Elevating Life and Its Comforts: The History of Car Lifts

Is it not a familiar image that for one to repair or maintain a car, the mechanic must slide underneath the vehicle on a wheeled board with a wrench in hand? You wait for a while and a few minutes later, the automotive repairman slides back out all covered in grease and oil.

This can be such a struggle, especially when there aren’t any lights to make things easier. Imagine having to be on your back and the strain it can have on your neck and eyes as you squint, trying to fix your car problem without the slightest idea where it might be malfunctioning.

Technology and innovation serve to remedy this, and as history suggests, it has always served to make our lives easier. This is how car lifts, such as Challenger Auto Lifts, came to be.

A Brief History of Car Lifts

Car lifts and vehicle lifts first came out as the inground lift. With holes in the ground and the vehicle parked onto a ramp, mechanics and automotive repairmen dug a pit large enough for them to be able to operate underneath. It was a costly solution and installation was troublesome, but thanks to technological advances, the aboveground lift soon came into the scene.

Aboveground lifts, first developed in Europe, are available in two types. These variants are the two-post lift and the four-post lift. Taking cue from the struggles of the inground lift, the aboveground lift took a car and raised it to a specific height for the mechanic’s comfort.

The problem with aboveground lifts, though, was that during the time, European automobiles were much more compact in size compared to American cars. With American vehicles being larger and heavier, there were needed modifications to the aboveground lift.

American lifts, developed to accommodate bulkier vehicles and provide more angles in repairing, signaled the final developments of car lifts. Along with this advancement in American automotive repairs, the mobile lift came to be.

JMC Automotive Equipment is sure to have the car lifts you are looking for. So feel free to contact us!