Quickjacks

[Larry Fine]

Not to hijack the thread too much but we're talking about ease of use and lift storage issues. I'd be curious to see if anyone has cut into their garage slab to effectively recess a lift into the floor, making the ride on / ride off dead easy as well as eliminating the storage issue when not in use. Maybe this has be covered in other thread?

I think someone has, but it might be easier to build a raised floor around a jack/lift.

 

[Sheriff41]

I think someone has, but it might be easier to build a raised floor around a jack/lift.

This guy did a nice job on his working on a budget: https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/threads/the-12-gauge-garage.55006/

 

[SMSW]

I'd be curious to see if anyone has cut into their garage slab to effectively recess a lift into the floor, making the ride on / ride off dead easy as well as eliminating the storage issue when not in use. Maybe this has be covered in other thread?

Yes, I believe Frank, @sirbike built up his floor around a lift. Maybe he will chime in here and post a link to his pictures.

In the other link to a thread mentioned earlier, there was a short video showing the QuickJack table. This past week, I used my Harbor Fright lift to raise my old Guzzi and remove the wheels. Last time I tried this with my ST, I did not raise the lift high enough and the wheel, when it dropped down through the floor's hole, encountered the hydraulic framework and could not be removed. Since the HF table flexed with my ST aboard, I was reluctant to raise it higher and wondered at the utility of the hole. My '77 Guzzi is a bit lighter than the ST, the wobblies are gone, and I lifted the table all the way up, inserted the safety rod,and lowered the table onto the rod. Now that hole functions as designed, and the rear wheel dropped through and out below the platform. Using the QJ's w/o that ability to remove a wheel downward would be a deal breaker for me. However, if you space the two QJ's a bit farther apart, make the wood platform wider, then you could have your cake and eat it too. The wheel would drop down between the two hydraulic jacks. Longer rods that tied the table to the QJ's might be needed, and the table would have to be framed differently, but this should work. As a bonus, the wider table would probably accommodate a lawn tractor or ATV.

 

[sirbike]

In my 10 x 16 I ramped the floor up to the height of the lift. Optical illusion makes the first base floor level look vertical. I did this for parking flexibility and it was nice to roll on for lifting.
I have seen table lifts recessed in concrete floor.
Modifying an existing floor might be tricky regarding water and vapor sealing.

 

[Bmacleod]

Not to hijack the thread too much but we're talking about ease of use and lift storage issues. I'd be curious to see if anyone has cut into their garage slab to effectively recess a lift into the floor, making the ride on / ride off dead easy as well as eliminating the storage issue when not in use. Maybe this has been covered in other thread?

anyone recessed their motorcycle lift in the garage floor?

Hey everyone, I'm going to have some free time after the first of the year so I think I'm going to do a project for recessing my lift in the garage...

www.advrider.com

Sunken Motorcycle Lift

I had a Kendon Cruiser Lift, but really wanted a full size lift table. However I did not want to be tripping over the tihng all the time and when not...

www.advrider.com

I have often thought of installing a lift recessed into the floor. The only concern I would have is that I got a lift with plenty of height, as you will lose quite a bit of finished/overall height due to it being sunk ( i am thinking along the lines of 6" or so). I am tall so this is a real issue for me. I have a friend who has a hydraulic business and he has suggested a couple of times of making a hoist using a hydraulic boom from a forklift. I always just dismissed it, but it would actually make sense. He figures a few hundred dollars in used parts and the labor to bury the ram and fabricating a deck to cap it off. It piqued my interest, but that was it.

 

[ReSTored]

Lots of good links above, above The 12 Ga. garage is amazing. The adrider installs good as well, especially the first link.

 

[GGely]

When I was considering a mid rise lift I thought of recessing it. Ended up not being in the cards financially and for what I am doing, not really important enough. Having a lift for both the cars and bikes was a dream but did have to keep the bank happy.

 

[Larry Fine]

Hoisting a bike would give you much greater access from below.

 

[paulcb]

Hoisting a bike would give you much greater access from below.

Kinda hard to wrench on a swinging bike!

 

[Larry Fine]

Kinda hard to wrench on a swinging bike!

I thought about that, but four spread points would minimize it. If I only had a garage.

 

[Bmacleod]

I just saw this... https://on-bike.com/motorcycle-lifts/sports-superbike-lift . It is similar to the Abbeylift (i think that was the name of the similar lift). It looks very interesting. I like the idea, but have trouble believing it would hold the bike firmly to be able to work on it. For that reason, I could never see buying one. IF, however I could physically see one and be able to push/shove/manhandle a big bike on one, say at a bike show and it is everything they claim, I would have one in a heartbeat... just too skeptical.

Just realized that the thread is sort of getting off topic, the topic being a car lift originally. to that, Thanks GGely for pointing out that Costco puts them on sale occasionally. I plan on building a new shop this year and these would work perfectly for any auto work I plan to do

 

[GGely]

My apologies for assisting in the highjacking...

Bmacleod, since we're neighbours, feel free to ping me if you'd like to pop over and check the Quickjack rig out.

 

[sirbike]

My first thought when I saw the QJs was I can make a motorcycle lift out of these.
I went off topic the second that I saw them.

 

[Bmacleod]

My apologies for assisting in the highjacking...

Bmacleod, since we're neighbours, feel free to ping me if you'd like to pop over and check the Quickjack rig out.

Thanks, I might do that.

 

[sirbike]

I was going to hang them on a wall but I had some space I could make under cabinets with them on casters.

 

[wjbertrand]

ReSTored and all, my apologies for the delay in getting this posted... I ran out of steam after going to 4 stores to get the groceries and ended up with a beer in one hand and a book in the other.

Here are the promised pics of the adapter I built. It's built out of 3/4" plywood, 30" wide by 92" long. The underlying frame is made of 2x4's assembled with 6" structural screws. The top is screwed down with 3" construction screws. The adapter is secured to the Quickjacks with a piece of 3/4" steel tube and a couple of R clips. The bikes are secured with steel rings screwed through the plywood into the 2x4s. The steel tubes, rings and the screws, structural and construction, I happened to have on hand. I purchased the plywood and 2x4s for the project, which is where the $50ish dollars comes from.

I mounted a chock I happened to have on hand but will use a steel place as a stopper at the front if one of the bikes is going on the centre stand.

For storage, the adapter and the Quickjacks lean up against the wall in Garage Mahal. It is quite heavy for me and my arthritic hands so normally I'll have some help me get it into position for use. The Quickjacks fit neatly between the 2x4s.

I have had my ST on it as well as an 83 V45 Sabre, shown in the pictures.

What wheel choc are you using there?

 

[GGely]

When I sold it to my neighbour, I told him it was the Bulltacosfb 9000 High Performance chock with enhanced vertical stabilization technology. He said I was lying to try and inflate the value so he’d pay $11,430 plus taxes, shipping, handling and miscellaneous charges.

Truth be told, I paid $20 CDN at a yard sale and since there are no tags, I don’t know the brand.

However, as you can tell by the intense, deep, unctuous red finish, this is a special wheel chock. Not for just anyone. Or any bike.

Care to make a cash offer, in non sequential bills?