Hi All
Attempting to put my new elan on my hydraulic lift. Proposing to use 4 of these thick rubber pads, one on each corner between the sills and the lift. Good idea?
Tim
I regularly lift my Elan at the ends of the sills with my 2 post lift, I absolutely wouldn’t have a problem with doing as you suggest with your scissor lift.
Here’s an elan on a similar lift to mine,
What driveshafts do you have rotoflexes or CV and if CV what ones
Alan
Rotoflex
Ok then it’s better if you can lift under the rear wheels and pads under the Sills just behind the front wheels.
Imho
Alan
comment, I have the same lift/hoist as you. I installed the pump on the wall, and added a longer section (with connection) of hose which goes up on through the ceiling.
No hoses in the way, noting to worry about.
If you want photos, will post if requested.
P.S. rotoflex are at maximum torsion when you jack up the car, so if they are old or suspect. careful.
I have considered many different types of lift options for my +2 over many years now but in the end have never purchased one due to my concerns of them all leaving the Rotoflex donuts hanging.
Leaving Rotoflex donuts hanging even for a short time I consider very unwise.
The safest solution for any car with Rotoflexes has to be a 4post lift which unfortunately most of us don’t have room in our garages for.
Perhaps some other means of lifting the car under the rear wheels to relieve the excessive strain put on the hanging rubber Rotoflex joints is a possibility?
Alan.
Neat solution Alan. Would you mind measuring the length of the blue section of platform on your lift please, and the total length with the yellow extensions in place too?
Many thanks,
Will
Hi Alan,
Well done, looks like you have made your model of scissor lift work in lifting on the wheels on your Elan Sprint but I wonder if this would work on a +2 which is longer in the wheelbase.
Tim, the OP, has posted under the +2 section of the forum so I assume it is a +2 he is referring to?
Alan.
Yes it’s a plus 2. It’s too long to use the same solution but I could lift the car on the sills only and then lower it onto some platforms for the rear wheels to take the strain off the rotoflexes.
Tim
Yes that plan might work from the rotoflex point of view.
On a +2 though my preference would be to utilised the jacking points for lifting. Maybe fabricate some pins with big bases to go into the jacking points and sit on the scissor lift?
Alan.
Hi Will,
The blue section is 156 cms and the total length is 214 cms.
Max lift is 1.2 mtrs.
The yellow sections can be locked horizontal or left to droop.
For a +2 Elan maybe a little short but you could make the yellow sections longer easily.
I have put planks between the cross tubes between Ramps so have a flat surface for a Skateboard.
Alan
That is essentially how I did it. I used a couple of 2 x 8 boards to extend the lift platform. Carriage bolts (trimmed to length) engage the four jacking points on the Plus 2 rocker rails. One Nyloc and one extended length connector nut pad out the carriage bolt so that the relatively delicate fibreglass rocker flange does not contact the 2 x 8. The boards act to stabilize the bolts and keep them vertical; really important as otherwise the bolts will tip and potentially damage the body.
The boards are a bit of a pain to position. The carriage bolts need to be trimmed to length to fit into the jacking holes while the car is on the ground; to be fair the front of my car is a tad low. My lift (Quick-Jack) has a kind of trough on the platform; the bottom side of the boards have plywood cleats each end that accurately position the boards and hold the whole affair in position when lifting. The car is very stable in the air.
For leaving the car up for extended periods I have several sets of cleated blocks so the car can be placed on four wheels. The blocks are made up with standard dimensional lumber.
Edit for a very important caution. Do not assume the Plus 2 jacking points are strong enough on an unrestored or uninspected car. The steel rocker rails are often rusted to dust. New rocker rails are readily available and generally replaced during a frame off restoration. The rocker integrity can be easily inspected by removing the sheet steel inspection hatches in the wheel wells. If your rails are shot use a different jacking method to replace the rails.
HTH
Those are cool. Unfortunately the Elan rim size may be too small?
I find with the back wheels on the Ramps i can use a Jack to lift under Chapman and remove a Wheel easily.
I also have TVR 3000M and TVR 3000S. The Lift is perfect for these also.
Alan
i have looked many times at the possibility of buying one of the many variants/lengths/sizes of platform Scissor lifts for use with my +2S130 but to date I have come to the conclusion that whilst they many work fine for the baby Elan none of the variants work easily without a lot of hassle for the +2.
The measurements don’t work out for the +2 without a lot a creative hassle being involved which would make their day to day use I think a real pain!
I would dearly love to buy one and have nearly pressed the button on buying one many times but I cannot get over the fact that using one would create for me in my 18ft square small garage far more hassle and time than the simple 4 old style car ramps that cost me £30 secondhand I presently use.
Having said that the Quickjack like Stu has appeals the most because possibly the measurements of the Quickjack might possibly work the easiest for the +2. However, the radial movement of the lift is the issue with this one for my circumstances.
Alan.
I also have the quick jack bl5000 which works well for the plus two, with added wood spreaders. Also mod’d it with roller balls so it can be slid around the floor when flat.
It’s a lot easier to use in a double/wide garage. I have used it in my current 7.5ft wide garage. Wasn’t quite as bad as expected but still not great as bit tricky to put it down the side of the car and then slide it under. A drive over ramp works be better in narrow spaces imo.
Alan,
Have you considered the EZcarlift? I’ve been using one on my Plus 2 for over a year and find it very useful. When I’m not using it I simply roll it under my Miata because they sit side by side. Of course this assumes you have a two car garage otherwise you’d have to hang it from the wall.
With the ramp extenders you can fit the rubber pads on the ramps directly under the jacking points with a third rubber pad situated between them. As Stu mentions in his post, make sure your sills are sound if you plan on supporting the car on them.
Lee