KwikLift question

alchevy · December 28, 2005, 12:25:36 PM

Has anyone here used one of those KwikLifts to lift your car off of the ground? This is the one that you drive up on and then use a floor jack to lift it into position. Also, any trouble with driving on a car that's low in the front? It will work in a 8' tall garage?

phat rat · December 28, 2005, 01:48:28 PM

how much room do you have in your garage? I had one for about 3 years and sold it. I really needed to park on it most of the time as I felt it was a hassel to take it apart and be moving it around and putting it back together. It works great and a low car will go up on it fine. At the front I set some 2x's to drive up on so the bumper wouldn't hit the stops. I'll include a pic of my cpe so you can get an idea of how low it is. A 12 oz can will not fit under the bumper

alchevy · December 28, 2005, 02:13:51 PM

I know it will work with my car if it worked for yours. I am planning on building a garage soon. That's what I wanted to hear...from someone that owned one, not just what I read on the kwiklift site about it.

1FATGMC · December 28, 2005, 03:01:54 PM

Quote from: "40chevy"I know it will work with my car if it worked for yours. I am planning on building a garage soon. That's what I wanted to hear...from someone that owned one, not just what I read on the kwiklift site about it.

If you are building a garage, why not make it high enough for a 2 post or 4 post lift?

I have a friend that has one and likes it better than nothing, but still a regular lift is a lot better. I've been really happy with my Bend Pak and the price is real reasonable.

c ya, Sum

purplepickup · December 28, 2005, 03:38:14 PM

I agree with what Sumner said. If you're building a garage, definitely build the walls high enough to fit a regular lift in it. You will want one eventually and if you don't have the height for it, it really sucks. I know cuz I only built 9 foot walls on my shop, before I thought I could afford a hoist. Then I bought one. At least I can get my lift up high enough to roll around under it in an office chair. The hoist is still one of the best tool investments I made. My advise would be to save your money and buy a real lift. They're only $1000 more.

Bob Paulin · December 28, 2005, 06:06:01 PM

I was dealing with an existing shop with eight-foot ceilings, so while I looked at the Kwik-Lift when it first came out, I ended up buying a used John Bean alignment rack.

It comes out of the school shop where I used to teach, so I knew the machine was not abused, and in great shape.....

• Electrical/air solenoid-controlled air jacks lift it into position(no jacking!!!!).......

• For quickie oil changes and such, I can simply drive up the ramp, and set the built-in wheel chocks without the need to lift the vehicle up.......if I so-choose.......

• It is a much heavier guage metal than the Kwik-Lift - MUCH heavier.....A six-inch square tube runs the length of the ramps - so I can make fixtures, drill and tap the ramps, and bolt the fixtures down to use it as a perfectly level, perfectly square chassis jig......I can tie a chassis down and use a jack to tweak it a bit (Try that with a Kwik-Lift!!!).......I'm even building interchangeable stands to mount things like my shrinker/stretcher, bead roller, shear, etc. to the step platforms and the ramps to keep them handy to where I'm working.....

• It has been installed perfectly level and perfectly square per John Bean specifications and instructions. (Try to get a Kwik-Lift level).....

•A chassis sitting on the jig sits at 24-inches-or-so off the floor, eliminating a lot of bending and strain on my aging back......I can - and DO - weld on the chassis while sitting in an old office chair - ala Randy on "Southern Steel/Milwaukee Iron.......

• I just measured a 1959 Chevy Apache that the owner wants a Camaro clip installed on, and it should fit on the rack, under the ceiling joists with six-inches to spare. (I DO have to move one flourescent fixture off a joist and tuck it up between the joists, though.)......

• It is STILL an old-fashioned, two-wheel, front-end alignment machine that doesn't need to have a given car's specs loaded into a database in order to take readings and do an actual alignment......

• I have, over my lifetime, done countless Corvette and other IRS suspension alignments on two-wheel machines by simply backing the car onto the rack. I have also done four-wheel alignments on race cars for the last 40-plus years using string, so I am not perticularly challenged when faced with a four-wheel-aligned car on my two-wheel-alignment machine....I'm thinking out a laser-beam setup attached to the machine to take the place of the string......

• My wife found a Craftsman creeper a few years ago that bends at the hips - not at the neck - making it the perfect creeper for working under this rack......There is also a $60 step platform at Home Depot that would be a great addition since it would put me up to ramp level for working under the hood with two steps.......

• I have a handful of those $20, lightweight, "trolley jacks" that are easy to move along the ramps and jack cars while they are on the rack......

• With so many shops "upgrading" (that's a matter of opinion) to computerized, four-wheel-aligbment machines, these things are plentiful out there......

Anybody who sells tools/equipment probably has a line on an old two-wheel rack that needs to be disposed.....Snap-On, your loacl parts house, etc. (Remember when we were all looking for old Joyce drive-on lifts to build trailers?

??)

• Best of all?

??

• I paid $300 for mine - complete with turntables, the two stationary, permanently-attached air jacks that raise and lower it, and two more portable air jacks that sit on a platform to jack the front-end when checking ball joints and making adjustments, etc. (The portables will also serve as spare lift jacks since they are all the same air jack).....I already had the caster/camber guages, and I made my own toe guage......

Look around....You might be pleasantly surprised at what you might find out there........

B.P.

phat46 · December 28, 2005, 06:35:52 PM

Quote from: "40chevy"Has anyone here used one of those KwikLifts to lift your car off of the ground? This is the one that you drive up on and then use a floor jack to lift it into position. Also, any trouble with driving on a car that's low in the front? It will work in a 8' tall garage?

I have a similar one, but have not used it yet. My brother saw the Kwik lifts when they first came out and simply built his own from "scrap" at the steel fabrication shop he was working at. He moved down south last Jan. and gave me the lift. He didn't want to haul it with him because it is REALLY heavy. It's all one guy can do to lift one section of the ramp onto the stand and the beam at the rear that you jack up is 4x4 .250 wall tube. I agree that if you can, go with a regular lift, i can see where this thing is going to be a P I T A to use.

paul2748 · December 28, 2005, 09:30:51 PM

I have a KwickLift and I am very happy with it. My garage is just under 8 feet and I still can lower and raise my conv top when the lift is flat. I drilled holes for some steel chocks so I can just raise the back if thats where I want to work. Also drilled holes for the chocks for the rear of the front tires so I can just have the front raised. It worked good this way when I was replacing the rear and didn't want the rear of the car way off the ground.

Quote from: "40chevy"Has anyone here used one of those KwikLifts to lift your car off of the ground? This is the one that you drive up on and then use a floor jack to lift it into position. Also, any trouble with driving on a car that's low in the front? It will work in a 8' tall garage?