Hypothetically, say a guy had an auto hauling trailer with runners (not flatbed) and also wanted a four-post lift to work under the car.
Would it be feasible to modify the trailer to have four flip-down screw jacks (or other secure jacks) to raise the whole thing up a couple of feet for working under the car? If you could get the bottom of the trailer runners 4-5 feet off the ground it would be nice to sit on a rolling work stool and just roll it under the car. Sure the trailer axles would get in the way but you should be able to work in the front and rear ends of the car without too much interference.
The side lift hoists with the four arms that swing under a car aren't too expensive. I've saw used ones for less than a thousand bucks. Big problem tho is getting someone to install it, and your insurance man to look the other way. I bought a single post air over hydraulic once from a guy who tore down old gas stations but before I went after it he called and cancelled the deal. His insurance compamy said that if it were improperly installed by anyone, including me and killed or hurt anyone that he still could be liable, so I never got the hoist.
Best solution I came up with was home built in a steep sidehill with two old 8 X 8 barn beams with a couple 2 X 8 planks nailed on the sides for a guide. It just simply came out from the sidehill sitting on four good eight inch creosote corner posts. worked fine till we moved to a different place, don't know if the "Hoist" is still there or not. Frank.
A real two poster would be nice but the garage isn't tall enough to make one worthwhile. With the trailer approach you could work on a low car in the garage or a taller vehicle out in the driveway.
With the trailer approach you could work on a low car in the garage or a taller vehicle out in the driveway.
The average garage for a car has a door that is 8' wide and 7' tall. The width of a standard car trailer is 100" or 102" wide to allow for a deck that is 78" or 80" wide.
I'd be surprised if the trailer would fit into the garage, and if it's only 7' tall, I doubt it would clear the header with a car on top either.
The other issue is the cost, it would be more money to do this than to (as Frank mentioned) just buy a hoist.
The simplest way (and IMHO safest) way to work under a car is to make either a pit the car can straddle, or a pair of ramps (maybe incorporated into a retaining wall) such that there is room to get under the car.
My friend's Dad did this years ago, they had a retaining wall that supported a space to park an RV, as well as the back portion of the garage. He made a pair of buttresses that projected out as supports for the wall, but spaced such that he could drive out onto them leaving room between them to work (oil changes mostly) under the car.
They already make a 4-post lift on a trailer--they're used to haul a boat above a car for RVers. Some guys use them to work on racecars.
Either Harbor Freight or Northern Tool sells an "auto rotisserie" which attaches to the front and rear of the body and allows you roll the car nearly 360 degrees---like barbque a spit. Other types you drive on and secure to it. Wide hoops at both ends allow the car rock onto its side--like a rocking chair.
And being the inventive guy I am, if I wanted to do what you propose--in a pinch it would be "easy"--my famous last words--to use a flat deck car trailer with car cinched down, and turn it into a rotisserie: a cherry picker with a wide base could be modified to have a trailer hitch ball at the vertical post. The trailer tongue would be lifted by the picker's own jack. Basically the same set up at the rear of the trailer would be needed, except it would need a pivot point such as a traler ball like the front.
Okay, Northern has them. They call it an "auto twirler": the standard model starts at $800. Bascially it would take the place of cherry pickers aforementioned.
Another idea is buy this unit and you could either mount it to the trailer, or leave the roll around casters on it and that would let you roll it on/off as you wish.
The car I'm working on has interesting jacking points.
Directly in front of each rear wheel and behind each front wheel are ~1" ID pipes, about 6" long, welded directly to the unibody perpendicular to the cars axis and flush with the running boards. The spare tire jack has a rod that gets inserted in these jacking points to lift the car.
So another idea was to build a "car pallet" that could be lifted with the loader. It could lock into these jacking points to locate the car and once on a strong loader it could be tilted up rotisserie style.
Unfortunately, even though the car only weighs 2000 lbs soaking wet it's still too much for my loader.
A rotisserie would be nice but since the body will be sent out to be dipped/blasted and painted I could probably do without.
Like EW said the easiest way to work on the bottom of a car is to turn it on it's side. That really isn't nothing new here in the sticks. The neighbor kids had an old Chevy 47-48? I'm not sure, it always had a clutch out, tranny grining, or something. So growing tired of crawling under it they took the old Allis WC, threw a chain over the top, tied it to the door post and over she went, got er fixed flopped her back on the wheels and away we went.
Okay, Northern has them. They call it an "auto twirler": the standard model starts at $800. Bascially it would take the place of cherry pickers aforementioned.
Another idea is buy this unit and you could either mount it to the trailer, or leave the roll around casters on it and that would let you roll it on/off as you wish.
Okay, Northern has them. They call it an "auto twirler": the standard model starts at $800. Bascially it would take the place of cherry pickers aforementioned. Another idea is buy this unit and you could either mount it to the trailer, or leave the roll around casters on it and that would let you roll it on/off as you wish.
Got a link or stock number? A search for "auto twirler" on their web site turns up bupkus and I usually just toss the catalogs they send out. I've seen a few of these - even saw one a guy made out of a couple of heavy duty engine stands.
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12-23-2009, 08:55 
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