DIY scissor lifts. Car lift: DIY and components

A car lift can be made with your own hands in order to independently perform maintenance and repair of your car, if there is no inspection hole. A pit can not be equipped in every box, so many car owners are thinking about making a lift on their own.

Despite the reliability and durability of the car, many of its components are subject to severe wear. It so happens that the car does not start and it is necessary to find out what is the reason. To raise the car without outside help on your own, you cannot do without a lift. But the cost of car lifts is high, and not all drivers can afford to purchase one. Also, many drivers use the jack a couple of times a year. Therefore, to prevent extra costs, it is better to make a car lift yourself.

Here we will tell you how to make a car lift yourself, and what you need for this.

Types of car lifts

There are three types of lifting units for vehicle repairs:

Screw lifts.
Chain mechanisms.
Hydraulic devices.

According to the method of raising the machine, the lifts are divided:

Fork devices.
Platform mechanisms.
Scissor lifts.

The most common type of car lift is a fork-type screw device. Their base is a shaft made of tool steel that can withstand a force of several tons. But making such a device at home is almost impossible due to the complexity of the design of the forks. Therefore for self-made it is better to use screw devices of platforms.

They are made in the form of two channels, parallel to each other, and located with the ribs downward, fixed to the screw drive devices, which ensure the lifting of the entire structure. In such units, the requirements for the shafts are not too strict, since the lifting is provided by four shafts instead of two. Their significant disadvantage is the need to use a jack to carry out suspension repairs, since the car wheels are not suspended, but are located on channels.

Often, platform and fork lifts for transport are produced with a chain drive. In terms of their parameters, they are not worse than screw ones, but they are much more difficult to manufacture; joint synchronous operation of electric drives and braking devices... To make scissor-type lifting devices, a hydraulic drive is usually used, but some craftsmen are experimenting with screw and chain drives.

Homemade or factory made

The main problem faced by those wishing to independently make a lift for a vehicle is the high price of parts. Therefore, it will be cheaper to purchase a used mechanism. Hydraulic cylinders of the required carrying capacity and sufficient length cost several thousand rubles. Worms made to order from special steel will cost about the same amount. As a result, the cost of building even a primitive scissor lift will cost 100 thousand rubles, while the price of new devices from China different types significantly less.

Safety and reliability

In addition to the price, there are also factors that call into question the independent manufacture of a car lift - safety and reliability. Even a small car can weigh more than a ton. If the lift fails, the vehicle will fall onto the person below. There are many such cases.

The lift may not be able to withstand due to the following reasons:

Structural supports are loose.
The locking device has broken because it was of an incorrect design.
The mass of the car turned out to be more than the permissible one, as a result, the drive mechanism could not stand it.

For independent manufacture of a lift, they usually take a ready-made development, hoping that its developer has correctly calculated the strength of the parts, or they make these calculations themselves. Such a project can only be done by a qualified engineer, and a simple driver is not able to do it. Also, you need to calculate how much load can be applied to the drive and brake mechanism.

If these calculations are not performed correctly, then such a lift becomes a lethal device. It is also important to correctly calculate the base of this structure. Here it is necessary not only to fill in the required layer of concrete, but also to make fastenings in the given places.

When deciding to make an independent lift, you need to select parts for it. You should start by looking for the drive mechanism and stopper. Such details can usually be found:

In factories with old equipment.
In stores selling various parts for technology.
At enterprises that update equipment.
At points of reception of scrap metal.

For the manufacture of a car lift of this type, you will need two hydraulic cylinders of the required power and size, a compressor and high pressure hydraulic hoses. The scissor-type car lift scheme is the simplest to manufacture, but it is difficult to make a reliable brake. Therefore, if the hose or hydraulic cylinder is damaged, a hazardous situation will arise.

Electric motors with gearboxes and shafts, which are necessary for forklift or platform lifts, can be found faster where they replace the old machine park with a new one. This will cost significantly less than the cost of turning worms. The stopper of this device also has a simple design - a slanting bar with a stopper is made of steel with a size of 2 cm in thickness.

If it is decided, nevertheless, to make a lift for a car on your own, then before choosing a scheme, it is better to look in practice how this device looks like, how it works, whether it is safe. In this case, you are not risking a car, but your own life. If, when the car falls, there is another person under it, then his life will also be at risk.

Option number 1

The product will be fixed on the walls, so such a device is used to conduct renovation works v garage conditions.

Required items:

Three steel corners 7.5 x 7.5 cm.
Worm gear reducer. Its smallest carrying capacity must be at least 300 kg, and the gear ratio must be at least 60 kg.
Steel plate 10 mm thick. If there is an old machine used for metal work, then such a plate can be removed from it (the plate can be pulled out by yourself).
Bolts and nuts.
Two metal chains, it is better that its links are at least 3 cm in diameter.
Powerful hook.
Steel cable with a diameter of 5 mm.
Sprockets 2 pieces of different diameters.

Assembly order

Fix the steel corners to the walls of the garage so that the hood of the vehicle is lower in height.
It is necessary to mount a steel plate on the corners of the lift and fix it with M8 bolts - 8 pieces. Since there will be no direct attachment of the plate and corners, the plate can be moved relative to the motor.
Install the "worm" gearbox yourself.
Fasten sprockets bigger size on the gearbox drive shaft.
Make a hole on a steel plate in the required place and insert a chain into it, then connect it into a ring.
Install a sprocket with a smaller diameter on the gearbox output shaft.
Make two holes in the plate for the second chain.
Slide the second chain through these holes, put one end of the chain over the smaller sprocket, and attach the hook at the other end.
The assembly is complete.

Using the lift:

Disconnect the engine from the vehicle body.
Place the cable loops under the motor and fasten them to the hook.
Raise the engine carefully and slowly.
Having raised the motor with such a lift, the mechanism should be locked.
Roll the vehicle back and place a repair table in place that can support the weight of the engine.

Option number 2

The lifts differ in their design. First, they are categorized by the number of racks. There are many models of two-post lifts on the market today as well as four-post lifts. Wherein lifting mechanisms they are mechanical or hydraulic.

Among car owners, the most popular are car lifts in the form of a parallelogram. They are also called scissors. There is a plunger type of devices. To make a lift yourself in a garage, you need to study in more detail design features well-known models.

To make such a scissor car lift yourself, you first need to make the lower beam. To do this, many craftsmen advise to prepare in advance a clamp, with which you can hold the middle pin. But first, it's important to secure the frame. To do this, you need to use a welding machine.

Then, in order to assemble the lift yourself, it is important to select a quality hydraulic mechanism for lifting the beam. Then the handle is installed. The reducer can be used as a single channel. For a car lift, it is better to make the stand from an aluminum plate. Support elements for the device are mounted at the last moment. It is important to check the clamp in advance for reliability. The supports are welded using a welding machine.

The scissor-type car lift is assembled on its own without much difficulty. In this case, you should also prepare a U-shaped base. Then you can fasten the grip. For this, many masters advise using a clamp. The hydraulic mechanism must be mounted directly on the screws, while it must not cover the supports.

Then, in order to further assemble the lift, it is necessary to fix the gearbox. A small plate needs to be cut out of the steel sheet and welded near the top beam. The indent from the edge should be 22 mm. Then the shoe itself is fixed. The first support is installed on the hydraulic mechanism. In this case, the other two supports should be near the front of the device.

Lift with rear L-shaped beam

To perform a high-quality assembly of this type of lift, you must first prepare the base. It is usually made of steel plates with the smallest thickness of 22 mm. Then, in order to assemble the lift, you need to fix the side supports, which is done without the help of a clamp.

The next step is to weld the beam. This requires three identical metal sheets. Their length should be equal to 1.2 meters. After welding them, the upper beam is attached. In this case, it is better to use a small-sized hydraulic cylinder, which will allow placing the gearbox near it.

A simple engine lift for the garage

If the lift will be used in a garage for one car, then a complex device should not be manufactured. The simple option shown in the figure is also suitable for this. It consists of a few parts: a sturdy beam, scrap metal and a pry bar that acts as an axle. To secure the device, you need to drive the pry bar into the ground. Then fix the pipes on this axis, which act as a drum. The result is simple construction lift for the car.

You will also need to fix the cable on the pipe and insert the lever into it. Another part of it is fixed directly to the machine. So you can pick it up. Moreover, it has sufficient reliability and durability.

Build cost

The lift is an expensive piece of equipment, either purchased or made on your own, since all the parts are expensive. In practice, the most in the best way The solution is to buy a used lift. Its service life allows it to serve many owners.

There are many different options, which allows each person to choose a suitable design. The lift can be used at any time, if necessary, and carry out work on the inspection of the body, transmission elements and chassis. At the same time, much less financial resources will be needed.

To service the car in the station conditions Maintenance a bunch of special equipment is used, from a penny to very expensive, completely inaccessible to a private master or simply to a vehicle owner who is used to servicing the car with his own hands. There are very highly specialized devices that can be useful to a private trader once or twice a year. And there are those without which any repair or prevention is simply impossible. Car lifts are exactly the case.

Why is it needed

Buying it in most cases does not make sense. Both in terms of finance and in terms of free space in the garage. Although, for car owners who have a large garage workshop, its presence is already a huge plus.

First, let's not complicate our life and dig a viewing ditch, which, in principle, gives nothing but access to the bottom. However, in the case of a lift of any type, we get a certain benefit:

Market prices

In a word, there are many advantages, but the price bites. For example, one of the most reliable types, a scissor, costs between 150-220 thousand rubles. The price bites, especially if you have to service a ten-year-old nine, which costs three times less. And the quality of cheap products leaves much to be desired, and more or less serious models can be bought already from 300 thousand.

In order not to spend such an amount, it is quite possible to do it yourself. It is worth familiarizing yourself with the factory samples and weighing the pros and cons, which we will now do. We have placed some drawings and diagrams of scissor devices on the page and they, perhaps, will push on the necessary design idea. It is clear that it makes no sense to copy the dimensions from the diagrams, since the conditions are different, as well as different requirements for the mechanism.

equipment requirements

First of all, this equipment will need the ability to lift the machine to such a height at which it is convenient to maintain it. You can just raise it, or you can raise it to full human height. The second and, perhaps, the most important requirement for it is to ensure the complete safety of people and the integrity of the car. We will not give sad examples, but, unfortunately, they do exist.

In addition, it is necessary to think over the drive and the system of the lifting mechanism, think over the control, adjustment and fastening to the garage floor. By the way, most of the factory products are tightly attached to the floor anchors and concreted. This is necessary to prevent rollover and reduce the risk of injury and damage to property, however, there are also self-propelled hydraulic lifts.

Drive and lift

The drive of all hoists can be both hydromechanical and electromechanical. In the first case, an electric motor with a pump and a system of hydraulic cylinders are used to raise a trestle or table. Its principle of operation is quite simple and it is clear from the diagrams and the given drawings. As a rule, a 380 Volt three-phase electric motor is used for the operation of the hydraulic station of the lift, and the hydraulic fittings must be strictly adjusted in parameters depending on the expected load.

Low-cost hydroelectric power plants also operate from a 24-volt electric motor, but their carrying capacity is severely limited, and reliability, based on the country of manufacture, is incredibly low. That is why it will be much more rational and cheaper to assemble it yourself than to buy Chinese scrap metal, although the manufacturer differs from the manufacturer.

Video tutorial

Be that as it may, but the design and technological engineering calculations must be approached very seriously. So, it will be necessary to calculate the minimum cross-section of the beams, the calculation of the axes of the hydraulic cylinders, the selection of hydraulic cylinders according to the capacity and the length of the rod, to choose the right hydraulic pump and control system. When designing, special attention is paid to safety and emergency mechanisms for raising / lowering the vehicle.

The task is quite difficult, but solvable. With the materials and knowledge, you can build a small scissor lift that will be useful not only to you, but also to your friends and neighbors. Happy design!

And not to buy it in a special equipment store. This is an understandable desire: the cost of such equipment may not be much less than the cost of your car, while it will be rarely used (only if you are not going to open a service station in the garage).

An idea arose, a desire too, now it's time select the design of the device to be created... To do this, you should pay attention to factory-made elevators presented on the special equipment market, "peep" their device and imagine if you can do something like that.

Most likely, you will be the first to see two-post lift, which can be found in almost every body shop. This type of device can be equipped with an electromechanical or electro-hydraulic drive.

In the first case inside each rack there is a threaded shaft rotated by an electric motor with a gearbox. A bearing nut is located on the threaded shaft, which moves along it and, accordingly, raises and lowers the "paws" on which the car is supported.

In a two-column electro-hydraulic In the elevator, the shaft is replaced by a hydraulic drive, the pressure in which is generated by an electric motor.

Exists other options for a similar design but with one, three or four posts.

Another type of lift - scissor where a platform with a system of levers (called "scissors") is raised and lowered using hydraulic actuators powered by electric motors.

When creating such designs, you can face many questions and problems that need to be solved. First of all, it is work safety- no one wants to receive a serious injury or injury due to a broken lift on one not very successful day.

Therefore, you should choose the materials and design of the device so that it can withstand the weight of the car, while with a solid margin.

It is also worth taking care of the manufacture of locking mechanisms., allowing you to keep the car in place in emergency situations with a lift.

And in order to prevent the latter, it is necessary to inspect them regularly: for an electromechanical drive, it is necessary to check the wear of the threaded shaft and bearing nut, for an electro-hydraulic drive, it is required to check the integrity of the hoses and cylinders.

AND main problem, which is faced by those who want to make a two-post or scissor car lift with their own hands - the complexity of manufacturing and the high cost of parts. At home, it is almost impossible to create a long threaded shaft, the selection of cylinders and hydraulic hoses is a difficult matter, and they do not differ in cheapness.

But there is a simpler and more suitable for manufacturing in garage conditions version of the car lift, which turns the car on its side at an angle of 45 ° -60 ° and is called tipper... Let's take a closer look at it and see what and how it can be made.

Making a tipper with your own hands

How to make a lift in the garage with your own hands? Lift-tipper consists of several parts: A-pillar, shoe, platform, top, bottom and rear beams and connecting elements between them.

For manufacturing, you need 4 mm thick steel sheets, corners, bushings, fasteners and tools for welding, cutting and drilling metal.

The first stage of tipper production- a shoe that serves as a supporting surface for the jack. The shoe should be made of steel sheet as shown in the drawing, while it is very important to maintain the dimensions of the "eyelet" so that it moves freely up and down the A-pillar.

Itself the rack is made of corners 32, length 1500 mm, which are assembled into "squares" and welded. We need two such "squares" connected by segments of corners, the distance should be such that the upper beam could move between the "squares".

In their lower part, make a hole for the support pipe, then you need to make several holes at regular intervals - they are necessary for the metal fingers that will fix the shoe and the upper beam.

Second phase creating a tipper with your own hands - creating this beam and a platform for it. The platform is assembled from a steel sheet, the edges of which must either be bent in order to obtain a "box", or its sides must be welded to the cover of the "box".

In our case, the length of the platform is 350, the width is 150, and the depth is 20 millimeters. Inside the "box" you should put a piece of wood cut out according to its dimensions, it is fixed with fasteners inserted into the preliminary drilled holes in the side sheets of the site. Rubber is attached to the tree from above, an eyelet is welded to the metal from below for fastening to the upper beam and stiffeners - and that's it, the platform is ready.

The upper beam itself is assembled from two corners with a length of 1500-1700 mm, welded together into a U-shaped profile. Inside, approximately in the middle, you need to weld a metal insert, which is necessary for better fixing of the jack. Next, you need to weld a plate of the same length and height to the U-profile so that at the end you get a rectangular beam.

One end of it is tightly welded with a small plate, to which, in turn, a bushing is attached to connect to the rear beam, guides for a jack and bushings for metal stopper fingers are welded to the other end.

Next step- manufacturing of the rear beam, it is necessary to support the car from the side opposite to the overturned one. The length of the beam should be approximately equal to the length of the machine, therefore, they take four corners 32 with a length of 1500 mm, weld two into a square profile.

They should be connected to each other using a square bar inserted inside the profiles, and using rivets.

In the middle of the rear beam, it is necessary to weld a connecting node made of sheet metal... It is required to connect the rear, upper and lower beams to each other.

Despite the claimed strength and durability, many automotive components are highly susceptible to wear and tear. It so happens that the car will not start and you need to find out what the problem is. To lift a car without assistance with your own hands, you will need a special lift.

However, despite the importance and necessity of this device, the cost of car lifts is quite high, and not all motorists can afford it. In addition, most drivers use the jack only 1-2 times but a year. Therefore, in order to avoid unnecessary expenses, it is better to make a car lift with your own hands.

Do-it-yourself garage lift

Since the product will be wall-mounted, this device is designed for use in a garage.

Required components

To create a lift you will need the following details:

Assembly instructions

Build and install process the lift is pretty simple:

That's all. The do-it-yourself lift is ready.

Using such a lift

Operating principle also does not differ in particular complexity:

Be sure to remove the bolts holding the engine and vehicle frame together.
Place steel cable loops under the engine and tie the ends onto the hook.
Start iterating over the chain. Gradually, the movement will pass to the drive shaft, which will make the cargo move and the cables will be pulled. Lift the engine slowly and carefully.
Pulling out the engine using a hoist, stop the work of the homemade crane. The weight of the load will now hold the gearbox securely.
Move the machine aside and replace it with a sturdy table that can withstand the heavy load from the engine.

A simple do-it-yourself lift

Not all drivers have a private garage. In this case, it is necessary to be repaired either in a car service or on the street. For the second option, there is a special lift for these conditions.

This product has several component parts, which fastened together, forming an integral structure.

Even the most reliable car can fail its owner sooner or later. When one of the important parts located under the bottom of your swallow fails, for which there may be many reasons, then headlong will have to go to the service center. With such a repair, the car will have to be lifted using a specialized lift, which will be discussed in this article.

All car lifts can be divided on two grounds for classification - by the type of construction and by the type of drive on which the device operates. Understanding all the features of each of the varieties, it will be easier to make a lift with your own hands.

By the type of construction, there are:

Single-post (or single-plunger) - suitable for cars, have one post, lift transport from one side. The main advantages are mobility and small size. The main disadvantage is that it can lift a relatively small load compared to other types of lifts.
Two-post are the most popular variety. Two racks equipped with brackets that start under the jack platforms. Good lifting capacity relative to single-post lifts, the ability to adjust the distance between drains, which allows servicing cars with both short and long base.

Four-column - needed when working with trucks. Four racks support two platforms (up to 5 meters long). The approximate carrying capacity is 4 thousand kilograms. They are often equipped with auxiliary safety systems and a powerful hydraulic system. They are distinguished by great reliability during work and durability.
Trolleys (sometimes called six-column, but the number of racks may vary depending on the model) are electro-hydraulic lifting columns (each of which can be controlled). In terms of carrying capacity, they are one of the most powerful, they can easily lift medium-weight category C cars (from 3.5 to 7.5 tons and above);

Scissor (parallelogram) - resembles scissors in its structure; can be built into the floor (in this case, they do not take up space when folded) or stand on the ground (ladders and access ramps). Equipped with modern hydraulic drives. Thus, they are powerful, quiet and durable. Ideal for performing a camber-toe test, making a do-it-yourself scissor car lift is extremely beneficial.

The types of drives are distinguished:

Electromechanical drive - hoists with such a drive are inexpensive and have a very simple design, which minimizes the possibility of accidental breakdowns (this, however, does not save from frequent wear and tear and demanding maintenance of the main operating element of the hoist - a screw-nut pair);
Electro-hydraulic drive - models with this configuration are more expensive than the option with an electromechanical drive, but also offers the buyer a long list of "pluses": the reliability and ergonomics of the lift are much higher; the unit works faster, quieter and with greater accuracy (smoothness);
Pneumatic drive - (used in scissor (parallelogram) lifts). Thanks to the principle, the work is lifted not by hydraulics, but by compressed air. High reliability and speed of work are important for workshop owners, if you remember how heavy vehicles can be serviced

How to make a do-it-yourself garage lift: a step-by-step guide

Of course, some motorists find it more convenient and more reliable to fix their vehicles on their own, which means that you need to make a car lift yourself. You can make a mechanical lift for a car completely from scratch, the main thing is to understand the design idea and buy high-quality strong materials, even make a lift out of shaped pipe is quite real.

One way or another, this type of work is not carried out very often, and a car lift is not a cheap thing at all, so not everyone will see the expediency of buying such expensive and little-used equipment. You can, of course, spend money on a supported unit - it will come out a little cheaper than assembling the lift yourself, but the reliability and level of operation of this machine can be much lower than that of a new one.

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It is quite difficult to make a car lift with your own hands, but if you do everything following a certain logic (installation site, materials and parts of the lift, assembly and installation of parts), and also pay close attention to the details and the performance of the final result, then everything can work out.

Find the exact diagram and, best of all, call a professional, because work of this level is not available to an ordinary car enthusiast - any mistake in assembly, fastening or selection of parts can lead to dire consequences. For a better understanding, we recommend watching the video.

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Choosing a location

Before proceeding to the collection necessary materials, which will be required in order to assemble the lift in the garage with your own hands, it is necessary to determine the place of installation of the car lift.

In some cases (for example, when making a book lift that tilts the car by 45%), it will be much more rational to place your homemade lift near the garage. If you want to make a homemade scissor lift for a car, you need to think about a reliable base (it is not enough just to fill the base with a layer of concrete), not forgetting about the attachment points.
The process of assembly and subsequent installation of all parts of the lift

"Shoe" - this part will fix the jack. A pin with a diameter of 10-12 millimeters is welded to the metal sheet so that in the future it can freely "walk" on the rack;
Rear beam - we assemble a square from four corners using welding, into which a metal pin is then placed and welded;
Top beam - we assemble a part from two corners, a strip of metal and a sheet of metal. We fasten the two corners together in a kind of "letter P", to which we weld a sheet on one side, and a plate on top so that a rectangle is obtained. We attach two jacks with bolt holes to the rectangle by welding. This part will act as a stopper;
We proceed to create a platform - we bend the sides of the steel sheet, to which we subsequently attach a strip with holes, on which the rubberized board will be fixed. We make guides and stiffeners at the bottom of the platform and attach it to the upper beam;
Two connecting nodes - front (two pipes, corner and rod) and rear (two sheets of metal connected by a perpendicular metal strip).
Lower beam - four corners are welded into a rectangle and fastened with a bolt with an M16 nut and welding, after which you need to fasten the connecting unit and the lower beam;
Rack - four corners of 154 centimeters each are welded and assembled with potholders in a square. Half a centimeter after each of the attachment points, we drill holes with a diameter of two and a half centimeters. Then you need to make three more holes so that the upper beam and the pin of the "shoe" pass freely between the profiles.
The final touch of our car lift is “fingers”, which are curved metal rods.

Functional check

When the do-it-yourself scissor lift is finally ready, the performance check should begin with any simple tasks for a lift - do not test it on a real vehicle. Check on any suitable parts for the capacity and power of the gearbox, as well as the correctness of the mountings.

After completing all preparatory work, you can start to lift the car accurately and smoothly.

Blueprints

Without a doubt, a do-it-yourself car lift must be done according to a strict plan. The design of the future lift should be carried out either independently, then be careful and careful with all calculations; or with the help of a professional car mechanic. Of course, you can also rely on the experience and engineering skills of the network users - download and print the schematic / drawings of any lift you are interested in. One of such schemes will be attached below as an example.

Correct operation and maintenance of the lift (autolift)

In order to keep the garage lift in working order both during operation and when idle, it is necessary:

periodically inspect all the main elements of the operating system - fasteners and fusion points, drives and the condition of the racks, in order to track an impending breakdown at any time;

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in no case violate the permissible vehicle weight - do not exceed the carrying capacity;

These two tips are the main ones, because all the breakdowns of the lift are related to the lifting capacity, breakdown of the locking device (due to a violation of the lifting capacity or improper assembly), insufficiently reliable fastening of the apparatus supports.

Safety measures when working with a car lift

When working with the lift, avoid standing under the vehicle until you are sure of its stability - it is deadly to stand under the vehicle while lifting.

If the car during lowering did not end up in the lowest position of the struts and it needs to be raised again, then be sure to use the locking mechanisms. Always monitor the operating voltage of the hoist, the condition of the cables and their operation.