Anyone using a quick lift?

[Paul G]

http://www.kwik-lift.com/products_authorize.php

One of these? Pros or cons? I would need to keep one of the cars parked on it in the garage. But it seems like it would be nice for routine under the cars maintenance and detailing.

[Troy]

I love simple ideas! Unfortunately, it seems about as expensive as a scissor lift with less height and more work/hassle loading the car.

Of course, now that I'm looking at it I think it would make doing my alignments easier. I had to make "stands" to get my car off the ground high enough to adjust everything with the alignment equipment on them. However, it only cost me $20 in materials and I had to lift each end of the car separately.

Troy

[John_Kunkel]

A floor jack and four jackstands is cheaper and less hassle.

[histoy]

I had one and it worked great for me, especially for changing transmissions.  It raised my cars higher than when using jack stands.   I sold mine when I retired, and I've regretted doing that several times. 

[twodko]

Is there a substantial locking mechanism on these things?

[Troy]

I had one and it worked great for me, especially for changing transmissions.  It raised my cars higher than when using jack stands.   I sold mine when I retired, and I've regretted doing that several times. 

Can you get to anything from the side or do you need to go in from the front or back? I generally roll under the side with the creeper or whatever and this looks like it wouldn't be possible. On the other hand. I have no idea how you'd change a transmission with a scissor jack so this does have the advantage.

Troy

[Paul G]

The whole underside of the car looks to be accesible. Except the rocker panels maybe. There is a bridge you can put jack stands on to get the wheels off the lift.

[histoy]

Is there a substantial locking mechanism on these things?

Yes, there is a good locking system for the rear supports, and the front supports have a pin that can be seen in the illustration posted above.

[histoy]

The whole underside of the car looks to be accesible. Except the rocker panels maybe. There is a bridge you can put jack stands on to get the wheels off the lift.

As noted above, there is a bridge that can be used for jack stands, but I never had one.   I used to jack up the car to raise it off the ramps, and then place large wooden blocks under the frame rails for support while I had the wheels off.  That gave me full access for working underneath the car.

[Troy]

I was poking around their site and on the "Uses" page they show a van sitting on it while the rear is still on the ground (basically just using it a a giant ramp). That would make it fairly speedy for oil changes and such - you don't even need to use a jack to level it out! There's some other pictures of the same scenario in the "Gallery".

I also found that the height (top of rail/bottom of tires) is 20" so, yeah, I could probably roll under that from the side without much trouble. It will lay flat so you can park on it and not have to store it out of the way.

Thinking of all the things that would be easier with an extra foot and a half of height: washing, waxing, polishing, stripping, wet sanding, fluid changes, etc. It's one reason I much prefer to work on my 4x4 trucks than my cars that sit close to the ground. Need to see if that ease of use is worth the asking price though. No mention anywhere about the cost to ship it.

Ugh, I just realized 50% of my cars don't run. Is there a way to hook up a come along or something?

Troy

[Paul G]

I got the Kwik Lift home yesterday and set it up today. The thing is pretty heavy. I was concerned about the ramp "pushing away" like a small ramp would as the car drove on to it, so I backed on the first time. Very solid feel to it. Those home made little wedges in front of the ramp seemed to help a lot. I am going to the hardware store and look for sticky traction tape, the kind with the sand molded in. Going to put a run of that up each ramp for extra traction. I hope to find some heavy rubber matting to put under the feet well, a little insurance to keep it from sliding on the floor as the vehicle rides up on to it.

With the car on it and the rear of the lift raised I was able to roll around under the entire car on a creeper. Good working distance to the bottom of the car.

Only negative thing - jacking the rear of the lift up high enough to set and lock the feet is a killer. Lots and lots of pumps of the floor jack. Other than that I really like it so far. Looking forward to some maintenance in the future.

Troy, I would think you could mount a beam of some kind to the front legs, or directly to the ramps, and use that to winch a car up and on to it. The grade is not very severe at all, especially if you stretch it out to it's maximum length. I have the ramps bolted together in there mid position. 

[histoy]

After seeing your pictures I regret even more that I sold mine when I retired.   I know that you'll enjoy using them. 

[RallyeMike]

I could see how this would be nice to have for body work and detailing. Get the car up where you don't have to stoop over so much. I'd much rather not have those ramps in the way when working underneath though.

[472 R/T SE]

Ahhh.  This would be perfect for me.  Thnks for posting!!!