I’ve got a Mk3.5 MX5 which I’m about to fit a BBR suspension kit to - which lowers the car by 30mm. I have a 2 post ramp which I put the car on this afternoon for the first time, and only just got the lift arms underneath. Once it’s lowered I’m going to have to drop the car onto some wood blocks to get the lift arms out, which is going to make it a right pain to lift it in the future.
if you’ve lowered your MX5, how do you get on with garages trying to lift it?
I had a similar problem when using my mates two post ramp with my mk1 when it was lower than it is now.
I had to run the car into the centre of the ramp with the arms out of the way then drive forward onto some timber boards then place some more for the rear wheels enough to get the arms under the car.
Took a while but solved the problem.
I have now raised the suspension to a more user friendly height.
looks like I’llbe messing around with planks of wood! Will have to see what the dealer says when it’s time for its annual service - hopefully they use a 4 post lift.
Unless it is a local garage that does Landrovers, the number of four post lifts in garages is getting less especially main dealers who refurbish their workshops every four or five years and you would not use a 4 post to service an MX5 if you could use a 2 post. Even MOT stations are going away from 4 post lifts.
The silly response to get one of the lifts you drive over shows the poster has little knowledge of lifts as they need a rubber block between the car and the beams to lift the car and that would put them at about 150 to 170mm so your lowered MX5 would have the same problem as on the lift you are finding.
My own 2 post lift has a 120 mm lowest positions of the lifting pads. I have had a Mk3 on it with the BBR Turbo and BBR suspension kit with no issue.
I picked that lift for its safety features but many 2 posts now go down to 90mm at the lifting pads. I went for safety features over minimum lift height.
There was one very low MK1 that would not fit but I keep some 40mm thick timber for that eventuality and have only used it once.
Are you 100% sure your car does not have lowered springs or was that lift maybe on the high side. The lift pads are interchangeable and maybe the pads they had on were more suited to 4x4’s and Vans.
In saying that a three year old Merc SLK had only 10mm to spare between the sills and the lift pads.
I think that lift had higher than usual lifting pads.
I’ll measure the minimum lift pad height when I take the car off it in a few days time. It’s an Automotech lift, and yes I had the lowest pad height fitted. There are 2 issues - first is that the arms are quite chunky and cause a problem clearing the sills and second is that one of the arms sits higher (by probably 10mm) than the other 3. Never bothered me previously but now minimum height is becoming an issue I might need to investigate why.
The car is definitely standard height at the moment. I’m going to have to see how I get on with the BBR suspension kit. I test drove their demo and loved the way it rode and handled, but a 30mm drop might prove too much of a pain in a daily driver - in which case I’ll have to go back to the standard springs but keep the Koni adjustable dampers.
The front driver’s side arm on my 2 post lift as it is an asymmetric lift is about 10mm to 15mm higher than the rest of the arms. It is noticeable on Mk1’s and I had previously posted that Mk1’s tend to be lower at the front drivers side!
Most 2 post lifts are 3,000kg to 4,000kg lift capacity. If a garage tends to do light commercials they will have a 5,000kg lift. That appears possibly to be the case here as you say even the arms are getting in the way rather than just the pads.