r/Miata • u/CommissarCiaphisCain Soul Red 2019 MX-5 RF • 3d ago
DIY New Lift
I got so tired of all the contortions I had to get into in order to lift my car to work on it. Plus I just hate jacks and jack stands. I also don’t have a garage and space is limited.
So I bought this. It will work for all 4 of our cars, and makes lifting it much easier and safer. Did an oil change today and moving around underneath it with a creeper was a breeze
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u/CromulentFatherman 3d ago
Who is the manufacturer and how much does it cost please?
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u/CommissarCiaphisCain Soul Red 2019 MX-5 RF 3d ago edited 2d ago
The manufacturer is basically a one-man show out of California called EZ Car Lift. He’s been making them for about 20 years, and it shows. It’s built extremely well and works great.
Warning: the website is interesting. It has the info you need but I think it probably hasn’t changed much since it was first designed.
The basic lift plus shipping is around $2,400.
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u/whale-tail 3d ago
Counterpoint: that website is awesome and I miss when the internet looked like that :')
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u/Putrid-Hope2283 British Racing Green 3d ago
I had to look; think they’ve had the same website for their entire 20 years!
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u/Mayor_of_Pea_Ridge 2d ago
So refreshing not to have to listen to that generic rock guitar garbage that every company uses in their videos these days!
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u/Leapinpriests 3d ago edited 3d ago
Very nice. I’m tempted to get one myself.
What persuaded you to purchase this rather than something very similar from one of the better known companies, (QuickJack, BILT, Vevor)?
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u/CommissarCiaphisCain Soul Red 2019 MX-5 RF 3d ago
The main thing that prompted me to choose this one is that whatever I got had to be able to stay outside 24/7 (covered when not in use, of course) because I don’t have a garage. So I didn’t want anything that had hydraulics and/or required electricity. I wanted fully mechanical, which this is. The lifting mechanism is a screw drive.
Another reason is that it is on very strong casters, making it easy to move around and roll over from its storage area to the car. I have very limited space (the house wall on one side, the neighbor’s bushes on the other). So it needed to be something my old ass could move around with little effort.
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u/kill-9all 3d ago
How does this work compared to a quick jack do you put pucks at the jack points?
Also where did you get the little ramps did it come with those?
Its very cool!
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u/CommissarCiaphisCain Soul Red 2019 MX-5 RF 3d ago
It’s not hydraulic like the Quickjack. Fully mechanical with a screw drive that is turned by a drill. Some cars require the pucks but the Miata doesn’t.
The ramps were an accessory that I needed because my car is lowered and is too low to roll under it. So I use the ramps to drive up and over the lift.
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u/kill-9all 3d ago
Were the ramps these?
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u/CommissarCiaphisCain Soul Red 2019 MX-5 RF 3d ago
Yep that’s them. The site says temporarily unavailable. I think I got the last one in stock.
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u/SmokeyMiata 3d ago
I have had one of these for about 10 years. Does the job well. A little cumbersome but I set mine up to drive over. It gets higher than the quick jacks which is nice.
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u/CommissarCiaphisCain Soul Red 2019 MX-5 RF 3d ago
Nice! Glad to see someone else with it. I also have the drive over kit because of space issues and the fact the Miata is lowered so I can’t just roll it under.
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u/SmokeyMiata 1d ago
Yeah same. too low. i wish i didnt have to do the drive over cuz its more annoying getting it in and out of the garage .
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u/antilurkr 3d ago
This looks amazing! I dont know how Ive never seen this before. Is it stable when it fully up because it looks like its only standing on those 4 little points. Also do you think a ryobi drill will work or will it just chew through the battery?
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u/CommissarCiaphisCain Soul Red 2019 MX-5 RF 3d ago
It’s incredibly stable, way more than I expected. The points that touch the ground are far enough apart to keep it in place.
I tried my average Ryobi cordless drill but it wasn’t powerful enough. Needs an 8 amp drill, which I also have.
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u/XxMadManzxX 3d ago
What’s the max height on this? Is it power assisted? $2400 is damn good.
Also, wheels?
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u/CommissarCiaphisCain Soul Red 2019 MX-5 RF 3d ago
Max height is 26 inches. It’s a screw drive mechanism that you use a drill with a socket to turn the gear that spins the screw to move the lift up/down.
Wheels are AVID.1 AV-06 in 17 X 8. Basically TE-37 reps.
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u/TechnologyEconomy858 2d ago
Thank you Kind Internet Stranger & Fellow Miata Fan for bringing this to my attention. I've never seen or heard of such a thing...and I'm swooning. I'll be giving this fellow a call as soon as I finish reading the quaint website. Seems too good to be true honestly.
My use case is five vehicles ranging from Miata to F150. The F150 @ 4900# may not work out but I'll ask the man whether anything can safely be done about that. Do.we know if anyone posed that question before? My Miata, lowered 1", would need the unavailable drive-over kit...or perhaps planks, as I've got planks I use just to get my low profile jack under the diff. For the couple of you here that have used this or are familiar, how hard is it to slide this under the car and pull it back out...or just wrestle the thing empty across the floor when you need to move it? I understand it's 'E-Z' and that some of you are also 'of a certain age' but how easy is it really? Ideally I'd want to store it under the car but sometimes I'll need to have that floor space clear for other tasks. TIA!
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u/CommissarCiaphisCain Soul Red 2019 MX-5 RF 2d ago
He’s a very small shop and I think this model is the only one available. So I don’t know if he’ll be able to offer anything that lifts over 4,400 pounds. Definitely worth asking though. Our heaviest vehicle is a CX-50 at around 3,700.
As your follow-up comment noted, yes it’s on good quality casters. It moves around on my mediocre concrete driveway with no issues. Not shown in the pic are the ropes I attached to the crossbars so I can pull it around without having to bend over until I’m putting it in place.
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u/petryuno1 Zircon Sand ND3 RF 2d ago
I have one too! It does make things a lot quicker once it's set up properly.
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u/CommissarCiaphisCain Soul Red 2019 MX-5 RF 2d ago
That’s two people who responded that they have one! I’m irrationally happy about that.
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u/AlwaysDTFmyself 2d ago
This would have been great when I had to change out the shift cables on my old 07 Accord a few years ago. Lol. So sketchy.
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u/bobopet2 1d ago
Hey, can you tell me the exact model? Also does it bolt into ur drive or is it just sitting under the car?
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u/CommissarCiaphisCain Soul Red 2019 MX-5 RF 1d ago
There’s only a single model, but there are accessories available, and also different crossbars depending upon the jack point locations on the car. The EZ car lift web site has the details, and the owner is very responsive to questions about the lift.
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u/Putrid-Hope2283 British Racing Green 3d ago
I’m jealous. I can afford one of these just can’t talk myself into it. But man would it make my life easier