MaxJax 2 post car lift

[mrtexas]

I'm tired of jacking up my Model As and other cars so I'm excited to pick up my MaxJax tomorrow from Yellow Freight. Hey, Jay Leno has one! I have 9 foot ceilings in my garage and I can't pick up my Model A Ford or the 63 Corvette verte any higher than 48inches which is how high this lift goes. Projects planned are throttle body FI for the 63 corvette, put 29 roadster back together after painting, install new engine in 28 RPU.

I had to buy 7/8 inch concrete bits, the impact bit and rebar cutter. I already have the 5/8 inch bits required from my add 40 feet to the garage and build a 20x20 portacachre project of last year.

One advantage to this lift is that the posts can be unbolted and stored away. The lift mechanism is also movable. I intend to install it in my main 2 car garage area on the right hand side and unbolt the left side post after use to make door opening easier.



http://www.maxjaxusa.com/

[MikeK]

Please be extremely careful! It is not ALI (Automotive lift institute) or ANSI certified. This lift has NO inertia or ratchet safety locks. There are only four widely spaced cross holes to insert a pin to relieve the cylinder pressure when working. You need to pull those pins when lifting or lowering. If you blow a hose or cylinder seal one side will be in free-fall. There are no safety retainers to keep the lift forks in place if one of the UHMW plastic guide blocks fail. The two cylinders are synced by a hydraulic gear divider, and if one side gets out of sync mid-lift there is no override on the pump valve unit to manually tweak one.

mrtexas, you are an important contributor to this forum, I just don't want to hear about you becoming orange juice. Stay well clear when going up/down!

[Ray64]

How thick is your cement floor?Was it poured thick enough to support this lift?If not i would go with the 4 post drive on.

[Mitch//pa]

i hope it works for you, thickness of the floor is important for the bolts to hold properly. to lift a model A you need 12" adapters to reach the frame rails and a long lift arm length to stretch it out or you'll hit the running boards. personally it looks like a cheap set up to me

[Keith True]

That looks like a setup a garage here in town has.He says it is a jack,not a lift.He calls it the tire and brake lift.It has little wheels in the back,and they move it around the garage as needed.While it doesn't look very stable to me,he showed me that when you set it up as close to the car as possible,it is a lot more stable than it looks.The most he or his help get under it is to retrieve a dropped part or tool.Bolted down I bet it would be fine.It has a half dozen holes in it to slide pins into once it is at desired height.Then he drops it to rest on the pins while in use.

[mrtexas]

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Originally Posted by Keith True

That looks like a setup a garage here in town has.He says it is a jack,not a lift.He calls it the tire and brake lift.It has little wheels in the back,and they move it around the garage as needed.While it doesn't look very stable to me,he showed me that when you set it up as close to the car as possible,it is a lot more stable than it looks.The most he or his help get under it is to retrieve a dropped part or tool.Bolted down I bet it would be fine.It has a half dozen holes in it to slide pins into once it is at desired height.Then he drops it to rest on the pins while in use.

Definitely is a jack with a long cylinder. The pins with the red handle are the safety pins. These are inserted after the car is jacked up to rest the lift arms on. There are two sets of holes, at 24 and 48 inches. Looks very well built to me. Made in Chimerica as usual by a US company.

[mcorrell]

Hi, new guy here. I have one of these lifts and love it. I found it more than capable for all of my needs. I had my '64 Buick Wildcat convertible (~4500 pounds) for nearly 4 months last winter while I rebuilt the suspension with no problems whatsoever, even with "bridges" that I engineered to lift the X-frame car. I did mount the pump to the wall and upgraded the hoses and fittings to "professional" quality items. It makes a more permanent installation while still giving me the ability to move one post out of the way when not in use.

Mr. Texas: have you lifted your "A" with your lift? If so, where did you place the lift pads? I need to look at the steering on my '29 soon and would love to do it on my feet rather than my back.

[Art Bjornestad]

I bought a 2 post lift about 10 years ago but found out as I aged it was way too hard to get up and down to align the pads with the frame. Last year I bought a 4 post lift and think it's a better solution for older guys.

[ford3]

I would never buy a 2 post lift of any make, I have worked in the automotive repair business, for my self and as a mechanic, for 40 yrs, in that time I have seen 3 failures, one because the car wasn't positioned properly, two because the lift failed, tipped over, so I now have a four post drive on lift, the center of the car is completely open, and the car doesn't wiggle on the lift its rock steady, mine has four safety locks , one on each post

[Tom Wesenberg]

I've used all types of hoists, and my favorite is also the 4 post drive on.
Wish I had a garage to put it in.

[tbirdtbird]

9 ft ceiling would not accomodate this:

http://www.forwardlift.com/two_post/BP9.aspx

But others here contemplating a lift need to know that low overhead lifts do exist (this one needs a 10 ft ceiling.) Other companies have similar types. Certified, with all the safety features. If you have never used a lift before then you may not be aware of how important the safety catches are.

I for one would not put myself under the MaxJax

If I had 9 ft ceilings, I'd blow a hole in the sheetrock right above each of the two posts and go with the certified low overhead lift

[mcorrell]

I guess my real question is where are the best and safest points to locate the lift pads when lifting a model A on any type of lift, other than a drive-on type obviously. I do not want to bend the frame or cause any damage by lifting in the wrong location.

[Tom Wesenberg]

Wow, I just went back to the first post showing the lift. I agree that it is NOT one I'd want to work under. The two post hoists I worked under in the past at least had a top cross bar to keep the cars weight from wanting to tip the posts inward. But even at that, the cement floor wasn't strong enough for the mounting bolts, so I couldn't tighten a couple of them. I watched when they poured the cement floor and it was thinner than pea soup. I don't know why they poured such a weak cement, but maybe it was to make it easier to tear up in 10 years when the junk yard had to be gone. I had to make sure that any car on that hoist was EXACTLY lifted on the center of gravity, or it probably would have tipped over.

I would not buy this hoist.

[Tom Wesenberg]

A friend of my friend was using a floor jack to change the oil on his Mustang. He didn't use jack stands, and the jack lowered pinning him under the car. His wife found him, but it was too late to save him.

How long before OSHA will require safety catches on floor jacks. Not that I want or need any more government intervention, but it wouldn't surprise me if it comes in the near future.

[TDO]

I never go under a car unless it is on jack stand or solid blocks. there is also jacks that you can put under the front and rear of the car when using a 2 post lift. they work like roof jacks in the coal mines. after 25 years in the coal mines I seen a lot of men hurt from falling top and rib rolls some ended in death. You can never be to careful when working under any type of load. Always block the car.

[Mitch//pa]

this accident happened here yesterday the mechanic was using jackstands and one failed..

http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/201...-bucks-county/

[Vonn Ditch]

MaxJax lifts are as safe as any other two post lift if installed and used properly according to the manufactures instructions. They are well made and there is specific information provided as to what depth the concrete should be and how to anchor.

And by the way, Automotive Lift Institute (AFI) certification is fee based. What's that tell you?

[mcorrell]

I investigated the Max Jax before purchasing. I am an engineer by trade and found that there are several safety features built into the Max Jax. Yes, if a hose fails you would have one side of the car that would drop and most likely cause a catastrophic accident. That is why I upgraded the hoses and fittings to quality Parker USA rated at 5000 psi min, about double the Max Jax system pressure.
In speaking with their engineering department I found that there is a 5:1 safety margin for the anchors. I ordered an extra set so that I can have two mounting locations for larger and smaller cars. I have 5 cars that I do all the repairs and maintenance on so it gets used frequently.
I measured the deflection at the top of the columns and found only 1/8" per side with my 4500 pound Buick on it.

Sorry to have caused such a stir with my first post here but I was really looking for safe lift points (from the vehicle's perspective) for my Model A.

[holdover]

I have two four post Bend Pac lifts that I use for most projects a HD9 & a HD14 with an adjustable ramp, the HD9 is used for double stacking more than anything else. Whenever I have to use a jack I always use jack stands as a safety and usually leave the jack in place as an extra safety measure. Be curious to see the jack stand that failed killing the mechanic.

[31Abone]

Go on internet Google lift accidents..there several 2 post failures. 4 post for me.