Hi everyone, I am just about to buy a two post lift/hoist for my garage so I can work on the car. What is the minimum width the post have to be apart to work on the car - the standard "drive through" width seems to be 2.4m ( 8ft for those in the dark ages ) There are ones with slightly wider available, but there are non in Australia - all "on the ship".

Anyone with a hoist able to measure what their "drive through" distance is?

Thanks

 

I've just measured mine and it's 108" between the posts.
Hardly relevant to you down under, but it's this one: https://www.automotechservices.co.uk...m-2-post-lift/
Obviously at that width you can't open the doors sufficiently to exit the vehicle, so you simply stop the car short of the desired position, and leave it in Neutral, then roll the car manually into the desired fore/aft position ready to lift.
If you're really good you'll also remember to select Jacking Mode before exiting the vehicle...

 

Thanks, I was able to find a wider one - http://happ.com.au/hoist_and_lift/ha...t-clear-floor/
I went over to the workshop to have an look, and it seems like a reasonable hoist and should have plenty of capacity for the car, so I ordered one. It should arrive in a couple of weeks. It is 2.9m -114" Probably have the same problem, as the Bentley is a wide car by comparison to most.

Looks like you have a good one.

 

Glad to hear that you're sorted.

If length of your workshop is an issue, as it was/is for me, then you may want to consider which option of arm length you choose, and where you place the posts.

What I mean is that having the posts sited bang in the middle of the fore/aft space may not be optimal.

It's worth considering where the vehicle pick up points are likely to be, and which end you will typically want to work, and then siting the lift accordingly.

Obviously if you've got a workshop that is the size of a small hangar then this won't apply, so feel free to ignore me.

 

I have a reasonable size shed, but I park my Unimog in there as well, space will be a bit of a premium for longer term work on the car. My plan is to always reverse into the lift - so engine is in the front. How far back does your sit on the hoist?

 

Unfortunately I've got another car on the lift at the moment otherwise I could measure it precisely, but the distance from the centre of the pillar, to the back wall is 2420mm, and I reversed in, with only a couple of cm between the rear of the car amd the wall.
Given that the car is roughly 4800mm long, that means that I had it pretty much centred over the lift, but that doesn't necessarily mean centred between the jacking points IYSWIM.

 

Thanks, I will make sure I have at least that amount of space at the rear.

 

Been playing around with Sketch-up to see how my hoist will fit in the garage with the truck, it's a tight squeeze but it will work fine it seems.