I am looking for a 4 post lift and am having a bugger of a time finding one that isn't made in China!

Umm.. Duffs... my mouth just started watering.. think I know where I'm going for lunch!

Yes it is a 1965 Sunbeam IMP, 16k Original miles it needed full restoration. This thing was the most solid British car i have ever owned, probably because it was broken and parked more than it actually ran!

 I actually just sold the car last week...;-(

A Sunbeam Imp no less I think i have an original sales brochure for that !

Nice Imp.

I love Harbor Freight.

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 Got Parts? Need Parts?
"I'm Looking For A Small British Car Running Project"
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I wish!

Maybe in MY Extreme Home Makeover Dreams

my mistake. I was scan reading this thread on my iPhone and thought it was Big Al who said he wasn't familiar with Harbor Freight so I suggested the two in Buffalo since they're not too far away. (guess I just saw the red & white in by the post and assumed it was our esteemed mini mover.

The Harbor Freight in Amherst is near my mother's house so I make a pilgrimage whenever I come to visit. Still hope to meet up next time I'm in town. Maybe we can go to Duff's for a few beers and then worship at the shrine of cheap tools!

I have the same lift although it's older and a 110 volt model. In over 3 years of use there have been no problems except the release for the safety catch didn't work very well. It's basically a bicycle brake lever with a 12' cable. Once it starts stretching it doesn't want to adjust. Now I just use a short crowbar to lift the catch when I want to lower it.

If I had known how useful the lift was and how much more work I could do with it I would have bought it years earlier. It's worth every penny.

Kelley

here's my "lift", a work pit (visible in the photo, under the green mini, covered by boards).

The advantage of a hoist is that you can walk over to your tools to get another one.  The disadvantage of a work pit is that you have to climb back up, and out, to go get another tool.

The advantage of a work pit is the low roof (if such a limitation did exist for you, it did for me), and you can make it "go away" when you aren't using it (nothing to have to park over, or work around, when you're not using it).  A lift is awesome for doing brake / wheel bearing work.  A pit is awesome for doing exhaust / parking cable work.  

Oh, and surprisingly, they both cost about the same!  (a work pit sounds cheap, but is really a tiny basement, so can cost as much as a lift).

Norm

I know both those stores VERY well.

Al,

There's a Harbor Freight on Union Road in Cheektowaga and another one on Niagara Falls Blvd. in Amherst so you could check it out sometime if you're sneaking over the border...

Mike,

Have you had to use ramps when using the lift with your Mini?

There are some lifts that run of 110 volt.

Mike,

6000 lbs

Locks usually but not stated (would imagine the law requires it)

$1400.00 plus freight

Harborfreight.com (search under 6000lbs lift)

Max lifting weight is 6000lbs. I dont know if I would actually want to do that or not but thats what its rated for. It does have safety catches on the center suport that click into place every 6" or so, in case of power outage or driftling. The safety catches seem good to me, but somtimes i will throw a axle stand under the scissor as a secondary safety stop.

Its awsome for brake jobs and oil changes the only bad things is everyone elses cars are always on it and not mine!

HF advertises them for about $1000.00, go on a day that you can use a super coupon 30% and get it for $700.00.

We don't have Harbour FReight here in Canada (at least that I know of) but I am a little intrigued.

What's the max lift capability in lbs?

Is there some kind of locking mechanism in case the hydraulics go out?

And lastly. . . the price ?

It looks da bomb.  Just think of all the brake, exhaust and suspension work I could do without having to SQUEEEEZe under the car (cars)

Thanks/

oops sorry for the huge pictures..

Hey all,

I bought this lift several months ago and figured I would test it before posting any information about it. I have been searching for a lift for my garage now for the past couple of years and decided to purchase a scissor style lift due to my limited garage height. This lift has been one of the best tools I have purchased to date. My back is no longer killing me trying to work on the Mini and tire rotations and oil changes are a breeze

The lift (any scissor lift) has many pros and cons. One good thing about this style is its completely portable and does not require any bolting to the floor of any sort.  Even though the lift is portable it does weight almost 800lbs and moves fairly easily on flat concrete with the supplied dolly.

One con is there is very limited access under the car to do any underneath sort of work. This didn’t bother me as I mainly want to raise my cars up to work on them.  I will say if I purchase a new house with a bigger garage I would love to upgrade to a 2 or 4 post lift to park under and have under car accessibility. Since that is not going to happen anytime soon a scissor lift is my lift option.

The scissor does have a minimum height of 7", so any lower car will require ramps on each side to be able to clear the unit. Maximum lift height of about 40" is obtained when fully extended. The maximum carrying load of this thing is UL tested 6000lbs. I never intend to even lift half of that as all I will be lifting is smaller cars. The hydraulic pump is powered by a 220v motor which makes 1hp that lifts to the max height in about 45 seconds.

After looking at several lifts for sale I decided to purchase the lift from Harbor Freight due to price and store location. I know before all of you get started about Harbor freight selling junk, at about 1/3 of the price of other companies I had to try it. I will admit I did change all the hardware to grade 8 bolts before using the lift and inspected all the welds as best as I could. I figured later down the line if I need to replace hoses or O-rings in the cylinders I could do that fairly inexpensively. The lift is made in China if you already didn’t know, as are most of the competitors units.

Anyhow, I have been very pleased with the unit in my home garage to tinker with my cars. Take a look at the picture’s if you have any questions let me know!