Garage Lift

[Roger G.]

How thick does the slab need to be to safely support a lift that allows two car parking? thx

[Jim D.]

Re: Garage Lift

4 post lifts don't require anything more than a normal thickness pad. 2 post lifts require a thicker than normal pad in the area where they are bolted down.

[Richard E.]

Re: Garage Lift

My floor is around 4-5"'s and i haven't had any problems.I have a Back Yard Buddy and it has worked out well.With my lift there is no need to bolt it down as there aren't even any holes in the pads.My 67 435 coupe is on top and the 67 300 air coupe is under it...

[Tom P.]

Re: Garage Lift

Yep - Jim is correct. Direct Lift has a bunch of technical information on their web page including assembly and operation manuals. http://www.directlift.com

[Gary J.]

Re: Garage Lift

My pad for my 2-post lift is six inches thick and 5000 PSI on the concrete, to this date no problems.

[Chuck G.]

Re: Garage Lift

How thick does the slab need to be to safely support a lift that allows two car parking? thx

I can't tell you how thick the concrete was, but I can tell you that at my former house in Maryland, and now at my current house in Florida, I have a "regular old concrete garage floor". Nothing special was done... no additional thickness. I've had NO problems with either 4 post lift. Neither were/are bolted down.

Chuck

[Donald H.]

Re: Garage Lift

Like Chuck said, I installed a 4 post Directlift on a normal garage floor that the house builder put in 20 years ago. I installed the lift about a year ago and it works great. The bigger issue is whether you have head room for two cars. My garage is 10' 4" and I can easily get my C1 and C2 on top of or under neath the other. The only issue I have is the garage door. With my C1 on the lift and as far forward as I can get it. I can lift my garage door to where I have about 4" of clearance to pull the C2 into the garage.

I bought a high lift garage door conversion but haven't gotten around to install it yet.

Don

[Chuck G.]

Re: Garage Lift

I have a Direct brand lift in Florida. Here it is. It's the standard model.

http://www.directlift.com/Pro-Park-8S-Standard-Four-Post-Lift-P44C9.aspx

In Maryland, I had a Superior brand lift. Both lifts, to me, look identical from a construction point of view, the only difference being the color. The Superior was red, the Direct is black.

[Tom D.]

Re: Garage Lift

Most four posters come with a set of four "levers with casters". I like the fact that, with these attachments, you can move your car and lift.

[Robert K.]

Re: Garage Lift

Minimum concrete for a 2 post lift is 4 1/2" of 4000 lb mix. I did 6" of 4000 lb concrete. I had a friend with a commercial shop and the concrete was too thin so they cut a 2'x2' hole in the concrete and poured it thicker. I don't know how much thicker, but a would assume muct thicker.

[Dan S.]

Re: Garage Lift

If my memory is correct, I read that 4" of concrete is recommended for a 4-post lift. I want to buy a 4-post but I was told my garage floor is 3.5". I don't know if half an inch makes a difference but I'm not willing to test it.

[Mike E.]

Re: Garage Lift

Yep - Jim is correct. Direct Lift has a bunch of technical information on their web page including assembly and operation manuals. http://www.directlift.com

Has anyone bought a lift from them? I wonder how good is the quality of one of their lower cost lifts?

As far as the concrete goes for a 4 post lift the pads are probably a larger foot print than those of a tire, so the weigh on one pad would be the car + the weight of the lift. A Corvette and the lift would not weight anymore than a larger SUV or pickup. Most folks wouldn't think twice about damaging the concrete by parking a large SUV in their garage, so I think its a non-issue with a 4 post lift.

A 2 post lift is different story, the force is in different directions, not just downward.


Mike

[Joseph K.]

Re: Garage Lift

For a four post lift most garage floors are fine. The common construction of garage floors is 4 inches of 3,000 PSI concrete with a welded wire fabric pulled up into the concrete as it is poured. The only concern I have is if the construction was done poorly. Some floors are poured over uncompacted soil and voids can occur under the concrete. Check for hollow sounds and concrete settlement. But for the most part it should be fine.

[Mark T.]

Re: Garage Lift

Every ones answers are pretty much correct. 4 post storage lifts can be used on any solid service . At Carlisle they are used on the grass for the exhaust installs , I don't recommend that practice. But any concrete garage floor would be fine.
As far as using the casters I would never move a lift with one of my Corvettes on it, I like my cars to much. The lifts weigh about 2,000 lbs and add a 3,200 lb car on it you have a very heavy skateboard. With the casters they are hard to steer and with the weight of a car it is very difficult especially if the floor is not level.

The 2 Post lifts require a minimum of 4 inches of concrete and I recommend 4000psi , when it comes to concrete the more the better. Larger capacity 2 post lifts require more concrete

I base this information on over 30 years in the lift business, selling and installing and I am a member of the ALI - which is the Automotive lift Institute which certifies the construction and safety of lifts.
I would stongly advise only buying a ALI certified lift. That way you know the lift has been tested and safe.

The link to the ALI web site which lists all of the companies and models that have certified lifts is WWW.AUTOLIFT.ORG.

Mark

[Michael J.]

Re: Garage Lift

One thing I did when I had my garage built especially to house 2-4 post lifts, was I had the contractor take out the common slant from front to back most all garages have, some have more that others depending on where you live. This is to allow melted snow, water, etc. from the car to drain out the back of the garage. I decided I didn't want that angle with my lift and cars on top, so made it perfectly flat and level.