DIY Garage / Rent a car lift (KE/D)

esmo

Hi, does anyone know if there are any DIY garages around the Kildare/Dublin area? I know there were a few places in Dublin but they have closed. I'm looking to do some work under my car so if there is somewhere I could rent a car lift it would make things a lot easier.
Appeciate any replys...cheers

biko

Good question, I don't think there are any left. Maybe someone will know.

Mar4ix

I doubt there is any official car lift rent place, as insurance is a killer of that type of business, i think few years ago in dublin was a place, but was closed, as insurance cost was too high, which leads to high rent, and no costumers at all. Only solution would be find some small garage through friends of friends, and use it in weekend or after business hours on your own risk, if you cant find any ( like myself), good jack, few stands and bit of carpet and work away on driveway.

esmo

Yeah I think if I could find a small garage who would let me work away after hours, that would be great but hard to find a place like that. I have a jack and axles stands but I wanted to change the gearbox and differential oil so I would have to jack it up on 4 stands. With the weather these days it just makes the job a lot more messy.

Mar4ix

esmo wrote: »

Yeah I think if I could find a small garage who would let me work away after hours, that would be great but hard to find a place like that. I have a jack and axles stands but I wanted to change the gearbox and differential oil so I would have to jack it up on 4 stands. With the weather these days it just makes the job a lot more messy.

Feel your pain. I had to do this, as I didnt know anybody who would lend me a lift. were changing clutch and boxes on axle stands and jacks, not that easy. Maybe other solution - as bring it to garage, and ask to do work, would save you good bit of health , time and problems.

Yea, i know, that cost good bit of money, maybe shop around, ask friends or colleagues who knows good garage which charge reasonably .

rex-x

Mar4ix wrote: »

Feel your pain. I had to do this, as I didnt know anybody who would lend me a lift. were changing clutch and boxes on axle stands and jacks, not that easy. Maybe other solution - as bring it to garage, and ask to do work, would save you good bit of health , time and problems.

Yea, i know, that cost good bit of money, maybe shop around, ask friends or colleagues who knows good garage which charge reasonably .

We tend to not use the lift for many gearbox and clutch changes, its often easier to change them on the floor. A lift is a great tool but its not for every situation, you can make more work for yourself trying to use it.

esmo

The car is a BMW so with the gearbox right under the middle of the car makes it awkward, but looks like I'll have to go for the 4 axle stand option and try squeeze under ☺

There are places in Cork and Limerick so I was just hoping someone would know a place in the Kildare/Dublin area.

cletus

Jesus, I'd be very wary of using 4 axle stands. Push the car in any direction and its likely to come down. Given the job you're doing your bound to get some movement.

I'd be more inclined to maybe use ramps at the front and stands at the back. Better again, if you could get ramps front and back

The Sidewards Man

esmo wrote: »

The car is a BMW so with the gearbox right under the middle of the car makes it awkward, but looks like I'll have to go for the 4 axle stand option and try squeeze under ☺

Awkward? they are a doddle. Box out in 1 hour.

Del2005

Mar4ix wrote: »

I doubt there is any official car lift rent place, as insurance is a killer of that type of business, i think few years ago in dublin was a place, but was closed, as insurance cost was too high, which leads to high rent, and no costumers at all. Only solution would be find some small garage through friends of friends, and use it in weekend or after business hours on your own risk, if you cant find any ( like myself), good jack, few stands and bit of carpet and work away on driveway.

Unfortunately in Ireland there is no such thing as your own risk. Injure yourself working in a garage and their insurance has to pay out, same as there is no such thing as a trade sale to an ordinary consumer. With our law you can't sign away your rights so no sane business owner would let someone work on their own vehicle in a commercial premises. Which is a shame as it's designed to protect the customer but ends up costing everyone.

esmo

Hey folks, thanks for the replies. Sorry I'm not actually changing the gearbox, just the gearbox oil and differential oil. I will take Cletus's advise and get some car ramps. Will have to get 4 as I want the car to be very straight so I can fill the gearbox to the correct level.

I suppose the point is I'm always doing bits and bobs with my car and my families car's in my spare time so was just trying to find out if any of the DIY garages are still going. Looks like I will have to stick to my driveway and plan my work around the weather

Would be handy if I knew someone with a garage who would let me work away after hours, would drop them a couple of quid, but I guess insurance is the problem.

George Dalton

How are you going to get the car up onto four ramps?

Surely you would be better off paying a garage a few quid to do the job for you?

I understand that for most DIYers it's more about the satisfaction of doing something yourself and not necessarily about saving money but in my opinion this one is best done on a lift.

esmo

George Dalton wrote: »

How are you going to get the car up onto four ramps?

Surely you would be better off paying a garage a few quid to do the job for you?

I understand that for most DIYers it's more about the satisfaction of doing something yourself and not necessarily about saving money but in my opinion this one is best done on a lift.

I was going to buy the low profile plastic style ramps and drive the car up an all fours. I understand a lift is the best option for the job, that's why I'm trying to see if there are places that rent lifts. Also I just prefer doings maintenance on my car myself.
What I will probably do for this job is just jack the car up on one side and drain the gearbox and measure exactly what comes out...then I know how much to fill it by.

Del2005

esmo wrote: »

I was going to buy the low profile plastic style ramps and drive the car up an all fours. I understand a lift is the best option for the job, that's why I'm trying to see if there are places that rent lifts. Also I just prefer doings maintenance on my car myself.
What I will probably do for this job is just jack the car up on one side and drain the gearbox and measure exactly what comes out...then I know how much to fill it by.

The owners manual will tell you how much to put in, how do you know that it has the correct amount in it now?

esmo

Del2005 wrote: »

The owners manual will tell you how much to put in, how do you know that it has the correct amount in it now?

I checked the owners manual and it doesn't tell you because it's a BMW and they don't recommend changing the gearbox oil as it's "sealed for life". It has a full service history so I'm going to assume the oil was never changed before. I suspect it will be approx 1.3litres.

Roger Mellie Man on the Telly

I did mine on ramps on a sloping driveway so car was pretty level.

What I did:
Warmed the car (10 minute spin)
Put car on ramps
Loosened the fill (top) plug to make sure it would loosen, otherwise you could have problems after the next step...:pac:
Drained gear oil from bottom plug.
Refitted and torqued bottom plug
Used a Gunson Eezibleed with pressure from the passenger front tyre and just kept filling through the top plug until it ran out. I used about 1 and a half quarts of Redline MTL.
Refitted and torqued top plug.


This method is probably not correct or recommended, but it worked a treat for me, so far...if my transmission blows up anytime I'll let you know.:)

It would've obviously been easier to go to a garage, but I didn't.

esmo

Roger Mellie Man on the Telly wrote: »

I did mine on ramps on a sloping driveway so car was pretty level.

What I did:
Warmed the car (10 minute spin)
Put car on ramps
Loosened the fill (top) plug to make sure it would loosen, otherwise you could have problems after the next step...:pac:
Drained gear oil from bottom plug.
Refitted and torqued bottom plug
Used a Gunson Eezibleed with pressure from the passenger front tyre and just kept filling through the top plug until it ran out. I used about 1 and a half quarts of Redline MTL.
Refitted and torqued top plug.


This method is probably not correct or recommended, but it worked a treat for me, so far...if my transmission blows up anytime I'll let you know.:)

It would've obviously been easier to go to a garage, but I didn't.

Good job mate...I don't see anything wrong with your way...smart work. I have a little oil pump thing which is real handy for jobs like this. Yeah I'm a DIY man myself so I just prefer doing the work myself even if it's a little more hassle.

Some day I might just dig a man hole in the driveway to make things easier...don't think she would be too happy though ðŸ˜

deandean

For the diff oil you can just drive the back wheels onto 4 inch blocks or timber and you'll get in under the back.
Is it an auto box?

dodzy

esmo wrote: »

Hi, does anyone know if there are any DIY garages around the Kildare/Dublin area? I know there were a few places in Dublin but they have closed. I'm looking to do some work under my car so if there is somewhere I could rent a car lift it would make things a lot easier.
Appeciate any replys...cheers

Insurance & stolen tools ensured a quick death.