Portable Car Lifts for Home use?

"WiscoProud" (wiscoproud)
05/17/2016 at 13:59 • Filed to: None

Do any of you guys have a car lift in their garage like this?

I have a HF jack and 6 ton stands currently, but my jack is maxing out on my Land Cruiser and its frankly kind of a pain the ass to get up in the air for tire rotations and what not. So I started researching portable lifts.

Does anyone have any experience with the portable lifts? I think one of these would be quite nice to have. I don’t need to be able to stand under my vehicle (and don’t have the garage height anyways), but being able to lift my truck 24-36" would be nice.

It looks like there are a number of brands out there, including a harbor freight variety, but I don’t know if I’d trust that. I kind of like the one above, since its open below the car. A lot of the others have cross bracing and what not in the way. Look like most 6,ooo lb versions are under $1,500, which is still a lot, but not terrible either.

DISCUSSION (23)

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > WiscoProud
05/17/2016 at 14:05

I’ve worked with a single table lift, which is like half of one of those setups with a wider platform and made for a motorcycle. Crazy useful. I can’t say much about the car versions, though, other than some degree of cross bracing sounds like an inconvenient necessity. I don’t like how narrow the footprint of those is.

Party-vi > WiscoProud
05/17/2016 at 14:06

I have always wanted a small two-post lift for garage use , so I could still do wheel work while the car is in the air.

His Stigness > WiscoProud
05/17/2016 at 14:09

I saw a review of one on Eric the car guy and they look really nice, but they don’t go super high for the money. While it would save me some work, I’m not getting the car much higher for over a thousand.

Costco was selling this , but now it doesn’t seem like they are. If you can find it somewhere else that would be well worth it.

Here it is. I think it’s worth it.

jariten1781 > WiscoProud
05/17/2016 at 14:13

I’ve been watching that quickjack since they announced it a year or two ago. They’re still revving and updating the design pretty constantly while they learn so I haven’t picked one up yet (and the early ones were hilariously insufficient for anything other than tiny coupes). If you’ve got the slab and used two post will be about the same $$s and they show up on CL fairly often...

WiscoProud > His Stigness
05/17/2016 at 14:15

I saw that on Amazon. $2k isn't bad for an actual two post lift, but that's really pushing it for occasional use.

Invinciblejets > WiscoProud
05/17/2016 at 14:20

Just get a nice jack and even better jackstands. Or with that money just get a post lift.

But having a already tall car is a pain in the ass when it comes to jacks so I feel ya.

WiscoProud > jariten1781
05/17/2016 at 14:23

They have a 7,000 lb version now, but its $1,600. I do like how easy it would be to stash away. The 2 post are nice, but even the portable ones are pretty big

WiscoProud > Invinciblejets
05/17/2016 at 14:30

I did buy a nice jack, but even being able to lift 27" isn’t getting my tires very far off the ground.

jariten1781 > WiscoProud
05/17/2016 at 14:31

The biggest issue wasn't the weight capacity, it was the spread between the lift pads. It wouldn't even meet the reinforced jack points on compact sedans...Haven't looked at where the 7000 lb'er ended up at, but the previous 'large' model was still insufficient for a Mazda 6...

WiscoProud > jariten1781
05/17/2016 at 14:32

Interesting. They show it lifting a full size pickup, but who knows.

jariten1781 > WiscoProud
05/17/2016 at 14:36

For guys with full frames I wouldn’t think it’d be too big an issue, but I’d need it to be able to lift standard unibody cars as well without crunching up the undersill. Need to look back into it, they got tons of complaints about that issue but it’s been a few months since I checked back in on it.

MR2_FTW - Group J's resident Stig > WiscoProud
05/17/2016 at 14:37

This is what I’ve had my eyes on for a while.

Kinja'd!!!

WiscoProud > jariten1781
05/17/2016 at 14:41

Good to know in any case. I did see they offered “spacer posts" which lifted the rubber blocks off of the platform. I presume this would protect the sills.

WiscoProud > MR2_FTW - Group J's resident Stig
05/17/2016 at 14:42

Yeah, I was just looking at those too. Price is starting to climb, but they look like a nice product.

jariten1781 > WiscoProud
05/17/2016 at 14:44

Actually just went back to the site and it looks like the 'SLX' models were updated to address the concern and they've gotten rid of all the old stuff except the plain jane 3500 which is on fire sale (was above 1100 last time I looked)....need to go re-measure my cars, but it looks sufficient.

WiscoProud > jariten1781
05/17/2016 at 14:45

Nice.

Nimbus The Legend - Riding on air like a cloud > MR2_FTW - Group J's resident Stig
05/17/2016 at 15:01

I feel the want flowing through me...

BKosher84 > MR2_FTW - Group J's resident Stig
05/17/2016 at 15:32

A really shitty photoshop job?

His Stigness > WiscoProud
05/17/2016 at 17:22

Yeah it is a lot. I'm a certified tech but I'm getting out of the bays and just writing service so all my tools are at home now. It's still an investment for me, but it's basically 3/4's of a full lift, and that's exactly what I need.

WiscoProud > His Stigness
05/17/2016 at 17:24

Absolutely. If I was doing as much work as you, I'd do it in a heartbeat.

His Stigness > Party-vi
05/17/2016 at 18:10

This would be better for a regular garage.

Chris_K_F drives an FR-Slow > WiscoProud
07/22/2016 at 10:36

I know I’m digging up a couple month old thread, but wanted to share this. A fellow track/Toyobaru owner friend uses them for his Spec 86 car. I am very jealous.

Kinja'd!!!

WiscoProud > Chris_K_F drives an FR-Slow
07/22/2016 at 10:47

That looks just like what I was looking at. I think they’re pretty cool honestly. I would just need one that I could use for my Land Cruiser and for a performance car to be determined later.