Van Chair Lifts - Tips For Choosing The Right Type

For many people, an electric power chair or wheelchair provides a very valuable service but becomes a real headache when it needs to be transported from place to place. When away from the home, people often need to bring their wheelchair with them, so it is essential to find a way to easily transport these devices. Maneuvering a wheelchair in and out of your van can be a long and frustrating process, so this is where van chair lifts can be a big asset.

One way these devices are transported is by using a wheelchair lift. Wheelchair lifts come in many different sizes and several different designs. There are two main kinds of wheelchair lifts available for vehicles, the internal wheelchair lift and the external wheelchair lift. These devices will lift your wheelchair into your vehicle with an electronic or crane type of inside or outside lift.

Let’s look at the internal lift first. These are often used in cars, which would not be able to utilize other wheelchair lifts. As the name implies, the internal wheelchair lift is designed to store a wheelchair or electric power chair inside of the actual vehicle. Some work like cranes and lift the mobility vehicle off of the ground. The crane lift does not support as much weight as other wheelchair lifts and it sometimes requires that the wheelchair be partially disassembled.

The platform wheelchair lift offers a much more versatile and powerful solution. Internal platform wheelchair lifts can be installed into the middle compartment of a van or the rear area of a van or SUV.

The platform extends from the vehicle onto the ground and the wheelchair can then be moved onto the platform. As the platform rises, it moves back inside the automobile, storing the wheelchair. When installed into the passenger section of a van, transferring from the driver seat to the wheelchair and vice versa is usually very simple.

Although an internal wheelchair lift is a very popular option, it will take up some space inside the vehicle. External wheelchair lifts, on the other hand, can be installed very quickly and will not take up any space inside of the automobile.

One of the downsides of the external wheelchair lift is that the wheelchair is placed outside of the vehicle, thereby exposing it to inclement weather or other external elements. An external wheelchair lift is attached to the automobile hitch, and this allows it to be installed in minutes and uninstalled just as easily.

A platform is used, similar to the way an internal platform wheelchair lift works. In determining which wheelchair lift will best fit your needs it is important to determine which type of wheelchair lift will best fit your lifestyle and vehicle. The size and type of the vehicle will play a big part in this decision as will the size and weight of the wheelchair or electric power wheelchair.

Using an internal or external wheelchair lift can make it much easier and safer to travel with a mobility scooter or electric wheelchair. These devices can not only improve safety but they also increase accessibility.