Off-road and overlanding builders have a car lift problem the manufacturers don’t advertise. Lifted rigs on 37 inch tires are already 6 or 7 inches taller than stock, and putting one on a lift with full rise can push the roof rack above 12 feet in the air. That’s exactly where an Iowa Great Lakes overlanding builder found himself last spring, staring at his new pole barn and wondering if the ceiling was tall enough. We ran a site survey, did some math, and installed a car lift that fit the building and the trucks. Here’s what we learned.
Four-post car lifts sized for lifted trucks, overlanding rigs, and tall-vehicle applications across Iowa and the Midwest.
The Math on a Lifted Overlanding Rig
Start with a stock full-size pickup. Cab roof is about 6 feet 4 inches off the ground. Add a 6-inch suspension lift and 37-inch tires and the roof climbs to about 7 feet 2 inches. Add a low-profile roof rack with a rooftop tent stowed and you are at 8 feet plus. Now put that rig on a car lift with a 74-inch rise. Roof rack is at 14 feet 2 inches. That is above the ceiling of almost every pole building we survey. The overlanding builder in this case was working on a lifted diesel with a full roof rack and a rooftop tent. His rig cleared the shop door with inches to spare on the way in. Full-rise on a standard car lift was going to put the tent into the ceiling. We had to size the lift and the working height to the actual rig, not to the brochure.
Ceiling Height and Door Swing in a Modern Pole Building
The building was 40 by 60 with 14-foot side walls and a peak that ran to about 18 feet at center. Rolled-up sectional door was 12 feet by 12 feet, and the door tracks bowed down about 2 inches at the mid-point when fully open. That gave us an effective door envelope of about 11 feet 10 inches. Fine for the rig to drive in. Not fine for a full-rise lift with a tall vehicle on it, because the lift would pin the tent into the ceiling above the door track. We placed the car lift 15 feet back from the door under the peak of the truss line, where clear ceiling height climbed to about 15 feet 6 inches. That gave us enough vertical to put a lifted rig at full rise with the roof rack clear of every obstacle. The owner still doesn’t lift with the rooftop tent installed. He drops the tent first.
Two-Post vs. Four-Post for an Overlanding Build Shop
Overlanding builders work under trucks a lot. Skid plates come off and go back on, differential drops for regear jobs, transmission crossmember modifications for suspension lifts, and axle swaps are all common. Two-post car lift wins that job list because full wheels-free access is essential. However, overlanding shops also need to build slowly on a single project truck, sometimes over months. That is a four-post workflow because the truck can sit on the lift without babying the arms. The right answer for this shop was a two-post as the primary work bay and a four-post as the secondary storage or build-in-progress bay. The owner started with the two-post and plans to add the four-post next year. That sequencing let him get up and running on a working budget and grow into the second bay as revenue came in.
Oil Pan Gasket Work on a Diesel Overlander
Oil pan gasket work on a modern diesel pickup, especially one with a full skid plate, is a full day’s work even with a good car lift. The pan has to come out from below, and on a Ford or Ram diesel there’s a crossmember, transfer case brace, and often a factory or aftermarket skid plate in the way. On our two-post install we spec’d 74-inch rise with 12,000 lb capacity to give the tech room to drop the pan clear of the crossmember. Symmetric arms let the front bumper hang forward without loading the arms unevenly. The rig fits on the lift with the front skid plate clear of the arms, and the tech can drop the pan by feel instead of by contortion. On the first pan job the owner ran on the new lift, he saved four hours over what the same job had taken on jack stands.
Weight: Lifted Overlanders Are Heavier Than You Think
A stock diesel pickup weighs around 7,500 pounds. Add a suspension lift, larger tires and wheels, a bumper and winch, a bed rack with drawers, a rooftop tent, water tanks, and a full fuel load, and you can push a fully loaded overlanding rig to 9,500 or 10,000 pounds. That is the empty weight scenario. Working weight for lifting includes any tools, gear, and fuel actually in the truck. We size car lift capacity for overlanding shops at 12,000 lb minimum, with 15,000 lb becoming the right call if the shop plans to work on full-size class-C RV chassis conversions. On the Great Lakes job, we went 12K and the owner has been comfortable with the margin every time a fully built truck rolls onto the arms.
Anchor Placement: Watch for Post-Tension Slabs
Newer pole buildings sometimes have post-tensioned slabs, which are concrete floors with steel cables running through them under tension. Drilling into a post-tension cable is dangerous and expensive. Before we bolt any car lift down, we ask the customer for the slab pour specs, and if there’s any doubt, we scan the anchor pattern with ground-penetrating radar or a rebar detector. The Great Lakes building was a conventional rebar-reinforced pour, no post-tension. Anchor placement went straight to the manufacturer’s pattern with no surprises. If you’re in a newer pole barn and you don’t know your slab spec, ask the builder before you order the lift. It is a five-minute conversation that avoids a much bigger problem later.
Getting the Lift Right for an Overlanding Build Shop
The overlanding build shop is one of the more demanding car lift customers because the vehicles are heavier, taller, and more loaded than typical pickups. Standard lift specs work if you’re paying attention to the numbers. Rise height needs to accommodate the tallest rig you’ll build. Capacity needs to accommodate the heaviest rig you’ll build. Ceiling height needs to accommodate rise plus vehicle height plus a working margin. If those three numbers line up, the lift is a game-changer for the shop. If any one of them is off, the lift is a paperweight. Call 800-674-9302 or email founder@autoliftserv.com and send a photo of your shop and a description of the rigs you’re building. We’ll spec the lift and quote the install.
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