Car lift ? Can I make it work?

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11 June 2010
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I have been thinking about getting a 911 as a daily driver. I thought about getting a lift and putting the NSX on top and the 911 on bottom. My garage height is only 9 ft 3 inches. The NSX is 46 inches tall and the Porsche 911 is 51. This would give me only 14 inches left over for the garage door and lift. I know it would be tight, but would it work?
 
My rule of thumb when figuring stacking cars on a lift is 12" minimum. This takes into account the thickness of the lift and raising the lift past desired height and then lowering it onto the catches. Good to have a few inches of the cars touching something.
 
We have 11' ceilings in the garage and it's plenty to get a typical sports car high enough to work comfortably under it (I'm 6' tall) with a several inches to spare.
Now, a full-sized pickup or SUV might be another story since they are rather tall by comparison, but even for storage use you could just put the sports car on top and have enough room for the tall vehicle to park underneath it.

Brian
 
I have been thinking about getting a 911 as a daily driver. I thought about getting a lift and putting the NSX on top and the 911 on bottom. My garage height is only 9 ft 3 inches. The NSX is 46 inches tall and the Porsche 911 is 51. This would give me only 14 inches left over for the garage door and lift. I know it would be tight, but would it work?

Need 11' minimum, maybe a liittle less. I put the NSX on top and 911 on the bottom, which seems to work better for me.
 
You may be able to pull it off given the cars you're talking about, but my hunch says no. You'll need to take exact measurements and get measurements of the equipment you plan to buy.

Generally, about 10' minimum is required. My ceiling is 10'-5" and I have a Bendpak 4 post lift with two cars.
Like others have stated, you need about 4"-6" to raise the lift off the safety points, then you have the thickness of the lift itself, a buffer at the top so you don't crush the roof of the car, possibly the garage door itself.

I didn't have to worry about the garage door, because it doesn't go over the roof of the car, but the trunk and some of the rear window. The shorter your ceiling height is, the further the garage door will go into the garage as it hugs the ceiling and then may become a factor to worry about. If you have a super deep garage, you'll have to have the lift towards the front to avoid this issue.

Overall, there is a lot to consider. I spent hours researching, thinking and measuring before I felt confident it would work and placed the order.
One thing I forgot to consider was the increments of which the safety resting points occur. It just so happen to work out for me ok (I have two safety points to choose from), but I kicked myself for overlooking/not thinking of it ahead of time.

For you, given your standard ceiling height of 9'-3", this could make or break you as it seems you're only going to have one safety resting point to choose from. Too low and you'll be on top of the car below, too high and you'll crush the roof of the car as you raise it to take it off the safety resting position.
 
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Thanks for the advice guys My hunch was also that it probably wold not work. I have spent some time on the Bendpack website and its looks like it is just too tight to make it work. I plan on building in the next couple of years and will plan for 12 ft. ceilings. I would bet a 911 c4s on the bottom and a NSX on top would look incredible from behind when you open the garage door. Maybe I can talk my wife into parking her car in the driveway.
 
These lift units are approximately 14'8" in over all length so make sure you have a garage that accommodates this size. Are there suspended lights? What is the door configuration, single or double width? How far does the door extend into the garage space? Bear in mind you will not be able to stand up underneath this lift based on your ceiling height, unless you don't mind working from a sitting position. But if all you need is storage you are fine.
Just based on your vehicle heights plus the lifts deck height (4 inches on my current lift) you could use a lift within a 9'3" space, assuming the above conditions don't preclude it. The only other consideration is the space needed to raise the lift off the safety stops in order to lower the lift. In my case that is less than 2", so you are still good. You might have a couple more inches, I measured my '05 stock NSX and it's height is only 44".

available ceiling height: 111" (9'3")*

NSX height: 46"
911 height: 51"
lift deck height: 4"
additional height to clear stops: 2"
Total height: 103"

* assuming no obstructions.
 
My garage ceiling is 9 ft even and I have no problems with my NSX and my 1991 300zx or my NSX and my 1956 Jaguar. My Jaguar is a coupe and it is VERY close to the ceiling when raising the lift to release the latches. It's scary close, but it doesn't touch. With the 300zx it isn't scary close just a few inches close. Although, it looks a lot closer when you're on the ground.:smile: I just marked the lift so I know when to stop.

Also, my garage is about 23 ft deep on the right side and I did not have to modify my opener, rails, or door. I did also had this lift at my old house which also had 9 ft ceilings, but it wasn't as deep so I had to modify the opener and tracks.

New house with the 300zx
P1040055Large_zps49b9bd75.jpg


This one is at my old house. You can see that I mounted the opener right on the ceiling. I then had to do some trickery with the rails.
P9090191.jpg


My NSX is 44.5" the Jag has to be at least 54"
From the floor to the bottom of the platform is 46.5" with my Jag on top.
From the top of the lift platform the ceiling is 57"
The lift platform is 4.5"
 
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Thank you for taking the time to post your response and pictures. I would definitely have to relocate my opener and adjust my garage door rails as the garage is only standard garage depth. What brand lift do you have? I have seen multiple primers that have Bendpack lifts.
 
My garage ceiling is 9 ft even and I have no problems with my NSX and my 1991 300zx or my NSX and my 1956 Jaguar. My Jaguar is a coupe and it is VERY close to the ceiling when raising the lift to release the latches. It's scary close, but it doesn't touch. With the 300zx it isn't scary close just a few inches close. Although, it looks a lot closer when you're on the ground.:smile: I just marked the lift so I know when to stop.

Also, my garage is about 23 ft deep on the right side and I did not have to modify my opener, rails, or door. I did also have this lift at my old house which also had 9 ft ceilings, but it wasn't as deep so I had to modify the opener and tracks.

New house with the 300zx


This one is at my old house. You can see that I mounted the opener right on the ceiling. I then had to do some trickery with the rails.


My NSX is 44.5" the Jag has to be at least 54"
From the floor to the bottom of the platform is 46.5" with my Jag on top.
From the top of the lift platform the ceiling is 57"
The lift platform is 4.5"

How tall is the 300zx?
Based on your numbers with the Jag and the NSX, I believe you only have 5" to spare... that has to be divided between ceiling space above the Jag and space above the NSX. That's crazy. I bet you're within 1" of crushing the roof of the Jag when you raise it to get it off the safety latches.

OP, my Bendpak lift platform is 5" thick.
 
Thank you for taking the time to post your response and pictures. I would definitely have to relocate my opener and adjust my garage door rails as the garage is only standard garage depth. What brand lift do you have? I have seen multiple primers that have Bendpack lifts.
You're welcome. I was in a similar situation at my old house and didn't want to put on an addition or have the roof reworked. I measured and just went for it and got lucky. My new house in on the next street in my neighborhood and I actually towed the lift with my garden tractor using the castor wheels. My father was following me with a strap hooked to the from of the truck to keep it going straight. We passed a truck going down the road and could hear the guys laughing hysterically. Unfortunately, we didn't get a picture of that.

I have a Complete Hydraulic Lift.
http://www.completehydraulic.com/lifts-4-post.html
They sell on Ebay, but they are local to me and the price delivered to my driveway was roughly $1700.
With that said, the Bendpack's have the best reputation. However, I have had no issues for the last 8 years.

How tall is the 300zx?
Based on your numbers with the Jag and the NSX, I believe you only have 5" to spare... that has to be divided between ceiling space above the Jag and space above the NSX. That's crazy. I bet you're within 1" of crushing the roof of the Jag when you raise it to get it off the safety latches.
The 300zx is 49"
Your calculations are correct. That's crazy optimized for space. :smile:

off topic, but love the jag.
Thanks Sir.

OP, depending on the lift you buy there are numerous variables. I can't guarantee that your cars would fit. However, based on my current configuration and previous residence I would bet that they would. If nothing more this gives you a real world example with 9' ceilings.
If you're ever in Indy feel free to hit me up and you're welcome to check it out for yourself.
 
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