If you have the basic two car garage with low ceilings Danmar 6000 lb lift offers an unusual lift that only lifts the car partially to about 47" under the car. And the two posts are "portable" being able to roll them out of the parking area when not in use. I won't go into the set up and tear down details. You can check that out at various sites by googleing "MaxJax". The advantages are readily apparent. I'll highlight the things that i was concerned about. It does only take about 15-20 minutes to set and tear down. I arranged mine so i can leave the post near the wall fastened down all the time so i only have one post to do. The posts need to be alighned to each other and to vertical each set up, with supplied shims under the base plate. I fastened the shims to the base plate (a real pain) with screws so i really only have to roll out one post and zip in down with an air gun on low power. Very easy set up with my config. The hydraulic lines have check valves to keep the fluid from draining when removed. You will get an ounce or so of stinky ATF fluid at tear down but it's easily caught with a paper towel. I throw a baggy with a rubber band around the hose connections for strorage. This unit puts a bit more load on it's hold downs that most units, so it's absolutely imperative that you use epoxy anchor bolts with an unusual installation scheme. You will notice i welded extra plates to the base plate as i was stupid enough to believe the provided expansion type anchors and installation procedure. It's a long story, but suffice it to say they are now providing expoxy anchors (which are rated for higher loads and are more reliable) and you will not need the extra measures i ended up taking thru my process. Since neither the vendor nor the mfgr willl tell you how to properly install the anchors, i'll have to run it down for you. You are embeding the epoxy anchors which are essentially a rod with internal threads and nubs on the periphery for the epoxy to dovetail with. The current Wej-It brand epoxy anchors are 5 1/2". Unless your slab is 6 1/2" of so you will go completely thru the slab when drilling. You have to have a hole that is TOTALLY enclosed, or not open at the bottom to get the epoxy fully incircling the fastener. Yes, your life does depend on this!! Then you mix up some concrete or grout to a milk shake consistancy and pour it in the bottom until it comes up a bit into your drilled hole. You wait about a half hour, take a 7/8" wood dowel with the end wrapped in duct tape and force it down about 6 1/2" into the hole and pull it out. This gives you the desired sealed cavity needed for the epoxy and anchor. Let it dry three days and then you can install the anchors per instructions. Let the proffessional installers do this you say? No, do it yourself, this procedure is way to complicated for the installers who are used to just powering in expansion anchors on lifts that have much lower loads. Yes the loads on this lift are higher than your basic two post lift as it has no "tie bar" at the top or bottom. But i have gone thru the anchor loads and you will be fine if all the anchors are inalled properly. Moving on, the shimming process takes some time and you will likely have to order extra shims. In operation, you can either use a very low creeper seat or you can just kneel. Yes i can see one knocking the jong now and then, but i haven't yet and don't feel cramped. If you are one of those guys that removes the lower seat cushion, it might not be an issue. Mock something up and see for yourself. Potential issue is that most lifts have a device that keeps one side from moving without the other. This lift does not have that. You have to watch the lifts so if one would hang up you could stop, lower and lube or fix the problem. They have been moving within 1 1/2" of each other. Not ideal, but seems fine. The lowered pad height is 3 3/4" so i thought i would get by under my lowered NSX, but my floor was sloped more than i thought, so i still had to fabricate some 2 by 10 ramps seem in the picture for the NSX. The lift arms are slightly shorter than standard so you might not be able to do very small vehicles and very larage vehicles with one post location. Some have to put in a second set of floor anchors for an alternate post location. I was just barely able to do the NSX and a minivan with one location. Danmar is a major lift mfgr. They appear to be designed as well as one would expect for an american design, china mfgr. I'm picky, experienced in the field, and fairly impressed. I have two minor leaks on the power unit out of the box. But overal i'm very happy with the unit and recommend it. Just don't trust their advice on the anchors. Niether Danmar, the reps, or Wej-it are all that concerned about your safety. I got the unit from Metro Lifts. A couple of years ago garagejournal.com did a group buy at $1800. I was only able to get Metro down to $1900 delivered to the local carrier. My ceiling is 10 ft and my minivan clear my raised garage door easily. Garagejournal.com has several posts about the units. One item removed from bucket list!
