question about parking lifts

[vinny2]

looking to move, and one of the things i'm looking at in a new house is the garage, and the ceiling height to be able to acccomodate a lift, and i have a question.....is the garage door opener an issue? when there are 2 seperate garage doors, the motor and track sit right in the middle of each, well below the ceiling, and it seems like that would prevent raising a car up high enough to park another underneath. also, when the door itself goes up, the track it is on, in most garages, is about 18 inches below the ceiling. can this be modified to raise the garage door so it is a lot closer to the ceiling when up?
any help and input is appreciated.

 

[AZTVR]

I've done a little research, trying to figure out how to maximize use of the space that I have. Obviously, you want to have a raised or vaulted ceiling. What you can also get is a low headroom kit for the rails in order to get the door as high as possible. There are also kits that would make the door follow a vaulted ceiling: http://www.clopaydoor.com/comm/c-basics.asp

I saw a new garage door opener at Lowe's that solves the problem with the opener being in the way: http://www.wayne-dalton.com/DirectDrive.asp

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[Lee00blacksilverGTS]

If you have the usual large single door in a two car garage it can be done by angling the existing tracks up a little and also raising the opener and the track it rides on up to match. The opener hanging in the middle of the garage will be outside the footprint of the lift. You can even stack two sports cars under a 9 foot ceiling this way, both cars should be no higher than 48 inches. The top car needs to be backed in so that the garage door clears over the hood which is obviously lower.

 

[AJT]

I had the rails changed to a wider angle so they hugged the ceiling. Took me 3 weeks & called about 10 garage door companies to find someone that could do it.

 

[Mr Hemi Head]

have a look at my photos. I used a motor from Lowes that mounts above the door. I had the same problem with locating a company to mod the door. Have them look at this thread for an explanation since most had no clue or said it could not be done.Ceiling height in the photos is 10'7".

 

[vinny2]

thanks for the info. looks like it can be done, without much trouble. i fugured it must be do-able since they sell these things for garages, and a lot of people here have them.

 

[99 R/T 10]

I had the rails changed to a wider angle so they hugged the ceiling. Took me 3 weeks & called about 10 garage door companies to find someone that could do it.

Hey AJT,
It looks like your door will only go up about halfway(cut back on travel due to the placement of the opener), is that the case?

 

[Compensating]

Hello..

My ceiling is 12'2" and I had my builder run the door tracks up along the wall and hug the ceiling.. I utilized my 3rd car slot for this and it works great

I opted NOT to go with an "opener" due to the fact that I use this lift to work on vehicles bigger than the Viper.. and opening the 3rd (smaller) door by hand is not really a big deal to me.. plus I once have had an Expedition up in the air and could walk easily underneath it for service. No way I could have dont that if an opener was there.. even with the high ceilings.

I have a 2 post frame lift from "Autolifters" and I would recomend this product to anyone.. great company, great prices, and great service too!

In my own opinion stay away from the "wayne dalton" openers.. I reserched this topic intensley when building our house and even the door companies that came out for the estimates refused to warranty them after THEY installed them.. something about they are easily broken into.. but.. maybe I had some bad companies...

and yes.. that is the viper sleeping oh so sound until I return from the hell known as the middle east..

Good luck!!

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[AJT]

I had the rails changed to a wider angle so they hugged the ceiling. Took me 3 weeks & called about 10 garage door companies to find someone that could do it.

Hey AJT,
It looks like your door will only go up about halfway(cut back on travel due to the placement of the opener), is that the case?

Nope, it goes up all the way. Optical illusion. Everything was raised about 18". The opener is in the same spot as it was, just higher.

 

[AJT]

Look at the front wall where the track is mounted to the wall, then look down about 18" & you can see where the track was mounted.

 

[Vip1]

AJT When you raise your lift with ramps on do the ramps rub the latch release bar, mine bends the release bar in & has rubbed the paint off. Thanks Troy

 

[Kevin ACR]

My rotary lift is in a standard 9' something garage. Local company modified my door, fairly simple but I didn't want to deal with changing the cable and rewinding the torsion bar, too scarey.

Also, wayne dalton has a not so good reputation and I was steered away from them due to reliability issues
Garage door company did the following:
1)add 1 panel to top of door
2)add rail extensions to allow rails to run about 5 " off of ceiling
3)move door opener and rail to the side of door instead of center, this allowed the door to get closer to the ceiling. He put it as close as possible without touching...with teh opener on the side he didn't have to compromise height to accomodate the opener
4) works perfect

This way of going allowed use of what I owned already and was pretty inexpensive. Been using it for 2 years now without an issue with my old craftsman door opener.

Sorry no pictures but any door company should be able to do it, and the basic panel door can be pulled from the side or center without issue according to the door company, and I don't see any evidence of side loading at all.

 

[V10 ACR]

Kevin,
Is there any way you can take a picture of your set up? The door guy I spoke with said it can't be done. Thanks.

Kurt

San Diego

 

[AJT]

AJT When you raise your lift with ramps on do the ramps rub the latch release bar, mine bends the release bar in & has rubbed the paint off. Thanks Troy

Mine does the same, it looks like the "stops" welded to the ramp are a little off. The bar moves out of the way now.

 

[scottgf]

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There's my setup...added 2 panels to door, ran track all the way to ceiling...standard opener...12 ft ceiling

Cheers,