Carpokes

My own "custom installed" MaxJax installation. I simply did not trust the concrete floor thickness in my residential garage. I am glad I didn't.

Since I am a Porsche owner with "practical skills" I decided to go over-board for a safe installation of my lift since I will be the one under my car. And as the old saying goes, if you want the job done right, do it yourself, providing of course you know what you are doing.

Well that lift is now over 10 years old and I even had one member on the Garage Journal tell me it will fail because he is in the concrete buisness. I simply asked him "in that case, do you know where Jmmy Hoffa is". LOL

https://www.smugmug.com/gallery/n-fzNBsT

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ztw8gyuqlwg

911-Purist wrote: Tue Aug 13, 2024 7:20 am My own "custom installed" MaxJax installation. I simply did not trust the concrete floor thickness in my residential garage. I am glad I didn't.

Since I am a Porsche owner with "practical skills" I decided to go over-board for a safe installation of my lift since I will be the one under my car. And as the old saying goes, if you want the job done right, do it yourself, providing of course you know what you are doing.

Well that lift is now over 10 years old and I even had one member on the Garage Journal tell me it will fail because he is in the concrete buisness. I simply asked him "in that case, do you know where Jmmy Hoffa is". LOL

https://www.smugmug.com/gallery/n-fzNBsT

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ztw8gyuqlwg

Looks great and also appears to be very secure to my untrained eye. What's the weight limit in your estimation?

blueline wrote: Tue Aug 13, 2024 7:47 amLooks great and also appears to be very secure to my untrained eye. What's the weight limit in your estimation?

Whatever the MaxJax is limited to. Far more that any vehicle that I own.

From the linked:

“… a capacity of 6000 pounds …”

I have a MaxJax and it's in its second home right now. The first one had 5" 4500PSI concrete with two layers of mat, no issues. The current install is over 6" of 4500PSI concrete with two layers of mat, no issues.

I checked the load calcs that MaxJax offered when I bought it, and they were actually pretty conservative. I modeled the load up to 4500 lbs on each column with arms fully extended at 45 and 90 degrees, in the 3.5" minimum (a 2x4 form) of 3000 PSI concrete. No worries there with anything under the 6000lb rated lift capacity.

Worries happen when you have poor existing concrete, when there's no sense in risking your life under the car. If you can't identify the concrete thickness, of there's a chance that there's spalling from rusting rebar or mesh, or when there's any visible cracking, even surface checking that might indicate a poor mix or pour conditions. That said, I haven't noted any reported failures in GJ or on Porsche forums. I read about leaks and cylinder issues, and how folks install semi-permanent lines up and over doors and the ceiling with no way to bleed air bubbles out, stuff like that.

On mine --
-- Original hydraulic couplings were mediocre at best.
-- I added a similar plastic pad under the cylinder in the column. Mine was a poly cutting board that got a recess via a forstner bit to manage the cylinder centered and add about a quarter-inch of floor clearance under the swinging arms. Helped when I had a painted floor more than with the tiles. Added some felt furniture feet under the weld arm seams too, also to protect the painted floor in the last workbay.
-- That mess of fittings at the base of the cylinders is replaced with a single straight male-by-female fitting and a short (~4') hose pigtail to a hydraulic coupling. The pigtails stays with the column for storage, so less need to manage hoses on the floor between uses. I get to pull the hose to one side to place and remove that rear center bolt, otherwise no issues.
-- The arms hang on siamesed rope hooks (Home Depot...) at the little crossbar between uses. Pins and pads come out and go to a bin with pads, blocks, more pins, etc. between uses. Sorta neat and tidy while stored.
-- Over each column in the ceiling on each side are a 125V twist-lock outlet and a compressed-air connection with a ball valve. The outlet has a dangling duplex station with a magnet glued to the back, so it sticks to the back of the lift column when needed. I thought hard about putting a full air console on the columns too, but settled for a hose pigtail when I need it. I have air in the walls, and it turns out those are plenty for the normal duty.
-- The pump is wall mounted next to the garage door opening. 1x wood base on a stud plus serious wall anchors, motor/pump/divider base fits over that and gets a few screws to hold it on. There's a dedicated-circuit outlet there so no cords stretching around. Hoses are routed through 2" plastic conduit but are exposed on the floor but behind cabinets. The hose over the door pulls out easily for bleeding on the floor.
-- The original hydraulic connectors are sort of repurposed to allow one hose use bypassing the gear flow divider. That way I can use just one lift column for serious stuff like lifting pieces onto work-stands or -tables. Like engines or gearboxes. Works for servicing the neighbor's lawn tractor too.

-- I have eight anchors placed for each column. This allows me to move one or both columns a little closer together for cars that have a narrower lifting location. K's 4Runner with a real frame is one. From back to front the anchors are three-three-two spaced for the holes in the base. I did a CAD pattern for them and hired a perfessiunall contractor to diamond drill the holes this time. Much more precise than the SDS hammer-drilling I did myself last time, and essential to get through the porcelain tile anyway.
-- The porcelain tiles have 1" holes, then step to 7/8" cores in the concrete for the anchors. The anchors are set an extra inch deep to spread the load 'cones'. I found some nice longer grade-8 bolts and washers at the local industrial hardware store. A spritz of WD40 on the bolts helps with wear in the anchor. I torque them to 50 lbs/ft, no power tools, plenty to keep the base on the floor.
-- 1" Plastic chassis plugs protect the holes when the columns are out of the way. Box of 50 from Jeff Bezos' garage does the duty. They do OK at keeping dirt/dust out but are not even close to watertight. For the serious floor cleaning a few times a year, a patch of Gorilla Tape over the plastic caps helps a lot.
-- Find a roller-stool or chair that's the right height for you to move around under the car with a cap on. The cap will protect the car and those lift arms from your head, and the overhead reach will be just right for actual undercar work. I have a rather ancient Vintage Lisle Creep Seat that has a 12" seat height. Perfect for my now ~~70" height while sitting on it. Plenty of options out there, remembering that the installed use height will be critical.

I'll try and remember to snap some pics next time I use the lift. And for those playing along at home, my only regret was not getting it sooner. I still store the 928 off season on extra tall stands, with a reminder of how much more nimble I was when younger and doing all that to work or even just inspect under the car.

For those with Maxjax with wall mounted and extended hoses I have a question. The reserve tank is just a little bit shy for volume of liquid I need. After long time of not using it the fluid leaks from the reservoir. I need a larger reservoir I think...

Mike

Maruscmn wrote: Tue Aug 13, 2024 5:13 pmFor those with Maxjax with wall mounted and extended hoses I have a question. The reserve tank is just a little bit shy for volume of liquid I need.

The increased length of your non-standard length hoses store the excess hydraulic fluid. The reservoir (I am assuming it is the factory unit) only needs to fill the cylinders.

Maruscmn wrote: Tue Aug 13, 2024 5:13 pmAfter long time of not using it the fluid leaks from the reservoir.

Leaks from where? Is there a hole or a split in the reservoir?

It appears to be the fill hole. Maybe I have to mount it with a shim..

Maruscmn wrote: Tue Aug 13, 2024 5:45 pmIt appears to be the fill hole.

I can't remember how large that reservoir is in quarts or liters, but maybe you over filled it. Mine is bone dry using the hoses as supplied.

The fluid in the reservoir simply needs to fill the two cylinders no matter how long the hoses are. Or maybe I am missing something.

I can't speak to the Max Jack per se, but that tank and associated hydraulics look they came off the same parts shelf as my BendPak 4-post lift. Yours is a little smaller, but otherwise pretty much the same. My tank was constantly seeping out the filler port just like that. After a couple years of that, I eventually started taking out very small amounts with a turkey baster until it stopped seeping. I did it over the course of a few months, maybe 1 tablespoon at a time...until the seeping stopped. The lift seems as good as ever with the slightly lower fill level. The official fill amount just seeps like that, at least on my lift.