Dannmar DMR-6 Review: Mid-Rise Scissor Lift Built for Low Ceilings

Dannmar is the value brand under the same ownership as BendPak, and the DMR-6 is its mid-rise scissor: a 75 in by 65 in platform that sits 4.75 in tall, raises 6,000 lb to 47 in, and runs on 110V or 220V. The layout is the same idea as the BendPak MD-6XP. Four rubber-padded arms meet the car at its pinch welds or frame points, a hydraulic cylinder drives the scissor, and multi-position automatic locks hold the platform on steel at several heights.

The class exists for garages that cannot take a 2-post. A 2-post needs about 11 ft of ceiling and anchors in 4 in of sound concrete. A mid-rise needs neither, and because the platform collapses to under 5 in, a stock car can drive over it and park when the lift is not in use. That is what lets a two-car garage own one without losing a bay to it.

The price of around $2,499 puts the DMR-6 about $400 under the MD-6XP and $300 over the Triumph NSS-6, and the differences that money buys are certification and rise, in that order.

The 6,000 lb rating covers all passenger cars and crossovers and the common half-ton pickups at curb weight. The 47 in of rise puts a sedan's rocker around 51 in off the floor, which is chest height for a person standing and enough to roll a transmission jack under a car. In an 8 ft garage that leaves room for a vehicle up to about 4 ft tall at full rise; a tall SUV will meet the ceiling before the lift tops out, and the multi-position locks let the platform stop lower.

The footprint is 75 in long and 65 in wide, a couple of inches larger than the MD-6XP in both directions. It fits a standard bay with walking room on both sides. Collapsed height is 4.75 in. A stock sedan or SUV drives over it; a car on lowering springs will need ramps.

At about 900 lb the DMR-6 is a fixture. It can be dragged to a new position with a pallet jack and two people, and that will happen once. It does not fold, stand against a wall, or go anywhere for a garage sale, which is the trade against a Triumph NSS-6 at 620 lb or a QuickJack at 167.

The DMR-6 arrives on a pallet at roughly 900 lb, so liftgate delivery and a pallet jack or engine hoist are the first things to arrange. Dannmar's manual covers placement, leveling with shims, connecting the power unit to the hydraulic port, filling the reservoir and cycling the platform unloaded to bleed the system. Two people with basic tools can do that in an afternoon. Anchoring is optional on a flat, sound slab; the platform's weight and footprint keep it in place, and Dannmar specifies a minimum concrete thickness in the manual that a heaved or cracked floor will not meet.

Power is selectable between 110V and 220V. On 110V the lift works, and the rise is slower with a heavy vehicle. On 220V the pump runs cooler and faster, and Dannmar recommends it for repeated use. A home garage that lifts a car every week or two is fine on a dedicated 20-amp 110V circuit; running 220V is a one-time electrician's bill of a few hundred dollars that removes the question.

Leveling is the step that decides whether the locks engage evenly on both sides. A pitched slab means shimming one edge before the first lift, not after.

The DMR-6 has multi-position automatic safety locks that engage as the platform rises, a pressure relief valve in the hydraulic circuit and a flow control on the descent. With the locks set the car sits on steel. Lowering requires raising the platform slightly to unload the locks before they release, which means they never let go under load. The mechanism is the same arrangement the MD-6XP uses.

What the DMR-6 does not have is ALI certification. Dannmar's spec sheet does not claim it and the model is not in the ALI directory. That is the main functional difference from the MD-6XP, and its weight depends on the buyer. A home mechanic is not required to buy a certified lift, and the design is shared with a certified sibling. A commercial shop that answers to an insurer or an inspector generally is, and for that buyer the $400 for the MD-6XP is not optional.

The warranty is 3 years structural and 1 year hydraulic. BendPak gives 5 years on the MD-6XP's structure, which is the second thing the price gap buys.

The MD-6XP (around $2,899) is the same idea with an ALI/ETL listing, a 5-year structural warranty, an inch more rise and a quarter inch less collapsed height. In our view the $400 is worth paying for a shop and optional for a home garage, and the DMR-6 is the right answer for a home user who would rather put that money toward a transmission jack.

The Triumph NSS-6 (around $2,199) is a 620 lb portable scissor platform with 36 in of rise on 110V only. It saves $300 and 280 lb and gives up 11 in of height and the 220V option. It is the pick for a bay that occasionally has to go back to parking; the DMR-6 is the pick for a bay that never does.

The DMR-9 (around $3,499) is the same lift scaled to 9,000 lb, 48 in of rise and about 1,250 lb of steel, on 220V. It is the answer for three-quarter-ton trucks, and for anything lighter it is $1,000 of margin that will never be used.

The DMR-6 is for the home mechanic who has settled on a mid-rise, has one bay to give it, and wants standing-height access under a car for the least money that still buys a 220V-capable platform with multi-position locks. It handles brakes, suspension, exhaust, fluids and transmission work on anything up to a half-ton truck, and a stock car parks over it between jobs. Two jobs a month is roughly where the price starts to pay back against shop labor.

It is the wrong lift for a commercial bay that needs a certified unit, where the MD-6XP is the same footprint with the sticker. It is the wrong lift for a garage that must be cleared for two cars every night, where a QuickJack stores and this does not. And it is more lift than a once-a-year oil change needs.

For a dedicated home bay under a low ceiling, the DMR-6 is the mid-rise we would buy on value, and the only reason to spend $400 more is the ALI listing.