Nirvana for many DIYers (me included) would be having a proper car lift but lack of space and money are obstacles. I came across these last year (website is myliftstand.com) and decided to try out a set. You can check Bill's current pricing but I believe my rolled-up cost was about $700. This last weekend I used them at full extension while doing an ATF job on wife's C230. Floor to car sill was 21" allowing much easier in/out access, and I felt very safe working underneath. The material quality and finish are first-rate. I stack them one on another when not in use so very little storage space required. Tell your wife there's only 11 months 'til Christmas!

 

Swingwing, check out the scissor lifts and the Bend Pak low rise lifts. A little more expensive, but they both grab the car by the underbody and lift it up off of the ground. The low rise kits get you about 24" or so. The scissor lifts can get you about 4-5 feet of lift. They can be had for around $1600+. Contemplating getting one of the low rise lifts. They have some that are on wheels so you roll it out of your garage, slide it under the car, and with a few turns of a handle, the car is up in the air.

 

Bend Pak and the others wouldn't match up with lift points on my E39 BMW. I did come close to getting one from ezcarlift but decided to try these liftstands first. The ezcarlift was very appealing though, especially for storage when not in use.

 

I see with lift stand you have to jack the car two times front and rear to put the stand in position, for safety you should support the frame, I would not put them on the wheels.

 

They're individual platforms, each labeled 4,000 pounds capacity. There's two height positions. Here's the manufacturer's video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cXCvq6DNJi0

 

I saw the video, it makes more work than it's worth, you have to pump the jack two time for each each stand to get the car up that height. I try to find way to minimal pumping iron to lift the car up, when I have it figured it out I'll post it.

 

There's a ton (no pun intended) of choices for safely lifting cars to get underneath them. I've looked at many, and came close to purchasing the ezcarlift. However that design would preclude dropping a driveshaft or taking out a transmission, though at my age I doubt a tranny drop is in my future. All I can say is that these stands offer a lot of capability for the price. At full extension the difference in working room is substantial. I have no connection to Bill, who makes them. Just a customer.

 

Normally, if I need height, I need the wheels off of the car.

If I don't need the wheels off, two pairs of Rhino Ramps will do the job for literally ten percent of the price, and I can have the car up in the air that far in ten seconds without a jack.

 

Car up on TWO pairs of ramps in ten seconds with no use of a jack? Now there's a feat I'd love to see! Front or rear up alone on one pair maybe, but not both ends. Clue me in.

 

If you have 5 inch ramps, it could work.

 

You need to use 2 x 4s to lengthen the ramp up front to keep from whacking the rockers, and you have to make sure that the ramps are locked in place so they don't move.


Doing your diff fluid? use two low one on one side, two high ones on the other to drain, then swap them and refill.


You need to be careful, and have a RELIABLE assistant to make sure you don't overshoot the damn things...

 

Small ones in the back...you can't get the big ones under the rocker...