Great review! One thing I did not hear you mention is to be sure to include an extra inch or two in your measurement to the garage ceiling in order to lower the top car back down. Most lifts require you to raise the lift an inch or two off the lock stops in order to release the catches before lowering the lift back down. If you get stuck or accidentally raise the too car too high, an emergency plan would be to let the air out of the top cars tires.
Your garage/lift setup is what inspired me to do a complete gut renovation of my garage and add a lift (I only had ceiling height for one of the 3 bays). And then right after getting it perfect, we moved… Back to planning upgrades and this time, I think I’m going to go all out and replace a detached 2 car garage with the same setup (3x2) as what you have.
That sounds great! They have really been great. As lots of power, AC/heat and water if you can. We installed a retractable ceiling fan the I'm surprised how useful that is. I'm the winter it equalizes the heat from the heater and in the summer provides a nice breeze. It is pretty much silent and has a remote. Just a thought :) f
To protect the floor from the base of the posts... I purchased a 3/4” horse mat from Tractor Supply. I cut the mat into 12”x12” squares and placed them under the footing. No issues in the past 2 years. I use the rest of the mat in the bed of my pickup.
Lmao imagine your problem with having 6 cars being that your have a 50% chance for it to take 30 minutes to drive one💀. I think I would’ve just bought unimproved land and designed a house for it. I mean who in their right mind buys a houses these days it’s like 40% cheaper to build. Not only that, but you get to design your whole house💀
@@jerryfreeman8587 it’s 80% cheaper to build your own when Tesla bots come out. Labor is about half the cost of a house, and wholesaling all the parts yourself is even cheaper than home depot or Lowe’s.
@@ClifRussoTV This is great information. Never considered wholesaling materials. I knew building is better than buying, but you just made it that much better for this 20yr old kid. Can you elaborate on tesla bots? I’ve never heard of that
Just a suggestion for the head bumping. If you go to Home Depot or Lowe’s buy some self adhesive waterproof sealant that comes on 6” wide rolls. You can cut sections and apply it over the sharp points ….. even put two or three layers to give it a little cushion. You will still bump your head but at least it will stop you cutting your noggin open. I think you can get the stuff in black or white. So depending if you want it to blend in and not be noticeable or have it white to highlight the areas you want more visible.
Pros definitely outweigh the cons. Don't know what I'd do without them. Manual for PP8S and BendPack HD-7 says 4" of concrete min. If bolting down (west coast required for seismic codes), there are torque specs as well for the bolts. Bolts must be 6" away from a concrete seam. I would add to the maintenance to always check your hydraulic lines and fittings. Any leaks are problematic. The BendPack lift is 92" wide between the posts vs. 81.5" for the Direct Lift PP8S. The PP8S is a little too narrow for me. Keep in mind you need 6 feet of clearance in front of the lift to install it. Recommend referring to the manuals as to why. BTW, Race Ramp work but can shift and you don't want to bump or damage the hardware on the front of the lift with a tire. Most ramps are removable and now they are very light weight. Longer ramps are better for lower profile cars. I have 48" aluminum ramps that are very light as well.
Great video! I want to get a lift just so that I can have my vintage car in the air when not in use so that the garage can be use for other shop-type activities and I won't have to worry about accidentally dinging the car up.
I did a similar thing for lighting. I have a double wide - 4 post lift. I bought a few 4’ LED shop lights and used epoxy to glue heavy duty magnets to the top of the light fixtures. For power, I used a retractable cord reel that self lengthens as I lower the lift. Once the lift is raised, a simple pull of the cord retracts the cord in to the reel.
I can mitigate Franny's height problem: people working inside airplanes would bump their heads all day if not for PPE. Search "bump cap" and you'll find plenty of protective hats and liners to put into your own. They have a hard shell with an impact absorbing foam, most are lightweight and vented. At Boeing, the ones with the short brims are coveted so you're not working in the shade. Keep a couple by the door for guests.
No joke just had this discussion with the husbando because we plan on adding a double bay to the house, this is perfect place for me to start (had no idea about the drip trays!! That means I can keep projects out of the way while waiting on parts/Enginw rebuilds!)
The drip trays are awesome! Great for holding the oil catch when doing an oil change. And they slide too! They really are great for projects. We are waiting on bits for the 308 and it is all up and out of the way :)
Really enjoy these videos where you explain some of the plus/minus and possible hidden costs of trying to replicate your setup. Would love to see more like this.
@@HeidiandFranny A setup video would be very helpful. What to consider so there's room, tool placement, properly disposing of things like fluids and parts. Looking forward to it already!
Another minus would be , if you want to pull , say a rear end etc like when changing a clutch on a C6 Corvette .. Again, you’re right, there are plusses and minuses to every system. Great videos , Ladies !
Yes, there are some things that are more difficult but I haven't found anything I couldn't do - including pulling and reinstalling the engine and transmission on the 3.2 Carrera.
Those four holes on the "feet" are meant to bolt the lift down to the floor. There also great for leveling the lift itself. Every residential garage floor has a slope to it, to shed water towards the door. You really should level and bolt your lifts down. The cars you have aren't all that heavy, but I'd hate to see someone else put a heavy vehicle on a lift that isn't level, or bolted down.
Can a lift be bolted down if the garage floor has "tension bars" imbedded in it. My garage floor has a stamp that warns that there are tension bars but I'm not sure what that means.
I looked at a single level house with high ceilings. They matched the roof height of the garage to make it match. I bet the garage had 15’ ceilings. Awesome
I have a 4 post Backyard Buddy that I love. Its in the "storage" room rather the main shop. We have a 2 post that we took out for the other one.. I may have it installed in the shop area. Gotta love a little lift!
If you have the misfortune of having one or more of your corners "stick" on a safety stop as the car is lowering and the other corners lower a few more inches, you've got a problem! This happened with one of my new lifts because the safety lever mechanism was not properly adjusted. In this situation the motor will not raise the dropped corners back up -- the manufacturer says this is a safety precaution. Solution? Get a piece of 1" gas line pipe from Home Depot, some hard rubber pads, and use a hydraulic floor jack (with the pads and pipe) to raise each dropped corner back onto the safety stops. Worked like a charm.
I don't think that would make much difference with the lifts. So, we installed side panel lights as well as the under lift lights. We have a bunch of 50W LED shop lights on the ceiling and it is pretty bright with everything on.
I used a two post lift to do my own oil change on an i8 coupe. Had to use wood to get car high enough to slide the arms under. Also had to get the car perfectly set for the arms to fit correctly. Then the doors couldn’t open even halfway because the car is wide. I was slithering out back and forth several times trying to get everything lined up and worked up a serious sweat lol. If it were mine I would paint the spots where my tires need to be and have someone guide me so I didn’t have to slide in and out more than once. Of course if your posts are wide enough then all that is a moot point. If/when I build my garage I’m probably going to do the four post lift just to keep it easy and allow it to be used as storage like the ladies here are doing. Thanks for the vid! Very informative
You mention the drip pans you can put under a car that leaks. However, if a car that doesn’t leak develops one or a leaky car springs a second one in a different spot the lower car could be leaked on. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a good setup and I wish I had enough cars to justify a lift or two of this type. 😉
Fluorescent tape or paint along the lower edge, to not bump heads, Those sharp edges can cause real injury. For a German approach (belt & suspenders), in addition to the paint/tape, perhaps glue some rubber (or is there fluorescent rubber)?
Suggest looking at all those sharp metal edges that you could bump your head on and providing they dont hinder the lift... cover them with rubber strips...what would you rather have... a bump to the head or an open wound.
There is no need to boot then down. They are very stable as the center of mass is well inside of the posts. You can actually move them pretty easily with the included casters as well.
With the way their slab is, they actually couldn't secure some of the posts with redoing some of the concrete. That's because you can't fasten it close to the edges of the slab or expansion joints. The slab also needs to be really specific in thickness to bolt it down. If you check the manufacturer recommendations, they say bolting is required only if you're using them frequently (multiple cycles up/down per day). I've spent my life around industrial lifts in my dad's garage and now have my own direct lift at home. I use it more for service and modifications and not for storage. I was skeptical at first about it not being bolted down, but now I'm very confident in it for the reasons of center of gravity already mentioned.
@@curtaustin8119 I've never read that instruction. I wouldn't trust one in an earthquake zone with bolts. I've read the recommendations from all the major manufacturers but hadn't seen that one. They all say if it's used multiple times per day (like in a service shop) to anchor it down. Otherwise, it isn't needed.
Picture this... March 1983. Local Chevy dealer. A brand new 1984 Corvette was hidden on a trailer, in a locked yard. Above the Vette is a new Citation. Said Citation had a leaky brake master cylinder. The new Vette's hood required paint job!!!
Those sharp steel corners sticking out would get chamfered the first time they made contact with my head. Or filled in with one of those two part epoxy strips. Speaking from experience, usually when wearing cap. Ouch.
Proper use of jack stands is absolutely safe. In over 30 years of teaching auto shop, not a single car has fallen off. Moving cars in and out etc. because your garage is small is an awful 1st world problem!
Ok so I'm a great person! I.need a friend in Colorado and thought we could be great friends. You have a nice home and cars! But I would love to have friends to crash with in thT beautiful state. Especially when it's cold 😊
So nice to see Ladies doing this type of thing, looked at a lot of your videos and they are very concise and detailed. Keep up the good work, " Excellent"
Great job again on the video Franny. Thanks for posting. I'll be installing my first lift next month and this was very helpful in thinking about of what to consider before installing.
Looks like the benefits far outweigh the negatives. Mechanics always prefer to work on a car on a lift when necessary. Is it a negative that these don't suspend the car so there is no load on the wheels?
I hear that it is bad to store a car off it's wheels and these are primarily for storage. You can support the car off the ground on the lift with the jack trays. I have the Ferrari up now with the wheels off on the lift.
I have recently returned to work and I am getting to see people that I have not seen for some time. Today I got to see two of my coworkers for the first time and another who I had spoken with but did not know was going to be returning to work. Then to top off my day I get to see a video starring both Heidi and Franny! Of course the content was fantastic but to see both of your smiling faces really put a nice exclamation point on my day. I would also like to shout out my fellow 5'7" Heidi! You both have been a real joy to interact with over the years and to be able to share one more thing in common with at least Heidi is quite a boost. Thank you both for bringing your joy to the world!
I hope to one day have a garage as cool as yours. But if newer construction I’d put 10 ft out on both sides of the outer doors, av15 ft roof and space at the back 20 ft to put wall hanged wheel carriers and tool benches. And I love epoxy flaked floors.
Just got my Wildfire XLT. The product is good quality. They sent me the incorrect bridge jack and the lift was damaged in transit. Neither Wildfire or ABF (freight company) want to take ownership for the damages. My conclusion... if you live close enough to pick it up yourself in Minnesota, go for it. If you pay $500+ for shipping, you are on your own when it arrives damaged.
4 post lifts seem like they get in the way much more you you still have to jack parts of the car up to get the wheels off. 2 Post lifts seem like a better way to go to work on them unless you really need to park another car under it.
A big HELLO from beautiful CYQT. THANK YOU for sharing your experience. A lot of great information to consider. I'm planning a garage and doing research on lifts. What brand of lifts are you using? Again, thank you for sharing. Brian
@@wufco1 Thanks! We had a company deliver and set up. It isn't the complexity as much as the weight. The rail with the piston is over 400lbs. Total weight is 2000lbs I think.
Moving one of your six cars from underneath one of the 3 lifts in your 1000 sq ft garage in order to get your snowblower out... Yeah... 1st world luxury problems... 🤣 Still very informative. But funny, when you think about it. Thank you.
Good video. However, if you know upfront you want six cars, then I guess getting a little bigger peace of land is better then the right height of the garage. My guess is that adding an extra 3 car garage is cheaper then adding 3 lifts right?
Not too bad... We replaced the doors while we were at it otherwise it would just be modifying the tracks. The jack pole lift openers are way easier to install than the standard track lifts. The only issue is getting power to them. The openers are about $300 a piece. They are a little slow, but almost dead silent. You will probably need to relocate the springs higher and that is why we had someone do it. They can be a bit scary.
Great video! Can you share the height of your ceiling from top of slab to the bottom of floor joist above. I am building an addition and want to make sure I build with enough room to add a lift. Thank you.
One question I have is, why not go with a double wide lift for the larger bay to reduce the number of posts and increase free space? By having 2 separate lifts, you have 8 posts. If using a double wide car lift, you still would only have 4 posts instead of 8. Seems to me that would have been more preferred. Yes, you would be raising and lowering 2 cars at a time, but with the amount of shuffling cars around that you mentioned in the video, it's likely you would have to do this anyways.
We added the lifts one at a time over five years or so. Also having to move multiple cars out would be a pain since we use the lifts to work on the cars. I'm guessing those dual lifts are a tad pricey ;)
Great video, very insightful. Slightly off-topic question... what are your impressions of the RaceRamps? How effective are they in preventing tire flat-spots? I've been looking for a solution for when the car goes into storage for winter.
Hmmm... I haven't used them for that. I wonder if you could just move the car forward or back a couple feet once a month. I haven't had any trouble with flat-spotting except with very old tires.
We have sold the house. It was about a car length and a half. Not sure the exact dimensions. Direct lift has a great calculator on their site to help with sizing.
How about a review of your ramps for your lifts? What ramps work for you and why? The standard Greg Smith steel ramps are heavy and awkward. ...love your show.
I think we did on our review of the lifts we did a few years ago (it was a bit more in-depth). You are so right... Those included ramps are SUPER heavy. Good and strong but holy cow. The Race Ramps have been great and weight almost nothing. I hear they have higher ones now for lifts. I need to check that out.
@@HeidiandFranny Been trying to figure out which version of the Race Ramp you use. It looks like the 4" rr-rack-4? I also have a DirectLift 4 post in my garage and I measured the lip height at ~5" so was wondering if the 4" race ramp has any issues. Love your videos and glad to see another RUclips channel based out of CO, with a garage full of Porsches no less.
@@chenc544 I think ours are the 4" and there is a little bump getting on and off but it isn't really a problem. Someone commented that Race Ramps now have one for lifts. I need to check that out :)
@@HeidiandFranny Thanks for confirming. Yea race ramp also has a 5" version (RR-RACK-5) but it's significantly more expensive so I was wondering if it's worth spending the extra.
Huge favor please. I have 9 foot ceilings and was wondering if you could take a measurement with a 911 and your 356 at the lowest settings and measure that height please? Wish I lived near your. I just got a 356 that I am trying to get running and your work, attention to detail is amazing. Please don’t ever stop teaching us and how did you become so proficient? Do you recommend any work manuals for a 356. I own a 62 super 90 with factory electric sunroof. Thank you so much. Your number one fan in Florida
I'm no 356 expert but see what you can do to find affordable versions of the books by Harry Pellow. He was a 356 engine builder and he loved all things 356.
Nice job of organizing. I was thinking about how every time I’d be likely to hit my head and then heard you state that. I wondered why you didn’t just raise the ceiling then forgot about the garage doors. I would bet you would love to have a nice shop adjacent to your house OR an 8 car garage. Thanks for all the info 👍🏻
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Great review! One thing I did not hear you mention is to be sure to include an extra inch or two in your measurement to the garage ceiling in order to lower the top car back down. Most lifts require you to raise the lift an inch or two off the lock stops in order to release the catches before lowering the lift back down. If you get stuck or accidentally raise the too car too high, an emergency plan would be to let the air out of the top cars tires.
I just want to say that you guys are extremely good at what you do. Absolutely excellent content and delivery!
Your garage/lift setup is what inspired me to do a complete gut renovation of my garage and add a lift (I only had ceiling height for one of the 3 bays). And then right after getting it perfect, we moved… Back to planning upgrades and this time, I think I’m going to go all out and replace a detached 2 car garage with the same setup (3x2) as what you have.
That sounds great! They have really been great. As lots of power, AC/heat and water if you can. We installed a retractable ceiling fan the I'm surprised how useful that is. I'm the winter it equalizes the heat from the heater and in the summer provides a nice breeze. It is pretty much silent and has a remote. Just a thought :) f
Lovely setup Heidi but as for the "Cons of owning a lift", really these are 1st world problems when you own 6 cars. 😂👍
Ammature.. Try 45!
To protect the floor from the base of the posts... I purchased a 3/4” horse mat from Tractor Supply. I cut the mat into 12”x12” squares and placed them under the footing. No issues in the past 2 years. I use the rest of the mat in the bed of my pickup.
This one of the best pros and cons of a lift I've seen
Goals.
"Only 3 car garage" lol I would be happy with 1 car garage
Ha. First world problem.
Nothing wrong with goals
Lmao imagine your problem with having 6 cars being that your have a 50% chance for it to take 30 minutes to drive one💀. I think I would’ve just bought unimproved land and designed a house for it.
I mean who in their right mind buys a houses these days it’s like 40% cheaper to build. Not only that, but you get to design your whole house💀
@@jerryfreeman8587 it’s 80% cheaper to build your own when Tesla bots come out. Labor is about half the cost of a house, and wholesaling all the parts yourself is even cheaper than home depot or Lowe’s.
@@ClifRussoTV This is great information. Never considered wholesaling materials. I knew building is better than buying, but you just made it that much better for this 20yr old kid.
Can you elaborate on tesla bots? I’ve never heard of that
I am very impressed with your knowledge, of the whole working aspect of this ordeal. Impressive lady you are!
Just a suggestion for the head bumping.
If you go to Home Depot or Lowe’s buy some self adhesive waterproof sealant that comes on 6” wide rolls.
You can cut sections and apply it over the sharp points ….. even put two or three layers to give it a little cushion. You will still bump your head but at least it will stop you cutting your noggin open. I think you can get the stuff in black or white. So depending if you want it to blend in and not be noticeable or have it white to highlight the areas you want more visible.
Pros definitely outweigh the cons. Don't know what I'd do without them. Manual for PP8S and BendPack HD-7 says 4" of concrete min. If bolting down (west coast required for seismic codes), there are torque specs as well for the bolts. Bolts must be 6" away from a concrete seam. I would add to the maintenance to always check your hydraulic lines and fittings. Any leaks are problematic. The BendPack lift is 92" wide between the posts vs. 81.5" for the Direct Lift PP8S. The PP8S is a little too narrow for me. Keep in mind you need 6 feet of clearance in front of the lift to install it. Recommend referring to the manuals as to why. BTW, Race Ramp work but can shift and you don't want to bump or damage the hardware on the front of the lift with a tire. Most ramps are removable and now they are very light weight. Longer ramps are better for lower profile cars. I have 48" aluminum ramps that are very light as well.
Ladies, your videos are always uplifting first thing in the morning before going to work!
Oh great! ...and great pun too :)
Great video! I want to get a lift just so that I can have my vintage car in the air when not in use so that the garage can be use for other shop-type activities and I won't have to worry about accidentally dinging the car up.
I did a similar thing for lighting. I have a double wide - 4 post lift. I bought a few 4’ LED shop lights and used epoxy to glue heavy duty magnets to the top of the light fixtures. For power, I used a retractable cord reel that self lengthens as I lower the lift. Once the lift is raised, a simple pull of the cord retracts the cord in to the reel.
I’ve watched this video like a dozen times - finally bought two four post lifts. Wish me luck!
Good luck.
I can mitigate Franny's height problem: people working inside airplanes would bump their heads all day if not for PPE. Search "bump cap" and you'll find plenty of protective hats and liners to put into your own. They have a hard shell with an impact absorbing foam, most are lightweight and vented. At Boeing, the ones with the short brims are coveted so you're not working in the shade. Keep a couple by the door for guests.
No joke just had this discussion with the husbando because we plan on adding a double bay to the house, this is perfect place for me to start (had no idea about the drip trays!! That means I can keep projects out of the way while waiting on parts/Enginw rebuilds!)
Gonna have to weight the idea of a double deep garage vs lifting the floor of the seconds story extention.
The drip trays are awesome! Great for holding the oil catch when doing an oil change. And they slide too! They really are great for projects. We are waiting on bits for the 308 and it is all up and out of the way :)
I saw the thumbnail, opened up a browser and bought a car lift then came back and watched the video. No one tells me what to do
Love it. I’m going to get a 4 post in my next house for sure. I’m too old to keep getting up and down etc. from the floor. Good video.
Really enjoy these videos where you explain some of the plus/minus and possible hidden costs of trying to replicate your setup. Would love to see more like this.
Awesome! Let's do a few then. How about a general garage setup? Working on that now ;)
@@HeidiandFranny A setup video would be very helpful. What to consider so there's room, tool placement, properly disposing of things like fluids and parts. Looking forward to it already!
Another minus would be , if you want to pull , say a rear end etc like when changing a clutch on a C6 Corvette ..
Again, you’re right, there are plusses and minuses to every system.
Great videos , Ladies !
Yes, there are some things that are more difficult but I haven't found anything I couldn't do - including pulling and reinstalling the engine and transmission on the 3.2 Carrera.
@@HeidiandFranny I love "Miss Eva," that Porsche 356 cabrio. What year?
Those four holes on the "feet" are meant to bolt the lift down to the floor. There also great for leveling the lift itself. Every residential garage floor has a slope to it, to shed water towards the door. You really should level and bolt your lifts down. The cars you have aren't all that heavy, but I'd hate to see someone else put a heavy vehicle on a lift that isn't level, or bolted down.
Can a lift be bolted down if the garage floor has "tension bars" imbedded in it. My garage floor has a stamp that warns that there are tension bars but I'm not sure what that means.
Bendpac does not require many of their four post lifts bolted down, depending on your geographical area. Just a note.
Yellow paint or tape where you you bump your head , make it a caution point . Love your videos , love your explanations . Love the details.
Better still, some padding👍🇬🇧
@@okgo8315 Also, too, smooth those sharp corners down with an angle grinder, then pad, then bright tape!
Great informative video Franny, maybe you should paint all your walls white to help reflect available light and improve visibility in your garage.
I looked at a single level house with high ceilings. They matched the roof height of the garage to make it match. I bet the garage had 15’ ceilings. Awesome
My house is a raised bungalow, the attached garage has the same roof line and have 12' ceilings. It's perfect for working on cars on my lift.
Thanks, the most complete run-down I’ve seen on the topic.
Thanks!
I have a 4 post Backyard Buddy that I love. Its in the "storage" room rather the main shop. We have a 2 post that we took out for the other one..
I may have it installed in the shop area. Gotta love a little lift!
We are contemplating this for our garage. Your detail of pro and cons, very informative. You gals did a great job. Thanks.
Great informative video. You should give each of the lifts a name!
LOL! That's a great idea!!
Good video! As I was comenting on your community publication a few days ago, those widely practical videos and dynamic are good! Cheers from Barcelona
Thanks so much!
If you have the misfortune of having one or more of your corners "stick" on a safety stop as the car is lowering and the other corners lower a few more inches, you've got a problem! This happened with one of my new lifts because the safety lever mechanism was not properly adjusted. In this situation the motor will not raise the dropped corners back up -- the manufacturer says this is a safety precaution. Solution? Get a piece of 1" gas line pipe from Home Depot, some hard rubber pads, and use a hydraulic floor jack (with the pads and pipe) to raise each dropped corner back onto the safety stops. Worked like a charm.
Great to know. Thanks! I suppose you could do something similar if you lose power...
As Jethro would say, "After bangin' my head a few times on the lift, it gets ta throbbin'!
Great video.. thanks for putting this out. Who in the world could give this a thumbs down?????
Anti-lifters.
Suggestion. You would have more light if you painted your walls white
I don't think that would make much difference with the lifts. So, we installed side panel lights as well as the under lift lights. We have a bunch of 50W LED shop lights on the ceiling and it is pretty bright with everything on.
The straight pipe shirt was awesome !!! 👏👏👏 think i have to buy one 😁
Nice video, very informative. A lot of first world problems though - 3 car garage, 6 cars, all special in one way or another!
Thanks.
What a great car collection! I just bid on an i8 roadster. I have a two-post lift at my home shop, and love it!
Wow! The Roadster is so cool! Good luck!
I used a two post lift to do my own oil change on an i8 coupe. Had to use wood to get car high enough to slide the arms under. Also had to get the car perfectly set for the arms to fit correctly. Then the doors couldn’t open even halfway because the car is wide. I was slithering out back and forth several times trying to get everything lined up and worked up a serious sweat lol. If it were mine I would paint the spots where my tires need to be and have someone guide me so I didn’t have to slide in and out more than once. Of course if your posts are wide enough then all that is a moot point. If/when I build my garage I’m probably going to do the four post lift just to keep it easy and allow it to be used as storage like the ladies here are doing. Thanks for the vid! Very informative
Padding strips on those 'bump your head' areas and warning tape.👍🇬🇧
You mention the drip pans you can put under a car that leaks. However, if a car that doesn’t leak develops one or a leaky car springs a second one in a different spot the lower car could be leaked on. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a good setup and I wish I had enough cars to justify a lift or two of this type. 😉
Haha! “Shuffling 6 cars is a problem “ 😅sounds like that’s good ‘problem’ to have 😂. Thanks for the video 👍🏻
Fluorescent tape or paint along the lower edge, to not bump heads, Those sharp edges can cause real injury.
For a German approach (belt & suspenders), in addition to the paint/tape, perhaps glue some rubber (or is there fluorescent rubber)?
Suggest looking at all those sharp metal edges that you could bump your head on and providing they dont hinder the lift... cover them with rubber strips...what would you rather have... a bump to the head or an open wound.
Thanks for the review of your lifts, just one question: why would you not bolt them down?
There is no need to boot then down. They are very stable as the center of mass is well inside of the posts. You can actually move them pretty easily with the included casters as well.
With the way their slab is, they actually couldn't secure some of the posts with redoing some of the concrete. That's because you can't fasten it close to the edges of the slab or expansion joints. The slab also needs to be really specific in thickness to bolt it down.
If you check the manufacturer recommendations, they say bolting is required only if you're using them frequently (multiple cycles up/down per day). I've spent my life around industrial lifts in my dad's garage and now have my own direct lift at home. I use it more for service and modifications and not for storage. I was skeptical at first about it not being bolted down, but now I'm very confident in it for the reasons of center of gravity already mentioned.
@@trumbley22 Great points. Thanks!
My lifts came with anchor bolts, but the instructions mentioned "earthquake zones"....
@@curtaustin8119 I've never read that instruction. I wouldn't trust one in an earthquake zone with bolts.
I've read the recommendations from all the major manufacturers but hadn't seen that one. They all say if it's used multiple times per day (like in a service shop) to anchor it down. Otherwise, it isn't needed.
Thanks for sharing an update!
Be safe and well 😇😇
Picture this... March 1983. Local Chevy dealer. A brand new 1984 Corvette was hidden on a trailer, in a locked yard. Above the Vette is a new Citation.
Said Citation had a leaky brake master cylinder.
The new Vette's hood required paint job!!!
Those sharp steel corners sticking out would get chamfered the first time they made contact with my head. Or filled in with one of those two part epoxy strips. Speaking from experience, usually when wearing cap. Ouch.
Proper use of jack stands is absolutely safe. In over 30 years of teaching auto shop, not a single car has fallen off. Moving cars in and out etc. because your garage is small is an awful 1st world problem!
If rearranging 6 cars in your garage is too much of a strain I would gladly take one or two off your hands. LOL. Good video - Thank you!
I could never get anyone to tell me what kind of ceiling height I need. I at around 11-7 also, so feeling better! Oh, and Colorado, Go Buffs!
Yeah, unfortunately the height completely depends on the cars. Stacking two Ferraris is a lot lower than stacking an SUV and sedan.
Ok so I'm a great person! I.need a friend in Colorado and thought we could be great friends. You have a nice home and cars! But I would love to have friends to crash with in thT beautiful state. Especially when it's cold 😊
Great Video!!! I've always wanted to know how high the ceiling had to be.
So nice to see Ladies doing this type of thing, looked at a lot of your videos and they are very concise and detailed. Keep up the good work, " Excellent"
Thanks so much!
Great review. Thank you very much for your detailed clip. I found it very helpful. I am having a 4 post Hoist installed on Monday.
Oh, congrats! You will love it!
Great video guys, have always been interested in your lift setup. 👍👍👍👍👍
I bought a baseball cap-style hard hat. Perfect for working under the lift.
I rarely leave reviews on videos. However this video was excellent and I appreciate it.
Thanks so much! Glad you enjoyed it :)
I love your channel! Makes me wish I had a garage though... 😄 Also love your Straight Pipes shirt - that's a great channel too!
The Straight Pipes is awesome and just the nicest guys!
Not lagged down just sitting in place? wow thanks for all your knowledge transfer, huh you two are a couple? you look both happy!
Great presentation Ladies > I kept thinking, this is Not just the Mom of the home > has to b professional
Great job again on the video Franny. Thanks for posting. I'll be installing my first lift next month and this was very helpful in thinking about of what to consider before installing.
Oh, that's great! They are really neat :)
@@HeidiandFranny Oh and BTW I'll be making an install video as well. I'll be installing it myself.
nice review. I have never seen a jack stand fail, I have seen lifts fail, even though the lock prevented them from dropping.
Good to know... Thanks!
Looks like the benefits far outweigh the negatives. Mechanics always prefer to work on a car on a lift when necessary. Is it a negative that these don't suspend the car so there is no load on the wheels?
I hear that it is bad to store a car off it's wheels and these are primarily for storage. You can support the car off the ground on the lift with the jack trays. I have the Ferrari up now with the wheels off on the lift.
Outstanding video, thanks
A great video. Real and to the point. I want a lift for my garage sooooo badly.
Hi Andrew from Australia hope you are well I think your amazing
Big fan keep safe enjoying your channel
Great info !! new to your channel love your choice of Cars. thanks for the awesome video!
Look at Heidi rocking the Straight Pipes shirt!
I have recently returned to work and I am getting to see people that I have not seen for some time. Today I got to see two of my coworkers for the first time and another who I had spoken with but did not know was going to be returning to work. Then to top off my day I get to see a video starring both Heidi and Franny! Of course the content was fantastic but to see both of your smiling faces really put a nice exclamation point on my day. I would also like to shout out my fellow 5'7" Heidi! You both have been a real joy to interact with over the years and to be able to share one more thing in common with at least Heidi is quite a boost. Thank you both for bringing your joy to the world!
I am actually just barely over 5' 4". Thanks John. It was fun doing the video and being on camera again. Heidi
@@HeidiandFranny Dear Heidi you are a giant when all of your merits are combined!
I hope to one day have a garage as cool as yours. But if newer construction I’d put 10 ft out on both sides of the outer doors, av15 ft roof and space at the back 20 ft to put wall hanged wheel carriers and tool benches. And I love epoxy flaked floors.
That would be sweet!
LED....beautyful....07:03 - Looks great!
great info and concise - loved the high speed car shuffling
Just got my Wildfire XLT. The product is good quality. They sent me the incorrect bridge jack and the lift was damaged in transit. Neither Wildfire or ABF (freight company) want to take ownership for the damages. My conclusion... if you live close enough to pick it up yourself in Minnesota, go for it. If you pay $500+ for shipping, you are on your own when it arrives damaged.
That is too bad. Direct Lift is fully warrantees and we had a claim. It was all fixed.
you are the coolest car nerds on the planet :-)
4 post lifts seem like they get in the way much more you you still have to jack parts of the car up to get the wheels off. 2 Post lifts seem like a better way to go to work on them unless you really need to park another car under it.
We need it more for storage.
Great explanation of the pros and cons of a lift. I need a lift now.
A big HELLO from beautiful CYQT.
THANK YOU for sharing your experience. A lot of great information to consider. I'm planning a garage and doing research on lifts. What brand of lifts are you using?
Again, thank you for sharing.
Brian
Hi. We have direct Lift propark 8s.
I watched in hopes of learning what kind of lifts you have and why those, the cost, specs etc etc.
Great video- thank you for sharing. Did you have the lifts installed or were you able to assemble yourself ?
@@wufco1 Thanks! We had a company deliver and set up. It isn't the complexity as much as the weight. The rail with the piston is over 400lbs. Total weight is 2000lbs I think.
Moving one of your six cars from underneath one of the 3 lifts in your 1000 sq ft garage in order to get your snowblower out...
Yeah...
1st world luxury problems... 🤣
Still very informative.
But funny, when you think about it.
Thank you.
I wish it was 1000Sq ft! That would be sweet! It is actually less than 700. ;)
@@HeidiandFranny Ah, ok.
In that case... 😁
Beautiful cars you have I am getting ready to buy a 4 post lift
Thank you for sending the response!
Nice garage / collection ladies 👍👌
Good video. However, if you know upfront you want six cars, then I guess getting a little bigger peace of land is better then the right height of the garage. My guess is that adding an extra 3 car garage is cheaper then adding 3 lifts right?
We bought the house with two cars.
I think the biggest thing is the relocation of the garage doors and door openers. How difficult was that and was it very expensive to do?
Not too bad... We replaced the doors while we were at it otherwise it would just be modifying the tracks. The jack pole lift openers are way easier to install than the standard track lifts. The only issue is getting power to them. The openers are about $300 a piece. They are a little slow, but almost dead silent. You will probably need to relocate the springs higher and that is why we had someone do it. They can be a bit scary.
Genuinely helpful. Appreciate the insights.
Love to hear about how to move the garage door tracks up to clear the lifts.
We called the garage door company.
Great video! Can you share the height of your ceiling from top of slab to the bottom of floor joist above. I am building an addition and want to make sure I build with enough room to add a lift. Thank you.
At least 9.5 ft, but ours was 11 ft.
One question I have is, why not go with a double wide lift for the larger bay to reduce the number of posts and increase free space? By having 2 separate lifts, you have 8 posts. If using a double wide car lift, you still would only have 4 posts instead of 8. Seems to me that would have been more preferred. Yes, you would be raising and lowering 2 cars at a time, but with the amount of shuffling cars around that you mentioned in the video, it's likely you would have to do this anyways.
We added the lifts one at a time over five years or so. Also having to move multiple cars out would be a pain since we use the lifts to work on the cars. I'm guessing those dual lifts are a tad pricey ;)
@@HeidiandFranny Thank you for your quick reply. I appreciate that. I also can understand the reasoning.
Great video, very insightful. Slightly off-topic question... what are your impressions of the RaceRamps? How effective are they in preventing tire flat-spots? I've been looking for a solution for when the car goes into storage for winter.
Hmmm... I haven't used them for that. I wonder if you could just move the car forward or back a couple feet once a month. I haven't had any trouble with flat-spotting except with very old tires.
I re-watched the video and you gave the celling height as 11'7". Thank you. How deep is the garage from front to rear? Thanks again...
We have sold the house. It was about a car length and a half. Not sure the exact dimensions. Direct lift has a great calculator on their site to help with sizing.
I need neighbors like this
How about a review of your ramps for your lifts? What ramps work for you and why? The standard Greg Smith steel ramps are heavy and awkward. ...love your show.
I think we did on our review of the lifts we did a few years ago (it was a bit more in-depth). You are so right... Those included ramps are SUPER heavy. Good and strong but holy cow. The Race Ramps have been great and weight almost nothing. I hear they have higher ones now for lifts. I need to check that out.
@@HeidiandFranny Been trying to figure out which version of the Race Ramp you use. It looks like the 4" rr-rack-4? I also have a DirectLift 4 post in my garage and I measured the lip height at ~5" so was wondering if the 4" race ramp has any issues. Love your videos and glad to see another RUclips channel based out of CO, with a garage full of Porsches no less.
@@chenc544 I think ours are the 4" and there is a little bump getting on and off but it isn't really a problem. Someone commented that Race Ramps now have one for lifts. I need to check that out :)
@@HeidiandFranny Thanks for confirming. Yea race ramp also has a 5" version (RR-RACK-5) but it's significantly more expensive so I was wondering if it's worth spending the extra.
Huge favor please. I have 9 foot ceilings and was wondering if you could take a measurement with a 911 and your 356 at the lowest settings and measure that height please?
Wish I lived near your. I just got a 356 that I am trying to get running and your work, attention to detail is amazing. Please don’t ever stop teaching us and how did you become so proficient? Do you recommend any work manuals for a 356. I own a 62 super 90 with factory electric sunroof.
Thank you so much. Your number one fan in Florida
I'm no 356 expert but see what you can do to find affordable versions of the books by Harry Pellow. He was a 356 engine builder and he loved all things 356.
Nice job of organizing. I was thinking about how every time I’d be likely to hit my head and then heard you state that. I wondered why you didn’t just raise the ceiling then forgot about the garage doors. I would bet you would love to have a nice shop adjacent to your house OR an 8 car garage. Thanks for all the info 👍🏻
What kind of name is Keene?
@@bkeen7013 it’s my last name. Like yours only better 😝
Another great video. Awesome 👍 set up with the lifts u ladies are the best always enjoy your videos keep them coming....
Thanks so much!
I really love your channel, just wanted to say that!
Thanks so much!
Good video. Include: Costs (year installed).
"We only have a 3 car garage, yet we have 6 cars"
I can't see the problem 🤣🤣🤣
OUTSTANDING REVIEW! Thanks GREAT JOB!!!!!
10:33 Nice! Shoutout to The Straight Pipes.