Many mechanics work on vehicles while lying on their backs on rollers
or in pits under the cars. These are uncomfortable positions in which to work
on a vehicle, as oil, grease and other debris drips and falls on your body at
close proximity when on a roller, and a pit requires the mechanic to deal with
the hassle of climbing down and back up every time they fix a car. Vehicle
lifts could prove a useful solution to these problems, so consider adding one
to your repair business,
Less Physical Strain on the
Mechanic
Humans aren’t meant to work for long periods on their backs, and the
strain of doing so proves especially hard on your mechanics who have done so
for years. Rollers put mechanics in a cramped position with minimal space to
maneuver their arms, making repairs both a straining and a time-consuming
ordeal. In the cramped space, mechanics are more likely to hit and injure their
arms and their legs, as they pull themselves out from under the car.
Your business could prove liable for health care in the event of sudden
injury or injury as a result of long-term strain. Choosing a lift instead is
not only healthier for your employees, but a wiser investment to keep lawyers
at bay.
Ease of Access
The cramped position of a mechanic on their back on a roller makes it
more difficult than it needs be to work on a vehicle’s undercarriage. Even when
you opt for a pit instead, the mechanic may have more room to move their arms,
but they’re in a fixed position to work on the car. They may need a lift
themselves to boost themselves up to reach the car, or if they’re particularly
tall, they may need to work hunched over.
A lift can be adjusted to precisely fit the height of a mechanic, so
they can move their arms freely without straining. The entire undercarriage of
the vehicle is exposed, making it easier for a mechanic to check one part of
the car, walk a few steps and check another part, a task that ought to be
simple but certainly isn’t when done on a roller or even in a pit.
Enabling Multitasking
It’s not possible to rotate or change a vehicle’s tires when you’re
working on the undercarriage, unless you employ a lift. If you work on a roller
and use a jack to raise the car to get access to the tires, you certainly can’t
have the mechanic underneath at the same time as this is a potential hazard
should the jack slip and the car slam down.
When working on the undercarriage via a pit, the car stays on the
ground, and the same hazard of using a jack to lift the car at the same time
applies. Plus, then the car may be too high for an employee underneath to reach
regardless. With a lift, you streamline car maintenance, which saves you time
and earn you more money more quickly.
Saving Space
If your garage or work space is already cluttered, you may not have the
room for a full pit add-on. With a lift, you won’t have to worry about digging
out a hole below your garage. The lift can be installed anywhere you have
appropriate floor space, even including
the space you may already use to fix vehicles via rollers, if the ceiling is
high enough.
You may also be able to install the lift outside or build a shelter to
house it if weather is frequently inclement in your area. A new shelter over
the lift is likely to cause fewer problems than digging a hole to house a pit,
as a hole could run into wiring and plumbing that would need to be re-routed.
Just make sure the lift area remains clear of debris before each use.
Multi-Car Parking
If you look into a parking lift rather than specifically a lift for
working on a car, you’ll enjoy many of the same benefits, but one you will
especially benefit from is saving space. If you have a larger number of
vehicles to work on but you don’t have the room to keep them stored on your
property, you’ll have to turn away business. If you install lifts that allow
you to park two cars in a space where you would have previously just been able
to park one, you can double your business.
With so many benefits to adding
vehicle lifts to your automotive repair
business, such as safety, generating more business and increasing the amount of
available shop space, it’s easy to see why so many shop owners have decided to
install these lifts to keep a competitive edge in today’s automotive repair
market.
Author Bio: Jamie Summers is
a contributing writer and auto mechanic. He owns his own garage outside of New
York City. Before becoming a shop owner, he was all too accustomed to the
frustrations of working on cars on rollers and in pits, and now he could never
imagine working on cars without using a lift.
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