How Tall Does My Ceiling Need To Be

I want to buy a four post car storage lift. How tall does my garage ceiling need to be?

We hear this question many times a day. There is "NO ONE STRAIGHT" answer.

There are several factors to be considered when selecting your Atlas® four post storage lift.

The simple answer relating to minimum ceiling height required is to add the height of both vehicles and then add another 8 ( 7 inches may be acceptable ask your salesperson as this measurement depends on the model of lift you buy) inches to that total. The sum of all those measurements would be the minimum amount of ceiling height required. Assume you have two cars that measure a total of 107 inches ( 8 feet 11 inches). You need to add an additional 8 inches to 107 inches (this 8 inches accounts for the thickness of the runway and the 1-2 inches of œlift height you will need to raise your runways œup and off the locks, so that they can be lowered.)You now have a total required minimum ceiling height of 115 inches (9 feet 7 inches). Pretty simple math..but there are more issues to consider.

Your storage lift is portable and can be œrolled to the optimal position in your garage. The portability allows you the flexibility to position your lift so that you can utilize the maximum amount of ceiling height. You can even position you lift accross wise  in the front of your garage so that only the hood of your driver car is under the lift.

I have a garage door opener that "hangs down" below the bottom of my ceiling and I think my car on top will hit the opener. What can I do?

You can have your garage door opener moved and mounted on the side of the door and have extended door tracks installed. This modification allows your garage door to "hug the wall and the ceiling".

Before you go to this added expense, consider the following:
The raised garage door will extend back into garage (only) about 8 feet and the door opener may be installed about 12 feet back from the garage door opening. You may want to consider moving your four post lift farther back into your garage and positioning your car so that the hood or truck (lowest part of your car) is under the lowest object hanging from your ceiling. (garage door opener).

I want to park an SUV or pickup truck under my stored car (and/orI don™t want to bang my head on the raised runway). How do I calculate the needed ceiling height?

You may want to consider buying one of our extended height four post storage lifts. The runways on these lifts go high enough to park most SUVs and pickup trucks underneath, but you need to make sure that you have enough ceiling height to raise the runways to the needed height and still have enough room to park a car on top. Measure the height of your SUV (or pickup truck) and add 2 inches. Measure the height of the car to be stored on top and add 7 inches. The combined total is the minimum garage ceiling height you will need.