Home » Public Forums » GMCnet » Lift, ramps or pit?
| Lift, ramps or pit? [message #348518] |
Wed, 25 September 2019 14:16  |
Chris Tyler
Messages: 458
Registered: September 2013
Location: Odessa FL
Karma: 7
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Senior Member |
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Buying a new place further out from so called civilization that has an existing 40x36 workshop with a high ceiling that would permit the GM so park in the center, as well as being raised.
Considering the best way to go for service options:
1. Constructing wood ramps as have been discussed- which would be in the way when not in use
2. cutting the existing slab for a service pit [water table permitting] that can be covered when not in use. Thinking 5 ft wide by 12' long. Should it be longer? Is a sump a good idea?
3. A lift. I found a 4 post lift with 12K capacity but it would need to be lenthened by ~4 feet and may be pushing the limit plus I dont think it would be as useful with my cars and get in the way
I am inclined to go with hte pit and a smaller 2 post lift in that area that I can use for my cars and the GMC can drive over/through, and just go with wood blocks to raise it as needed.
I need to dig a 'test pit" outside the slab to check the water table in summer[monsoon season in FL] that will be the shop septic tank eventually to see if its fresible
Curious what others have found to work best
76 Glenbrook
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| Re: [GMCnet] Lift, ramps or pit? [message #348526 is a reply to message #348518] |
Wed, 25 September 2019 17:20  |
Ken Henderson
Messages: 8726
Registered: March 2004
Location: Americus, GA
Karma: 9
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Senior Member |
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In Florida, you probably don't have the good luck I did: Sloped terrain
which allowed this:
http://www.gmcmhphotos.com/photos/new-service-rack-26amp-3b-drivetrain/p10327.html
I can't begin to express how happy I've been with that arrangement. It
allows me to sit down and reach 'most anything under the GMC. Or stand up
to work at waist level on things like wheels & brakes. All with no
claustrophobia or collection of fumes and little stair-climbing.
Ken H.
On Wed, Sep 25, 2019 at 3:17 PM Chris Tyler via Gmclist <
gmclist@list.gmcnet.org> wrote:
> Buying a new place further out from so called civilization that has an
> existing 40x36 workshop with a high ceiling that would permit the GM so
> park in
> the center, as well as being raised.
>
> Considering the best way to go for service options:
>
> 1. Constructing wood ramps as have been discussed- which would be in the
> way when not in use
>
> 2. cutting the existing slab for a service pit [water table permitting]
> that can be covered when not in use. Thinking 5 ft wide by 12' long. Should
> it
> be longer? Is a sump a good idea?
>
> 3. A lift. I found a 4 post lift with 12K capacity but it would need to be
> lenthened by ~4 feet and may be pushing the limit plus I dont think it
> would be as useful with my cars and get in the way
>
> I am inclined to go with hte pit and a smaller 2 post lift in that area
> that I can use for my cars and the GMC can drive over/through, and just go
> with wood blocks to raise it as needed.
> I need to dig a 'test pit" outside the slab to check the water table in
> summer[monsoon season in FL] that will be the shop septic tank eventually to
> see if its fresible
>
> Curious what others have found to work best
> --
> 76 Glenbrook
>
> _______________________________________________
> GMCnet mailing list
> Unsubscribe or Change List Options:
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Ken Henderson
Americus, GA
www.gmcwipersetc.com
Large Wiring Diagrams
76 X-Birchaven
76 X-Palm Beach
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| Re: Lift, ramps or pit? [message #348533 is a reply to message #348527] |
Thu, 26 September 2019 04:49 |
Ken Burton
Messages: 10030
Registered: January 2004
Location: Hebron, Indiana
Karma: 10
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Senior Member |
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I have worked in or on all of them and own none of them.
A pit is better than nothing but a real PIA every time you need anything like a tool a funnel or a part you are climbing in and out of the thing. If you make it wide enough to comfortably work on the coach, you can not get anything else on it so you make it narrowed and are constantly having to reach over the edge of the concrete to get to the parts of the vehicle you want to work on. I do not like having to manhandle the covers every time I am finished and I am also afraid that one time I am going to accidentally drive into it. They are dark and many times damp and a pain to keep clean.
Now what Colonel Ken has is NOT a pit. If you could copy what he did I sure would consider it. His design is more like a set of ramps only you drive on it flat. Ground level on one end, and 3.5 or 4' feet high or the other. It is open air, well lighted with natural light with a flat concrete floor that you can move around on and under the coach with ease. I wish that I had the terrain and weather to install and utilize his design.
To me that leaves a 4 post drive on lift long enough to accommodate a GMC plus a couple of feet It over comes the shortcomings of a pit. but do not short change on the lifting capacity of the lift when buying and installing one.
You have my opinions. Either Ken H's. design, or a 4 post lift of adequate capacity and length. With a lift you could also put your coach up in the air when the next hurricane hits and floods the area.
Ken Burton - N9KB
76 Palm Beach
Hebron, Indiana
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| Re: Lift, ramps or pit? [message #348535 is a reply to message #348518] |
Thu, 26 September 2019 07:43 |
jhbridges
Messages: 8412
Registered: May 2011
Location: Braselton ga
Karma: -74
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Senior Member |
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I'd skip the pit in FL unless you are lucky enough to have a slope like Ken H's which is the best of all worlds. Given a 40x36 shop, I'd do ramps. I've a slope here, I may yet do a set of ramps over it like Ken's.
--johnny
Foolish Carriage, 76 26' Eleganza(?) with beaucoup mods and add - ons.
Braselton, Ga.
I forgive them all, save those who hurt the dogs. They must answer to me in hell
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| Re: Lift, ramps or pit? [message #348556 is a reply to message #348518] |
Fri, 27 September 2019 08:30 |
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Matt Colie
Messages: 8547
Registered: March 2007
Location: S.E. Michigan
Karma: 7
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Senior Member |
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Chris,
I can tell you what I do and why it leaves a lot to be desired:
I have a 38X54 insulated pole barn with a concrete floor. The ceiling height is 10' but the main door is 9'6" which is why I had to change out the roof A/C for a low profile A/C unit.
In the back of the door bay is a 7000# two post lift.
To do a lot of coach work (like I am finishing today), I use the lift to raise one end of the coach and a 3 ton floor jack to lift the other. This only works on the back if you have a Blaine Merril hitch back there.
In case you missed the math, I can only lift the whole coach a short ways. It is enough to get under it and I did once get the transmission out, but I had to get it down onto a piece of sacrificial plywood to slide it out and back in. Engines have to either come out the top of pull the front frame out as I have floor space to do so. I have spent most of the last couple of months on my creeper and it is getting very old.
If you are going to build a structure, start planing now. I know what I would like, but I will never have it in this life.
Matt
Matt & Mary Colie - Chaumière -'73 Glacier 23 - Members GMCMI, GMCGL, GMCES
Electronically Controlled Quiet Engine Cooling Fan with OE Rear Drum Brakes with Applied Control Arms
SE Michigan - Near DTW - Twixt A2 and Detroit
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| Re: Lift, ramps or pit? [message #348557 is a reply to message #348518] |
Fri, 27 September 2019 08:47 |
Chris Tyler
Messages: 458
Registered: September 2013
Location: Odessa FL
Karma: 7
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Senior Member |
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Appreciate the thoghtful replies. Some good points
Ken, you are correct that I lack any sort of slope that would allow your setup. But it seems ideal.
Insurence and permitting are not an issue where I will be. Neither will flooding or [hopefully ] hurricanes as I will be in the highest and central part of FL. My current place is on a lake and did flood a couple times in the last 20 years
Matt, I had thought about a single post lift on one end and wondered if it could be used for one end of the coach. The shop is already built and has a 16 ft center ceiling
I talked with an engineer friend who said lenghting that 4 post ramp would lower the capacity, so that one is out. Most others I have seen are prohibitively expensive
One dealership i worked at as a tech had a pit and it actually worked pretty well other than flooding and becoming a frog pond when not used for a while
One problem is that at almost 6'8" I would need a pretty deep pit!
The ramps would be great but really in hte way most of the time. Aproximately how much do they weigh each? Not sure I coud move them bu myself. Perhaps a block and tackle could be uset to pull them up to the ceiling when not in use?
76 Glenbrook
[Updated on: Fri, 27 September 2019 08:51] Report message to a moderator |
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| Re: Lift, ramps or pit? [message #348560 is a reply to message #348557] |
Fri, 27 September 2019 09:32 |
Stu Rasmussen
Messages: 130
Registered: January 2019
Location: Silverton, OR
Karma: 0
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Senior Member |
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I'm in a similar spot right now and here's my story:
First of all, I didn't realize that trying to park a GMC in our back yard would be such a problem but the Oregon rainy season (January 1 - December 31 annually) means that the ground is pretty squishy most of the times we'd want to move the coach and/or go somewhere in it - so putting in a hard surface parking spot would be a logical move.
I also did not realize that the low ground clearance and odd jacking points meant that getting it up a bit for underside maintenance is a challenge - but once I acquired a couple of Rhino Ramps and used them I discovered that even on ramps I am slithering around on my backside trying to work in a very tight envelope. I also realized that I am not quite as spry as I once was and a lift would be a godsend. A pit in an outdoor pad would fill with rain water very quickly so that wasn't an option.
So, on Wednesday a truckload of concrete will arrive to create a 14x26 parking pad for the coach - and the pad includes thicker pier points based on the dimensions of a Bendpak 14K 4-post lift.
The long-term plan is that the parking pad would eventually be inside a yet-to-be constructed shop/storage building. I should live so long!
Now I am watching craigslist for a used 14K lift that's long enough for the 160" wheelbase (at least 205" overall ramp length) of a 26' GMC - in case I get another one of those or a Black List user needs a boost. I have things that need doing underneath the Birchaven coach right now - replacing rubber fuel lines and the black tank, installing a macerator plus anything else in the belly - so I might just order a new lift when the concrete is cured. (That will guarantee that a suitable used lift will show up on craigslist within a week for $250. Just my luck.
Happy Trails!
Stu Rasmussen W7QJ
Silverton, OR
'77 Birchaven
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| Re: Lift, ramps or pit? [message #348563 is a reply to message #348518] |
Fri, 27 September 2019 10:06 |
lqqkatjon
Messages: 2324
Registered: October 2010
Location: St. Cloud, MN
Karma: 5
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Senior Member |
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I just spent last weekend working on GMC's including my own, via a drive on, 4 post lift. This lift had 2 air jacks that quickly and easily lifted up the coach. in my opinion, a 4 post drive on lift is the way to go.
The drive on lift makes a fantastic workbench. The ramps on each side of the front tires worked for setting tools and bolts on as you work. pulled Drums off a coach and just set them down to the left of where i took them off the spindle. We also pulled a knuckle off my coach and pressed the bearings on and off right there on the ramp of the lift. You can also have many different heights you can lift the coach up to, depending on what you are working on.
Jon Roche
75 palm beach
EBL EFI, manny headers, Micro Level, rebuilt most of coach now.
St. Cloud, MN
http://lqqkatjon.blogspot.com/
[Updated on: Fri, 27 September 2019 10:08] Report message to a moderator |
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| Re: [GMCnet] Lift, ramps or pit? [message #348572 is a reply to message #348557] |
Fri, 27 September 2019 11:11 |
Ken Henderson
Messages: 8726
Registered: March 2004
Location: Americus, GA
Karma: 9
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Senior Member |
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Chris, how's the lakeshore slope? I ask because another GMCer lives beside
Choctawhatchee Bay (in the FL Panhandle for those not familiar), on the
north shore where there's a steep bank. He's got a ramp similar to mine
out over the "beach" at the bottom of the bank. In his case, the drop is
far enough that he has a wooden platform to work on at the lower level.
Since the rack was built by a PO, it doesn't include niceties like my
sliding steel ramps, but it is much handier than flat ground to work on.
Ken H.
Americus, GA
'76 X-Birchaven w/Cad500/Howell EFI & EBL,
Manny Brakes & 1-Ton, Troy-Bilt APU, etc., etc., etc.
www.gmcwipersetc.com
On Fri, Sep 27, 2019 at 9:48 AM Chris Tyler via Gmclist <
gmclist@list.gmcnet.org> wrote:
> Appreciate the thoghtful replies. Some good points
>
> Ken, you are correct that I lack any sort of slope that would allow your
> setup. But it seems ideal.
>
> Insurence and permitting are not an issue where I will be. Neither will
> flooding or [hopefully ] hurricanes as I will be in the highest and central
> part of FL. My current place is on a lake and did flood a couple times in
> the last 20 years
>
> Matt, I had thought about a single post lift on one end and wondered if it
> could be used for one end of the coach. The shop is already built and has a
> 16 ft center ceiling
>
> I talked with an engineer friend who said lenghting that 4 post ramp would
> lower the capacity, so that one is out. Most others I have seen are
> prohibitively expensive
>
> One dealership i worked at as a tech had a pit and it actually worked
> pretty well other than flooding and becoming a frog pond when not used for a
> while
>
> One problem is that at almost 6'8" I would need a pretty deep pit!
>
>
> --
> 76 Glenbrook
>
> _______________________________________________
> GMCnet mailing list
> Unsubscribe or Change List Options:
> http://list.gmcnet.org/mailman/listinfo/gmclist_list.gmcnet.org
>
_______________________________________________
GMCnet mailing list
Unsubscribe or Change List Options:
http://list.gmcnet.org/mailman/listinfo/gmclist_list.gmcnet.org
Ken Henderson
Americus, GA
www.gmcwipersetc.com
Large Wiring Diagrams
76 X-Birchaven
76 X-Palm Beach
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