DIY garage lift

Recommendation points

• Materials of manufacture and processing methods
• Purchased parts and additional features
• Assembling the base frame
• Traverse manufacturing
• Build, fit and bells and whistles
• Operating instructions and TB

A wide range of plumbing operations is not available to motorists in a conventional garage due to the lack of special equipment. But you can expand the range of your capabilities with the help of a traverse hoist designed for convenient DIY work with the chassis and power unit.

Materials of manufacture and processing methods

The vast majority of parts of a car lift can and should be made of rolled metal. This is convenient, because such materials are available at every metal warehouse, they can be purchased exactly the required amount, and most importantly, some elements can be replaced with other types of rolled products while maintaining an equivalent cross section.

Some parts have primary use requirements, so some items will have to be purchased. First of all, a profile pipe of two standard sizes, the thickness of the smaller one should, with a millimeter tolerance in minus, equal the internal dimensions of the larger one, for example, 40x40x5 and 50x50x4 mm. On average, no more than two meters of each type of pipe will be required.

It is advisable to make the rest of the parts from a more massive assortment: channel, T-bar or angle steel. The base of the frame can be assembled from a 14U or 16U channel by connecting two sections in parallel. Channels can be replaced by straight-piece welded pieces of angle steel with a reinforcing plate.

At the bottom of the frame, the choice of materials is completely free. In total, about 6 meters of 63×4 mm angle steel is taken here, but it can be replaced with almost any materials of the same section. Additionally, you will need several pieces of hot-rolled steel pipe, round timber of 40X steel or the like, as well as sheet steel for the manufacture of scarves.

Purchased parts and additional features

In addition to the profile pipe, you will have to spend money on some parts of the elevator mechanism. First of all, it is a hydraulic jack with a lifting weight of 4–5 tons. There is no need to chase the ultimate effort, a much more important indicator is the length of the stem overhang. If the lift is assembled for a workshop, it is recommended to use one or two synchronized racks connected to a manual or electric hydraulic station instead of a jack..

The lift is designed for use in inspection pits with a frame that can be used as guides. In the process of working with a car, it may be necessary to move the lift, choosing a different support point. Therefore, the optimal design will be a crane-beam type, it allows you to move the hoist even with the machine. Roller rollers are required for free movement. Here you can go in different ways: install roller bearings, timing belt tensioners, finished bearing assemblies. In any case, an important requirement is that the bearing has plastic cage covers and is used in dry mode..

It is also best to first talk with someone who can do basic turning work. You will need threading, finger grooving, as well as a little heat treatment. By investing up to 2 thousand rubles in the manufacture of these parts, you can significantly increase the reliability, safety and ease of use..

Advice:before starting the manufacture of the lift, make sure that the frame is intact. Seal the gaps with cement mortar, if the guides are not parallel, align them and provide additional anchoring.

Assembling the base frame

As already mentioned, the base is assembled from two channels or pairs of angle steel that imitate them. Note again that when welding the edges of the fillet steel, the seam must be reinforced with a pad underneath the steel strip. The length of the channels must ensure their support on the shelves of the guides at least 20 mm on each side at the widest point of the pit.

The channels must be folded in parallel and marked their touching edges. Additional work is performed on them: pockets 50 mm wide and 25 mm deep are cut out with an indent of 10 cm from the edge. Another pocket is cut clearly in the center, its dimensions are selected individually according to the outer size of the pusher sleeve.

Before connecting the two parts of the site, you need to try on pipe segments 50x50x4 mm 20-25 cm long into the extreme holes and adjust if necessary. If all the embeds are placed and the edges are prepared for welding, the join can be made. First, the channels are connected with tacks: at the edges on both sides, as well as at several points in the center. It is recommended to first weld the flange edges and then weld on the flat side. After welding, the part is checked for flatness preservation and straightened if necessary with a sledgehammer.

In the formed windows, you need to insert and fix by welding square glasses under the traverse posts and the centering sleeve. All elements must be flush with the plane of the upper platform. It is not necessary to completely weld the mortgages right away, they must be able to move along both horizontal axes for adjustment with guides and a pusher.

In the lower part, under the platform, there is a pushing mechanism frame made in the form of a parallelepiped 80–100 cm long. The vertical parts must be welded from the inside to the outer edges of the platform, maintaining parallelism. The lower ties between the verticals, located across the long side of the pit, connect the racks to form two U-shaped frames. The lower edges of these frames are interconnected by two equally massive parallel inserts. They must be positioned so that the resulting horizontal shelves allow a free and safe installation of the jack. In the resulting structure, the following places are reinforced with kerchiefs:

• fastening racks to the site;
• connection of racks with lower inserts, gussets are installed outside along all edges;
• places of insertion of glasses and bushings. Here the kerchiefs are welded to the platform, but not to the mortise elements..

It’s time to put the base on the rollers. Of all the varieties, we recommend sealed roller bearings. Under them, pins with necks at the ends need to be carved from 40X steel: the diameter for the bearing fit with a tension of 0.01 mm. Retaining ring grooves will be unnecessary. The necks should initially be grooved with a tolerance of 0.1 mm, in the wide part with an indent of 10 mm from the edge and neck, two radial holes 4 mm with countersink should be drilled, preferably in a vice and in one installation. Then the parts need to be hardened to a hardness of 40-42 HRC and finish grooving of the necks.

The rollers are attached to the frame by means of raw pipe sections welded horizontally on the outer sides of the platform. The length of the tubes should be 5 mm less than the distance between the holes in the fingers. The installation height must be selected in such a way that on the rollers the lower edges of the platform edges recede from the guides by 5–7 mm. The bearings are hot pressed onto the rolls, then the axle shafts with rollers are inserted into the tubes and pinned.

Traverse manufacturing

The traverse is easier to make, it consists of a central beam and two retractable arms. The beam is made from a pipe 50x50x4 mm, the length should correspond to the width of the pit. A hole must be drilled exactly in the center, the diameter of which is 2 mm greater than the thickness of the guide sleeve. Thus, the same bushing is welded into the traverse as in the platform, but with a blind hole. The hole depth should be half the total length of the glass, which, in turn, should be 30–40 mm greater than the beam thickness, that is, up to 100 mm in our case. Fastening is made temporary, with two points on the upper side.

Inside the beam, on each side, pipe sections 40x40x5 mm are inserted, the length of each should be half the central part of the traverse. The outer edges of the wings are muffled, then bushings with an internal thread of 14×1.5 mm are welded to them vertically. Bushings are designed for screwing in height-adjustable stops.

In the glasses of the platform, you need to insert the guide pipe sections 40x40x5 mm. Their length can be arbitrary, but usually 80–100 cm is sufficient. The guides are wedged in glasses with a uniform gap on all sides, using paper folded several times, and then positioned at the same height. From above, a traverse beam is superimposed and seized by welding. After that, you need to check the freedom of movement of the traverse vertically, along the way performing fastening by welding. So that during the execution of the main seam the guides do not twist, it is recommended to tie their lower edges with two pieces of reinforcement located crosswise on a diagonal. The fastening of the guides to the beam must be reinforced with small gussets. At the point of abutment to the guides, the kerchiefs should have a height of no more than 40 mm and rectangular sills 20–25 mm long, acting as a back stop. Thus, the total height of the traverse above the floor is no more than 100 mm..

Build, fit and bells and whistles

The traverse must move freely in the guides along the entire travel height. If necessary, you can mark the grinding points, then remove the excess metal with a grinder, or turn the guides or glasses in the right direction. With a periodic check of the smoothness of the movement, the glasses are attached to the platform at all points of contact. After fastening, the guides are lubricated with grease.

Further work is carried out on the pusher bar. It is better to make it from a round rod about 33–35 mm thick. The rod is inserted into the centering sleeve and the thrust cup, while the gap of the sleeve should not be less than 2 mm for easy alignment. After installing the bar in the lift, you first need to weld the glass: put a double seam on both contacting surfaces. Next, a sleeve is welded into the platform. Its fastening should not be too strong, it is much more important to do a good job at eliminating the distortion. The movement of the pusher in the bushing is carried out dry.

To ensure a reliable blocking of the lift, it is necessary to calculate the position of the posts under the platform so that the rails are exactly between them. A vertical row of coaxial holes is drilled in the racks every 50 mm, while it is advisable to mark from the lower ends of the guides as the traverse is raised. Long studs are inserted into the holes obtained, fixed on the cotter pins. The site can be immobilized using square rods with beveled ends, which are inserted between the rollers with a gap of 3-5 mm.

Operating instructions and TB

When the car enters the pit, the traverse is leveled at the pivot points, adjusting the wing outreach and the height of the stops. Next, the rollers are blocked. When the jack is removed, a push rod is installed, which is pressed by the screw rod of the jack. Further, by the force of hydraulics, the traverse is raised to the required height, and the lift is blocked with pins.

If the jack does not provide the required lifting height, it is drained, leaving the locking pins for a temporary stop. After that, the bar changes to a longer one and is lifted to a higher position. For most situations, a set of a maximum of 2-3 rods of different lengths is needed, which are mated to the jack rod with an adapter sleeve.

The car is lowered in the reverse order: first, the locking pins are removed, then the jack is drained. If an extended rod was used, the descent is made with an intermediate position to replace the pusher. If it is necessary to move the car along the pit, it must be lowered to a slope of no more than 3-5 °, then remove the wedges from under the rollers and roll the lift manually or using a small winch. This design allows for a full safe lifting of the car from both sides, however, for this it is recommended to consider a system of rigid connections between both platforms, for example, using long threaded rods.