Was looking through the on line HF catalog and came upon the Harbor Freights auto lift, and was wondering if anyone on the forum has this lift.


Just reading the reviews, it seems that it would be an excellent lift for doing routine maintenance on my Jags.


Any opinion's?

 

I would think that it would be great for brake or suspension work but you can probably forget about gearbox removal without some difficulty. (those cylinder look to be in the way?)

Automotive Scissor Lift

It looks like you could get to the engine from straight up.

Watch out for high winds!!!!!!

bob gauff

 

Each of the techs at the shop I work at has one very similar to this and they work great. They are very stable even though they do not look like they would be. I like them because you can move them around easily and they sit flat on the floor.

I have seen the short two post design which is another good option as they would mount under the rockers from the sides and would not block any access under the center of the car. Check out www.gregsmithequipment.com as they carry the Atlas-BP8000 which is a 8000 lb two post and is in the same price range as the Harbor Freight scissor lift.

 

That lift is a obvious clone of the Atlas MDR6 I bought from Greg Smith. It takes my XK8 up to where the windshield frame is just below the 8' ceiling. I can remove the valve body from the transmission, but to pull the trans mission it would be necessary to rest the car on jackstands after getting everything unbolted, and roll the lift out of the way.
The fact that it rolls means I could move it out into the driveway if I had to work under a high vehicle like a van.

 

I have one exactly like this, and believe me, it DOESN'T ROLL. A friend and I went two and a half hours to Indianapolis to pick up a floor model on sale....Not thinking, when they loaded it, with a forklift into the back of my 3/4 to pickup, that it may be heavy. I thought we could unload it easily, when we got it home.....We both grabbed it, and pulled it at the same time, once at the entrance to my garage, and left our arms holding it in the truck bed, while our bodies were 4 feet away. I ended up removing the tailgate, and using my engine hoist lifted up the end of the solid steel beast, so as not to destroy my bed lining, and winched it out, with my Jeep Wrangler.

The critter must weigh a thousand pounds, and I could only move it around with a floor jack, when it is partially extended.

As for it being flat, and being able to drive over it, I needed to raise the floor level, with large 2x12 boards, stacked in a ramp type configuration, and secured to the floor with anchors. With the cylinders and fittings, it is over 4" tall, laying flat on the floor, and is a permanent appliance, more or less, once you set it down, unless you have 10 strong friends to move it.

I needed to build the boards around it, because a sports car couldn't drive over it. My Corvette, Porsche, and XK8 would simply have their chassis hung up on it, if they didn't drive over it elevated.

I love mine, but pulling the trans would be an engineering nightmare, even though you can do a lot of other work under it, like Hail Mary engine overhauls, and things relating to the front and rear 4'8" of the car, depending on where you position the vehicle. Mine is very stable, but I test it, by shaking the car, while lifting. Working on it is a joy, and I have had no problems in the 10 years I have owned it. I did drill and install grease fittings, for longevity though. It's a great tool. Just know it's limitations.....Be cool....Mike

 

If you have really low ceilings and want the advantage of a two post lift you can't beat the MaxJax: MaxJax Portable Two-Post Lifting System by Dannmar

I have had one for 5 years and love it.

 

Mine has wheels at one end, and the power unit is used to lift the other, so it can be maneuvered, as does the Harbor Freight lift. But it does weigh 1000 lbs. I picked it up with my Ford Van and with the help of a neighbor and a come-along we dragged it out.

It does require a ramp on each side, 2X4's laid flat with 1/2" plywood that I can move out of the way for better access with my cart.

That rig Steve has looks great, with much better access, but a little more expensive.

 

Wow, for not much more, I am highly sold on that basic Atlas 4-post rack. I'd like to stack the S8 over the XKR or vice-versa in the next few years. Duly noted, thanks!

Atlas® Garage Pro 8,000 4 Post Lift

Note: now in a larger garage than shown in sig, with 10' ceiling.

 

Being interested in a lift, I saw another lift (DANNMAR) company, and sent them an inquiry about who they had listed as dealers, one of which was HOME DEPOT.
My inquiry was could I go to HD and order one of their products. That was yesterday--5-12-15. Today I received a call from BEST BUY AUTO in CAL., and they advised me that DANNMAR asked them to contact me??????and let me know that they had no lifts to ship and it would be JULY 1st before they had any.
I asked the guy why did they have him call me instead of just placing the call themselves. His reply was he didn't know. I then asked him was it possible to go to HD and order a lift and his reply was that he doubted it. I then asked if maybe HD was just listed as a place to have a unit shipped too. His reply was again, he doubted it.
My reply was thanks for the call and hung up.
Two hours later; I get another call and it's a fellow that tells me he's from DANNMAR and that the call I received from the BEST BUY guy should not have been made and that all the info he gave me was false and that he didn't know what he was talking about except, the availability date of JULY 1st was correct. He also told me that HOME DEPOT was in fact one of DANNMARS dealers and I could order from them and the unit would be shipped to them for local pickup. HOME DEPOT's price was $2299.
So, have any of you guys bought a DANNMAR MAXJAK and what was your experience? This has all been very confusing.
Thanks for any reply.

 

As I mentioned above, I have had mine for about 5 years and love it. It is a great 2-post lift for a home garage with a low ceiling. It allows you to sit under the car and offers full access.

If you have a high enough ceiling though, I would suggest a standard size lift though so you can stand under the car.

 

I wound up buying a Bendpack 4post. You can order sliding jack stands in order to lift the wheels

off the ramp. You can bolt it down or with the caster kit you can move the lift to another spot by hand. They say one person can do it, and yes you can. However, two is better. Choice should really come down to what your long term goal/usage of a lift will be.

 

Here's my Danmar MaxJax bought from Garage Equipment about 1 1/2 years ago. It works great. I took out the XK8 tranny on it.

 

johns55,


By any change do you remember what you paid for it? Compared to other two post units, Home Depots price is about 800 bucks more. Just wondering what the HD markup is compared to other dealers. I'm also trying to see if the convenience of having it shipped to a local store is worth the 800 difference.
Thanks.

 

Home Depots online price is now $2499, and none in stock, which might match the July delivery advice. Best price I see so far is eautotools...$2199 with free delivery. Doesn't work for me in Hawaii. I'll have to use a freight forwarder or see if I can get it at the local HD store for the extra $300 when they become available. I'm about to swap engine and trans from my wrecked 99 XK8 into a nice much higher mile '97, From what I've read, dropping both units from underneath seems to be the way to go......thus my lift interest....or I could pay a mechanic a couple grand for the work....and not have a lift for the $. Easy choice.

aloha

 

See if you can find what you are looking for at this link.http://www.gregsmithequipment.com. this is where I got my lift.

Gus
www.jagrepair.com

 

Sorry, I've been away from the site while trying to paint the XK8. I think I paid around $2100 with free delivery. Costco also sells it. They had some problem with welds in some of the last batch, so I think that's why no deliveries until July.

 

Wrenchski, which island are you on?

 

I bought mine from Greg Smith Auto Equipment, in Indianapolis. I don't know if they still have a store there. My only problem is the wheels locked up, and I cannot do anything to free them up. I paid $1200 for mine, many moons ago, and it was a showroom model. I love mine, and my wife doesn't chew me out every time she hit her doors on it, like she did with my old 2 post. I just looked it up, and it has not gone up, but $300, comes with 4 arms, pads, and truck adapters......Mike

 

Hi, I'm in Kona on the Big Island. 21 years now. SF before that.

I went to almost all the dealer sites on the dannmar website, and a couple had it for 2199 free shipping. Costco did not show it at all, but maybe will after July 1. If I drop it to Hawaiian Express in La Mirada, they will get it here for $285, which puts it at almost exactly HD's 2499, but the local sales tax with HD bumps it a hundred bucks.

I cannot find any other lift which will unbolt and store out of the way, so Dannmar is the one for me. Even though I have a 10' ceiling, the garage door openers hang to about 8', so I can't use anything taller anyway. Also, from what I've read, the four posters are very slow up and down, meant more for storage rather than wrenching. With 1,250 sf for garages and shop, you would think I would have room for anything I want, but with all the other tools for various things...there hasn't been a vehicle in there in years. I need to fix that.

I'm going to drop the engine and trans as a unit from my wrecked '99 xk8, and put it in my nice body '97 after removing its problem drive train. I'm going to build a couple of boxes on two furniture dollies to lower the drive train onto. I also need to swap out the transaxle from my '87 Saab turbo, which comes out the bottom, and I have Toyota Previa with a blown head gasket for which I can get a 40K mile engine for $700. It also comes out the bottom. So I have managed to rationalize the purchase by dividing the 2,500 by four jobs....only 433.33 per vehicle....a bargain.

 

Hi All,
Well, I took the bait and decided on the "Greg Smith" ATLAS TD6MR Scissor lift. I weighted the decision on multiple things, some but not all listed here.
I would have liked a two post lift, but although some were listed as--"when finished, the post can be rolled out of the way". That is true, but I can see me unscrewing 12 bolts each time and then rolling the post to where? I wish my garage was that uncluttered. Then if one of the post tipped over, where would it fall? Who would help me pick the thing back up. Leaving the post in position would have just been another thing to take up space and a chance of dinging a door getting out of or, into the car. A repair that would cost as much as any lift I could afford.
So, the scissor lift was my only other choice, but other factors came into being--how would I get the thing here. Once here, how to get it in the garage. Remember, these things weigh a half ton. Nothing an 80 year old should be trying to move around. (unless some sweet things were watching--ha.) In my case not!
Next was the cost. Not bad at $1495, but then we have to think of Taxes and shipping, which in my case brought the total a little over 1700 dollars. The deciding factor for me was talking to the shipper, who said they would be glad to load it on my trailer if I would remove the sides. Lucky for me my trailer has removable sides.
So the decision was made and it arrived in three days. The how's and why's I got it in the garage would take forever here and I'm afraid would sound like a badly produced comedy or something worse.
Looking at the two 2x12 boards (actually 1/1/2 x 11/1/2) I had to place on each side of the lift,to raise the XK high enough to roll over the lift, I decided to go to my local lumber company and buy rough sawed 2x12's which are exactly 2X12's, 16 ft. long-----not cheap at 44 bucks each---- I brought those home and could have produced another comedy getting them in the garage-----they alone are heavy as hell----and along side of the lift. (Perfect height wise)
Next, I had to find a place to buy the correct viscosity Hy. oil. May sound like a nothing event, but here it was an hours worth of phone time, but at last found what I needed at O'Reileys.
So then you go through the safety steps, but at last-- on with the car, but wait. The book says "position the vehicle on the center of the lift" not that this is an easy thing. Center for and aft, left and right, then back to for and aft and , oh well, just know that it would have been better with a second person.
After getting the lifting arms in the correct lifting arrangement, Push the button and low and behold up goes the car---a sight to behold knowing that this thing is actually working as they say. You listen to the CLICKING of the safety catches as it goes up and then you remember--WHAT ABOUT THE GARAGE DOOR OPENER MOTOR----Panic. But you stop in time and find out that if you will lower the top on the car first, the car can be lifted to the full height, which in my case is plenty high enough for me to do anything I want to do. Any thing under the car can be accessed---yes even the transmission pan by sitting on my roll around up or down controlled stool. Why I've even found the grease fitting on the rear universal joints.
When letting the car back down, I was pleased to note how smooth and slow it comes down. These things are supper made and well engineered and not a fear one about not being stable. One might be able to rock the car enough to cause it to fall, but he would have to be "One hell-of-a man, BIG JOHN"
So the total cost is around 1900 bucks with the oil and boards. I may have left something out, but that's about what one will end up costing.
I'm a happy camper.