Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

Rob

Thanks for the wheel jack stand tip - my back bitches as well. I got a wheeled stool right off the bat.

I figure the lift gave me at least another 19 years of this part of the pleasure of Elan ownership.

Bill

I appreciate all the information.

The article on cars falling off a two post lift makes a four post a necessity. I will research the jacking beam option. I consider the ability to have the car on the lift with all four wheels removed an important feature. Makes brake bleeding and suspension work far less difficult.

I recently had the garage / shop built. I would have to ask the contractor the floor thickness. I beleive the floor to be at least 6" in depth.I do have very high ceilings. No issue with clearance. Heat and lights.
Bob

I forgot you were in North America. I did toy with the idea of this:
https://mohawklifts.com/automotive-lift ... -adaptors/
However, shipping over here would be prohibitive.
I hop it helps.

If I had the room,height and suitable floor, and could afford it, I would install a conventional 4 poster and have a couple of hydraulic jacking beams to give 'wheels free' when needed.
Bob looks looks like he has the room?
I have always felt that 2 posters are much too scary especially so for use with older, somewhat fragile cars!

Not having a lot of room in my double garage I think a good scissor lift, albeit very much a compromise, may be the way forward for me. Another issue to consider is they all seem to be made in China and whilst they work ok for a couple of years what happens when it is 5years old and you need parts for it?
I do though like the look of this which has mechanical safety locks compared to others with pneumatic locking systems.
https://sm-t.co.uk/product/clifton-3-ton-lift/

Alan.

I do have the room. I want a storage lift as I could store two cars in the same floor area used for one. Also, it would be imperative to have the "wheels free" option. Without these two features it would be difficult to justify the expense.

Many of us are getting old and the procedure to get the car off the ground with a floor jack and jack stands is a punishing ordeal. Not to mention the benefit of the lift providing the ability to put the car at a proper working height when standing. The Lotus adds some complexity as there are few jacking points. I wish to avoid relying upon the jacking at the corners with the resulting cracking noises. As well as the added dilemma of using said corners for jack stands. It appears to me to be tenuous having jack stands placed on the ramps relying upon the corners to support the car. Another plus would be not requiring the lift legs be secured to the floor.

I will search for a suitable storage lift that can double as a work shop "wheels free" workshop lift.

Bob

Bob

Your solution, as you have probably worked out, is a 4 post storage lift with 2 jacking beams - luxury!!

When I finally decided to buy a lift for my garage (60th birthday present my wife bought for me) I agonized over which type of lift to buy. Four post drive on lift for working on car and storage or a two post lift for working on the car.

I spent months researching and talking to everyone I knew who owned a lift. The outcome was this; if your constantly working on your car or doing major restorations the only choice is a two post lift. If you primarily want storage and occasionally do work on your car the choice is a 4 post lift.

The cost of both lifts were about the same (Chinese made). The minute you add a center lift on the four post the cost goes up considerably.

When I renovated my home years ago I had wisely poured a 6? concrete floor in my garage with lots of rebar reinforcement for a two post lift install (9000 lbs max lifting weight).

I choose a 2 post lift (Triumph NT-9) and after 5 years of constant use I have no regrets. I can easily use it for storage with a few sturdy boards under an Elan or Europa and if used for long term storage I take the wheels off so you don?t have droop of the suspension.

You need to recognize that I do regular Lotus restorations (as a hobby for myself) and really wanted a lift were ease of access of all parts of the car was very important to me. With a four post lift and a very small car (Elan) the lift is always in the way of something.

My only regret is waiting as long as I did to do this. It was ridiculously cheap ($2,300 for the lift, $700 for install and $300 for electrician to install new dedicated circuit and hard wire) and completely changed the way I work on sports cars.

I built larger lift pads out of wood for lifting the Elan?s and Europa?s to spread the load on the fiberglass body. And have a couple of 2x4 and 2x6 boards cut to length for use when I need to use the lift for storing a car vs working on it.

I also removed the center garage door electric motor and changed to a side mount motor on the wall where the track is bolted to the wall. And moved the door track closer to my low ceiling.

I do maintenance work on my cars. If I purchase a lift I will buy a 4 post lift. I appreciate the drive on platform. With the sliding jack the car can be raised for wheel removal. I realize that some areas under the car will be unaccesible with the drive on design. My current research favors Steel Valley Lifts. Made in USA. I will likely require a company to errect the lift in my garage.

The depth of my garage allows the lift positon to allow full height travel as there is no garage door opener to centend with.

I appreciate all the responses. Now all I require is how to justify the expenditure to my wife. Those responses should be very interesting.

Again, thanks.

Bob

?Now all I require is how to justify the expenditure to my wife. Those responses should be very interesting.?

Just show her my post that my wife bought my lift for me for my Birthday!

I stopped counting.


Also of interest. I read a Bend Pak comparison of the "Steel Valley" Backyard Buddy and their lifts. Interesting. Major drawback the Bendpak are made in China.
Bob

rdssdi wrote: Now all I require is how to justify the expenditure to my wife. Those responses should be very interesting.

I used a simple cost saving of me doing the work on cars v paying a shop to do it. At $100/hour you don't need to do much for it to pay for it self (especially when paying "book time").

There are also the safety aspect, car on a lift is a lot safer than jack stands and other methods. Added to that is with the medical system here, one significant visit to the ER is could be in the same price range as the lift...

I was originally looking at a Mohawk because the hydraulic line to the opposite post could be buried in a slot cut into the floor. I liked the idea of not having a chain between the posts and not having to drive/push the car over a bridge between the posts. Having the lifting connection going over the top of the car would not have worked either. The lift could be procured that would have only required minor modifications to the ceiling, but the initial cost and the shipping from the east coast pretty much killed the deal, so I went with the Max Jax.