Car Lifts

What are Car Lifts?

Car lifts or vehicle lifts are an essential piece of garage equipment used to assist in the inspection, repair and maintenance of vehicles which would otherwise be awkward or even impossible. Gaining access to the underbody of any vehicle used to involve going down an inspection pit, we can now use a wide range of different lifts to raise the vehicle to a safe working height with ease. To choose the correct model of lift for you there are several things to consider – type of vehicle to be lifted, type of work to be carried out, safe working load, workshop space etc.

How Car Lifts Work

All vehicle lifts work off similar principles the vast majority are either electro-mechanical or electro-hydraulic, the exception that proves the rule are pneumatically operated lifts but there aren’t many of these on the market.

Another major difference between how different car lifts work, is whether they are wheel free or not. Some lifts will use the jacking points of the vehicle to raise it (2 post, and some scissors), the wheels then hang freely. 4 post lifts however raise the vehicle on long platforms from the wheels, the type of work to be carried out will determine whether the wheels need to be free or not.

Car Lift FAQ

Are car lifts dangerous?

This is a bit of an open ended question…

Car lifts can be dangerous if they are not maintained properly, you are lifting several tons into the air and then standing underneath it!

Always make sure any lift you purchase is CE approved or even UKCA approved now we have left Europe. Even so there are a few inferior products getting through into the market place which do not have functioning arm locks for example. You generally get what you pay for, so I’d steer clear of any lift that seems too cheap.

Also I would recommend getting your lift installed by a GEA approved engineer. The installation can be more dangerous than the equipment itself. Any lift you buy from Automotive Tools will come delivered and installed by our GEA accredited engineers.

Do car lifts fail?

We’ve all seen videos of vehicles falling from lifts, this is generally due to poor maintenance or working practises. If you buy a good quality piece of kit and have it serviced regularly you shouldn’t have any major problems. And if anything does come up on the service, you will find out about it before it becomes dangerous.

Can a car lift be installed outside?

A lift can be installed anywhere there is a suitable base to anchor it down correctly. The only issue with putting it outside is our great British weather. If rain water gets into the power supply, you are going to have a problem. Further down the line, the steel structure of the lift may start to rust if it is out in the weather. OMCN can hot galvanise any of their lifts, to stop this problem occurring. This option is often chosen for a lift that will be used in a wash bay.

Why use car lift?

You may be thinking why would I go to the expense of buying a lift when I can use a jack and axle stands?

Well, yes, you may be able to for working on your brakes or even dropping the oil. But trying to remove any bigger components like a gearbox lying under the car on your back would be awkward at best!

Making jobs easier and therefore saving time is a major plus point to having a lift. If you can raise the vehicle to a good working height you can also save your back and your knees a lot of aches and pains!

Even if you are only working on the brakes, if you use a lift you can have all 4 wheels free in a matter of seconds. Instead of jacking up each corner and placing a stand underneath, or worse not using a stand and relying solely on the jack.