MaxJax 2 Post Lift...

[creekman]

My question is after looking at the rubber covered lift pads they appear to be to big to catch just the jacking position on the under body. i haven't set the unit up yet so I don't know how much clearance I'm going to have between the top of the pad and the bottom of the car? I can see that you might make a shouldered pin to catch the 4 jack points. Any one been through this?

Thanks,

[Sisuguy]

I just use a Hockey puck on mine. Works great.

[creekman]

I just use a Hockey puck on mine. Works great.

That might be a tough item to find in Texas... I guess a cow paddy wouldn't work? Then you had enough clearance for the arm, factory pad and your "hockey puck" w/o running the car over 2X12's?

Thanks,

[Sisuguy]

Correct. On my floor, I have about 2" clearance to the MaxJax pad. The puck takes up about 1.25" or so and is about the same dia. As the jacking point. I've also lifted directly on the pads directly. I love my MaxJax, wish I had bought it 5 years ago!

[creekman]

Sisuguy, thanks for the info... To use the lifting pads without any "hockey pucks" you must have pushed the lifting pads all the way in to clear the sheet metal skirt? I got my Maxjax on sale at Costco. They also delivered with a lift gate so there was no additional charge for the delivery.

[987_RDC]

That might be a tough item to find in Texas

Made me laugh. I recall being in Austin and telling them the Stars were in the playoffs. The bar wouldn't change the TV since horse jumping was on.

Anyone find another seller that can beat Costco $2k delivered price for MaxJax?

[creekman]

987_RDC,

I looked around for a used one, but even at $1,500 I would have still paid shipping. I ran a wanted ad on Craig's list for a couple of months w/o any results. I started to put the pieces together this evening, as with any product made in China the directions could be a lot better. It's one of those things that you could do a lot easier the second time. It's a nice piece of equipment, everything is built heavy duty. You really need 2 people to get the parts unpacked. I had it on a trailer so it was a bit of a back breaker get everything on to the garage floor. Tomorrow I'll set the post anchors.

What dimension did you use for the spacing between the uprights?

[fpb111]

Looks like Max Jax has some competition.

http://indyautolift.com/TP_Longhorn-6K.htmlTP-Longhorn-6KSPECIFICATIONS FEATURESIdeal for standard heightresidential garagesConveniently stores out of thewayProvides wheel-free access forquick brake jobs and tireserviceEasily converts to a full servicemotorcycle liftGood for DIYers around thehouse and side jobs, or a parttime businessQuick connect/disconnnecthydraulic couplersUnique gear flow driver keepslift level even if load balancechangesRugged safety lock bars forextra assuranceMoveable / Storeable Two Post Lift

[creekman]

Looks like a "knock off"... did I miss the price? If it was cheaper I'm guessing that they would have shown the price?

[creekman]

For my 2003 C4S can someone tell me the distance they used between the posts. I see that the manual calls for up to 115" for "sport cars". My out to out on the tires is 69", that only leaves about 23" on a side for the door opening. Also at that dimension the pick up arms will reach the car body pick points without having to extend the inner arms. I have the room to move the post further apart, but just wondering if that's advisable. My 230 lbs just doesn't go through the opening very gracefully... I can also see that it would be prudent to glue some corner rubber on the post where the door could hit it if you weren't careful.

I e-mailed MaxJax, but haven't heard anything from them yet...

[fpb111]

I used 117", Next time I will use 125". If you use 115" centering the car will be very critical, both front to back and side to side. If they are too close together you won't have room to extend the arms a little to make up for a couple inches off center.

I also use the lift on our ML350 SUV and Subaru Outback.

The LongHorn TP lift was $1,9xx + delivery. (two weeks ago it was $1,7xx) So maybe ~$100-150 less than MaxJax

Edited December 22, 2012 by fpb111

[creekman]

fpb111, thanks for the reply... I think you've just answered my question with what I've thought, but couldn't verify. Yes, right now at 115" there's no give in the car location between the posts. I hadn't thought of that, but your assessment makes sense. I'm already with hardly any adjustments for the inner arms. If the car was slightly off the center line then there's no way to adjust the pad setting on the near side.

I still think the install directions should address the clearance between the posts and the side of the car which would also give you some play of the inner lifting arms. I read on the Garage Forum where a professional installer used epoxy to insure that there was no movement of the anchors. I have a good concrete 4" floor, but sometimes that means your at the minimum thickness. I was evening thinking of making a test hole under the center of the post base to confirm the thickness. Also I think I'll turn a 5/8" sleeve x the diameter of the base plate hole so my pilot hole is centered on the base plate hole. My only worry here is that I'm not sure the sleeve will stay in place with the roto-hammer.

I like the yellow and black finish on the MaxJax, it goes w/ my Speed Yellow, the blue of the Long Horn unit would have bad color clash... :-) I know from a friend of mine that deals with Chinese manufactures that they'll knock off someone idea without any hesitation. Someone might have approached the Chinese Maxjax manufacture and had them build the same lift.

[gman3280]

Go as wide as your space allows. Also, get the 996 ebay aluminum pucks for lifting the car. Work perfect and clear the body.

[creekman]

GMAN... Great information... I did a quick search on e_bay, but didn't come up w/ the puck info. I had thought about cutting down the factory lifting pins, then welding a machined turned dowel that had a domed top. The domed top would find it's way into the car body receiver better and the factory supplied lifting pin. The cut down pin would act as a shoulder for the receiver to sit on. I hope you can follow my ramblings.

I have the room to go as far as I want, what would you suggest as a good safe separation between the posts? I'm presently at 125" out to out on the base plate. That gives me 20" between the inside face of the post and the door.

Many thanks for your reply,

[creekman]

Here's a good video for the Maxjax install... I think the directions could be better, and the supplier certainly could supplement the install directions with a good video. Here's one that shows the whole install procedure.

On the Corvette forum one guy showed using a 90 degree fitting at the hydraulic hose quick disconnects so the hoses lay flatter on the floor, good idea. I just got one set of disconnects, yet on several pics and videos they show 2 sets, one at the base of the post, and the other at the divider on the hydraulic cart? Am I missing one set or do you have to buy a second set if you want the flexibility of removing the hoses from the cart? I thought maybe removing the hoses from the hydraulic cart would allow air into the system so bleeding would be necessary?

P.S. I see that the Parts inventory only show 2 each of the quick-disconnect fittings!

Edited December 25, 2012 by creekman

[Sisuguy]

Creek man, earlier MaxJax shipped with four quick disconnects. There were some issues with keeping the two lifts in sync. The factory then switched to the two disconnect setup. BTW, putting the 90 degree fittings at the lift rams does allow the hoses to lay flatter on the ground.

[fpb111]

GMAN... Great information... I did a quick search on e_bay, but didn't come up w/ the puck info. I had thought about cutting down the factory lifting pins, then welding a machined turned dowel that had a domed top. The domed top would find it's way into the car body receiver better and the factory supplied lifting pin. The cut down pin would act as a shoulder for the receiver to sit on. I hope you can follow my ramblings.

I have the room to go as far as I want, what would you suggest as a good safe separation between the posts? I'm presently at 125" out to out on the base plate. That gives me 20" between the inside face of the post and the door.

Many thanks for your reply,

Don't over think/engineer things.

http://www.midwestbroomball.com/Black-6-oz-Official-BR-Ice-Hockey-Puck-P184.aspx?gclid=CPuqgcyGt7QCFcyf4AodSj8AxQ

[creekman]

fpb111, I can't help myself,,, that's half the fun of messing with the car. If I see something that I think can be improved, then I try to solve the problem. Hey, if nothing else it keeps the gray matter stirred up. The hockey pucks seem like a good solution, but lack inter-locking of the car pk pts to the lift arms. I'll report back if my concept works, stay tuned, film at eleven...

[creekman]

I didn't try to lift the car, the following was just with the lift posts free standing. I started up the pump to test the 2 posts... right side goes up, but the left doesn't move. Then the right side that went up, doesn't go down. I'm going to bleed the left side to see if that is what keeping the lift arms from going up, then check to see if the bleeder valve is clogged up? Do I need to drain the reservoir before removing the bleeder valve? I thought I would get some input before calling Danmar...

Any other suggestions on what's going on will be appreciated...

[fpb111]

On the first lift there will be air in the system if you don't have the arms or some weight on it they won't synchronize during lift and will take forever, hours, to go down. After you get the lift bolted down, raise it all of the way and let it down again. Then raise it again and bleed it. Mine is very slow going down after the weight is off, last 3-4 inches. I bungee the lever "open" and stand on the arms to get it down flat.

Just bleed the cyls at the top with the bleeder screws when there is pressure. I stand on the arms. Don't empty the reservoir. Like bleeding the brakes you need fluid and pressure to do it right.

If there is no pressure you can take the bleeder screw out. You don't have to when you are bleeding the system. Once again it is like bleeding the brakes.

Edited January 4, 2013 by fpb111

[JFP in PA]

fpb111, I can't help myself,,, that's half the fun of messing with the car. If I see something that I think can be improved, then I try to solve the problem. Hey, if nothing else it keeps the gray matter stirred up. The hockey pucks seem like a good solution, but lack inter-locking of the car pk pts to the lift arms. I'll report back if my concept works, stay tuned, film at eleven...

More years ago than I would care to admitt it, I bought several of these:

At the time, they were reasonably priced, but have since gone up considerably. They still show up from time to time on fleabay. They are metal with a rubber pad around the center locking tang that locks into the jack points. Once mounted on the car, you have four 6 1/2" diameter metal pads for the lift to pick up the car. These also work well with floor jacks:

One benefit, besides never slipping, is that they never mar the underside of the jack points, something some of my customers worry about.

[Loren]

fpb111, I can't help myself,,, that's half the fun of messing with the car. If I see something that I think can be improved, then I try to solve the problem. Hey, if nothing else it keeps the gray matter stirred up. The hockey pucks seem like a good solution, but lack inter-locking of the car pk pts to the lift arms. I'll report back if my concept works, stay tuned, film at eleven...

More years ago than I would care to admitt it, I bought several of these:

At the time, they were reasonably priced, but have since gone up considerably. They still show up from time to time on fleabay. They are metal with a rubber pad around the center locking tang that locks into the jack points. Once mounted on the car, you have four 6 1/2" diameter metal pads for the lift to pick up the car. These also work well with floor jacks:

One benefit, besides never slipping, is that they never mar the underside of the jack points, something some of my customers worry about.

Those are really good - I've also had a set for years.

Just be aware you can not use these on aerokit/side skirt cars as the side skirts may get damaged. You need the smaller round ones for cars with aerokits/side skirts - and even then you will need to carefully position them.

[JFP in PA]

On cars with body kits, we use these (they are by BendPak):

Because they are adjustable, we can taylor the height to clear just about any body kit side pieces, and they are almost as large as the adaptor pads above, the car remains very stable while up in the air. Big time saver around the shop.

[Y2K911]

Creekman;

From a hockey puck, I made a cut-out last night for my 996's jack point. I attached 2 pics to show you.

I made the cut-out large enough so the whole puck stays up until I can center the jack under it. It works well!

Hockeys pucks are everywhere here in Canada and you can get them for a buck at Walmart. Any community with a skating rink should have those avail even in Texas, I assume. Good luck with your MaxJax.

Martin

[Y2K911]

Oops! Here is the 2nd pic I wanted you to see.

Martin