Car Lift
How many times have you wished you had a car lift just to change your oil? Well I finally figured out that I was getting to old to be laying on the ground, cold cement or in the dirt to be working under a car.
While I was on summer vacation (2010) I decided that I was going to buy a car lift. Looking online I found any number of companies seller basically the same lift, just painted different colors. I ended up getting mine from American Automotive Equipment. They were having a sale on their lifts and I selected the SS-8000 XLT 8,000 lb 4 post lift. This one is a little longer, 180" wheel base, and rises to 82". It came with a wheel kit, jack tray, 3 drip trays and ramps.
Shipping can be an issue, as your looking at 1,700 lbs. Lucky for me the
warehouse for American Automotive Equipment is in Cleburne, TX, which is about
85 miles away from my shop. Also, the headquarters is in New York State so no
Texas sales tax. You will need a forklift or a tractor with a loader to get it
off the truck. In my case it was shipped FedEx Express Freight. Here is the how
it is delivered.
Note - I removed the cardboard boxes that
contained all the miscellaneous parts, including the hydraulic pump and
reservoir that were strapped to the shipment before I took this photo.
Unpacked Parts
You will need a good set of 3/8" and/or 1/2" sockets/wrenches to assemble this baby. There are a couple of nuts that I used a socket from my 3/4" set. You will also need 3 gallons of ISO 32 jack oil. Lastly, you will also need at least a 2nd set of hands. I had my 2 son-in-laws help and we assembled it in about 3 hours.
There are a few gotcha's:
- The instructions SUCK.
- You will need room at the end of 1 ramp to insert a 6' portion of a 14' relay rod that releases the saftey latches when you lower it.
We finished the install, added the pump, hydraulic hoses and release rods so we could make the final adjustments. I installed the wheel kit and turned it around for a test run.
First Time Use
Sorry but I didn't drive the SS to the shop that day. I will update this section with the SS on the lift as I have lots of projects, like headers and exhaust system to do and that will need the lift to complete.
