cal1

Now that my wonderful Chrysler extended warranty is finally expired, I plan to start doing a fair bit of work on my SL myself. I used to have some nice jack stands and a floor jack, but the wife made me part with them a few moves back. Storage room in the garage is limited so I have been looking at these.



They are 12,000 GVW.

I'm curious if anyone has experience with these.

Benz-O-Rama

Cal, if you're lowered and/or have a front lip, you'll never be able to drive up on those. You can jack the car up and place them under the wheels, but at that point, might as well just have stands. There are some Low-pro race ramps available, but I think they're a bit pricey, last I checked.

okbarnett

you need to buy 2 floor jacks, and you can jack the whole front or rear of the car. the ramps are dangerous and you cant do any real mechanical work with them

cal1

Thanks Benz-O. I am lowered with ELM, but no lip. I always figured I would tell the wife to be very careful of the lip and then I would be the dumb **** that would tear it up.The potential embarrassment has stopped me from buying one. I was thinking I could turn off the ELM and raise to max height, but doesn't sound like a good way to go.

How about one floor jack plus jack stands. I am assuming there is a lift point where a single floor jack can raise the whole front like the front cross member so I can then place jack stands on either side at the hockey puck like lift points. Can anyone confirm?

Quadcammer

single lift block in the front, rear diff in the back.

Ramps are safer than jackstands, but if you are careful with either, you should be fine. I prefer ramps if I don't need the car up very high.

If you are lowered, you will need a long long profile jack, so its no picnic either way.

I use both, which is ideal (save for a lift)

amok55amg

So you decided to keep it? Good choice my friend

My way to go ..... home made .... height adjustable ...... for every day maybe don't look prof. but do the job just fine )) good feeling when laying under the car ......

Next pic. for larger work underneath ......

nycphotography

Unless all you ever intend to do are oil changes, ramps are (near) useless.

Can't do brakes! Can't do axles or even pull a wheel for access from the side.

Really they are just useless.

1 or 2 jacks and 2 or 4 stands. no real debate IMO.

mcguirja

Not sure how much you would be prepared to spend, but I've been looking for a lift for my garage and came across these. I wouldn't have known this type existed if I hadn't been searching for a full size lift.

http://www.gregsmithequipment.com/At...e-Scissor-Lift

This is just one option, there are plenty more at various price points if you look around. I've seen some that are quite compact, but also heavy duty/safe at the same time. I'm building a garage to accommodate a full size lift, but if I was space limited I would definitely go for something like this over ramps or multiple jacks.

James

cal1

thanks for the input. I need to get my tubby **** under the car just enough to see how long the low profile jack will need to be. I always liked the extra safety of having the car up on jack stands plus leaving the floor jack in place for that added safety.

Nice set up Klaus. You are a creative guy. I don't have a welder laying around, but I could have my guys at the shop in Indianapolis build me a set, and then run them through the powder coat line so they look pretty.

Regarding keeping the car, the wifey says I am as predicable as hell. I talk about selling the SL every winter when I can't drive it and call it a POS just waiting to break something new. Then, the first time I drive it when the weather turns I tell wifey I am keeping the SL forever.

I don't plan on pulling the engine or major overhauls, but do hope to handle most of the repairs that will be needed. I suspect I will be sending lots of emails to Klaus (amok55amg) and posting questions on the boards. The last car I did any serious work on was my 65 El Camino. Not much under the hood but an engine. None of this newfangled crap like in the SL.

Thanks James. That lift looks like a nice set up. Something to consider for the future. My wife is convinced i will go back to doing my own work on the cars for a while and then get tired of it and take them to an independent shop. She might be right. We shall see. If I stick with it, I will definitely look into the lift.

okbarnett

if you watch sears or napa or harbor freight or other auto parts stores you can find a 3 ton floor jacks and 2 jack stands for about $100, I bought 2 of them

cal1

So you just use two standard floor jacks and lift from both sides instead of using a long low profile, expensive floor jack to lift the center front or back end? Makes sense.

okbarnett

yes i put one on one side at rubber lift and one on other side. Heres the drill:

cal1

Great idea, thanks. I like the idea of placing the block in the lift for added safety.

Quadcammer

fwiw, the atlas scissor lift has not even a prayer of lifting my s500. Its not long or wide enough.