oil in the dailies and spider, replace swaybar end-links on the daily, and do another brake bleed on the spider. I wish I had space for two lifts!

 

[klharper124]

How often do we need to lift our Hobbie cars. Some of these options are really expensive for a couple of oil changes per year (thinking 2 car fleet)
Pete

Enough that I am getting ready to add a second lift.
The problems with having a lift.
1) once you get one you will kick yourself for taking so long
2) When you put your car on a lift you will find more things that need to be addressed
3) Neighbors will become your friend overnight
4) you will need to buy a transmission jack and a professional oil changing tank/catchpan
5) you have space to add another car

Seriously I would look into the Bendpak low ceiling lift. I think you only need a 9' ceiling for it, and you will not regret the decision.

 

[alfaloco]

Yes, the point is well taken about maintaining your Alfa (or other vehicles). You can and will take better care of them with a lift, simply because it's so doggone convenient. And you'll likely spot things before they become breakdown issues.

 

[Dr. Lo]

Yep - I’ve used one before and it fit. My brother has the heaviest duty version they make for his pickups and it fit just fine.

they really are nice and get the car nice and high.

@CADCHUCK429 and @Tarps3 , I’ve made a rendering of the QuickJack 5000TL (70” frames) placed under my car (see below). The image is to scale (assuming the image of the Spider found in the owner’s manual is an accurate depiction of its dimensions). As you can see, it’s a rather tight fit. I see why some have said that it’s easy for the back of the QuickJack frames to hit the front of the rear wheels when they go up. Is this consistent with your QuickJack experiences? How do you avoid having the QuickJack frames hit the rear wheels when lifting? Do you position them right up against the back of the front tires before lifting?

 

[PSk]

I wonder how much second hand lifts cost ...

Pete

 

[nealric]

I wonder how much second hand lifts cost ...

Pete

They can go cheap, but it helps if you have a truck. I came across a few when I was lift shopping, although most were commercial lifts too big for my garage.

 

[CADCHUCK429]

@CADCHUCK429 and @Tarps3 , I’ve made a rendering of the QuickJack 5000TL (70” frames) placed under my car (see below). The image is to scale (assuming the image of the Spider found in the owner’s manual is an accurate depiction of its dimensions). As you can see, it’s a rather tight fit. I see why some have said that it’s easy for the back of the QuickJack frames to hit the front of the rear wheels when they go up. Is this consistent with your QuickJack experiences? How do you avoid having the QuickJack frames hit the rear wheels when lifting? Do you position them right up against the back of the front tires before lifting?
View attachment 1760068

When I set up mine the back frame of the Quick Jack just barely touches the front of the rear wheel, all 4 wheels spin freely.

 

[Tarps3]

@CADCHUCK429 and @Tarps3 , I’ve made a rendering of the QuickJack 5000TL (70” frames) placed under my car (see below). The image is to scale (assuming the image of the Spider found in the owner’s manual is an accurate depiction of its dimensions). As you can see, it’s a rather tight fit. I see why some have said that it’s easy for the back of the QuickJack frames to hit the front of the rear wheels when they go up. Is this consistent with your QuickJack experiences? How do you avoid having the QuickJack frames hit the rear wheels when lifting? Do you position them right up against the back of the front tires before lifting?
View attachment 1760068

it is a tight fit but it slides under the car just fine without touching the wheels.
I've used it several times with no problem.

its a type of scissor lift so if it fits between the tires, the clearance going up gets a little better as I recall.
if you go online and watch their videos you can see what I mean. it sorta rolls in the bottom track and scissors up.

Like I said, it's my brothers and he uses it on his Miata too.
My neighbor came over and was so impressed with it that he bought one to work on his Cobra replica car.

 

[Dr. Lo]

When I set up mine the back frame of the Quick Jack just barely touches the front of the rear wheel, all 4 wheels spin freely.

it is a tight fit but it slides under the car just fine without touching the wheels.
I've used it several times with no problem.

its a type of scissor lift so if it fits between the tires, the clearance going up gets a little better as I recall.
if you go online and watch their videos you can see what I mean. it sorta rolls in the bottom track and scissors up.

Like I said, it's my brothers and he uses it on his Miata too.
My neighbor came over and was so impressed with it that he bought one to work on his Cobra replica car.

@Tarps3 and @CADCHUCK429 , can you please confirm that your experiences have been with the QuickJack 5000 and not with the QuickJack 3500?

 

[CADCHUCK429]

@Tarps3 and @CADCHUCK429 , can you please confirm that your experiences have been with the QuickJack 5000 and not with the QuickJack 3500?

Mine is the Quick Jack 5000.

 

[SpiderMike73]

I have a 1973 Spider and my Quickjack 5000TL fits fine under it and lifts the car without hitting the tires. It is a close fit but the lifts can be positioned to not have any interference with the tires. Once you find where that is you just do it every time and you're not slowed down at all. I really like it for working on the Spider : )

 

[Dr. Lo]

I have a 1973 Spider and my Quickjack 5000TL fits fine under it and lifts the car without hitting the tires. It is a close fit but the lifts can be positioned to not have any interference with the tires. Once you find where that is you just do it every time and you're not slowed down at all. I really like it for working on the Spider : )

Thanks, mate! That’s the last bit of input I needed to be convinced that I should buy the QuickJack 5000TL. I can’t wait to have more clearance when working under the car.