Garage Lift Installation

Vincent Venat · 2018-07-30

Hi Everyone, Does anyone have any connections or contacts for getting a garage lift installed (4 post mostly for winter storage)? I'm in southern Ontario (South of Barrie). Cheers

frankmar

· #2 · Jul 30, 2018

I know this friend of mine, when he built his house, he had a rectangle hole deep 5ft, 2 1/2ft x 6 ft

parked his car there but when needed to do work under the car, he would just go down the hole and was able to do his work standing up. Cheaper and did not have to have a high ceiling garage.

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Vincent Venat

Discussion Starter · #3 · Jul 30, 2018

Thanks Frank. This is more for storing the 124 rather than working on it. Costco has a 4 post lift on sale for $3500 CAD but need to look at labor. My garage is 13 feet tall due to the grade.

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SJWhiteley

· #4 · Jul 31, 2018

Your best bet might be other forums like garagejournal.com (a forum just for garages). There are lots of people there which might have info on lifts, floor requirements, installers, etc.

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CANABARTH

· #5 · Sep 16, 2018

There are a few reputable shops like Garage living or lift superstore in Oakville. I got my lift from them and have been in business a long while.

https://liftsuperstore.com/

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Niagara Len

· #6 · Sep 17, 2019

Vincent Venat said:
Thanks Frank. This is more for storing the 124 rather than working on it. Costco has a 4 post lift on sale for $3500 CAD but need to look at labor. My garage is 13 feet tall due to the grade.

Just last week I had a car stacker installed, where my Spider sits on, and I park my daily driver underneath. I used an independent installer, who carries many brands, and is competitive. The low cost unit I installed appears to be very rugged, will hold 8,000#, which is more than enough for our little car. Cost was $2900 + tax + installation, for a total of just over $4K. Of course, if you need to raise your garage door add about $1000, but in my case, the garage is deep enough and this car is small enough that I was able to get away without raising the door, but I have only about 2” clearance between the Spider and the garage door opener. I measured carefully and drew sketches to scale to be sure everything fit.

I live in Niagara, and not sure how far he is willing to go, but I can tell you that the installer he used is from Mississauga. You can ask.

Automotive Hoist Supply
905-704-9739
Mike Allard.

Good luck.
Len

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fiatmidway124

· #7 · Sep 18, 2019

To just work on your car I recommend a scissor lift.

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Vincent Venat

Discussion Starter · #8 · Oct 3, 2019

Niagara Len said:
Just last week I had a car stacker installed, where my Spider sits on, and I park my daily driver underneath. I used an independent installer, who carries many brands, and is competitive. The low cost unit I installed appears to be very rugged, will hold 8,000#, which is more than enough for our little car. Cost was $2900 + tax + installation, for a total of just over $4K. Of course, if you need to raise your garage door add about $1000, but in my case, the garage is deep enough and this car is small enough that I was able to get away without raising the door, but I have only about 2” clearance between the Spider and the garage door opener. I measured carefully and drew sketches to scale to be sure everything fit.

I live in Niagara, and not sure how far he is willing to go, but I can tell you that the installer he used is from Mississauga. You can ask.

Automotive Hoist Supply
905-704-9739
Mike Allard.

Good luck.
Len

View attachment 73138

This is great man thanks for sharing. I'm a good 2.5 hours from Niagra so probably won't work for that installer but I'll try to look around that price. Still intersted in doing this. how annoying is getting into the Civic with this setup??

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Niagara Len

· #9 · Oct 3, 2019

Vincent Venat said:
This is great man thanks for sharing. I'm a good 2.5 hours from Niagra so probably won't work for that installer but I'll try to look around that price. Still intersted in doing this. how annoying is getting into the Civic with this setup??

Hi Vincent,
Very easy. (I have 4” clearance between the top of the Civic and the rail). The Civic doors open easily without hitting my bikes on the right, but on the driver’s side, before I hit the wall with the door, I have plenty of room to exit the car. If I had a wider car it would still fit into the car stacker.

Do a search on Kijij in your area, look for “car hoist”, “car stacker”, or “4 post car lift” or similar words. Don’t get the stacker that needs compressed air to lower it, as it is more expensive and the air compressor is a pain. Also, most of these are available with 120 Volt motors, and seem to work OK.

If you’re ever in Niagara, drop in and I can show you my setup.

If I can answer more questions...and good luck!
Len

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gtjosh

· #10 · Oct 3, 2019

I live pretty far away from you but I just got a 4 post lift this year. I ordered it from gregsmithequipment. I went with this lift due to the quality and the safety features it has. I have had the Lift since march and love it. I also ordered two sliding jacks for the lift so I can still work on suspension and brakes. I did install the lift myself with the help of two other people over 6 hours.

Atlas (ATEXHPRO8000) Garage Pro 8000 Portable 8,000 lb Capacity 4-Post Lift

How Does Hydraulic Cylinder Rust Form And How Can It Be Prevented? If your four-post lift is left in the down position for an extending period of time, there is a chance that rust may form in the Hydraulic Cylinder. How does this rust form and how can it be prevented? Let’s take a look.How Tall...

www.gregsmithequipment.com

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Mike34

· #11 · Oct 3, 2019

@gtjosh I gotta ask...did you bolt the lift down? Sorry to be THAT guy.

oops and same question for @Niagara Len

aloha mike

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gtjosh

· #12 · Oct 3, 2019

Mike34 said:
@gtjosh I gotta ask...did you bolt the lift down? Sorry to be THAT guy.

oops and same question for @Niagara Len

aloha mike

No worries and No i did not bolt it down. I thought about maybe putting 1 bolt through each leg more of a locating pin but have not yet. This lift come with casters so you could roll it around if you would like but it does not need bolted down. That is from the manufacturer that told me that. I have had no issues with it not being bolted down but do understand why some people would wanted it bolted down.

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Mike34

· #13 · Oct 3, 2019

gtjosh said:
No worries and No i did not bolt it down. I thought about maybe putting 1 bolt through each leg more of a locating pin but have not yet. This lift come with casters so you could roll it around if you would like but it does not need bolted down. That is from the manufacturer that told me that. I have had no issues with it not being bolted down but do understand why some people would wanted it bolted down.

I hear ya...just the fire and life safety training coming out. Aloha mike

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Niagara Len

· #14 · Oct 3, 2019

gtjosh said:
No worries and No i did not bolt it down. I thought about maybe putting 1 bolt through each leg more of a locating pin but have not yet. This lift come with casters so you could roll it around if you would like but it does not need bolted down. That is from the manufacturer that told me that. I have had no issues with it not being bolted down but do understand why some people would wanted it bolted down.

Same comments from me.
But what I have done is mark the base pad cut-outs (for bolting to the floor) with a black magic marker, and see whether there is any movement over time. If there is, I will probably just add one bolt per leg, otherwise leave it alone. The installer told me that it may move if under constant use, such as up and down several times a day.
Len

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Vincent Venat

Discussion Starter · #15 · Oct 7, 2019

I was just about to ask about the bolt as well thanks for the info. I know from speaking to a few vendors around southern Ontario they require 6" of concrete thickness in the Garage. In Ontario at least there's a builder code that's more than that (I can't recall what it was - I wan to say 16").

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