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  #81  
Old 03-18-2016, 08:14 AM
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Originally Posted by Jazzbass View Post
Lift ordered tonight. I went with the BendPak XPR-9-LP. This is the low height lift that will fit easily in my garage with no ceiling modification. I really debate going with the XPR-10a (asymetric 12' no floor plate). Like a lot. The tipping point for the XPR-9 was talking to Vicegrip he informed me that because my ceiling joists run perpendicular to the lift, I'd have to re-engineer a lot of the ceiling to stay within code. Like an idiot I'd planned to box in the top of the lift an leave the joists exposed. Nice rustic look right? According to the national building code, no. I was already leaning towards the XPR-9 before my discussion with Kurt, though. Mainly because with the smaller lift, I can actually plan out exactly where I want the lift to go and then install. So that decision has been made.
Any updates on when your lift will be delivered and installed? I saw on some other forums, people are waiting 2+ months for delivery.
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  #82  
Old 03-24-2016, 01:20 AM
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Any updates on when your lift will be delivered and installed? I saw on some other forums, people are waiting 2+ months for delivery.
Last week . Busy at work + working on the garage every night has left me little time to update this thread, but I finally got some time this evening so I thought I'd get back to it.

So there were two major things to shell out for this project - the lift itself obviously, and the high lift kit on the door. My door is a standard 7x16 double wide door. Here it is with the standard lift springs on it. Note here that I have installed 2x8s all the way to the ceiling in preparation for the door installer to put the high lift kit on.

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I did have a side mount garage door opener already, but to make the lift effective with the door open I needed to get the door all the way to the ceiling. Well, a new set of pulleys and spring did the trick here. When the installer was putting in the high lift springs I had him relocate the opener as well, as it was in the way of my shelf on the other side.

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The high lift kit is awesome. Even without a lift it makes the garage a ton brighter and more open. And look how high the door goes now:

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Due to some interesting rescheduling, the door was installed in the morning and the lift was actually delivered about 2 hours after the door installer left. Big and heavy are the best way to describe it. Thank god for the electric forklift thing they used.

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I didn't really take any pics of the install process. Stand it up, bolt it down, hook up the cables... I just sat there out of the way and let the installers do their job. By the end of the day my garage looked like this:

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I rigged up plug on the lift motor to test it (I have a heavy gauge 220V/50A extension cord for welding). Next step way to install the permanent electrical connection. I thought this would take a couple hours. It actually took about a week and a half.

The problem is this - I had to do a LOT more work than just run a new 30A branch circuit. My old lift sat nicely in the left stall of my garage, and I had installed all the lights, air hose drops, and ceiling mounted extension cords around that space and for a lift that only went up 18". The new lift is offset more towards the center of the garage (to give me space to walk around the left side post) AND it will put a car through the ceiling, so shit needed to be moved. Lots of shit needed to be moved, actually.

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This is a shot of the ceiling about the lift about 3/4 of the way though the moving process. Here you can see the air drop is still in it's old location and in the crush zone of the new lift. The numbers show all of the different electrical connections I had to move or remove:

1. New box for lift power (220V/30A).
2. Ceiling fan - removed because it now interferes with the lift. Still looking for a good place to relocate this. I use this fan a LOT.
3. New 120V/20A utility outlet. Used for drop light and extension cord reel (you can see these in the first picture in this post).
4. Old 120V/20A untility outlets (two duplex).
5. Removed outlet for rear overhead fluorescent light. The door goes to high to have any non-recessed light back there.
6. Removed outlet for left side fluorescent lights. You can see the lights still mounted in their old position.
7. New outlet for left side fluorescent lights.
8. New utility outlet for left side drop light/extension cords.

So there was a lot of reworking of the wiring up in the attic - especially since a lot of the electrical had been installed in bits and bobs over the past 16 yrs. Live in a house long enough and you start doing archeology on your own projects. "WTF? Why did I do this? Oh for f**k's sake, what was I thinking here?". Climbing into the attic I found it a mess with crap I didn't really need but saved anyway, so before I could rewire I had to spend a day cleaning the attic. Awesome. I also discovered that when the attic lights were installed, they were wired with 14ga wire branching off a 20A circuit, a big no-no. So I rewired the lights in the attic too. One project turns into five - story of my life.

Anyway, with everything moved and rewired, the lift is finally done. Here you can see the wiring coming down from the ceiling and going into a 220V/30A safety cutoff switch before going into the lift motor. Not going to send a car through the ceiling because a relay contact welded itself shut. Incidentally, this was the first time I've ever worked with MC cable. It sucks and I hope to do very little with it in the future. Working with 10ga wire is bad enough.

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And the moment I've waited 16 years for - walking under a car in my own garage:

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So the answer originally asked in the first post of this thread is yes - you can put a lift in a standard suburban garage.
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  #83  
Old 03-24-2016, 06:50 AM
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Looks great!

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Originally Posted by Jazzbass View Post
So the answer originally asked in the first post of this thread is yes - you can put a lift in a standard suburban garage.
I think we all knew the answer was yes. The real question is whether or not your suburban 2 car garage is now a 1 car garage. Let's see some pics of how you manage to squeeze 2 cars in there.
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  #84  
Old 03-24-2016, 07:31 AM
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Well duh One on, one under.

Looks nice and is a nice feeling to watch the car go up for the first time no?

How hard to move the drop light next to the air drop? That light is too important to hide on the non working area side of the room. If you do even with the power tap on the light I might be inclined to add add a cord reel power cord too. Very handy to have overhead power. Need a plug for a power tool, pull down use tool retract cord and done.

I might nave a wall bench upgrade option for you soon.
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  #85  
Old 03-24-2016, 08:30 AM
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Congrats! Looks awesome.

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  #86  
Old 03-24-2016, 08:35 AM
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That looks great!
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  #87  
Old 03-24-2016, 08:49 AM
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Well done, as usual, Chris!

Looks like its time for a new project! 918 salvage?
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  #88  
Old 03-24-2016, 08:59 AM
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Looks like its time for a new project! 918 salvage?
God I wish. Nope, next project is some repairs on this old Maxima I own (O2 sensor and knock sensor). Then finish up the rear subframe work on the 328. Oh and the 330 is still burning oil. Then change the oil in the Highlander. Then start a mini resto on the 911. I own five vehicles and all of them need something right now.
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  #89  
Old 03-24-2016, 10:01 AM
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.... I own five vehicles and all of them need something right now.
n00b!!! But nice job on left install and all the other crap that had to be redone because it's been 16 years and nothing stays the same over time boy-o!
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  #90  
Old 03-24-2016, 10:07 AM
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Originally Posted by Jazzbass View Post
.... Here you can see the wiring coming down from the ceiling and going into a 220V/30A safety cutoff switch before going into the lift motor. Not going to send a car through the ceiling because a relay contact welded itself shut....
Typically I choose an easier path and just used a plug in cord for mine. Though I have more clearance above lift the cable cross over would still damage car while car would certainly damage lift too.
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