|QUOTE|VTHokie77Vette said: Since I haven't laid cement yet I was actually toying with the idea of digging a pit that I could get into. That would be an ideal setup!!!|/QUOTE|

I hate to be a "wet-towel", but I'd suggest checking your local building codes before digging. Garage pits used to be all over the place years ago, but building codes have changed a lot over time. If you are allowed to have one you most likely will need to have block or re-enforced poured concrete walls to keep it from caving in on you. Good luck!

Kwik-Lift and Eagle are the only two outfits I've looked at for lifts. There isn't one in my immediate future so haven't gotten too far into checking them out. But any unit that is going to be used for long term storage SHOULD be secured solidly to the floor, regardless of what the manufacturer says. I doubt that the damage sustained in the incident mentioned above would have been as great had the lift been bolted down.

Joe:

I had a similar problem, but only had a 9 foot ceiling garage. I took my problem to Axe Equipment Company who builds the Stinger Lift. They took all my drawings and dimensions and built a custom lift so I could get my Shark on the lift with 1 1/2 inches to spare!

The quality and customer support and service were excellent. I had the lift delivered and assembled it myself with no problems. You only need 3 or 4 friends to help lift the ramps onto the supports -- waaaay heavy!

You can see my lift at: www.corvetteforum.net/c3/easy_rider

Or contact Axe Equipmet Company at 1-800-854-4850. Ask for Perry and tell him I sent you!

Good luck.

Jim Rauh

Now that's the kind of advice I was looking for. I'll let you know how it all plays out. Do you regularly keep a second car under the vette? How difficult is getting in & out of that car?? Any idea about safety locks for keeping curious 8-year-olds from playing elevator attendant? THANKS VERY MUCH FOR THE FEEDBACK! - Joe

Joe:

The whole purpose of getting the lift was to keep my '69 at home. I figured that for the $120.00 per month I was paying to store it in a storage bay several miles away, I could pay for the lift in a reasonable amount of time. I also liked the idea of the car being close at hand rather than sitting "unattended" even though they had pretty good security.

I kept my "other" car - the necessary daily driver non-Corvette parked under it all the time. I just backed it out, lowered the lift, put the ramps in place and drove the Vette out. No problem at all. And, you have the benefit of being able to work under the car or at any height in-between that you like.

I bought my lift with an optional key switch rather than a simple button switch. That way it cannot be operated without the key - which is another security measure. If a thief broke into the garage, he'd have to have the key to get the lift down. The lift cannot be operated without the key, so it wouldn't be a problem as long as the kids don't know where the key is.

Another feature that I bought is a hydraulic limit switch. I needed this to prevent the lift from going too high and hitting the low ceiling! This stopped the lift in the same place very time.

I just moved into a 3-car garage house, but I kept the lift so just in case I find another Vette, I can park it under the '69!

I saw the post and pictures of the lift that fell. It was not a Stinger. From what I saw, the design of the Stinger Lift would not ever fail like that.

I looked at another similar lift (can't remember the name) that was built in Ohio. The guy tried to drive his front wheel drive van onto it and it pulled the whole lift back about two feet and damaged his garage doors. I didn't think the quality of the lift was the same. I also looked at another lift built by a company near Wichita, KS, but finally settled on the Stinger and have been (as you probably guessed) very pleased with the lift, the people and the company.

What more can I say!

Jim

Jim,
I guess the only thing that I don't know about your experience is how much the whole thing set you back $$-wise. I assume that the relative payoff versus the on-going storage costs made this a no-brainer for you. I've seen a lot of cost variation among manufacturers and would really appreciate knowing the price-basis of a good quality unit. Thanks!
Joe

Joe:

The basic lift price was $3,200. I added some optional equipment like the limit switch, aluminum drive-up ramps instead of steel (about 30 lbs lighter), the key switch, a jack stand and a drip pan which totaled about $3,500. Then there's the delivery cost. This price was pretty comparable to the other two units I looked at.

Jim

You folks need to really read those other threads about Chris' lift collapse. He's a friend of mine, lives about 15 minutes away from me, a very meticulous & careful engineer. He's in my local club and infact he's the one who helped me find my '70 in the first place! :-) Anyways, the lift was designed to roll around and be moveable. It had casters on the bottom which you engage to move it around on a flat surface. When lifting cars they were locked up and it rested on it's feet. Both his C3 (which he had just about finished a frame off resto on) and his 'new' C4 - he only had that a few months, and it was very low miles had quite a bit of damage. The issue has not yet been settled by the lift manufacturer. Definately take the time to read through the archives on the subject as he did an excellent job of documenting what happened, how it failed & why comeplete with photos which will make you a better educated lift consumer. I don't know the protocol of posting links to another online forum here. ~Juliet

Juliet,

Could you possibly post the link with pictures about your friends collapse. I'm sure a lot of folks at c3vr would like to see them. I can't seem to find it again.



|QUOTE|Juliet said: You folks need to really read those other threads about Chris' lift collapse. He's a friend of mine, lives about 15 minutes away from me, a very meticulous & careful engineer. He's in my local club and infact he's the one who helped me find my '70 in the first place! :-) Anyways, the lift was designed to roll around and be moveable. It had casters on the bottom which you engage to move it around on a flat surface. When lifting cars they were locked up and it rested on it's feet. Both his C3 (which he had just about finished a frame off resto on) and his 'new' C4 - he only had that a few months, and it was very low miles had quite a bit of damage. The issue has not yet been settled by the lift manufacturer. Definately take the time to read through the archives on the subject as he did an excellent job of documenting what happened, how it failed & why comeplete with photos which will make you a better educated lift consumer. I don't know the protocol of posting links to another online forum here. ~Juliet|/QUOTE|

Here you are. If the picture links dont' work, click on the link in Chris' (69L71) signature line on any the threads:

Chris' Lift Collapse threads:

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/zerothread?id=258483
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/zerothread?id=260941
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/zerothread?id=271339
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/zerothread?id=274802
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/zerothread?id=280887
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/zerothread?id=302713
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/zerothread?id=317786
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/zerothread?id=343803

Additional photos:
http://briefcase.yahoo.com/bc/chris_maus21108/lst?.dir=/Lift+Collapse&.src=bc&.begin=9999&.view=t&.order=&.done=http%3a//briefcase.yahoo.com/bc/chris_maus21108/lst%3f%26.dir=/Lift%2bCollapse%26.src=bc%26.view=t

|UPDATED|7/22/2002 12:58:59 PM|/UPDATED|