Working underneath.

[iain.hamlton]

I am looking for a good solution for working underneath etc. I have a single garage so am not blessed with too much space.

Has anyone experience of these solutions:

http://www.levo-artis.com/products-specs-prices.html
I am looking at the Drive on support system

or this:

http://www.holden.co.uk/displayProduct. ... de=091.960

Any other ideas, suggestions or experiences?

Thanks and best regards, iain

[richardcox_lotus]

The 1st item looks good, as it seems to actually have taken into account the Elan's crappy jacking points.

Do either of the Elan Owners' featured on their website post or view this forum, to give us an opinion ??

[hatman]

Iain - I put the rear wheels on car ramps, trolley jack up the front and stick axle stands under it. Works for me - and it's cheap!

[stuartgb100]

I use ramps at the rear and axle stands at the front as well, but could do with either finding taller ramps or a custom solution for the rear.

Has anyone come up with a solution they wish to share ?

Regards,
Stuart.

[ppnelan]

I use an inspection pit...

Matthew

[tower of strength]

I use ramps at the rear and axle stands at the front as well, but could do with either finding taller ramps or a custom solution for the rear.

Has anyone come up with a solution they wish to share ?

Regards,
Stuart.

A block of wood under the chassis, below the forward rear wishbone bolts, lift, remove wheels and then jack right up, axle stands under the struts. Lift the front on the crossmember/vac reservoir and use axle stands at the end s of the reservoir. Do the back firs and the front from under the car.

Works for me!! Use a decent trolley jack with a large cup though.

Mark

[pamitchell]

I went with the Kwik Lift. I believe they distribute in UK.

http://www.kwiklift.com/features-all.htm

Had to section the two movable cross members to fit the Elan narrow track
and build wider wooden ramps. Car sits up 24 in. off grade and clear
access underneath. I also mounted drip pans on wood spars to get the pans off the floor. It's nice to lay the lift flat when not in regular use.
I'm very pleased with the lift for value & convenience. I can fit my Audi
on it for servicing with no problems. Max. wt. is 5000 lbs.
Rgds,

[alaric]

This type has been discussed here before - seems like a good option:

http://hamercarlift.com/

[gerrym]

Iain, my solution was to get two U shaped frames fabricated by local Blackmith. These are made from RHS section and run under the car then up at each side (in line with sill jacking points). I then have four cantilever struts that bolt to the uprights. There are x braces on the side of the car to prevent the U frames falling over sideways. To complete I have two smaller RHS sections that run under the car and slot into the ends of the cantilever. To jack up the car I use telescopic hydraulic jacks that give a really long travel with each stroke. (to start I use the factory jack or any trolley jack).
With this sytem I can get the body up high enough to roll out chassis. Or jack up entire car to get at any under body maintenance issues.
Total price was around ?250 painted. Downside is it's heavy (probably way over designed) and not really very portable
Regards

Gerry

[andyhodg]

I modified a pair of axle stands so that I could the rear of my +2 on the jacking points on the sills. This allowed me to strip the the rear suspension but the car was really stable.

If anyone is interested I can post a couple fo pictures of the modified stands.

Andy

[stuartgb100]

Andy,

I've used that method for the baby Elan, but it's not one that I've been really comfortable with, since the baby doesn't have the +2's cill structure.

From time to time I've thought of trying to design something which would utilise the rear suspension turrets on the chassis, and give some sort of bracket to prop up from.

However, it really only becomes a problem when you need to work on rear hub and/or suspension assemblies.

Still, if anyone has any ideas .................

Regards,
Stuart.

[oldokie]

I have a design in my head that involves 2 two stage fork lift masts, 1 on each side of the car mounted to a common plate (1/2"), shortened forks, and two pieces of c-channel to go fork to fork under the sills or fork to fork left to right depending on the job. The masts would be drilled for safety pins at various heights. Could also be used to store one car over another.