Lifting a Vehicle over a Pit

[RetroPug]

Any of these any good?

Nice idea, but step 1 would not work without the plate I have ordered as it requires the hack under the car which is where the pit is.

[Danny Wideboy]

   

One of these?

[Dum-Dum]

Just had a brain wave.
I saw in PPC mag about a year ago a bloke who had a really tall single garage and 2 cars. He made an arch out of the same stuff that industrial pallet racking is made of and put wheels on it. He was able to lift and support 1 car by jacking the front up a notch then doing the rear, then front again etc etc untill it was high enough to stand underneath and work on and/or get the other car underneath. He could wheel the whole thing in and out of his garage.

Can't find any pictures of it sadly, maybe one of the other PPC readers can.

[Matt-Rallye]

I know this might be something thats been covered already..

But what about a set of vehicle ramps anchor bolted into the floor? just drive in, up and you should have enough room to access the pit underneath and it would remove the need for any jacking? If wheels need removing you could jack from the sill, support under hubs then place axle stand under the sill? make the ramps easily removable so you have plenty of work space / access.

[RetroPug]

I know this might be something thats been covered already..

But what about a set of vehicle ramps anchor bolted into the floor? just drive in, up and you should have enough room to access the pit underneath and it would remove the need for any jacking? If wheels need removing you could jack from the sill, support under hubs then place axle stand under the sill? make the ramps easily removable so you have plenty of work space / access.

Pretty good idea, and that would probably work. I have gone for a plate that is large enough to be under the subframe or the beam and will allow me to jack as normal and then axle stands on the sills.

[tigerstyle]

problem is water is most dense at 4degrees.,  so you would need to fill the water in at 4degrees to get maximum capacity.. even then it wont expand a Huge amount,

even then you are only looking at about an 8-9% increase in volume given the amount..  that's not much

I know this is only shitposting so it doesn't matter, but the above makes no sense. 

It doesn't matter what temperature  water you fill the pit with (assuming it is >4°C) as the freezing elements will bring it from whatever temperature down past 4°C to freezing. You can't decide what temperature water you want to freeze? It freezes as zero. As long as you fill the pit then it is  full. 

You only need to fill at 4°C to get maximum density not capacity, a 1000 litre pit is always a 1000 litres. And once frozen is irrelevant to the strength, as you can't control the density of the ice.

[toseland]

I'll clarify tiger..


Filling the pit to capacity at 4degC will yield the largest increase in volume when frozen hence the highest lift

[tigerstyle]

It won't, as the water freezes at zero not 4°C
It will overflow at 3°C then 2°C then 1°C losing that additional water.

Your method only works when say filling a 100ml container with 50ml of water allowing for expansion/contraction of the fluid.

[toseland]

ahh i didnt think of that, lol,

i forgot to mention that there was a forcefield generator holding the water in place.

[Poodle]

All irrelevant anyway considering Chris only proposed using the ice as a solid platform to jack on, not as a device for lifting the car by itself. You of all people should know to read the question properly Toseland lol.

[tigerstyle]

I'll repeat my earlier comment, get rid of the pit.
If it is not big enough and some DIY effort, then it's not big enough and some DIY effort - safety concerns there.

Flat smooth concrete for jacking and lifting gets my vote!

[Danny Wideboy]

I'll clarify tiger..


Filling the pit to capacity at 4degC will yield the largest increase in volume when frozen hence the highest lift

Bit of a habit recently eh? 
Never mind, i'm sure the kids you teach believe everything you say.

[RetroPug]

I'll repeat my earlier comment, get rid of the pit.
If it is not big enough and some DIY effort, then it's not big enough and some DIY effort - safety concerns there.

Flat smooth concrete for jacking and lifting gets my vote!

It is big enough when the car is slightly out of the garage.

This means that for easy jobs that require no jacking I will park it 50% over and have plenty of room for an oil change for example, and an escape route.

For jobs on each corner that require jacking and wheel removal I wouldn't be down in the pit, but the car would be parked over it as that is where there is space. All I was looking for was a safe, easy method of jacking.