Garage Ramps vs Mechanics Pits

Right, I have just moved house and from a former double garage with flat roof and with a mechanics pit ( 4m Long x 1m Wide x 2m Deep ), to a larger than normal single long garage with a pitched roof, but no pit.

Should I dig a hole and have the lining done for a new screed lined pit / plastic moulded pit or should I consider a scissor lift or something else.

Any opinions / recommendations ?

http://sm-t.co.uk/ Have a look at this site. I am hoping to buy a four ton four post lift with jacking bench in the spring.

A pit without an escape route is dangerous imo.

The trouble with a pit is having to climb in and out of it each time you want to get a different tool... not to mention the other risks like falling into it !

Once day .... one day... I'll have a garage big enough to get a proper post lift.

I too will have some kind of powered lift, one of these days.

I don't like holes in the ground; apart from anything else (like proper draining, venting, escape routes etc) they're no use if you want to take four wheels off for suspension, braking, or driveshaft work.

This. There is a reason garages used lifts over having a pit.

That said make sure you have enough space to use the lift without putting the car a through the roof!

also don't forget where you are where you are if you are ever stood on the lift. Stepping back to admire your handiwork is not recommended when you're 6 feet in the air!

A pal of mine has an L shaped pit. It works well for him as he says he Allways has an escape route.

Don't get me wrong, the former pit in the garage was immense and a quality build as previous owner had a fleet of hire classic prestige Rollers and Bentley's. It even had a fire suppression system, bilge well and jack lift girder over the pit!

Scissor lifts look like a PITA in confined space, 4 post lift ideal, but need the width of a domestic garage to fit I think. I see that these moulded pit liners with eazi slide chairs seem popular with the classic cars mob.

I would love a lift, problem i have is height. I have a concrete double garage but the roof is made of bolted trusses etc so unable to rasie the coupe maybe 2-3 feet higher from the ground.

We had a scissor lift for work. It was a Strongman Tamar 2.8 ton model. It cost about a grand new on eBay.

It was fine, but we found we never used it, so sold it for what we paid.

The problem with a scissor lift is that it doesn't give unrestricted access to the underside of the car, so it means you can't always get to the exhaust, for example.

Check this out...

http://www.fiatcoupeclub.org/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=1611443#top

Nice and good idea. What do you think the cost would be if a steel fabricator mimicked your design?

Thanks - this was the best solution given my garage, its height, its base and its location.

The steel cost me just under £400 all cut to size.

The ancillary parts like clamps, bolts and jacks etc cost just under another £100.

The welding took ME about 3 (maybe 4) solid 8 hour days of welding and I have a family friend who spent 18 welding for a living who said he would have charged me £15 per hour if I hadn't done it myself - so that would have been about another £400 or so.

So maybe £900 in total - but a fabricators may charge more than £15 an hour I suppose.