me too...
I exhausted my bank account just building my garage too,and not enough dough left to buy a lift like I'd hoped..I've kept my eyes open for a decent used one,but only one I saw for less than 1500 bucks was a "Rotary" brand one at a junkyard,that the owners decided to not use after they bought it..its still lying there in a heap,and the cylinders pistons are all pitted and rusted now..
..must be nice to be able to buy something,and just let it sit and rot!.
When my friends tire/repair shop he was renting was sold,the new owner ripped out all the old lifts,and sold them for 100 bucks each..one was a crappy "mid rise" lift I considered useless,unless you liked making bananas out of driveshafts,and it was no good for muffler or tranny repair..the other two were in working condition,but were old,and had some "repairs" done -
-one was a "FIAP" italian one,that used an electric motor,with 2 acme threaded rod "worms"and a brass nut on each tower to lift the vehicle,and a Harley motorcycle chain across the floor plates to lift the vehicle,not hydraulics!..its brass nuts had to be replaced,(had to be custom made at a machine shop for 400 bucks!)and it was only rated for 6000 lbs,which I felt wasn't enough for the trucks I'd be putting on it,especially where it had been "rebuilt"..I'd not waste my $$$ on something rinky-dink like that one!..it'd be fine for todays FWD cars,but not full sized pickups.
The one I should have gotten was a open center table type drive on alignment lift,that used a sliding air jack on rollers to lift the wheels off the ramps--it had an alignment machine and turntables that went with it too..but it was rusty in places,some of the lift beams needed patches welded on them,due to salt dripping off cars in the winter..but it was plenty good enough for my needs,11,000 lb rating!--but someone else beat me to it...
(and I think the guy never installed it,and its still sitting outside!)
I'm still tempted to get a lift someday,but until I have the cash,its a fantasy for now,unless I stumble across a "deal" for cheep money..as I get older,my desire to fix trucks is waning..so I might just have to keep "borrowing" the one at my friends "new" shop when he's not using it if I really need one..
I see lots of "homeowner" type lifts in catalogs like Northern Tool,for about 1800 bucks..but when I read the disclaimer "not reccomended for daily bussiness use",that tells me its probably a peice of china crap that the hydraulics and motor on it are cheesy,and wont last long if you raise and lower it often!..I think a decent used one is better than those..--right now I'd settle for one of the big "ramps" the local new car dealers use for display purposes--one of those with a winch to pull up "dead" vehicles is all I'd really need!..
