You can't do much work under the car with all of that scissor mechanism in the way.

Texas! wrote:

You can't do much work under the car with all of that scissor mechanism in the way.

The one I'm looking at gives access to all the wheel wells , rear end, engine and transmission.
 getting at the exhaust is tricky.
 The ceiling cut would work if I didn't have an upper floor in my shop.
 As for a  pit Mike, they are the pits,( pun intended)  not much good other than oil changes. I need to get things up off the ground. I can get down real quick but getting back up poses an issue.

Last edited by Rudi (11/08/2019 11:31 AM)

Rudi wrote:

Texas! wrote:

You can't do much work under the car with all of that scissor mechanism in the way.

The one I'm looking at gives access to all the wheel wells , rear end, engine and transmission.
 getting at the exhaust is tricky.
 The ceiling cut would work if I didn't have an upper floor in my shop.
 As for a  pit Mike, they are the pits,( pun intended)  not much good other than oil changes. I need to get things up off the ground. I can get down real quick but getting back up poses an issue.

 
I disagree about the pit. As a young man (over 50 years ago) I worked for a guy at his junkyard. It was a labor for parts agreement. He had a pit and we could do all manner of work other than suspension and brakes, but for those jobs you don't need to get under the car. My Dad built my cousin a pit in his Hudson repair garage. It was made using railroad ties assembled like a log cabin. Not as good as a lift but very effective for getting under the car without lying on the cold concrete floor.

BillyC wrote:

Rudi wrote:

Texas! wrote:

You can't do much work under the car with all of that scissor mechanism in the way.

The one I'm looking at gives access to all the wheel wells , rear end, engine and transmission.
 getting at the exhaust is tricky.
 The ceiling cut would work if I didn't have an upper floor in my shop.
 As for a  pit Mike, they are the pits,( pun intended)  not much good other than oil changes. I need to get things up off the ground. I can get down real quick but getting back up poses an issue.

 
I disagree about the pit. As a young man (over 50 years ago) I worked for a guy at his junkyard. It was a labor for parts agreement. He had a pit and we could do all manner of work other than suspension and brakes, but for those jobs you don't need to get under the car. My Dad built my cousin a pit in his Hudson repair garage. It was made using railroad ties assembled like a log cabin. Not as good as a lift but very effective for getting under the car without lying on the cold concrete floor.

When I was building the garage for my '66, I looked into a pit.  Several negative things came up.
\Drainage.  You would have to somehow be able to drain liquids from the bottom.  Where does a drain drain to? All that stuff that should not soak into the ground or go into a sewer.  You could have quite a bit of things like motor oil, water, and anti freeze (maybe all three) down there.  I don't see towels and paper towels being sufficient particularly when quarts and gallons of drained fluid is spilled over the bottom.

Safety, lots here.  how about falling in - your wife- or grand child.  How about your car being driven into the pit.  What about stuff just falling in or being dropped.  What do you cover it with.  I use my garage a lot for lots of things, so having a hole in the middle is too dangerous.

With the stairs needed to access it,  a pit will take up a lot of space.

A pit can be useful as some have said in a junk yard or a repair shop where there is more control over the environment.

Think about it.

I was recently at the Calif Railroad Museum in Scaramento and they have a pit for their locomotives' maintenance.  Let me tell you it is quite an experience to be down in that pit with a 3-4 million pound locomotive right above you and the only thing holding it up is the flanges on the wheels.
 

Last edited by lowercasesteve (11/08/2019 5:13 PM)

One of the guys who hung around back in my four-banger days had an old muffler/welding shop with a pit.  One day while installing a trailer hitch he let the stinger touch the gas tank.  No one ever knew why but he tried to get out by jumping out under the rear axle.  Anyway, he had major burns all over.  Spent six months in the UCLA burn ward then died.  The docs said he just gave up.  Probably due to the extreme pain involved.

I never wanted a pit after that, and welding under a car really puckers me up.

BB

BB, here's how you weld a gas tank. Safety first! Block the rear wheel.

why don't ask to some garage / mechanic / or service station  if they sell an old lifter , then you rebuild if necessary .  I am using a new one bought only to do my mustang and i can say is outstanding work under there . First is safe and allowd my 6 foot to work everywhere under the car .  I was lucky to find one on ebay made in germany ( strong steel ) and payd no more than 1500 usd with 350 of shipping too . 4 tons max  / 220 volt hydraulic  

Thanks for reminding me that I don't have the radiant floor heat in my shop I really want...

bearcat wrote:

I too have low ceilings I am looking at a max jack. and I'm getting tired of being on my back on cold concrete.

 
Define cold concrete in Yuma.