Anybody have a scissors lift?

[greg g]

I have a low ceiling in my garage 7ft 4 to the bottom off the steel "I" beam that supports the second story.  I have been looking at mid rise, about 30 inches, scissors from a couple suppliers, Bendpack being one.  these lifts can support 6000 pounds at are about 4 inches high in the rest position.  because of the low ceiling a post style is out of the question and would probably limit the actual lift to about 24 inches depending on what vehicle it lifting.  Does any one have any experience with these types of lifts.  They lift at the frame or under the rockers on unibody cars. I'm getting tired of floor jacks ad jackstands.  I have seen several types some have a center lifting cylinder and some have a cylinder for each side leaving the center ope for better access.  

 

http://www.bendpak.com/car-lifts/specialty-lifts/p-6b.aspx

[Plymouthy Adams]

I have seen these in shops that do mainly work like brakes and tires...I am not familiar with their locking system..an item I would seriously look at when buying...for the limited space shop bay..these could be good workarounds..Bendpak is big name in the industry..ask them or a dealer how the lift locks work..some I think they are air operated..

[DJ194950]

Quick look at their website, bendpak.com shows many models with specs, videos of oper., faqs, phone # for other q's.

Check it out.

No experience with that type but their have a top rep.

 

Doug

[Old Ray]

The good news, if you are doing a frame up it makes all that bending over working from the top down much easier then from underneath, suspension, exhaust etc.

 

The bad news, after the body is on, all scissor lifts will have some kind of cross beam lift support system and it is almost impossible to work underneath them.

 

They all have a safety lock bar that is required to be manually lifted from the lock position.

 

As usual, ….a compromise is exactly that, …..some good some bad.

 

 

 

[chopt50wgn]

I had a scissors lift a few years back. It worked well but the main problem I ran into was you couldn't just put it on the floor and be able to pick up any vehicle, unless it sat a good 10-12 inches high. My daughters cars sit low and you just couldn't drive over cause it hit.

I had to build full length ramps about 4 inches high along both sides of the lift. With the ramps in one bay, it took up space and you had to watch your step when moving about in the shop. I did eventually sell it and am glad I did.

[Plymouthy Adams]

excellent report on a first hand experience..I could well see myself tripping all over the place