Automotive Car Lifts

Cars up on lifts in an auto repair shop

Automotive car lifts are equipment that use hydraulics to lift vehicles off the ground. Just about every auto repair center or garage has at least one hydraulic car lift that is sunk into the floor of a service bay, and at least one portable automotive car lift that can be used in another area of the facility. While the automotive car lift is generally connected with auto repair facilities, there are a number of automotive car lifts that are utilized in manufacturing surroundings and even around the home.
The automotive car lift (or auto lifts) could be seen almost in all auto mechanic workshop around the globe. It is essential to know that the car lift began its life as a scissor jack, and at present almost every car lift work using hydraulics (power from fluid). Automotive car lifts have gone through multiple different changes because of the need to raise heavier vehicles.
Bear in mind that the major purpose for the automotive car lift is to hoist vehicles up considerably so that the auto mechanic could get a better visual and easier access to the mechanical part in the undercarriage. The scissor jack lift has lifting mechanism similar to the parallelogram lift. However, the scissor lift raises and lowers the vehicle in a straight vertical direction rather than fore and aft of it’s original position.
As it has been said, there are many different weight classifications of automotive car lifts, you can find a suitable one for almost all kinds of jobs. You have to know that the most popular is the in-ground lift, which is used widely in the auto repair shops these days.
The other common car lift is the surface one, which is mounted above the ground and traditionally use hydraulic pump. This type of car lift is referred to as the four column lift, and is popularly used for such things as, muffler replacement, wheel alignment, and oil changes.
The standards for automotive lifts manufactured in the United States are determined by the Automotive Lift Institute (ALI), an association that was formed in 1945. The institute demands that every member meet a stringent set of quality and safety standards in order to receive endorsement and certification. There are also intermittent inspections to make sure that members of the organization are maintaining those benchmarks on a continuous basis. The Automotive Lift Institute also provides manuals to teach you the right way to lift a vehicle without causing injury or property damage.