When I lived in the firehouse in Covington the high ceilings in the first floor garage were ideal for that car lift I’ve always wanted, but it was a dream unful-filled. College tuition and other things had a higher priority. When I moved to Dayton, Ohio the two garages afforded plenty of space for the cars, but the standard garage ceiling height ended my dream of car lift ownership, or so I thought. 

One cold winter’s day when I was looking at car related sites on the internet, as I’m wont to do, I came across a website for Greg Smith Equipment in Indianapolis, Indiana. Right there in front of me was the answer to my dreams and low ceiling clearance height. Greg Smith Equipment listed a 6,000 lb. capacity portable 48” hydraulic scissors lift that would work anyplace you had a 110 power source. 

My main need for a lift is to change the oil, rotate tires, change brake pads and flush out the brake fluid, and other miscellaneous maintenance items, so I really don’t need a lift I can walk under. I figured the lift would pay for itself in a relatively short period of time just in the cost savings associated with changing the brake fluid after every track event. It would also be a lot easier on my back.   Working off the ground using a floor jack, jack stands and a creeper are better left to younger men with stronger backs. A can of brake fluid runs about $15, but having a shop change the fluid can run around $100 in labor charges. The lift listed for $1,200 and you don’t have to be a whiz at math to figure out the payback time when you do six track events a year and need to flush the brake fluid after each one.

When Walter Chin arranged for OVR members to attend an open house at Griot’s Garage this past April I decided to take the trailer along and stop at Greg Smith Equipment, which isn’t very far from the Griot’s Garage facility in Indianapolis. I took along my neighbor, Greg Smith, (no, I’m not kidding-that’s his name and he’s no relation to Greg Smith Equip-ment) who has a lift fund growing from weekly pocket change. We met Kathie and Ted Hunter there. They are thinking about lifts for the new home they are planning. Greg Smith Equipment’s showroom is a car guy’s candy store. They have all kinds of garage equipment in the showroom besides the half a dozen lifts on display.

Once home, Greg Smith, the neighbor, and his two sons helped me unload the lift from the trailer in the back garage. The lift is portable, but at a weight of 1,000 lbs it’s not something you want to move around too often. The only assembly required is the hookup of the hydraulic line and the safety release cable between the dolly and the lift. The dolly has the electric motor and hydraulic fluid tank mounted on it. It also has wheels on it and is used to lift the un-wheeled end of the lift to move it about. I pur-chased the hydraulic fluid at Tractor Supply and after hooking up the line and cable was ready to go, or so I thought. You need at least 4” of clearance under your car as you have to drive over the lift to use it and the 911 needed some help to achieve that. I had to make a run to the local lumber yard to pick up some 2x10s to make ramps to attain the needed clearance. 

The lift has four arms that slide up and back as well as rotate to the side to adjust to the jacking points on any vehicle. There are sliding rubber pads on the arms for further adjustment. There are an additional set of elevated sliding rubber pads you can put on the arms for trucks so the lift can clear the running gear and still reach the frame. Once you have adjusted the arms you hit the button on the dolly and the lift starts to rise. Once the pads make contact with the bottom of the car make sure you double check to be sure they are positioned correctly. You can always stop by a Porsche dealer or independent shop to find the lifting points if you don’t already know them.

The lift also has a safety bar that locks at seven posi-tions in the unlikely case of catastrophic hydraulic failure. Even so, I purchased a set of jack stands that adjust from two to four feet to place under the lift if I’m going to be working under the car. The lift has met all my expectations, performed flawlessly and my back is better for it too.  There are other compa-nies out there who have similar lifts at competitive prices, but being able to see the lift and pick it up in Indianapolis were selling points to me. Other companies will deliver lifts to your house, but you will need a forklift or some other piece of equipment to unload it. The trucking companies will not do that for you.