2 post lifts

[DaveR.PP2]

I installed a Mohawk 10,000 lb rated 2 post lift in my garage running hydraulic lines in floor thru pvc pipe per manufacturers recommendation. My concrete guy excavated a trench About 2 ft wide and 2ft longer than the overall spacing between the columns. We laid into trench some 3/4 stone then the pvc pipe with 90 degree elbows glued in with no inside seams or joints to interfere with running of the pressure rubber hydraulic lines supplied by Mohawk. We poured 16 inches of concrete over rebar and pipe and vibrated and finished the concrete pour. We let it set up for over 4 weeks to allow full curing. I also raised my ceiling from 109.5 inches to 147 inches to get more height which meant knowing how the garage ceiling was framed ( I built my house so that made it easy) ripping up sheetrock and boxing up ceiling joists paying attention to loads and bearings to outside walls and beams.

What I'm getting at is to KNOW what's under your lift columns. I highly recommend you meet minimum manufacturers specs for floor and regardless it is best in my opinion for safety to excavate the area under the columns regardless of expansion joints etc and pour the proper grade of concrete with rebar let it cure 30 days minimum then install your lift. Ceiling height of 12 ft. Is always a minimum in my book but deal with what you have and hopefully you have sufficient to roll around underneath. Take time and money to do this. Safety First.

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[NGOT8R]

@DaveR.PP2, that is a monster looking lift you have there! I love what you have sitting on it too.

I don’t know for certain what the depth of the concrete is in my garage, but the house was just built in 2021 and they did use rebar. During the install, if I determine that the depth is not at or exceeding the lift manufacturer’s minimum specs, I will definitely halt the install and have the floor cut up and more than enough reinforced concrete poured where the towers will stand.

 

[svttim]

Installed my Maxjax myself. Floor was just deep enough to meet the manufacturer recommendations. I dont take it any higher then I need and I dont leave it up unless Im working on the car. I have has several cars on it with no issues

 

[NGOT8R]

It does seem scary to be working underneath a car that’s on a lift. I saw a post on Garage Journal, where a guy had a crack in his floor near one of the towers and he supported the lift‘s arms with tall screw jack stands for added safety.

 

[Bdubbs]

It does seem scary to be working underneath a car that’s on a lift. I saw a post on Garage Journal, where a guy had a crack in his floor near one of the towers and he supported the lift‘s arms with tall screw jack stands for added safety.

It can feel uneasy at times, but if it's secured correctly they are very safe. I personally feel uncomfortable using jack stands and always put extra safety measurements in place.

In saying that, I prefer a 4 post for better storage and I can still wrench on my car.

 

[NGOT8R]

I talked to the warranty manager for my home builder on the concrete specs. It appears that I misspoke when I said thr ci Crete had rebar in it. Here is what he said:

So there is a minimum
of 4 inches with wire
mesh. Some areas
might be thicker just
from the unevenness of
soil under concrete
slab. The psi is only like
3000 which is not
recommended for car
lifts. They usually
recommend 6500 psi
or more. There isn't
rebar in the slab. I would
check the lift specs and
see what psi concrete
they recommend

I swear, it seems like I can’t catch a break on this garage. It feels like the closer I think I am to completion, the further away I actually am. Does anyone know what a reasonable price would be to have two 4’X4’ pads poured?

 

[Prodigal]

I’m so frickin jealous of y’all with killer garages and shops with lifts and tons of room. We’re in our 8th house since 2000. Only one of which we built but ended up staying in for a whopping 18 months before work forced me to move again. I’ve pretty much admitted that I’ll never have a custom home or shop until I retire but at that point I’ll want to downsize, minimize my physical assets and travel extensively. Life and work can be a cruel bitch sometimes. I need to be more grateful for what I have and not worry about what I don’t.

 

[NGOT8R]

I’m so frickin jealous of y’all with killer garages and shops with lifts and tons of room. We’re in our 8th house since 2000. Only one of which we built but ended up staying in for a whopping 18 months before work forced me to move again. I’ve pretty much admitted that I’ll never have a custom home or shop until I retire but at that point I’ll want to downsize, minimize my physical assets and travel extensively. Life and work can be a cruel bitch sometimes. I need to be more grateful for what I have and not worry about what I don’t.

I hear where you’re coming from, but don’t abandon the idea of having a nice shop to tinker in. Heck, when you retire, you’ll love having your own space to work in. Put it on your list of things to do when possible.

 

[FKE SNK]

From Champion's website:

Before you talk with a concrete guy take a core sample of your floor and see what you have. You might be fine but there is only one way to find out.

After that you can think about getting some footings poured for the lift.

 

[NGOT8R]

Good recommendation there FKE SNK. The lift will be delivered on Sept. 6th, so I’ll get a chance to talk to the installers, although I will be handling the install myself to see what they’ve experienced during the various installs that they have done in newer homes.

One thing is for sure, I’m about at the end of my rope in messing around with my garage. It’s been one thing after another to set me back on it. If I do have to get pads poured, that’ll cut into the budget for insulating my attic, space above the garage. That was going to be the final piece of the puzzle to finish things up and help the mini split run as efficiently as possible.

 

[FKE SNK]

No need to stress yet.

Insulating the attic will be one of the cheapest and easiest parts of your project. I think HD will rent you the blower machine for free if you buy $200 or more of insulation. I did mine myself in about 2 hours for $400 and I went way thick for 1200 sq ft.

 

[NGOT8R]

No need to stress yet.

Insulating the attic will be one of the cheapest and easiest parts of your project. I think HD will rent you the blower machine for free if you buy $200 or more of insulation. I did mine myself in about 2 hours for $400 and I went way thick for 1200 sq ft.

That’s good to know. I wasn’t aware that was even an option.

 

[Tucker80]

@NGOT8R I'm assuming this is only a working lift since your ceiling is pretty low at 10' 3". I've got 10' 6" with my 4 post and still wish I had at least another 6" to make life a little easier. I would also recommend installing a high lift type garage door opener since the track of your current one will hit a raised car from what I can tell in your pictures.

 

[Cobra Jet]

I talked to the warranty manager for my home builder on the concrete specs. It appears that I misspoke when I said thr ci Crete had rebar in it. Here is what he said:

So there is a minimum
of 4 inches with wire
mesh. Some areas
might be thicker just
from the unevenness of
soil under concrete
slab. The psi is only like
3000 which is not
recommended for car
lifts. They usually
recommend 6500 psi
or more. There isn't
rebar in the slab. I would
check the lift specs and
see what psi concrete
they recommend

I swear, it seems like I can’t catch a break on this garage. It feels like the closer I think I am to completion, the further away I actually am. Does anyone know what a reasonable price would be to have two 4’X4’ pads poured?

Man, sorry you had to find out in that manner... but just reading this thread from the start the first question that came to me was this:

Why is @NGOT8R purchasing ANY type of lift without knowing the make up of the concrete pad? I mean, talk about gamble - not only for safety sakes, but a waste of time for the Company and Workers who would be delivering it and/or trying to install it as well....

Unless I'm totally missing something, the Contractor who built your home is telling you the pad isn't suitable for a lift but you're still going to proceed with having it delivered on 09/06 and still try to install it?

If the Contractor is saying the pad isn't suitable, you're looking at some decent concrete work to getting it suitable to support not only the weight of the lift itself, the mounting points of the posts, but the weight bearing down on the pad with a car (or truck) on the lift.

Good luck - keep us posted and whatever you do, don't do something where it may be a risk to your safety.

GarageJournal is an excellent source - best site around for anything garage related. I'm a member over there too... Many guys over there are also in construction and can probably give you better info and quotes as to what it may cost to getting your pad revised to proper thickness as well as being safe for any lift install.

 

[NGOT8R]

Man, sorry you had to find out in that manner... but just reading this thread from the start the first question that came to me was this:

Why is @NGOT8R purchasing ANY type of lift without knowing the make up of the concrete pad? I mean, talk about gamble - not only for safety sakes, but a waste of time for the Company and Workers who would be delivering it and/or trying to install it as well....

I’m not usually the gambling type, but I would like to know what I currently have for concrete. The lift company manager told me to make sure I had 4” of concrete and 3000 PSI. He wanted me to drill a hole when I ordered the lift to confirm, but I told him I would rather wait until I had the lift before I drill any holes. I don’t know if this is info he had gotten from his installers/delivery guys or if he has install experience himself. I’ve had so many contractors screw stuff up on our brand new house (still working on lots of items that were on the punch list from the walkthrough 10 months ago. It’s hard for me to trust anyone to do anything for me). Heck, the way I see it, I can either pay someone to do a crappy job for me, or I can do one myself for free (which I won’t), so I’ll install it myself.

During the meeting with the structural engineer for our build job, they knew full well I would be installing a lift and never brought up a concern about the concrete being inadequate once. They even wired a dedicated circuit for the lift (which I won’t be using for a lift now because it would have been for a MaxJax). I’ve since scratched that idea and went for the Champion 10K 2 post which required 220V (already done with the outlet in the ceiling).

Trust me, I want to be safe with this lift. Even if I do have to pour higher PSI concrete, I would still feel uneasy about being under the lift working. When I saw the recommendation on Garage Journal to use screw jacks along with the 2 post, I thought that was a really great idea and I will definitely purchase some of those. Having said that, based on what the delivery/install guys have to say, this might even be an option in lieu of pouring new pads while giving me peace of mind.

Unless I'm totally missing something, the Contractor who built your home is telling you the pad isn't suitable for a lift but you're still going to proceed with having it delivered on 09/06 and still try to install it?

I am going to have it delivered on 9/6 and sat off to the side in case concrete work is a must. I was looking at another lift at Weaver and trying to find a means to have it removed from the delivery truck was a difficult task. Champion Distributors is only charging me $250 to deliver and place it in my garage, they’re 30 minutes from my house and if I need any additional parts, they will be easy to acquire.

If the Contractor is saying the pad isn't suitable, you're looking at some decent concrete work to getting it suitable to support not only the weight of the lift itself, the mounting points of the posts, but the weight bearing down on the pad with a car (or truck) on the lift.

The heaviest vehicle I would ever have in the lift is our little 2020 Ranger, aside from that it would be the Bullitt. I would never test a 10K load at all.

Good luck - keep us posted and whatever you do, don't do something where it may be a risk to your safety.

GarageJournal is an excellent source - best site around for anything garage related. I'm a member over there too... Many guys over there are also in construction and can probably give you better info and quotes as to what it may cost to getting your pad revised to proper thickness as well as being safe for any lift install.

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