PORTABLE SCISSORS LIFT

[mwestboxster]

I stopped by 1st Choice Auto Equipment Inc. They sell and service all sorts of lifts. From these home garage scissors lifts to huge lifts for trucks.
The brand they carry for home use is Rotary (made in USA) and Rotary's other brand: Revolution. Those are made overseas (probably China) to Rotary's specs.
They had a brand new real nice Rotary Low Rise 10,000 lb. Lift made in USA in stock that they would deliver and set up for $2000. That included drilling into the concrete as this lift needs to be anchored front and rear. Nice lift, good deal except-it's max height with the tallest pads is: 30.5". There's no way I could get the tall pads under my car without jacking it up, which defeats the purpose of the lift. Without the pad, height is only 21.75"

Back to the scissors lift. They have the Revolution RMR6-6000 lb capacity mid-rise lift, which they would have to order. That would cost $2300. For the $2300 they'd deliver and set it up.
This has a min height of 5" (need the ramps) and a max of 47.5". Seems like a pretty good deal considering they deliver and set it up. To me it's worth the few extra $. The least expensive including delivery is $1800 from Greg Smith-Atlas TD6MR. . And I'd have to get it up my driveway and into my garage and set it up. It's a $500 difference, maybe I can negotiate it down a bit but I'm thinking in the scheme of things it's worth it. Plus they are local and would service it under warranty if needed.
I'm pretty sure this is what I'll go with.

[David Newton]

Consider this jack? No weight issue, although it only lifts 5000 lbs.

http://www.quickjack.com/bl-5000slx-ac-110-volt.html

[mwestboxster]

David
I looked at the QuickJack, if I needed a lift at the track I'd get it. But, I don't need a lift at the track and want more height then the QuickJack offers. With the limitations in my garage it looks like a scissors type is the best option for me. Now it's a matter of which one.
I deal with car dealers. I'm in & out of car dealers all day.
I noticed some trucks I see at the dealers all the time, I found out they're a company that sells, installs & services lifts at car dealers. I asked if they handle mid-rise scissors lifts for home garage use. They do.
Now I'm waiting for a quote from them on a 6000 lb mid-rise scissors lift, delivered and installed. They carry a number of brands.

[David Newton]

I'd be interested in knowing what they come up with...

[mwestboxster]

Dave
For my purposes, it keeps coming back to the mid-rise scissors style lift. Essentially, all I want to do are brakes, rotate tires, fluid changes and maybe some minor simple repairs. I've gotten tired of jacking up the corners, getting jack stands and lying on my back. My driveway is sloped, so working in my driveway is not the safest place to be under a car.

A friend is going to raise my garage door opener motor and track to within about an inch of the ceiling. He's done it to his openers to accommodate a 4 post lift. He's got a 911 on top and a Miata underneath. Claims he can do it in under an hr with $20 worth of parts he's already bought.
It won't change the path of the door. But with the the door closed I'll have 10.5' of height to screw with. But, I'm digressing. 1st Choice will get me the scissors lift, delivered and set up for $2300.

I'm waiting for a quote from the 2nd company. The sales person I spoke with at the 2nd company has had a family emergency and been out of work since I spoke with him. I'm waiting to see if he can save me any money over the $2300.

My buddy with the 4 poster, says it definitely crimps his space in the garage, plus since all the wheels are on the lift he still has to jack the car up while it's on the lift to do any tire/brake work. Even if I could accommodate the height of the 4 poster, it's still not practical for me.

I'll keep you updated on my progress.

[David Newton]

Well not having a garage anymore, you'd think my interest would have waned. That said, I did a lot of research in the "under $2500" category, which pretty much limited to a mid-rise scissor lift and very few post lifts. I leaned toward the mid-rise for the same reasons you did (detailing wheels added to the mix). The biggest hurdle was clearance. I was surprised at the varying heights of the unit and inability to drive over some of them (not very convenient to use a floor jack to slide the lift under).

I was about to pull the trigger on the quickjack and then sold my house. Good luck to you...