I have the BendPak HD9ST in 110 volts and I love it. At the time I was buying the BendPak rep told me the only difference btwn. the 220 and the 110 is the speed with which the lift rises. He asked how I intended to use it and like you I wanted it for storage of my toy. He said if it is not going up and down several times per day, go 110. I did. I have 12' ceilings in my garage.

 

Being in Cali I have the same concern. I think the only answer is the be proactive and bolt down the lift.

 

Thanks NikosF. I guess I'll decide which way to go when I get there. Now with some knowledge, I am curious which way my installer would pitch. We'll see. You bumping your tires at all to that washer/concrete build up?

 

Cairo,
I am also contemplating the "st" narrow version. Am a little worried about the inside clearance between columns being too close for comfort. Do you wish you have the wider version or are you content with what u have. Basically I am asking if given the chane to do it over, would you go with the wider version?
Have any pics to share??

 

Hey All,
Found a "high lift garage door conversion kit" thru ddmgaragedoors.com. Will be ordering it after taking measurements. Anyone knows of a good garage door installer?? The instructions looks pretty straight forward but time consuming. I may do it myself. Any thoughts??

 

Anyone have pics they can post? I have a really high 2 car garage and have been considering this for a while.

 

Check out NikosF's response #13 above. He has a link to some nice pics.

 

Hope these crappy iPhone pictures will help visualize it for you. I have a 9' wide and 7' tall garage opening. You can derive the rest from the pictures - jackshaft opener that pulls the door straight up.

 

Hey amge63,
Did you install the jackshaft opener yourself or hired a professional?

 

Professional. Overhead doors company installed the jackshaft for me since I got all new doors at the same time. It's a very quiet opener since it uses a cable and not a chain. With some hindsight now I wished I would have gotten all three doors to go straight up, but I left the other two as traditional setup since I only bought one lift...

I did however assemble the lift myself - albeit it took over 8 hours with a friend's help. We took our time and made sure we did it correctly.

 

Hats off to you my friend. I was thinking the opposite. I was going to do the garage door high lift conversion with the jackshaft myself and hire a pro for the lift. I know asking "how easy" is it to install the lift is a silly question as it is all relative. But on a scale to 10, where would you place this for someone that is mechanically inclined with knowledge of how hydraulics work and plumbed. I think my main issue is finding a buddy that has 8 hours of free time to assist. May have to stock up on Heineken as incentive.

 

Slick911, personally I was more comfortable with assembling the lift than the garage door. I think with my skills the garage doors would have taken me a lot longer than the lift. (not to mention there were three doors!) I'd put the lift at a difficulty level of 6 and the doors at 7+ in my book. A lot more nuts and bolts with the lift, but I think it takes a bit more skill to align the door and make sure everything was tensioned correctly and work accordingly. I've had crooked garage doors before, so I left that to professionals. There wasn't much hydraulics with my lift. Just the pump and some lines, mostly mechanical wrenching.

My true friend gave me 8+ hours of assembling help, and 8 more hours of driving with his truck and trailer to pick it up. He wouldn't even let me pay for gas! We left my house at 4am to pick it up, he didn't leave until well after 8pm that day. We all need buddies like that.

 

Hey amge63. Thanks for the reply. It was helpful. I am more tempted to tackle the job with a friend now. A true friend is very rare. Consider yourself fortunate. That being said, you'd be surprised what I can buy with Heineken.
It's funny how a simple idea to store an extra vehicle has turned into possibly a 4 days (estimated) project for myself. Lol
Just need to make sure the beer is served afterward. Don't want to wonder why the lift is upside down the next morning.

 

This is who is used. Professional crew and they do lots of installs for commercial locations not just residence. They take their time and do it right. Even came back a few days later to make sure the bolts were still torqued down correctly. They also fixed a warranty issue a few months later.

Name Wiley Equipment Co Inc Contact Name Steve Wiley Address 126 Arena St
El Segundo, CA 90245 Country United States Phone 310-640-9093/310-748-6097 Fax 310-322-4512 E-mail wileyequip@aol.com

 

^^^^ Thank you sir!!