From what I have read on this forum a lot of us have wanted to solve the low cost lift problem. I was tired of the 4 jack formation lifting, and knew there had to be a better answer. However, after many enquires and much pondering together with measuring my cat to see if their products would fit; I was still in the dark. Sales people will not say if their product will fit the X350. Obviously, you have to explain what the X350 is, but it doesn't help!

I liked the Benpack (their medium scissor lift); but couldn't get at the middle for the transmission oil change, and the roll over height was a bit iffy for the Jag. There was also a mobile 2 post system which looked good; until I checked the cracks in my garage floor. So, I went for the Atlas from Greg Smith, although I was still not convinced it would reach the lift points. Just one problem; they were out of stock. Those nice Chinese built some more, and after a short sea journey, I received a phone call 3 months later saying my lift had arrived!
Its too heavy for a tailgate, so you have to go and collect it, unless you have a friendly forklift at your disposal. I don't; nor a truck to pull my small trailer, so I borrowed one. My biggest problem was getting 1500lbs off my trailer. The pallet it arrived on took all the impacts, from its launch at the loading dock (they said they wouldn't do that), to getting it off the trailer. There was no damage to my amazement.
I had installed a dedicated 30 amp circuit for power. The assembly instructions were non existent, but plenty of confusing warnings about how not to operate the lift. Without some 'kind soul,' who posted a "how to," on the internet with regards to this lift; I would have spent forever trying to figure it out. As you can see the lift works without issue, or any damage to my cat. Its not at max height as I wanted to keep some light with garage door open. Hope this helps someone in the throws of deciding!

 

Well that certainly tweaked my envy meter.

 

Wood is good between Steel and Aluminum.
I use wood blocks on ALL the cars I lift.

bob

 

Can you give us details of model #and max lifting height?

 

All the dimension details you will need are here:

Atlas® Kwik Bay Commercial Grade Open Center Portable 7,000 Lbs. Capacity | Greg Smith Equipment Sales, Inc.

Trust this answers everything?

 

I'm thinking about to buy similiar equipment.
As my garage allows only 1 meter lifting:

Is you lift safe to be stopped before the endpoints are reached ?

 

Yes, the lift can be stopped and locked at intermediate heights. For correct operation the lift requires an air supply to unlock. I have been impressed with the build quality. Sourcing the hydraulic oil was not a problem locally. There are 2 viscosities, depending on the where you live. Most auto parts stores have it, and so does Walmart.

 

god I wish we had as much space over here in the uk to have big garages

 

Wood is okay. I have also heard of folks using hockey pucks, but those are a little small for my liking. A few years ago, I went to my local truck stop and purchased a replacement semi-trailer mud-flap made of rubber, and cut it in 6"x6" squares. It's very durable, stackable and soft enough to not mar, and incredibly non-slip. No lifting device of any kind, or jack stand hits mine without one of those pads between.

 

It comes with a set of Polypropylene blocks which are fine on my other vehicles, but the Jag lacks the clearance to insert them. They are 4 inches high. They do a shorter set, but wood is cheaper; just have the grain running opposite to the clinch line or they are likely to split. I made a set of transverse stretches so I can service my lawn tractor which is too narrow to mount conventionally. Ill find the photo.

 

I know what you mean; I used to live in the UK.

 

Lawn tractor stretchers for mounting transversely made from square tube and 1/4 in plate. I also made some mini approach ramps to easy the approach

 

You now need to repaint the squares and angles on your floor so that everything sits in a smart and soldier like manner.... That's OCD for ya !!
Nice lift though and an amazingly clean underbelly on that Jag.

 

Tks Trosty. I have been able to tone down the OCD since being retired. Sadly, I went looking for the paint after I took this photo to do just what you have suggested. Probably need therapy! My Jag has been a Southern Belle all her life; no snow, salt, and off-road, hence I suppose the clean underbody.

 

brakeboost;
Nice life, however, in the photos showing the wood blocks, what concerns me is it looks as if all the weight of the car is resting on the outer edges of the ramps and could be putting a lot of serious stress, where the lift was designed for the weight to be rather centered on the ramps. Might give Smith tech reps a call and check out the safety of this. Maybe there's a way to widen the ramps so the blocks would be closer to the center of the ramps--plus that would give even greater openness to the undercarriage.
Also, with the car on the lift, how do you get to the numerous screws of the underbelly panels that run along both sides of the car? Course you can always jack up the car and remove these prior to use of the lift. If there's a reason, there's always a way. :-) Changing a fuel filter is going to be a bitch.
Just some friendly observations and questions.

Cheers

 

I have considered such a lift for my 2006 Portfolio (LWB) and given up for that very reason, fearing that the weight on the extreme ends might be too much risky (slippage or break).

I have been looking for other similar lifts with longer ramps to no avail.
All these lifts are fabricated in China.
Does anybody know if lifts with longer ramps could be sourced?

 

paydase:
From brakeboost pictures, the only factor I see holding the two lifts together are the two cross members. Getting longer cross members to move the two lifts apart more looks like a simple solution, however, the width the two that come with the unit are, may be designed at that exact length for safety reasons-- I don't know, but since the ramps are two separate units--each independent of the other, I don't see a reason longer cross members would not work. Maybe "brakeboost" has the answer from the diagram that came with the unit--brakeboost??

Cheers

 

There is an issue with lifting a vehicle with too narrow a lifting area (some trucks). The manufacture provides info on this, and there is an additional piece of hardware to spread the load. My cars are all in the designated lift area.

 

The ramps are not two separate units; they are connected by a substantial torque tube on the base. The red and yellow cross pieces I fabricated to take my lawn tractor

 

brakeboost,
Glad to hear that, however, the weight distribution bars for trucks etc., does then get in the way of the open center feature, sounds good, but....
Don't get me wrong brake, I'm just trying to look at things from a safety outlook and reading Smiths write up on the lift, I'm concerned about the comments made in the write ups about the extra bars for trucks. They continue to mention getting the weights of the vehicles in the center of the ramps--especially the unibody vehicles like our Jags.
But, since you've checked this all out, I'm sure your fine, I was just checking.

Cheers