Lift Install Location

[CV355]

My wife bought me a mid-height lift for my birthday this year.  It's supposed to be arriving soon, so I'm in the process of rearranging the garage bays to fit this thing.  We have a 2+1 garage, so a standard 2-car connected to a 1-car garage with a dividing (and unfortunately load-bearing) wall.

Here's the dilemma...  The best place that the lift would fit is in the 1-car garage, which we can clear out and make a dedicated lift bay.  This leaves 2.5' of clearance on all sides, so it's tight.  The lift will fit in the 2-car garage but it would be biased and would have to be taken down to get my other car in there.  There is a support beam in the center of the garage that hangs 8" from the ceiling, right in "lift territory." 

What would you do? 
Dedicated & Semi-permanent lift bay in 1-car garage, minimal side clearance
Biased temporary lift bay in 2-car garage, better side clearance

The ultimate goal is to clear out and build a 40x70 garage in the back yard, but that's not happening until 2021/2022.

[garyv]

I would just put it in the first bay and just deal with the limited clearance for now.  This way you can still get both cars in
the other garage.  I have a lift in my garage and 30 inches is enough clearance to get in and do some work. 

garyv

[gregaba]

I would use the 1 car bay. Two 1/2 feet is enough to get any work done and if you put it in the 2 car garage it gets to be a real pain to unbolt it from the floor every time you use it and you will have the mounting bolts sticking up- great for tire's if you happen to run over one.
Greg

[MRadke]

I would definitely use the one car bay!

[Joe-JDC]

How much do you really intend to use it in the short term?  IF you are like me, you use it twice, and it sits for months at a time, and if so, I would wait on the bigger garage, and build to place it accordingly.  Joe-JDC

[CV355]

How much do you really intend to use it in the short term?  IF you are like me, you use it twice, and it sits for months at a time, and if so, I would wait on the bigger garage, and build to place it accordingly.  Joe-JDC

I have a solid bit of work to do once the lift is in, long before we can put in the big garage out back.  I'll probably have the Mach 1 on the lift for a solid 2-3 weekends, plus I have some preventative maintenance to do on my daily driver and on our tractor that the lift would be great for.

Once the Mach 1 is done, the lift will probably be used for routine maintenance every few months.  Of course, once a few friends find out that there's a lift in my garage I'll probably start racking up free wings and drinks... 

[Heo]

I would  put  it in the one bay and replace the loadbearing  wall with a suportbeam  and a pillar  in the middle
Right where  the lift pillar is.  That way it is easy to move atleast on one side  of the car

[CV355]

I would  put  it in the one bay and replace the loadbearing  wall with a suportbeam  and a pillar  in the middle
Right where  the lift pillar is.  That way it is easy to move atleast on one side  of the car

Oh, that is tempting...

I appreciate the feedback everyone!  Single bay it is!

[FERoadster]

I agree with Heo but with a modification. I'd install a I-beam in place of the supporting wall  and make it a 3 car garage with 2 doors. A bit more work then no issue. I'd put it in the single bay side either way.
Richard >>> FERoadster