Lift in Garage - Any Advice?
08-10-2018, 07:20 AM
#1
Thread Starter
Lift in Garage - Any Advice?
I am looking to install a lift in my garage to add a 3rd car. I want a lift just for storage. Does anyone here have one or have experience with them? Is it difficult to have the garage door tracks go to the ceiling? Do I need a special garage door motor? I have a 16' garage door and 14' ceilings.
08-10-2018, 07:41 AM
#2
I have thought about this myself and thought the recent thread by Bamafan: https://www.s2ki.com/forums/car-talk...-lift-1184059/ was helpful.
He recommended the lift by this company and they seem to have a solid and not too expensive product:
https://www.wildfirelifts.com/
After doing some pacing, staring, and measuring in my garage you certainly need the different kind of door lift and door tracks that go to the ceiling in most garage setups. I have a ten foot ceiling and I think that is pretty close to minimum. Much lower than that and you need some really low cars to stack on top of each other given that the car supports have some thickness to them. In Bamafan's thread he notes his ceiling is 12 ft I think.
Even at 10 feet I can fit my 328i sedan (57 inches tall) and Cayman (51 inches tall) and get six inches between the cars and a six inches between the top car and the ceiling, but it would be TIGHT in a ten foot garage. And that does not include any lightbulbs that might be hanging from the ceiling. SUV's would pretty much be a no go unless you have a really high ceiling in your space. At ten feet I can fit a Cayman under a Miata (49 inches high) and lift it up high enough to walk under without banging my head, but I am 5'6". In most home applications it makes for a tight squeeze, but if you have a third stall out of the way it can work pretty well as long as the cars are not too tall.
If you want to stance your Aston and Jag, well then......
He recommended the lift by this company and they seem to have a solid and not too expensive product:
https://www.wildfirelifts.com/
After doing some pacing, staring, and measuring in my garage you certainly need the different kind of door lift and door tracks that go to the ceiling in most garage setups. I have a ten foot ceiling and I think that is pretty close to minimum. Much lower than that and you need some really low cars to stack on top of each other given that the car supports have some thickness to them. In Bamafan's thread he notes his ceiling is 12 ft I think.
Even at 10 feet I can fit my 328i sedan (57 inches tall) and Cayman (51 inches tall) and get six inches between the cars and a six inches between the top car and the ceiling, but it would be TIGHT in a ten foot garage. And that does not include any lightbulbs that might be hanging from the ceiling. SUV's would pretty much be a no go unless you have a really high ceiling in your space. At ten feet I can fit a Cayman under a Miata (49 inches high) and lift it up high enough to walk under without banging my head, but I am 5'6". In most home applications it makes for a tight squeeze, but if you have a third stall out of the way it can work pretty well as long as the cars are not too tall.
If you want to stance your Aston and Jag, well then......
Last edited by vader1; 08-10-2018 at 08:01 AM.
08-10-2018, 09:33 AM
#3
Thread Starter
I have two Big Ass lights in the garage they hang about 2' from the ceiling. The 3rd car will be small one. Looking at a 4C Spyder, GranSport Spyder, Lotus Elan (M100), or Lotus Elise. Leaning towards the Elan as being the least expensive. I want a car that doesn't compete for daily driving attention. More of toy than something useful.
I am waiting for a quote from the first vendor I contacted.
I am waiting for a quote from the first vendor I contacted.
08-10-2018, 11:56 AM
#4
Things have likely changed in the last 15 years since I bought mine, but I checked out a lots of brands and selected Revolution, made by Rotary which is a popular commercial lift brand. They agreed to have me pay them and they paid the installer, so that way if anything went wrong I only had one company to hold accountable. No complaints so far.
14'? Wow; I am at 9.5' and have the S2000 under the Tiger with little to spare, fortunately my wife is only 5'2" and pops into and out of her Honda with few issues.
Just read a feature on the Elan M100 in Classic and Sports Car, sounds nice for a WWD car.
14'? Wow; I am at 9.5' and have the S2000 under the Tiger with little to spare, fortunately my wife is only 5'2" and pops into and out of her Honda with few issues.
Just read a feature on the Elan M100 in Classic and Sports Car, sounds nice for a WWD car.
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mosesbotbol (08-11-2018)
08-10-2018, 01:55 PM
#5
M100 is fwd the turbo is a must have and are very much fun 
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mosesbotbol (08-11-2018)
08-11-2018, 07:13 AM
#6
Easy fix. Any Home Depot/Lowes sells round disk shaped led fixtures that are pretty bright and quite flush for a little more than $20 each. I replaced the "single-bulb-sticking-out-of-a-socket" with those both in the garage and in our basement gym, and you gets lots of light and little space intrusion. You can get a startling zap when you shoulder press a dumbbell through a low hanging light bulb.
08-11-2018, 07:18 AM
#7
Thread Starter
Easy fix. Any Home Depot/Lowes sells round disk shaped led fixtures that are pretty bright and quite flush for a little more than $20 each. I replaced the "single-bulb-sticking-out-of-a-socket" with those both in the garage and in our basement gym, and you gets lots of light and little space intrusion. You can get a startling zap when you shoulder press a dumbbell through a low hanging light bulb.
https://store.bigassfans.com/the-garage-light
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08-13-2018, 12:42 PM
#8
Thread Starter
First estimate was for a 'FORWARD MODEL EFP8 FOUR POST LIFT' at $4,400 installed. Does not include any garage door or track modification which they do not offer. Looks like I am stuck until I can figure out the how or who change the garage door tracks and motor.
08-13-2018, 03:29 PM
#9
The Big Ass light looks like a nice addition to any garage.
08-15-2018, 03:26 PM
#10
As stated above, I recently went through the same process. Feel free to give me a call if you want to discuss it.
Any garage door company can modify your tracks to go up to and run along the ceiling. If your ceiling is high enough, it will mostly sit in the front wall above the door opening. You will want a jack shaft opener. There aren’t a lot of options; most use the Liftmaster 8500.
My garage is 12’ tall and my Wildfire lift goes up to 6’ 10”. That was important to me since driving and parking under it is pretty much a non-issue for my wife and daughter...they have to jump up to even touch the bottom of it.
Any garage door company can modify your tracks to go up to and run along the ceiling. If your ceiling is high enough, it will mostly sit in the front wall above the door opening. You will want a jack shaft opener. There aren’t a lot of options; most use the Liftmaster 8500.
My garage is 12’ tall and my Wildfire lift goes up to 6’ 10”. That was important to me since driving and parking under it is pretty much a non-issue for my wife and daughter...they have to jump up to even touch the bottom of it.
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mosesbotbol (08-16-2018)