olyar15- IÂ hope you do not mind posting your questions on the discussion board
Question 1 - Is it possible to use an air impact wrench rather than an electric drill? I figure the impact wrench has more torque and can speed up the raising and lowering of the lift.
No the air or electric impacts may destroy the the lift (never tried them). In actuallity the impacts have much less torque than a regular drill - corded or cordless. You can hold by hand (please use glove when you try) an impacts chuck, but you can not hold drills chuck. The way the impact creates the torque is through the impacts. I was amazed when I used the first impact for assembly. The moment the screw got a bit tighter is started impacted. Now we are using cordless drills for assembly and torque the hand - much faster and much quieter.
Question 2 - I have read that it is possible to remove one of the cross members to improve access to the central components like driveshaft or exhaust. Is this part removed before the car is raised or after?
Yes it is possible. The Slave site cross bar is removable if needed. Most likely you want to have this. So far only one person has removed it and he stated that really was not necessary - see also Ron Browns statement on previous GroupBuy - last page. The procedure is not in the manual, but the bar has to be removed before the car is lifted. Basically you position the lift where you need it, lift just a bit (1 to 2") to relief the pressure on the rolling casters, which are mounted to the Cross bars, then remove the cross bar and lift the vehicle.