Joking aside, digging a decent pit was alot of work I found. I wanted a lift but the council wouldn't let me build my new garage high enough so a pit it was. Because I had a digger I decided to make a pit of reletive luxury, 5mtrs long with steps so I can get under nearly the full length of my 110 and just walk out.
I've tried a few times today to post pics of my put during construction but I keep getting "unable to summit cos bandwidth exceeded blah blah"
No idea what that means, is it a forum issue or something my end- dunno.

Flossie said:

Joking aside, digging a decent pit was alot of work I found. I wanted a lift but the council wouldn't let me build my new garage high enough so a pit it was. Because I had a digger I decided to make a pit of reletive luxury, 5mtrs long with steps so I can get under nearly the full length of my 110 and just walk out.
I've tried a few times today to post pics of my put during construction but I keep getting "unable to summit cos bandwidth exceeded blah blah"
No idea what that means, is it a forum issue or something my end- dunno.

Click to expand...

Another issue with pits is that they can fill with water in areas where the water table is high. Which means you either have to install an impermeable membrane all round, or install a low point with a sump pump with a float switch in it.
A friend of mine in Cornwall has an old pit, and neither of these measures was taken during construction, so he has to bale it out with a bucket if he wants to use it after periods of high rainfall.

I always used to say pits were the best, but having used a 2 poster I would go for the lift every time.
4 poster really limited access to the underside of the car, pretty much like a pit.

We use hoists at work that pick the truck up on the axles, its absolute bliss, no creaky knees on cold floors, lift vehicle up, remove wheel nuts, lower vehicle and remove wheels, lift up again to your preferred height and work on the brakes in luxury.
The all round under vehicle access makes even tough jobs easy, drag links/track rods/gearboxes/chassis bushes all easy to get to.

Just remember pits are dangerous,people and animals fall into them,petrol fumes sink into them.They are also fixed height,rarely give the right clearance to work at. I often raise or lower my ramp by just an inch to get it just right.Replacing sills etc is hard with a pit or 2 poster,just finished doing both sides on a D1 for a customer,safe and easy.

We have a 4 post with a jacking beam that is air powered.

Works a treat especially if doing a clutch on a landrover we have fabricated a cradle to fit bottom of r380 or lt77 gearbox.

Mean you can slide it back do clutch slide it forwards..

No lifting.

also if the vehicle is dead and on a trailer we back the vehicle up to ramp and if you are accurate can roll it straight off and on the ramp...lol

our beam slides right to the front of the ramp out of the way.

Only issue we find is if working under the bonnet from above you are forever stepping up and down to get on the ramp..
Took the wheels off mine and lowered it on the air jack for one job made life easier.

Jacking beam is also useful for pushing wishbones up into chassis etc..
and finally if doing a chassis rebuild or body off, the farmers son did a disco. unbolted the body, ramp up as high as possible, slung body of the RSJ roof beams, lowered ramp and rolled chassis off, then Ivor Williams trailer onto ramp. Ramp up lowered body onto trailer drove it away....lol

we used to have a pit, have filled it in, used to be handy for working on tractor crawler tracks back in the day...

However it will get water in bottom and it stinks also have to be careful what you park on it when it was covered, and ours had sleepers on it cut to size etc.. (ours was in concrete floored workshop inside with concrete pit)

clutch job putting a gearbox back in a landy involved two people stood in pit...( try lifting a gearbox and transfer combo above your head even after 3 weetabix..) wit two people inside with a scaffold bar and strap lifting it up.

then holding it while wiggling adjusting to get lined up and bolts in....

me i would take the ramp any day,, mate has a 2 poster which works well, just haven't worked on my landy on it..

having used all 3 options...

At one point we had ramp and pit in farm workshop...always a queue for the ramp....pit was rarely used

2 poster can be a pain if you have just parked vehicle in between posts but not using ramp, find you can't open the doors..but wheels free can be useful re propshafts etc and having to turn wheels.

our four posters involves a faff of jacking beam to rear and then two big tripod stands made of builder style jacks for holding floors up when you put in an rsj then jack to front etc..

other thing we have found at times if required you can get a trolley jack on the ramp to push up suspension components to refit after balljoint etc. change, also good lever point with a big bar off the ramp..

personally i would forget the pit and go the ramp option both 2 and 4 have advantages and disadvantages as listed above..

what ever comes at the right money will do...

How did yer get on with this. All working ok?

Going at the argument what is best a lift or pit, I have a pit and have used it for 40 years with out a problem
Best money I have spent,
I built my pit to fit my height with good lighting and plumbed air line, also extended side ways under the garage floor to give a 12x8 foot area for tools/grease gun / compressor/ gearbox hoist/ folding engine crane and obviously some tat as well, What’s to go wrong? Nothing it’s a hole in the ground, doesn’t rely on mains power or regular maintenance to keep working, and in reality has cost me nothing in these years

I’m about to start building a new garage and have been debating in my own head (and reading a lot of opinions) about what sort of lift or pit to have. This partly for working on my defender 110SW as well as other much lower cars. As I don’t have a huge amount of headroom (2.8m) I can’t a four post lift being much use. My currently thinking I could have a 3 meter long pit at one end with 2 post lift just behind it as it needs to the beam running across the floor for the hydraulics and cables.

I’m trying figure out where the posts will be relative to the 110 so I know where the post foundations need to be. Is it central between the wheels? Or further towards the front? A lot of the 2 post lifts have different length arms, why? I’m thinking of one of these. https://www.automotechservices.co.uk/products/as-6140a-twin-hydraulic-ram-2-post-lift/ Anyone have any opinions on them?

Any advice welcome.

My two post columns sit just in front of the b pillar meaning the doors cant be fully opened . The front arms need to be at a lesser angle when out as the weight is all at the front.

This was a really useful discussion to read, so thank you everyone who posted opinions. I am just clearing out some of my Land Rover collection to get a ramp in as I am getting too old for grovelling on the floor. One option not discussed is a big set of fixed ramps. This has a lot of the pros and cons of a pit, without the digging a hole bit. I have most of the steel lying around for this option, but still tempted to just buy something. Has anyone used a "wheels free" four post ramp? Worth paying the extra for?

David Round said:

This was a really useful discussion to read, so thank you everyone who posted opinions. I am just clearing out some of my Land Rover collection to get a ramp in as I am getting too old for grovelling on the floor. One option not discussed is a big set of fixed ramps. This has a lot of the pros and cons of a pit, without the digging a hole bit. I have most of the steel lying around for this option, but still tempted to just buy something. Has anyone used a "wheels free" four post ramp? Worth paying the extra for?

Click to expand...

if your getting a 4 post wheel free or jacking beam is essential

jamesmartin said:

if your getting a 4 post wheel free or jacking beam is essential

Click to expand...

I have never seen a wheels free four post lift in real life. I agree that a normal lift without a jacking beam is far from idea. How good is the wheels free solution to actually use? Is it one of those innovations that doesn't quite deliver in practice?

David Round said:

I have never seen a wheels free four post lift in real life. I agree that a normal lift without a jacking beam is far from idea. How good is the wheels free solution to actually use? Is it one of those innovations that doesn't quite deliver in practice?

Click to expand...

just two beams that run the full length of ramp, you lock them at desired height and lower the ramp down a bit ( use it like a bench)or fully

jamesmartin said:

just two beams that run the full length of ramp, you lock them at desired height and lower the ramp down a bit ( use it like a bench)or fully

Click to expand...

Which would you choose? Can the beams be removed if they get in the way? Presumably they are pretty heavy.

All the best

David

David Round said:

Which would you choose? Can the beams be removed if they get in the way? Presumably they are pretty heavy.

All the best

David

Click to expand...

id choose wheel free
they slide, either to the middle or to inner side of the wheel so access to the underside between ramps isnt restricted

Whenever I worked on my cars at my dads garage I always chose to use 1 of the wheel free ramps, never thought the beams got in the way.

J

marjon said:

Whenever I worked on my cars at my dads garage I always chose to use 1 of the wheel free ramps, never thought the beams got in the way.

J

Click to expand...

Thanks and also to jamesmartin - very useful to have some real experience to help me choose well.

If you think the wheel free bars might be in the way you can slide them fully out and drive the car on between them.
The wheel free bars come in handy for holding drip trays.
They also come in handy to lift heavy sh1t out of, or into, the back of your pickup or trailer.

After all the good advice here, a 6t two post ramp came up locally at the right price - so I agreed to buy that. Now I really need to have a clear out as I have a foundation to dig...

David Round said:

After all the good advice here, a 6t two post ramp came up locally at the right price - so I agreed to buy that. Now I really need to have a clear out as I have a foundation to dig...

Click to expand...

Nice one.

Don't skimp here! Get this bit right or it could kill you.

A few things to consider, use rebar and set your rebar in such a way that your ramps fixings will miss the bar or else you are going to be drilling for a while (like my installer who was on 1 hole for about 15minutes!) local builders merchants sell mesh, go for a sheet of A393 or if this poses you problems call your local Brundles and get some delivered, £10 delivery about £12 for the sheet.

Are you pouring 2 new bigger pads into an existing floor or band new slab/pads?