I’m in the early stages of planning for a storage barn, and I’m planning to include some sort of lift. I’ve never used one myself, but plan to do more maintenance myself as I approach retirement.

Any advice on type of lift is welcome. How much clearance around the vehicle do you recommend? Barn builder suggested 11’ ceiling/truss clearance, which I admit I hadn’t considered. Initial thought is a 40x30’ barn, with one half for the lift and car storage, I.e. 20x30’ for up to 3 cars, including the lift in one position. I’m thinking that’s tight, though cars could be shoehorned in. And some of the barn would be available for maneuvering.

Plan to have 20-30A service @ 110/220V, so that shouldn’t be an issue. Probably propane heaters for occasional winter use.

Thanks in advance. While this isn’t really F-type specific, this is where I hang out.

 

I have at least 3 ft of clearance around my vehicle on the lift. I personally have and like the 4 post lift made in the USA by Backyard Buddy. I have had this lift since 2003 and have never had any problems with it. It is also portable so it can be moved if need be. Also you can use 120v or 220 v. It also came with low profile ramps so all my cars have gone on & off the lift without any problems. You would want to invest in at least 2 tall jack stands to use for removing the wheels. The height depends if you want to stand underneath the car while working on it. Eleven foot ceiling may not be enough depending on the vehicles you are working on.

 

I am on the Ford GT forum, the most popular lift seems to be the Bendpak HD-9. This is good for storage and working on your car

https://www.bendpak.com/car-lifts/four-post-lifts/hd-9/


If you just want storage then the Autostacker is very popular.

https://www.bendpak.com/car-lifts/parking-lifts/a6s/


20-30 amp service is not very much. You would be much better off for versatility to have at least 60 amp service. Also you should prewire for a car wall charger for future needs. I built mine with 12' ceiling and 10' doors. That was a mistake, I regret not going to 14' clearance and 12' doors as I ended up buying a Class B+ Rv and the clearance is real tight getting through the doors. I have to dump the air bags suspension and have to remove the weather striping to slip in with about 1/2" of room to spare. The added cost to go up in height is minimal. One thing I did is use a product called Octaform on top of the plywood walls. Makes for a bright white surface, easy to clean and is waterproof , so washing any car is great with no worries about getting the walls wet.

https://www.octaform.com/products/quickliner/

 

QUOTE=zach05855;2369287]I am on the Ford GT forum, the most popular lift seems to be the Bendpak HD-9. This is good for storage and working on your car.[/QUOTE]

Agreed; this is the hoist I put into my 3rd car garage. We also have 2 rolling bridge jacks that allow you to pick up the vehicle off the hoist surface to remove wheels. Total was about $7000 installed. I have minimal space on the wall side (6" at the narrowest and 24" at the widest) and still have been able to do a full vehicle restoration. I also have 9.5' ceilings. None of these things are ideal, but it's certainly better than not having a lift. We sit on rolling stools to do underbody work. Even in this configuration we can stack the F-type and a BMW 135i, but it's really tight.

Our new house has 10' & 11' ceilings with 8' garage doors (instead of 7) and this facilitates working on larger vehicle and more easily stacking the cars. Do yourself a favor and get a side powered garage door opener. You don't need monster doors for normal cars to have adequate hoist space since there is no opener in the way.

 

ditto on the Bendpack HD-9. I've used it on my last house with 10'3" ceilings and it's fine (vehicle dependant of course) My new shop has 14'6" ceilings so it's a non-issue;

 

Agreed; this is the hoist I put into my 3rd car garage. We also have 2 rolling bridge jacks that allow you to pick up the vehicle off the hoist surface to remove wheels. Total was about $7000 installed. I have minimal space on the wall side (6" at the narrowest and 24" at the widest) and still have been able to do a full vehicle restoration. I also have 9.5' ceilings. None of these things are ideal, but it's certainly better than not having a lift. We sit on rolling stools to do underbody work. Even in this configuration we can stack the F-type and a BMW 135i, but it's really tight.

Our new house has 10' & 11' ceilings with 8' garage doors (instead of 7) and this facilitates working on larger vehicle and more easily stacking the cars. Do yourself a favor and get a side powered garage door opener. You don't need monster doors for normal cars to have adequate hoist space since there is no opener in the way.



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Ditto on the side mount garage door openers. I have these as well . They can then install the garage doors up to the ceiling.

 

x3; I used the Liftmaster 8500W side mount on my last two shops.

Dave

 

Fair question...To be honest each type of lift has pros and cons. Depends a lot on what you will do with it...I.E.

4 Post lift - Stable, easy to set up, good clearance in center of car. But you need the center jacks to pick it up, if you want to do brakes/wheel stuff. Also not great for raising for detailing around car. Awesome for storage.
2 Post lift - Good overall and easy access to most of the vehicle...Great access to center of vehicle and wheels. Not easy to get in and out of (posts), or for detailing as posts can get in the way.
Mid-Rise Scissor lift - Great for everything but center access...Horrible for that. Pretty inexpensive and easy to move around.

For "Fun" a few years ago, I purchased an Auto Repair Franchise (not fun by the way, thus I sold it)…I had three different types of lifts in 8 bays and again, depended on what work the techs were doing as to which type of lift was used.

I currently have a two post (MaxJax) in one bay of my garage, a Mid-rise scissor in one, and two bays with none. You can also do a lot with good low profile quick lift floor jacks and stands.

Good luck,
DC

 

Is the couch for maintenance groupies?

 

I have a four post lift and its kind of like a smart phone, can't imagine ever going back to life without one and kicking myself for not getting one sooner. To the electrical question, I have a 110v pump on a 20amp circuit which is fine for hobby use, but it is slow. That's the whole thing about hydraulics is you don't need a lot of power when you go slow. In a working shop, time is money so no, you wouldn't want a slow lift but unless you are the impatient type, it may not be worth spending the extra money for 220v lift pump in your hobby shop.

While a 2-post is the most versatile for a mechanic, its not good for storage and I sometimes use my 4-post to stack cars. Having the bridge jacks gives you probably 85% of the versatility of the 2-post plus the ability to stack. I also like the drive-on-off convenience for regular fluid changes and quick diagnostics. With a 2-post, you're carefully setting it up for every lift. Ideally, if I had the space, I'd like to have one of each. But really the only thing you can't do with a 4-post is drop a whole subframe or solid axle assembly and roll it out (well you can, but its sort of "off-label" use). And sometimes the ramps are in the way of where I wish I could swing my breaker bar or torque wrench but overall there's usually a workaround. If you have a Porsche or often work on front wheel drive cars, you'll definitely want a 2-post but if you're all front engine, rear-wheel drive like me, then you can do most everything with a 4-post lift.

However, don't even think that the "jack tray" that comes standard with most hobby grade lifts will be even remotely useful. Its a waste of good steel. Sure you can put bottle jacks in it, but its too narrow and they won't line up with the jacking points on any automobile that you are likely to ever own. You pretty much must buy a bridge jack and I recommend buying a pair so you can lift all four wheels off the ramps at the same time. One thing I like about this setup is that its like putting my car on top of my workbench to do brakes and suspension. I can have all four wheels in the air and the ramps are a perfect tabletop to hold all my tools at the ready. But whichever type you install, you will never regret it. The most useful piece of shop equipment you'll ever have.

 

This is all good stuff and very helpful advice. Wasn’t aware of the ‘bridge jack’, makes sense - was wondering how you’d work on wheels and suspension with the 4-post. Electric service is based on whatever size conduit we bury, and whether I decide to tie the barn into my standby generator (probably.)

Been researching bigger issues (finding a builder, permitting, construction access, etc.) And my new Kubota gets delivered tomorrow.

I personally only have one car for winter storage (the F-type), but a friend will probably take as much space as I give him. And nice to have some room to expand.

And I’d never heard of side-mount garage doors - seems obvious. I should get out more...

 

No; it's for when my lazy *** decides sports are more important than wrenching. Sometimes I just sit out there with a drink among my cars.

 

My old friend Bill Howard posted a link to this article on Facebook that might come in handy, I have a two-pole MaxJax portable lift myself (which I doubt I'll ever move). Best Car Lifts For 2021 - Forbes Wheels

 

When I built my new garage my plan was to get a four-post lift. My serious mechanic friends convinced me to get a two-post.
I am very happy with the decision but may have gone overkill with the BendPak XPR. 13 ft tall and 10K lb capacity.
Some lifts have a width setting and because I had an e type, set the columns at the narrow setting. Will still accommodate my pick-up.
Also installed a laser parking aid at top of the lift to position car dead center.
Glenn

 

Yep, it completely depends on what you need a lift for; you shouldn't store a vehicle on a 2 post for eg.

cheers,
Dave

 

I have a 2 post and a 4 post. I use the 2 post much more often. See if you have a Gregory Smith Equipment near you, you can view all kinds of lifts there and they are more affordable than Bendpack. Now apparently Tooltopia, locations: https://www.tooltopia.com/Store-Locations

 

Add a refer and a head and you'll rarely have to go inside!

Few things in life better than a couple of beers and spending some quality time with a beautiful automobile.

 

I had a TEC-8000S 4-post installed five years ago. A lift is one of the best tools I’ve ever owned.
Suggest you contact www.teclifts.com (N. Attleboro, MA). Glenn is great to work with and TEC offers good support after the sale. The extra $745 installation cost was worth every penny. This is one of those jobs where it pays to have the experienced pros set it up.
I have a small garage which limited my lift choices, but I wish it was about 2” taller at full height so I wouldn’t whack my head walking underneath it :-((. Something to consider…
Re: the garage door opener, a Liftmaster 8500 “Sidewinder” is perfect as it gets the motor out of the way.

 

Thanks for the suggestions. With the price of materials and difficulty in finding contractors, this project has been on hold. Hope to get it moving again soon...

 

A "Must" to get the door out of the way!