Service pit

[Gordon Maney]

Do any of you have a pit in the floor of your shop? It is an old time alternative to a lift. I would love to have a lift, but don't have a building tall enough and can't afford to build one.

Have you ever worked with one? What was it like? Any reactions to the idea?

Discuss.

[carter davidson]

I have one, built the concrete block garage my self, since I had the use of a backhoe and while excavating for wall footings the pit was also dug and when concrete was delivered the pit bottom was poured. Later block formed the walls then the garage floor was added leaving a recessed 2X2 lip to allowing a cover to be places flush with the floor. Makes doing under vehicle work easy, pull over the pit and hop in.
I'll look for a pic and post if I find one.

[712edf]

No pit, but I do recall as a youth that my grandpa would straddle a ditch to do any underside repairs/servicing on his old trucks. Free pit I guess.

Bucky

[Desoto61]

I was looking at a garage that had one in it. Problem in my area is the water table is so high that they like to fill with water. Had I bought the place I would have just filled it in and covered it.

Safety wise they're an OSHA nightmare. Gasses will want to collect in them which can create an oxygen deficient atmosphere or an exposive one. I'd be curious to know what the safety requirements on one would be now.

They're a fall hazard when there's not something parked on it. Bigger chance of having a vehicle or something fall into it, etc.

Plus I'm not sure what the big benefit would be. Outside of fluid changes do you really want to remove a tranny and have to lift/carry it out of the pit? You don't have full access to the underside of the car and you'd still have to jack the vehicle up somehow to get the wheels off the ground.

A lift may be more expensive but it's much more useful than a pit IMO.

[carter davidson]

Desoto; Those are all good reasons you should not have one.

I built mine mostly for oil changes, exhaust system work. It's only shoulder deep so I don't have an oxygen deficient atmosphere that I breath and keep it covered with 2X12" planks when not in use. Never fell into it, I don't get drunk and try to work. No ground water collects in mine and it stays dry year round.

Thirty three years ago when I built the garage county codes only allowed a one story sized building based on the size of my house so no lift would have fit into it and having little money at the time I settled for a pit which the county codes allowed.

Several years past I used the pit to remove the tranny from my M37 and when loose I pulled it out and set it on a plank setting perpendicular to the pit's centerline them slid it out from under the truck.

Wonder why Jiffylube uses them?

[MoparNorm]

For the reasons noted above, both a pit and a 4 post lift have their shortcomings.
You can't work on suspensions, tires, brakes etc. Both pits and 4 post lifts are suited for lube and oil changes, but limiting for anything else.
Do you have a spot you can build a carport? You only need 11'-9" clearance for a lift.

[Gordon Maney]

For the reasons noted above, both a pit and a 4 post lift have their shortcomings.
You can't work on suspensions, tires, brakes etc. Both pits and 4 post lifts are suited for lube and oil changes, but limiting for anything else.
Do you have a spot you can build a carport? You only need 11'-9" clearance for a lift.

Really. I thought it would be higher than that. Both of my buildings have that much, I think. At least one does for sure.

I have only worked with in-ground lifts. I think that it what I would prefer. Do you disagree?

[MoparNorm]

Really. I thought it would be higher than that. Both of my buildings have that much, I think. At least one does for sure.

I have only worked with in-ground lifts. I think that it what I would prefer. Do you disagree?

Go to the Rotary Lift web site, they will have a PDF of the required height needed. I add that I mention Rotary because they still make their lifts in the USA, but there are also some family run companies in Texas and maybe in or near Iowa that still are made here and ALI certified. Beware that many former US made lifts are now thin, cheap and dangerous chinese junk, I would not work under them!

As for in ground lifts, they are pretty much illegal, banned and expensive in CA, (because they are suspected to cause leaking hydraulic oil into the ground water supply).
In other states they are still available, in fact I saw an in ground unit on display at SEMA, in the Rotary booth. They are a lot more work and cost to install. My lift is rated at 9,000 lbs, I wouldn't put my 9,000 lb Chassis/Cab on it, but they make above ground lifts that go to 15,000 lbs and they are fine.
It takes some getting used to having all that weight hanging in space, but they are well engineered and proven. You rarely find anything but two post lifts at auto agencies, tire shops, repair shops and garages out here.

http://www.rotarylift.com/default.aspx

[MoparNorm]

http://www.rotarylift.com/uploadedFiles/FAQ2.pdf

Height Guide from Rotary.
Mine is the SPOA9, it says 12' but my lift is only 11'-9" so I suppose they are adding a fudge factor to be on the safe side. The top of my lift has a top rail micro-switch to prevent it from going any higher.

[Severe Duty]

I've worked in a pit as a teenager, helping out. The pit made it quicker to get going on underside projects, and it made it a lot easier than jacking. The pit was covered with fabricated steel slide-on lid/decks, that were slid out before the vehicle was driven on. Downsides I recall: Humidity and bad farts get trapped. Get a fan. Make sure ALL of your tools are in reach, because you'll make a lot of time-consuming trips up and down the steps getting your tools. Be careful when driving onto the pit, mis-steering can be serious!

I dropped out one transmission, and we had a roll-away chainfall on a frame for lifting such things up and out or back in for reinstall. It is far easier adjusting/welding/replacing while standing up than on your back fighting the little crumbs and crap that jam up the wheels of a creeper like pebbles do a rollerskate. A pit makes good sense if you're frequently doing such work as chassis lube, exhaust, driveline and frame repairs, plus if you've got a massive hangover, you can put a car over the pit and climb down in there and pass out. Maybe they'll think you're actually doing something.

If I had a choice, I'd go with a hoist just to avoid multiple roundtrips dragging down parts and tools to be within reach, but I thought the pit would be pretty cool if it had a secret entrance to a small tunnel network where I can live or hide out and... wait a minute. What were we talking about?