My new EZ Car Lift - couldn't be happier

So Here are some photos

The wheels are engaged here. They are an extra cost option and worth every penny! The can be locked every 90 deg or be free to caster. Locks come with two of the wheels but additional locks are available. I have locks for all 4 wheels. All the wheels also have brakes.

The wheels are easily installed and removed: a lock pin holds them in place. They must be removed to lower the lift past this point. When the lift is all the way down, small caster wheels allow the whole lift to be scooted around on the floor. The whole device is very well thought out, designed, constructed.

I chose to use the pinch weld as the lift point to get it well behind the CG in the rear. As most of you probably the rear jack point is very close to the CG of the car and any extra weight (like a body) can lift the noise up. NOT something you want to do 2 ft in the air!

This is the under car view from the front. There is much better under car access than any of the other similar lifts I looked into. Some of the other benefits are that it can be quickly disassembled and each of the two 1/2s weigh about 50 lbs. Or you can just lift the whole thing up and hang it on the well.

thanks for the pics and review. I have been thinking about getting something...

question, was it shipped truck or UPS?

quote:

Originally posted by JFB #05177:
thanks for the pics and review. I have been thinking about getting something...

question, was it shipped truck or UPS?

I don't know as I drove to Santa Barbra to visit a friend and pick it up. The shipping weight is about 150 lbs so could probably go either way.

quote:

The wheels are engaged here. They are an extra cost option and worth every penny! The can be locked every 90 deg or be free to caster. Locks come with two of the wheels but additional locks are available. I have locks for all 4 wheels. All the wheels also have brakes.

So with the wheels engaged, you can move the whole car around while it's on the lift?

quote:

Originally posted by rbarkley671:
I chose to use the pinch weld as the lift point to get it well behind the CG in the rear. As most of you probably the rear jack point is very close to the CG of the car and any extra weight (like a body) can lift the noise up. NOT something you want to do 2 ft in the air!

Hi Richard, why not move the lift more in the direction the rear of the car? The pinch welds are not jacking points, they are to weak in my opinion, are the connectors able to move inboard to reach the standard jacking points?

quote:

Originally posted by garth66:

So with the wheels engaged, you can move the whole car around while it's on the lift?

Absolutely! For me, this the biggest advantage of the lift. The wheels are made of a very firm plastic and have good ball bearings so the rolling resistance is very low.

Looks nice but costly. I have a couple of very low cars. I bought aluminum stands with long ramps from Discount Ramps. I drive the cars up on the stands (either end), them remove the ramps. If I need to lift the whole car up, I use a couple of long-low profile floor jacks I got from Harbor Freight. I normally use wood blocks as spreaders and lift under the suspension arms so have very good access under the car with the ramps off. The car ends up about 10" off the ground which is great for anything I need to do. To me there is an advantage to not having the EZ Lift in the way and the suspension hanging.

quote:

Originally posted by pantera chris:

quote:

Originally posted by rbarkley671:
I chose to use the pinch weld as the lift point to get it well behind the CG in the rear. As most of you probably the rear jack point is very close to the CG of the car and any extra weight (like a body) can lift the noise up. NOT something you want to do 2 ft in the air!

Hi Richard, why not move the lift more in the direction the rear of the car? The pinch welds are not jacking points, they are to weak in my opinion, are the connectors able to move inboard to reach the standard jacking points?

Chris, yes, the strength of the pinch weld was/is a concern. For now it's not a problem but the engine and trans are not in the car. I estimated that the force on the rear welds as is now is only about 600 lbs each side. The force is distributed over the 3" diameter of the hockey puck, so 200 lbs/in. The front welds have about 1/2 that load as their distance from the CG is about double that of the rear (so a 1/3 to 2/3 weight split).

With the full ~3000 lb weight this would increase by about 30%. This is probably not a problem, but who knows. Also, the weight on the rear could be reduced by shifting more of it to the front. The pickup points on the lift slide to where you want them and could be adjusted to be 50/50 which would mean ~750 lbs on each corner. I'm guessing this would be just fine.

To answer you question "are the connectors able to move inboard to reach the standard jacking points" the answer is yes, sort of. My original plan was to run a steel channel cross bar between the two lifts and pickup the motor mounts as a lift point. The "factory" rear lift points could also be used. With the 64" spacer bar I decided to go with, some kind of cross bar would also be required as their separation is about 6" less than the 50" minimum spec for the 64" bar.

Here is a graphic of the Pantera jack points I drew up to make my decision. As you can see, my wife's Lexus was also part of the decision. Also to know, the Spacer Bars are not that expensive ($110) so you can get one for each of your cars if needed.

Looks like you are headed in the right direction, the engine motor mounts and the angled front jacking point would be ideal.

quote:

Originally posted by pantera chris:
Looks like you are headed in the right direction, the engine motor mounts and the angled front jacking point would be ideal.

The length of the lift is 60" so you can't pick up both the front and motor mount jack points as the lifting point on the lift need to be a few inched from the ends. However the structure around the engine mount and behind the front points are quite stout, so should work just fine.

Also, the lift can be used going across the car. The 64" spacer puts the outer edges of the lift about 66" apart, so that should work. You would loose some access to the under part of the car.

Need a last minute Xmas present to yourself? I was just checking the EZ Car Lift site and they are having a $500 off Christmas special, $1,845.00 including free shipping and handling.
http://ezcarlift.com

I came across a great YouTube video posted by a car guy who bought one of these lifts.

It provided me a LOT more information, and photos, than the seller's website and allowed me to fully understand the design, construction, assembly and use of the lift.

Highly recommended viewing the video if you are considering a purchase.

Which I am likely to do later today....

Larry

http://tr6.danielsonfamily.org/EZLift.htm


This is one of the youtube photos, showing how the two ramp gear boxes are connected.

Picked up my lift Friday direct from the designer/builder/seller Boytcho Manev in Goleta, CA. Very nice guy, showed me and buddy around, explained his operation and even opened one of the gear drives for our viewing pleasure. Even though I picked it up in person, he wrapped all the pieces as if for shipping and his packing is excellent. You should have no worries about secure shipping if you order one.

He has sub-contractors supply the components and he assembles them in Goleta.

Now if I just had my Pantera to put on it.........

Larry

Here is the gear drive, note Torrington bearing, custom worm gear and brass gear under Torrington.

Larry