Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

Browsing the Internet I found this:

http://www.carlift-ramp-mr1.com/

Yes, I've looked at that too. At ?954 it seems quite expensive for what it is. For ?1620 you can have a Hamer lift http://hamercarlift.com/ which raises the car up to 4 feet off the ground, so you can comfortably sit underneath. It doesn't need to be bolted to the floor, but takes around 15 minutes to slowly raise the car corner by corner. So far I haven't bought any of these gadgets. Has anyone here got either type?

Mike

I have the Hamer lift and am very happy with it. I did consider a 4 or 2 post powered lift but fitting one of these would have been difficult in my garage to say the least. The Hamer isn't fixed down and so can be moved if the initial position isn't quite working and it would only take a few minutes to dismantle it completely although the individual parts are quite heavy.
The down side of the Hamer is that it takes a few minutes to lift the car as you jack each individual corner gradually until you reach the desired height but this only becomes a real issue if you needed to use the lift on a daily basis.
The fact that you lift each corner individually does have the advantage that you can (within limits) have the corners at different heights which I find very useful.

The Hamer also feels very safe to use as you insert steel pins in the posts at each corner ensuring the lift can't be lowered and there is very little maintenance required - a little oil or grease occasionally.
As my garage is quite small I routinely park my car on it which is no problem at all.

Ed

Hmmm, Yes, that Hamer one is even more interesting to me.

Thanks Ed, you are the first person I've heard of who has one and it's good to hear that you like it. Did you buy their car seat on wheels? I like that idea but it's one more thing to store in an already crowded garage.

Mike

TroonSprint wrote:Thanks Ed, you are the first person I've heard of who has one and it's good to hear that you like it. Did you buy their car seat on wheels? I like that idea but it's one more thing to store in an already crowded garage.

Mike

The seat is a nice idea but I have no idea where I would store it.

Ed

or for ?550 you coluld buy two pairs of these.......
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ADJUSTABLE-CA ... Sw7NNT0ok2

fred

Elanconvert wrote:or for ?550 you coluld buy two pairs of these.......
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ADJUSTABLE-CA ... Sw7NNT0ok2

fred

I was looking at those too, fine for my Elan, but not quite meaty enough for my mundane (a Renault Grande Espace). Still might get these, as I can't really accomodate a Hamer at present premises.

Both cars need the low roll-on height.

Images from the manufacturer's site

Elanconvert wrote:or for ?550 you coluld buy two pairs of these.......
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ADJUSTABLE-CA ... Sw7NNT0ok2

fred

Those are pretty clever. A late friend of mine left me his Kwik Lift (http://www.kwik-lift.com) which gets the bottom of the car 24" off the ground. This is similar to what the OP mentioned. One can either park on it when it's inclined or else drop the far end and use small ramps to drive up on it every time one parks the car. It's clever (and heavy) but I handed it off to my son since I already had a 6000-lb hydraulic single post lift. I'd avoided getting a two-post lift since I couldn't find a place to mount it where it would both be out of the way and never get wet, but on a trip a few years ago I stopped to see a friend who had his Morgan Plus 8 up on his single post lift. I hadn't realized these even existed. It's very handy in tight quarters since I can slide the lift under the car, set the arm pads, lift the tires off the floor and then pump the handle to get the lift on its wheels so I can move the lift, with the car on it, off in a corner:
http://www.bestbuyautoequipment.com/sin ... msc-6k.htm

I have a race car that only gets used a few times a year, so it mostly lives on the lift off in a corner so can park a motorcycle beneath it.

Duncan
(Texas, USA)

Elanconvert wrote:or for ?550 you coluld buy two pairs of these.......
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ADJUSTABLE-CA ... Sw7NNT0ok2

fred

I have a pair of these that I used prior to the Hamer - I am not sure who made mine as they are second hand but the dimensions appear to be the same.
They are a great idea but for anybody thinking of buying them be aware that they may not go low enough to drive your car up the ramp without first hitting the lower body. I had to buy a ramp extension to make them work with my car especially a problem at the front - don't forget when making your measurements that the car is lower when you sit in it to drive up the ramps and also use the height of the highest part of the ramp not the quoted height of the car when lowered .
The only way I could get the rear of the car on the ramp was to reverse up them as the ramp wouldn't fit under the body in front of the rear wheels. That said they worked really well after I started using the ramp extension.
I still use these to get the wheels in the air when the car is on the Hamer - I lift the car on the Hamer and put the two ramps under the car with suitable prices of wood on top ,adjust the height of the ramps so that by lowering the Hamer the ramps lift the car so that the wheels can be removed.

Hi

I have also got a pair of the CJ auto ramps and overall they are a great piece of kit although I have a couple of comments.

You certainly could not use 4 at a time - as EPA says you could not get them under the body so have to reverse up them if you want to raise the rear in the same way you would any other ramp.

I have got a 69 S4 and I do not have any issues with them fouling the body at the front or the back providing you start off with them wound right down.

When the ramps raise the horizontal position of the wheels / car changes slightly with height but providing you are aware of this I have not found it an issue.

Overall thouroughly recommended

John

HampshireMush wrote:Hi

.

You certainly could not use 4 at a time - as EPA says you could not get them under the body so have to reverse up them if you want to raise the rear in the same way you would any other ramp.

I have got a 69 S4 and I do not have any issues with them fouling the body at the front or the back providing you start off with them wound right down.

John

john

if using four of them, I would anticipate something like a scaffold board cut to length between front and rear...


my penny pinching miserliness coming to the fore again!!!


fred

Thought a few of you might want to know the cost of the plans for the lift in the first post - it's ?53 in the UK and ?57 elsewhere and you have to sign a non disclosure agreement.

I spent some time looking at options here, never spotted the raise-able ramps! I discounted a lot of the lifts like the first one mention as you back to square one if you need to do something that means removing a wheel.

I was looking for something:
- Work within my 8ft ceiling garage
- Work with all my cars (inc bmw e39 with ~56" between front and rear lift points)
- Mainly for suspension/brake and general access to underneath
- Moveable with me to a new house
- Not block large amounts of garage space when not in use
- Not too expensive ($1000-$1500)
- Ideally be portable
- Not take too long to setup

The EZ-carlift looked very good but got pretty expensive ($~2000) when you added all the bits to support the different cars. Max jack again was a strong option but not sure if my garage floor was strong enough and takes a bit of setting up. There were a few scissor lifts that looked interesting but would pose storage problems or limit access to underneath.

In the end I went for a Quickjack BL5000-XL (~$1500) with 12V hydraulic system, with jump start pack to power it. Its not perfect as it blocks side access to the car but overall does what I want. I made up some foam covered planks to go under the +2 so it lifts via the length of the floor (and also to hit the lift points on the e39). Its a tight fit between the wheels when down and wouldn't fit for a elan. At the minute I just stack the unit and store them at the side of the garage, I could lean them against a wall if i found a good spot. The hydraulics live on a shelf and i just unroll the hose and connect them when I need to use it.

I purchased the EZ Carlift and absolutely love it. It gives me plenty of headroom underneath and the creates almost no obstruction when I'm shooting around under there on my creeper. Plus, when retracted, it's completely flat for easy storage. Extremely well made, too.