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MG TD TF 1500 - TD Fit on Lift

I am thinking about buying a '53 TD. One consideration is that it will have to be stored on the lift in my garage - this would be the fourth car in a three car garage.
The width of my lift tracks is 38 inches (96.5 cm).
I am concerned that the TD tire width is not much greater than that and would make it tricky if not dangerous to store it and work on it with the tires so close to the edges.
Anyone using a lift who could comment?
TIA.
Ken Hudson

The center-line width of the TD front tires is 47 inches and the center-line width of the rear tires is 50 inches, if this helps.

Dallas

Dallas Congleton

Hi Ken,

I have a '52 TD and a Bend-Pak lift and it works fine.

The tires *can* be very close to the interior of the lift, however as long as you are careful to not go any further, dropping the wheel in-between, it's fine.

I've had my '52 on/off a lift for over a year now with no problems. Last night I got my '68 midget off of the lift and put the TD back on, and I did get one of the TD tires very close to the inside edge of one side... I think that in the future, I'll create something to help line the car up when I'm driving up on the lift. One problem I have is that my driveway is very steep, and so I have to drive up and on to the lift in one motion and that complicates things...

If you have any questions let me know. You can also ask me about how I chose my lift.

Scott
karst97 (at) yahoo.com
Scott


Oops, I see you already have a lift.

Anyway, I haven't had any issues with the TD, however I've only jacked it up by a single wheel while on the lift, using a jacking plate and very short bottle jack. I never thought that it was unstable or had any problems.

IF you are planning on trying to put the TD up on jackstands while on the lift, then you might have some issues unless you have two jacking plates or equivalent.

Scott
Scott

Scott,
I bought a Gemini left out of Texas and am quite happy with it. It is an "outside slider" ("outside collar") and seems much safer to me than other "inside slider" lifts I have seen. I did buy two jack plates with it. When I looked at Bend-Pak lifts, I thought that at least some of them had runways with adjustable runway widths?
Ken Hudson


Yes, Bend-Pak has a lift with adjustable runway widths, however the min width wasn't any different than their normal model's width, so it wouldn't help with the TD.

I looked at the Gemini site and I didn't see the "outside slider/collar" feature you mention.

I ended up with Bend-Pak because of all of the safety features (dual locks, locks activate if cables ever failed, etc.) and the extra design margins built in to the lift. I've had the TD up on the lift, with my Midget below, and worked on the TD (walking around it on the ramps, replacing the TD dash, etc.). The lift was very stable the entire time.

Scott
Scott

I have two four poster lifts which are just alike. They are very well built and everything is powder coated, comes with drip trays, drive on ramps, etc. The ramp width is 18.5 in. and the distance between the ramps is 38 in. I've had all of our cars upon these lifts at one time or another and experienced no problems That would include 2 MGBs, a TF-1500 an MGA and even my '64.5 Mustang conv. and the BMW. An inside guide rail like those that you see on some quick change oil businesses on each side of their pit, would be a nice thing to have. That would be an easy modification.

Cheers - Dennis
Dennis & Pat Rainey

If the tires are right on the edge of the ramps, it can be tricky to get on the lift without driving off into the middle. You can lean out of the car as you drive on if you have the space to leave the door open while entering the garage. If your lift is a 4-post then this could be difficult.

Another option is to use a spotter who can steer you on straight. I back my cars onto my lifts so this is how I typically do it.

The best thing I've ever seen was at a local muffler shop. There is a huge 6' x 4' mirror on the wall in front of the shop's lift so you can watch your own tires as you drive on. It works amazingly well and if I had the space for such a mirror I would do it myself.

I plan to take another approach personally when I get the chance. I am going to find an electric wench to connect to the back of my lift. I will then hook it to the rear axle and hit the button on the hand-held remote to pull the car onto the lift. Steering the car will be easyas it is pulled slowly onto the ramps.
Steve Simmons


I like Dennis' idea of an inside guide rail.

Something I might do is put some kind of sensor on the lift to let me know if I'm too far one way or the other.

Scott
Scott

My lift does have guard rails on the inside and outside, but they don't extend to the very ends. I guess you aren't likely to drive off in the first few inches, nor are you likely to drive off once all four wheels are on.

Click here for photo: http://www.mgnuts.com/temp/gt_lift.jpg
Steve Simmons

The fact that my lifts are the four poster type allows a reference as you are driving onto the lift. You can easily "center" yourself between these posts as they are very easy to see from inside the car. Another nice feature of the four poster style lifts...

Cheers - Dennis
Dennis & Pat Rainey

This thread was discussed between 31/08/2006 and 02/09/2006

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