Best home garage lift for Tahoe (and your other cars)!!

[Kenneth L Nielsen]

Before I got into self storage I lived in a small town about 15 miles from here and my wife, when she was alive, and myself lived in a duplex. Behind that duplex was a high ceiling building that had a garage door at each end and was approx 100 feet across. It is 2 garage spaces wide. Has a toilet and sink. The landlord knew my background and said he would put a lift in the building if I did work on his personal vehicles and his business vehicles. The rent was $400 a month. My wife died and then I moved from there but the landlord was a fighter pilot in the Navy at the same time I was on an aircraft carrier in the Navy and he had actually been on the ship at the same time I was. We got along great. We still keep in touch. I have recently reached out to him about that garage. He still has it and the duplex. He said he is ready to do the same thing as before whenever I decide to leave the self storage business. This could happen.

Sorry to hear about your wife. Sounds like the building you are speaking of might be tall enough for a full size lift?

 

[OR VietVet]

Sorry to hear about your wife. Sounds like the building you are speaking of might be tall enough for a full size lift?

Yes, the building 15 miles away would mean leaving this job and finding something maybe part time in the new place. The shop there is definitely big enough for a full size lift.

The self storage place I am at has that vaulted covered set up where this thread lift would fit under. Plus I keep my job here where I also pay no rent or utilities. I did talk to the owner's son and he said that if his father is ok with it he sees no problem doing that here with the smaller lift. Things are moving fast.

 

[89Suburban]

Yes, the building 15 miles away would mean leaving this job and finding something maybe part time in the new place. The shop there is definitely big enough for a full size lift.

The self storage place I am at has that vaulted covered set up where this thread lift would fit under. Plus I keep my job here where I also pay no rent or utilities. I did talk to the owner's son and he said that if his father is ok with it he sees no problem doing that here with the smaller lift. Things are moving fast.

I'm sorry for your loss man I had no idea. You good people.

 

[89Suburban]

Ok. So you can unbolt and move to the wall and then move back and bolt back to the floor. If he did that or said that in the video, I missed it. Thanks

I just went back and watched and right near the beginning he did say unbolt from floor and move and then I saw where the camera panned over to show the attachments at the floor.

Yeah that's the same setup I use for my harbor freight tire changer. I have holes drilled in the floor and use these oversized tapcons to bolt it down with a impact gun. We use these for our form rentals at work to bolt gang form walls to foundations.


https://www.strongtie.com/mechanicalanchors_mechanicalanchoringproducts/thd_anchor/p/titen-hd

 

[iamdub]

Yeah that's the same setup I use for my harbor freight tire changer. I have holes drilled in the floor and use these oversized tapcons to bolt it down with a impact gun. We use these for our form rentals at work to bolt gang form walls to foundations.


https://www.strongtie.com/mechanicalanchors_mechanicalanchoringproducts/thd_anchor/p/titen-hd

A fabricator buddy kinda did the same thing with his tubing bender until the holes in the concrete wore out. He could only drill a bigger hole and move up to a larger bolt, so I gave him some anchors that we use to bolt down safes. They leave a threaded sleeve in the concrete so you can screw in a regular bolt. He set them a little below the surface level of the concrete so when not in use, he snaps plug covers over them to keep dirt and debris out.

 

[Matt_]

I did not hear what the spec required is but I would assume that the floor would need a certain concrete thickness and a certain amount of rebar to meet a minimum standard to lift and be safe.

View attachment 237770 View attachment 237771

I just downloaded the installation manual because I was curious as well... it says "The floor on which the lift is to be installed must be 4-inch minimum thickness concrete, with a minimum compressive strength of 3000 psi. (Reinforced steel bar optional)"

This is definitely on my radar....

 

[89Suburban]

A fabricator buddy kinda did the same thing with his tubing bender until the holes in the concrete wore out. He could only drill a bigger hole and move up to a larger bolt, so I gave him some anchors that we use to bolt down safes. They leave a threaded sleeve in the concrete so you can screw in a regular bolt. He set them a little below the surface level of the concrete so when not in use, he snaps plug covers over them to keep dirt and debris out.

Yup we got those too. And if you are pouring a new floor and can plan ahead this is the way to go. Spider inserts. (We make these where I work.)

https://www.vimcoinc.com/images/docs/28-32.pdf

 

[iamdub]

Yup we got those too. And if you are pouring a new floor and can plan ahead this is the way to go. Spider inserts. (We make these where I work.)

https://www.vimcoinc.com/images/docs/28-32.pdf

I like those!

If/when I build another shop, my plan was to weld some thick threaded sleeves to a steel plate in the lift's bolt pattern, then add some heavy angle iron running on both axis to extend the footing and position the plates relative to each other so it's a drop-in perfect bolt layout. Pour 5"+ of 3,000 PSI or better steel-reinforced concrete and it'd be set for anything. I'd add some additional sleeves to the angle iron in between the span and to the footings to have anchor points in the concrete, just in case. You never know when you may need to pull a bent frame.

 

[iamdub]

I just downloaded the installation manual because I was curious as well... it says "The floor on which the lift is to be installed must be 4-inch minimum thickness concrete, with a minimum compressive strength of 3000 psi. (Reinforced steel bar optional)"

This is definitely on my radar....

Those are the same minimal requirements for my 10,000 lb. 2-post lift. I've had my neighbor's '07 crew cab 2500 diesel on it at full lift height plenty of times. So, just meeting those minimal requirements for the MaxJax is PLENTY.

 

[OR VietVet]

There is a Home Depot about a mile from me. I am going there tomorrow to check the Max Jax out. The beauty of this all is that the owner's son's brother is a contractor and he could do the setup for the anchors, free to me, and he is also on board to do this and I know if he is, then so is his dad. I really don't want to leave this job. It is easy physically on me and great money and a 1200 square foot vaulted ceiling 2 bedroom home that is rent free and no utilities. They even give me $75 toward my Comcast bill because the business office is just thru a walk thru door from where I live and they use my internet wifi signal to run the company computer and phones.

By the way, thanks for all the nice apologies and feeling about my wife passing. It was March 31, 2011. It was some time ago. Hopefully I didn't misrepresent that it may have happened recently. Never meant to if I did. I talk about her in present tense all the time. She was in to fast cars as well. She owned a 2002 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am with aluminum block and aluminum heads that was my job to take care of. That engine bay could be a PITA at times, especially when plugs needed changing. She liked going fast. That car did.