Lift, ramps or pit?

C

chris tyler

New member
Sep 14, 2013
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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
 
Best to check with the local building authorities to find out the requirements for a pit. Also your insurance company may have some requirements.

Things like ventilation for heavier than air gases (ie propane) Trapping spilled liquids so they can't enter the water table. Safety and liability
will be on the Insurance company 's mind.

Jumping through all those hoops and extra costs steered me away from a pit.

--
Bruce Hislop
ON Canada
77PB, 455 Dick P. rebuilt, DynamicEFI EBL EFI & ESC.1 ton front end
http://www.gmcmhphotos.com/photos/showphoto.php?photo=29001
My Staff says I never listen to them, or something like that
 
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 <

> 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:
> http://list.gmcnet.org/mailman/listinfo/gmclist_list.gmcnet.org
>
 
I'm green with envy! I can't do much work on my coach at home - no room to park her except on the curb, and that's not allows for more than 3 days.
I should just count my blessings knowing that Nick and Jim at Applied GMC are only a few miles from home!
--
Larry Davick
A Mystery Machine
1976(ish) Palm Beach
Fremont, Ca
Howell EFI + EBL + Electronic Dizzy
 
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
 
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
 
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 - '73 Glacier 23 - Members GMCMI, GMCGL, GMCES
Electronically Controlled Quiet Engine Cooling Fan
OE Rear Drum Brakes with Applied Control Arms
SE Michigan - Twixt A2 and Detroit
 
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
 
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
 
I just spent last weekend working on GMC's including my own, via a drive on, 4 post lift. it had 2 air jacks, that easily and fairly quickly to
setup lifted up the coach. a 4 post drive on lift is the way to go.

on another note, the lift makes a fantastic workbench, for setting tools and bolts on as you work. 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
St. Cloud, MN
http://lqqkatjon.blogspot.com/
 
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 <

> 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
>
 
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