Digging a pit

...

Ah! I suspect you'll touch a few raw nerves there :-)

Mary

Yes - but look who said it :-)

Mary

I can think of someone I'd like to leave on the bottom of our pit as we filled it with concrete ... burying bad news indeed.

Mary

That's one reason I keep the old Rover - it's huge inside with the seats lowered and can carry most things - even a door with the hatch closed. My similar sized BMW has trouble with a cardboard box...

That's my point. Clambering in and out of the average domestic pit is easily as difficult as getting up and down off the floor. Unless it's much longer than they usually are.

I really don't think you've used one in anger as part of a reasonably active hobby...

It needs to be strong enough to support the weight of the car on a jack. That means hefty timbers. And usually lots of them. Indeed, such a pain to put back that most just leave the pit open.

Another who doesn't do car repairs. ;-)

Assuming a reasonably level surface, no chance.

I recently changed the steering rack and pump. And had to remove the front downpipes and manifold on one side to gain easy access to the hose connections (not strictly necessary, but i wanted to attend to a slight leak anyway). A pit would have been of little help as the wheels had to be off the ground. And by the time you lift and secure the car at this height, there's room to get underneath easily.

Now that's even worse - a ladder, indeed!

J.B.

Neither would I use axle stand or a pit, I would use a nice wheels free hoist. But if I didn't have access to a hoist I would choose stands anytime, not only are the wheels free to be removed the vehicles height can be adjusted to suit the job in hand - reach is often a factor when using pits, you're either cramped of have to over reach.

The more you spout on about what you say are the advantages of pit and the disadvantages of hoists or stands the more I'm convinced that you have not used either of the choices and probably never done work (more than an oil change) on any vehicle.

So WTF is the point in having a pit (or hoist for that matter) if you don't do any work, if you only need to inspect, assuming you don't need the wheels free, you almost certainly only need drive up ramps in a DIY situation- if you need to remove any wheels a pit is pointless as you will need to jack the vehicle up and support with stands.

But are both next to useless and dangerous....

So you trap yourself under the vehicle then if something goes wrong ! Also what if you need to access both ends of the vehicle whilst having one or more axle supported wheels free, such as when working on brakes and the such like.

You really are totally clueless so please stop imitating IMM !...

Pardon me for butting in on a private argument :o)

1. Businesses use hoists because they are more cost effective, even though they might be more expensive, not because they are less "dangerous". They are adjustable for height so different sized mechanics can work comfortably. The ambient light levels are naturally higher under a hoist. They are always going to get tools etc and (as has been said) getting in and out is a PITA. You can move right out to the edge of the car and beyond with a hoist, which you can't with a pit. Pits are a bugger with a three wheeler (sorry, couldn't resist that one). Modern business premises are built on concrete rafts with no basement - pits would add enormously to the expense. Pits are difficult to keep clean compared with a flat floor. Gas welding in a pit is a little inadvisable, if only because ou have inadequate access to the gas cylinders.

1. Domestic garages are not (in the main) suitable for hoists (as in whole car lifts, not things for lifting engines). Axle stands are fine - if used properly the car will not "rock off them". A pit would be more convenient (sometimes) if you do a lot of work under a car, given that you can't have a hoist but, given the expense of installation, the cost and effort of providing a secure cover, it must be arguable whether it would be worth putting one in. I would use one if I had one but I wouldn't put one in specially.

Can't see there's much to argue about!

There isn't (to my knowledge anyway) sucha thing as a Rover 70. If you're talking of P4 Rovers then there are 60, 75, 80, 90, 100, 105 and 110. I've had a 60, a couple of 100s and a 110.

A 70? Older ones included 60,75,80,90,100,105,110. But not a 70. ;-)

They are with a lift too. ;-)

That is arguable, if the workshop is being built there would be little (or no) extra cost in building a pit at the 'footings' stage of construction, unless there are local reasons why a pit would cause problems, such as a high local water table. Pits are not generally used now days due to the fact that they are inflexible (you can re-locate a pit as you can a hoist if the workshop layout needs to change) and that there are the many health and safety problems with them.

As I said earlier, the Rover 70 was written off. We gave our second car to a son, it was a hatchback. Neither it nor the Rover would have carried what we need to transport these days.

I've covered that.

I don't do anything in anger - it's not productive :-)

Well?

No it doesn't. Why jack a car when you have a pit? And where do you put jacks under a car?

How do you know that most leave a pit open?

You do have a tendency to generalise without evidence.

You are right and I am wrong as you so often are* ... it was a 75. It was a l-o-n-g time ago.

Mary

Not at all on arm lifts (where arms like fork lifts poke out and lift the car. Even on drive on ones, not so much although it's a bit dodgy. They back them on and rest the front wheel on the bracing strut which runs across the end and chock the wheels - seen it done although I'm not sure how happy I would have been had it been mine (or me underneath)!

comfortably.

No, it's chalk and cheese. But it's fun and what usenet's about, innit?

So saying, yours is the best post so far.

How DO you deal with three wheelers?

Just remembered that a professional repairer I knew specialised in Morris Minors and turned them on their sides to work underneath them ... with the aid of a chain block and several mattresses.

That too was in the past ...

Mary