small car, low height 24", hydraulic scissor lift

[nixrox]

Does anyone have any drawings or specification for a light duty - 3500#, low level 24", hydraulic scissor lift? I am a journeyman mechanic and a certified weld inspector so any drawings with welding symbols would be helpful.

[Frank S]

Are you looking for something like the Omer scissor lift




if so and if I can locate the correct old hard drive where I have drawings stored I have built several models similar to those pictures
I designed and built lifts and elevators for close to 25 years

[nixrox]

Frank
I need the scissor lift to work on the body pinch lifting rails of a Honda Civic or Accord. This would leave the tires free to able to remove or replace them. I would prefer a single hydraulic actuator in the middle of the two scissor lifting arms. All of the above lifts look like they could lift 10 tons.
Brian

[Frank S]

Brian the aforementioned lifts are rated at around 3.5 to 4 tons they are an industrial usage lift that is true also they have a 50 to 72" rise height. They are considered light duty toys compared to many of the 4 and 6 column lifts I built with platforms measuring 11ft by 45ft with rise heights of 50+ feet and capacities over 30 tons.
but I think you may be looking for something along the lines of the scissor lifts offered by Harbor Freight for $1,500.00
these HF lifts are said to be rated at 6000 lbs however in practice raising anything much over 3500 will greatly shorten their use life. 2 small cylinders are used instead of 1 to further reduce the amount of steel required in the scissor arms



except you re looking for a much reduced overall raise going with a max rise height of 24 to 30 inches by using shorter cylinders and relocating the pivot moments on one of the HF lifts would make it a much safer more durable lift.
there is an Italian manufacture who does just this. I don't remember their name but the lift arms were made out of the equlivalent of ASTM gr70 3/4"x 3 1/2" flat steel If memory serves they sold for around 4000 Euros though.

[nixrox]

Right - but as you suggest 1500.00 in the USA is 2000.00 in Canada. They had the above noted lift advertised at Princess Auto for 1995.00 two months ago, but once again it went way too high for my needs. I do not believe there is a light duty, 2 ton, 24" lift available, so I will just make my own. Thanks Frank.

[Jon]

...subscribed. I believe this may be the first potential tool build of this type we've seen. This could turn out to be very interesting.

[Frank S]

Actually Brian there are some lifts being made and sold just like you are wanting
BendPac the people who bought Hydra-bend exhaust tubing bender design from me & a friend of mine 20 years ago. Manufacture a portable under-body jack called the ranger quick jack. However they do not ship to Canada.

[pennswoodsed]

I like this topic ,also. Picking up a car on pinch weld requires good rockers , will you be working on older cars ?
Thanks,Ed

[nixrox]

I like this example. I will probably join the two scissors and use swing out plates to engage the lifting body pinch zones on Civics and Accords. I can also probably do without the electric over hydraulic drive and just use my manual pump. Thanks Frank

[nixrox]

Thanks for the picture.

I don't want the drive on ramps. I will probably combine some of the ideas for this lift with the ones forwarded by Frank. The 4 lifting points on Honda's are 3 or 4 layers thick so they can take weight. I only specialize on 1996 to 2005 Honda and up here in Alberta we rarely use salt, so the under body parts are usually corrosion free for decades. I have a 1984 Winnie RV and there is not a speck of rust on it.