I wouldn't bother with a pit myself. It would take a poo load of digging and lining for something that you'll hardly ever use, except as a store room for old junk maybe. A decent high lift trolley jack and 4 axle stands should be all you need.
Heya all
Before i start on a kit ive gotta get my garage up to scratch. its been unused for a numhber of years n so need a bit of work.... but earlier when
chatting to a guy up theroad he sugested puttinga pit in the floor, so i can work under the car.
Has anyone else done this? is it worth it? or shoud i not bother.
I was thinking after the car is finished as well. changing bits and feteling?
John
I was thinking of doing the same. I have a concrete floored garage and I was thinking of cutting a trench with a concrete saw, digging it out, put
metal sides in and filling in the gap with some concrete. This should make it waterproof and spacious enough to nearly stand up in. Then I can put a
little step ladder in so I can get in and out.
Instant personal oil change shop!
I've seen at least one other person dig a shallow trench in a dirt floored barn. Not as spiffy but not as expensive either.
i wasnt even gonna go that far. just dig it out stick a pond liner in and line it with hardboard... long as its not 2 stupid an idea
John
AT home it might be a good idea !
but it needs to be water proof
my fater inlaw has one and he just has a pump in it now (fills up)
we have one at work never use it , think we used it about 3 times in five years.
alot of hassle taking all the boards off
i did think about it when i built my new garage , but didnt bother
Most professional garages don't have them any more due to safety issues - fumes settling in the pit, difficulty of getting out in an emergency,
and so on.
That's why most places have car lifts...
David
Not sure its worth the hassle since 2 anf 4 post lifts regularly come up on Ebay for circa £200-300.....you'd spend more than that on concrete and ladders and a pit will never be as versatile.....Oli.
how offen do you even need to work under a 7 ?
i dont think there is anything under mine
plus don't forget, lots of gasses sink, they'll then collect in the pit. you walk in, breath them, fall over, don't get out.
be careful.
My new place has got one in the garage, along with a beam for an overhead hoist. I quite like the idea but I'll be keeping my eye open for a lift too.
We have one in our garage, fantastic for stripping the donor. Used it during build a couple of times to. Definatly worth it i think.
Speed8 what kind of lift 2 post or 4 post?
Mike
a car lift is all well and good and for £2-300 a bargain too, but how many domestic garages have you been in that are tall enough to raise a car 6ft
in the air ???
I wouldn't bother with a pit myself. It would take a poo load of digging and lining for something that you'll hardly ever use, except as a
store room for old junk maybe. A decent high lift trolley jack and 4 axle stands should be all you need.
quote:
Originally posted by mike smith1
We have one in our garage, fantastic for stripping the donor. Used it during build a couple of times to. Definatly worth it i think.
Speed8 what kind of lift 2 post or 4 post?
Mike
I wouldn't bother - better off just getting some high rise axle stands and a jack. By the time you've finished the build, I bet you hardly ever go to the underside of the car (maybe once or twice a year at the most?)
You can only get at the middle of a car from most of the pits I've seen in domestic setups. You need something like the MOT stations use to be really useful with the rails either side and a pneumatic jack on the rails across the pit. Also I've never needed anything better than trolley jack or axle stands for any work on the locost. I also know a mechanic who was badly burned and disfigured in a pit by petrol vapor ignited by a spark.
The best pit-equivalent I've ever encountered was at a friend's house. He lived on a fairly steep hill, so there was quite a drop at the
back end of the garage's concrete pad. He put a second-hand garage door at the rear, together with 2 double-brick walls extending backwards (he
was a builder, BTW!).
All he had to do was open the back door and roll the car out onto the walls. He then had clear access to the underneath of his car by standing in the
garden! I never fancied rolling the car out, though...
David
So all you need to do is find a steep hill and build a house on it. Or, dig a massive crater at the back of your garage!
I'll get started on mine tonight - the wife will be delighted!
quote:
Originally posted by David Jenkins
The best pit-equivalent I've ever encountered was at a friend's house. He lived on a fairly steep hill, so there was quite a drop at the back end of the garage's concrete pad. He put a second-hand garage door at the rear, together with 2 double-brick walls extending backwards (he was a builder, BTW!).
All he had to do was open the back door and roll the car out onto the walls. He then had clear access to the underneath of his car by standing in the garden! I never fancied rolling the car out, though...
David
There is always the option of buying or making one of those frames advertised in Practical Classics. Bolts to the front and rear of the car, or on the hubs and you can just roll it on it's side.
quote:
Originally posted by Phil.J
There is always the option of buying or making one of those frames advertised in Practical Classics. Bolts to the front and rear of the car, or on the hubs and you can just roll it on it's side.
A friend of mine dug a pit and put two long boards over it. then his old man rolled his bond bug over, nose first.
The structural integrity of a concrete floor is likely to be the fact that it doesn’t have a hole in the middle. You’d probably need to reinforce the
rest. Oh and when you sell the house I believe you have to prove it meets building regs.
The other thing is you’d be possibly affecting the water table. Think of standing on a huge balloon filled with water: it squiges to the sides and
then up.
Maybe wrong…
WE have a mobile lift at work. its a handy piece of kit. JUst slide it under and away you go. Ours is 3 phase but you can get others that run off a truck battery..
Or single to three phase converter, although probably worth more than the lift!