Fox T-Bird/Cougar Forums

The title is a Futurama reference, but I have good news. Remember a few weeks ago when I posted about finishing my garage ceiling and said that the next big project would be a hoist? Well, it just so happened that a hoist went on sale at Princess Auto (Canada's version of Harbor Freight) this morning. I called yesterday, they only had one in stock, so I was waiting outside the store this morning at 8:00 and snagged it. Installation has begun, but I ran into a bit of trouble (burned out my hammer drill boring holes into the floor for the anchors). Hope to have it up and running tomorrow...

you are so  farking friggin flippin holly shiznittin lucky!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

and someone like you can always fix it better than it was "if" if fails

great score man!

Very cool. How high are the ceilings in that garage?

Great score!!!

Zach: The ceiling is 12'. I built it that high knowing a hoist would eventually be installed...

Nice!

I want one but the ceiling in my garage is too short.

The columns on this hoist are a bit over 9 feet tall. Of course you need room to lift a car, too...

wow man that's way cool ...........no more laying on your back lol

I worked at a mustang shop for a while and I lift is a nice thing to have

FINISHED!!! I tightened up the last concrete anchor before supper, and after supper went out and put the Pimpmobile up just because I could :hick: You'll have to forgive how dirty the 300 is - it just came back from an 800 mile trip and I've been more interested in hoist installation than car washing...





As you can see I have to stoop slightly when under the car - the joy of being 6'2". Still better than a creeper though... And with the car all the way up there is about two feet of clearance above it. This lift would work in a garage with 10' ceilings as long as you only lifted cars with it. Trucks would require a 10' ceiling, but with a 7000 pound rating really big trucks are out of the question anyway

one day ill build a shop in the back just so I can have one of those lol

i dont see a dirty car,, SHOW OFF!

so what size breaker does that need? 

60A 240v?

Ive always thought those uprights needed more of a larger platform welded to the bottom of them.

i can only imagine the anchors pulling out and the whole think tilting back.

you may want to engineer a diagonal brace for safety

how thick is your pad?

Actually the car is absolutely filthy - the front end is covered with bugs and the flanks are covered with black road grime (something this car tends to accumulate more than any I've ever owned).

The circuit has a 30-amp breaker @ 240V, the wire is 10/2. I ran the wire from the panel to that octagon box you can see right next to the light without even knowing how much current a hoist draws, I just knew 10 gauge would be enough. Unfortunately I ran the wire to the right side of the bay, because the motor on my hoist at work is on the right side. This one's on the left, so I had to cross the ceiling. The motor's label says it draws 25 amps. It's not a huge motor, 3.5 HP (and I'm sure it'll never even use all that HP - the pressure release valve would prevent it, and it's not that hard to lift a car - the air in your tires does it at 35 PSI). And I know the red wire looks like poo, it's temporary just to get the thing running. I'll install some BX later...

For a full rise, I'd want one with 82/84" of lift. You can't run into height problems with them. Wouldn't the stooping over get old fast?

Either way, it beats jacking something up and using 1-2ft stands. Just sit in a chair and all is well!

It looks nice. I'm jealous. I'm not sure I could bring myself to scoot under a car sitting on a "harbor freight" lift though.

Meh. Beats lying down under a car lifted by a Chinese jack and supported by Chinese jack stands. At least standing up I can run out from under it if it looks like falling :hick: I wouldn't put anything heavier than the 300 on it, either. It's rated at 7000 pounds, but those are probably Chinese pounds, which are much like internet horsepower. One thing I did do was throw all the concrete anchors that came with it away and bought some good ones

Lol that's funny ..... I'm sure it's fine with some good anchors

Here's the lift I bought:

http://www.princessauto.com/pal/2-Post/2-Post-Vehicle-Lift/8316283.p

shag yeah!

good math there ,, 35psi lifting a car,,, never thought of it that way.
but, thats 4 points, not two

True, but also think of this: The old air powered one post hoists with the buried pneumatic cylinder would lift a car with shop air pressure (typically about 125 PSI). Of course there's much more to it than that - the diameter of the pistons in the hydraulic rams play a huge part - but still, it's not hard to lift a car. I'd imagine the hard part, probably what limits the weight rating of these things, is keeping the whole thing from toppling over when lifted. The feet aren't very big, so there'd be a lot of stress on those anchor bolts (which is why I replaced them with good ones)

i would still brace it,, those things scare the living shiznit out of me

in my work,, the considerations of such a piece of equipment come to mind are

rebar construction
type of concrete the floor is made of  ie- the recipie of the concrete

I saw your pics of construction, i think you had 1/2'' rebar?
not sure on what centers you tied them but i do have to admit,, you are a very lucky man!

I would never trust my floor to something like that,, i would have to saw cut and redo the pad for bay #1 in my garage with 4000psi concrete and #12 rebar on 12'' centers in a grid pattern.

my garage is 3'' now  LOL

I know the guy that did the floor. When I was going over the plans with him I told him a hoist was going there, so he made the concrete 6" thick (instead of 4") and added extra rebar in that area. I trust the floor more than I trust the Chinese hoist...