MaxJax 2 Post Lift...

[Y2K911]

I really have a hard time uploading that pic. Let me try again!

[987_RDC]

What tool did you use to cut?

Waiting for Costco to have the 2k sale again.

Edited January 9, 2013 by 987_RDC

[creekman]

Here's what I've made for my new MaxJax 2 post lift to lift and positively connect the car to the lifting arms. I'm going to turn some nylon washer that will fit over the pin base to protect the undercarriage receivers. I haven't tried the lift yet since I'm considering moving and didn't want to drill a bunch of holes in the floor and wasting the mounting anchors.

The first pix is the factory supplied extension pins that I cut down, the second pix is the new pin welded to the factory cut down lifting extension. I liked the idea of a positive connection between the lifting arm and the car receiver. I'm going to put the car up on a friend's lift tomorrow and determine whether I need to make the pin base a larger diameter. More later...

[Y2K911]

What tool did you use to cut?

Waiting for Costco to have the 2k sale again.

I used a Dremel multi-max vibrating semi-circular blade but initiated the cuts with a hack-saw first.

Turned out the 4 I bought at Walmart were of terrible quality. Will work out but the 4 (cut those for a friend) I got at a sports store were real rubber and much better quality.

[carsareart]

I too looked at a Max Jack. It was just a little too big for my space and garage. Some day if I build a house I will design a garage with enough space for a full size lift. I purchased a EzCar lift. So far it has done a great job for my needs.

[creekman]

I had a problem with my MaxJax lift not wanting to retract, I did the same thing, I bungee the release lever down. However in my case I had installed the diverter valve upside down. The way to tell is to be sure you have the diverter installed so you can see through the top ports where the 2 hoses attach. Also if one arm is not in sync with the other, then disconnect the hose from the lowest arm and hit the release lever until the 2nd arm reaches the same height as the lower arm.I installed 45 degree fittings on the post to hose connection which allows the hoses to lay closer to the floor. I read that tip some where, and I think it will save tripping over the hoses. One other thing that I did was to turn a bushing on my lathe to fit the 5 holes in the post base plate. The bushing had a 1/2" clearance for my rotor hammer bit. So rather than drilling one hole, moving the post, setting the anchor, then reinstalling the post each time for a new hole I was able to use the one bushing, drill all 5 holes with a 1/2" rotor hammer drill, then move off the post, finish drilling the 7/8" holes all in one operation. The holes were centered and it saved a lot of work.Also you want to check the reservoir tank after bleeding and filling the hoses, but only having the arms in the down position. I checked the oil level when the arms were 12" or so above the floor, then it appeared the reservoir needed filling, so I filled it... bad idea because when the arms came down I had hydraulic oil oooozing from the fill cap. I was unsure how thick my concrete slab was so I drilled a 1/2" hole under the center of the base just to be sure I could drill the recommended 5.5". If you get into trouble you can contact MaxJax, they sell an epoxy kit that will also fasten the anchors… BTW: Jason at MaxJax has been very helpful. Nice guy...Lastly, today I moved my garage door opener from the middle of the door to one side because it was going to impair my lifting height. I talked to the garage door company and they said you can do that. I moved the operator/motor and the door works just as well as it did before. I set my base plates at 130" measured from the back of the base plate. Here's the fitting I made that plugs into the receiver on the underside of the car. You have to be a little more exacting on locating the arms, but I know the arms/pads are not going to bend any sheet metal. To do this I cut down the pad extensions and turned the pins to a dome so if I was off a tad they'll find their way home. After this picture I turned some nylon washers that fit down over the domed pins.Lastly, lastly... 3 of my inner arms were really hard to slide in and out, in fact I had to take a single jack and pound on a piece of wood to get the arms to move in and out. Today I took the arms back off the base, retracted the arms as far in as they would go, then used a Sawzall with a fine metal cutting blade and cut the end of the weld that keeps the inner arm aligned with the outer arm. The lift should not have come that way, but as soon as I cut off 1/16" between the weld and the inner arm the inner arms moved freely. At first glance you might think there's a big glob of paint, but it's actually a weld protruding from the inner wall of the outer arm, rubbing on the outer wall of the inner arm.I hope all of this might be helpful to others...

[Bill Mitchell]

On 2/18/2013 at 11:15 PM, creekman said:

I had a problem with my MaxJax lift not wanting to retract, I did the same thing, I bungee the release lever down. However in my case I had installed the diverter valve upside down. The way to tell is to be sure you have the diverter installed so you can see through the top ports where the 2 hoses attach. Also if one arm is not in sync with the other, then disconnect the hose from the lowest arm and hit the release lever until the 2nd arm reaches the same height as the lower arm.I installed 45 degree fittings on the post to hose connection which allows the hoses to lay closer to the floor. I read that tip some where, and I think it will save tripping over the hoses. One other thing that I did was to turn a bushing on my lathe to fit the 5 holes in the post base plate. The bushing had a 1/2" clearance for my rotor hammer bit. So rather than drilling one hole, moving the post, setting the anchor, then reinstalling the post each time for a new hole I was able to use the one bushing, drill all 5 holes with a 1/2" rotor hammer drill, then move off the post, finish drilling the 7/8" holes all in one operation. The holes were centered and it saved a lot of work.Also you want to check the reservoir tank after bleeding and filling the hoses, but only having the arms in the down position. I checked the oil level when the arms were 12" or so above the floor, then it appeared the reservoir needed filling, so I filled it... bad idea because when the arms came down I had hydraulic oil oooozing from the fill cap. I was unsure how thick my concrete slab was so I drilled a 1/2" hole under the center of the base just to be sure I could drill the recommended 5.5". If you get into trouble you can contact MaxJax, they sell an epoxy kit that will also fasten the anchors… BTW: Jason at MaxJax has been very helpful. Nice guy...Lastly, today I moved my garage door opener from the middle of the door to one side because it was going to impair my lifting height. I talked to the garage door company and they said you can do that. I moved the operator/motor and the door works just as well as it did before. I set my base plates at 130" measured from the back of the base plate. Here's the fitting I made that plugs into the receiver on the underside of the car. You have to be a little more exacting on locating the arms, but I know the arms/pads are not going to bend any sheet metal. To do this I cut down the pad extensions and turned the pins to a dome so if I was off a tad they'll find their way home. After this picture I turned some nylon washers that fit down over the domed pins.Lastly, lastly... 3 of my inner arms were really hard to slide in and out, in fact I had to take a single jack and pound on a piece of wood to get the arms to move in and out. Today I took the arms back off the base, retracted the arms as far in as they would go, then used a Sawzall with a fine metal cutting blade and cut the end of the weld that keeps the inner arm aligned with the outer arm. The lift should not have come that way, but as soon as I cut off 1/16" between the weld and the inner arm the inner arms moved freely. At first glance you might think there's a big glob of paint, but it's actually a weld protruding from the inner wall of the outer arm, rubbing on the outer wall of the inner arm.I hope all of this might be helpful to others...

Can you explain a little more explicitly the procedure to sync the cylinders? One of mine always lags behind and gets further behind the higher I lift the car. I've replaced both cylinders to no avail. 

[Mitch Leland]

Bill,

 

What I do is disconnect the side that is higher/ahead of the other.  Then bump the up button to approximate the short fall of low post.  Then reconnect the hydraulic hose and see what you've got.

 

I got tired of having the pump cart always in the way as well as the hoses.  I had a much longer hose made up and now the pump stand is against the wall as far as the short hose would allow.  Now the longer hose can be configured several ways, but for the most part it's now out of the way.  The hose was expensive, but has made a big difference in being able to move around the front of the car.

 

I called MaxJax to see if this was feasible, but they would not tell me for liability reasons.  For the first time it took awhile to fill the hose, then I had to adjust the lift, but not a big deal.

[Mitch Leland]

Bill,

 

One more thing, I did this so many years ago I can't remember what we did.  I believe we took one of the stock lifting devices and machine these spring loaded pins.  The best thing is you know the car is engaged with the lifting arms.