24-02-2021, 09:53 AM
I am about to move house to a new place with what is basically my ideal garage. Large (100 sqm) with a high roof. My brother in law happens to work for a company that sells garage equipment. You might see where this is going....
It turns out 2 post hoists are reasonably affordable (especially when you get a staff discount) but talking to someone knowledgeable about such things they said vintage cars don't do well on 2 post type hoists.
One thing was they can be tricky to lift and balance as they have a chassis not a uni-body and you have to lift that. I don't imagine that's too bad if you're careful?
Also that older cars aren't designed to be lifted by their chassis and have the suspension and wheels hanging unsupported. I don't think that's much issue at home. I am pretty sure on my Riley 9 with an under slung rear if you lift the chassis up the rear axle ends up resting on the chassis rail.
But he also mentioned that can cause issues with WOFs (NZ version of the UK MOT we have to have done every 6 months) where they lift an older car on a 2 post and then complain there is wear in suspension components when they are looking and testing them in a position they are never supposed to operate in. Apparently that's not an issue on modern cars. I know some testing stations are clueless about older cars anyway and think ANY end float in anything is bad since all they know is modern cars.
Has anyone come across this or know anything about it?
A 4 post hoist is an option too of course (but more expensive). As long as they are narrow enough for an Austin 7 and Riley 9 to fit on!
I think the other thing with a 4 post is you could safely store a car on one and park another underneath. In shaky old NZ (especially near Wellington) I wouldn't think it safe to have a car supported by a 2 post only in case of earthquakes.
Maybe any sort of hoist is just an extravagance and the money better spent on other things?
Simon
It turns out 2 post hoists are reasonably affordable (especially when you get a staff discount) but talking to someone knowledgeable about such things they said vintage cars don't do well on 2 post type hoists.
One thing was they can be tricky to lift and balance as they have a chassis not a uni-body and you have to lift that. I don't imagine that's too bad if you're careful?
Also that older cars aren't designed to be lifted by their chassis and have the suspension and wheels hanging unsupported. I don't think that's much issue at home. I am pretty sure on my Riley 9 with an under slung rear if you lift the chassis up the rear axle ends up resting on the chassis rail.
But he also mentioned that can cause issues with WOFs (NZ version of the UK MOT we have to have done every 6 months) where they lift an older car on a 2 post and then complain there is wear in suspension components when they are looking and testing them in a position they are never supposed to operate in. Apparently that's not an issue on modern cars. I know some testing stations are clueless about older cars anyway and think ANY end float in anything is bad since all they know is modern cars.
Has anyone come across this or know anything about it?
A 4 post hoist is an option too of course (but more expensive). As long as they are narrow enough for an Austin 7 and Riley 9 to fit on!
I think the other thing with a 4 post is you could safely store a car on one and park another underneath. In shaky old NZ (especially near Wellington) I wouldn't think it safe to have a car supported by a 2 post only in case of earthquakes.
Maybe any sort of hoist is just an extravagance and the money better spent on other things?
Simon