Automotive Lifts

[wanabemechanic]

Hello All,
I am moving to Oregon soon and my new garage is 36' x 36' with a 14' ceiling.
I have 3 bays and wish to put in a 4 post lift so I can do some serious work on my vehicles. It's hard for me to lay on concrete anymore!
Anyway, I am curious to get opinions/thoughts on the best automotive lift systems available. I prefer a 4 post lift for safety reasons. Cost really isn't a factor but as I mentioned, SAFETY is. Any thoughts, good or bad would be very much welcomed. I've been looking at the Backyard Buddy/Steel Valley Lifts but not sure this is my best choice.
Thanks Much,

 

[Stuart in MN]

Welcome to the site. This is one of the more common topics - if you use the search function at the top of the page in the blue bar, you should be able to find a bunch of recent discussions.

 

[hotrod1968]

Hello All,

I am moving to Oregon soon and my new garage is 36' x 36' with a 14' ceiling.

I have 3 bays and wish to put in a 4 post lift so I can do some serious work on my vehicles. It's hard for me to lay on concrete anymore!

Anyway, I am curious to get opinions/thoughts on the best automotive lift systems available. I prefer a 4 post lift for safety reasons. Cost really isn't a factor but as I mentioned, SAFETY is. Any thoughts, good or bad would be very much welcomed. I've been looking at the Backyard Buddy/Steel Valley Lifts but not sure this is my best choice.

Thanks Much,

Two post is better for most work...I have three lifts, one post, 2 two posts... I perfer my two post lifts by far, but any lift is far better then none.

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[Railman67]

The best lift I ever worked under was a 12k bendpak 4 poster with two 6k trolly jacks. The trolly jacks were awesome for just about everything. This was a new lift 12 years ago. I'm not sure if the quality has changed since then. I've had hands on experience with bendpak, rotary, and atlas. I have no complaints with any of them.

 

[Lucid Moments]

If you are going to work on a car then I agree with hotrod that a two post lift is much better. Gets all four wheels off the ground, and the lift isn't in the way if you have to work on the suspension. With a four post you don't get that. If you do get a four post make sure you get at least one trolly jack.

 

[finn]

You are correct in looking at a four post lift if you have issues with kneeling on the concrete floor. I have a two post Bend Pack, but if I was to buy a new lift at this stage in life, it would be a four post.

People without kneeling issues just don’t understand how painful and difficult kneeling can be.

As to brand, it’s very much like a discussion about abortion, religion, politics, or which is better, Dewalt or Milwaukee.

You are going to get a dozen opinions and no factual information. There will also be a bunch of unsubstantiated anecdotal information of someone’s brother’s neighbors uncles experience.

All I can say is they my BendPack two post works fine as does an associate’s Rotary, although both are two posters.

 

[356Guy]

I have both a 2 post and 4post from bendpak, both are excellent quality and work well for me. I had the 4 post first, it is great for stacking cars and I did quite a few projects and repairs on it, but the two post lift Isa game changer for mechanical work.

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[RPH]

Wildfire lift here, four poster. I agree with the getting on the ground issue. Getting down is hard, getting up is even harder. Once on my lift I can raise anything up with a jack.

 

[bigdav160]

Hello All,
I prefer a 4 post lift for safety reasons. Cost really isn't a factor but as I mentioned, SAFETY is.
Thanks Much,

Nothing inherently unsafe about a two post lift. In a commercial shop setting they out number four post 10x

In fact I have seen more vehicles fallen or driven off four post than two post lifts.

 

[Tarkus90]

Since you have the space and height, definitely a two post. Look at the USA Made Challenger versymmetric.

 

[dagofast]

Hello All,
I am moving to Oregon soon and my new garage is 36' x 36' with a 14' ceiling.
I have 3 bays and wish to put in a 4 post lift so I can do some serious work on my vehicles. It's hard for me to lay on concrete anymore!
Anyway, I am curious to get opinions/thoughts on the best automotive lift systems available. I prefer a 4 post lift for safety reasons. Cost really isn't a factor but as I mentioned, SAFETY is. Any thoughts, good or bad would be very much welcomed. I've been looking at the Backyard Buddy/Steel Valley Lifts but not sure this is my best choice.
Thanks Much,

Whoa, it's like you were in my head, man!

I've got the dreaded concrete allergy too. And my knees are shot. If I was younger and had working knees, I would have ended up with a 2 post post. But when looking honestly at my needs, I ended up with a 4 post with a rolling jack and I'm tickled to death with it. It has done everything I've needed to to and also excels at vehicle storage.

If you like the BackYard Buddy, take a look at Advantage Lifts out of MN. Same basic design. That's what I bought and the lift and their support have been top notch. Also, I'll second the opinion that any lift is better than no lift. By magnitudes.

Congrats on the new garage!

 

[HMCFab9]

Bendpak & Rotary seem most popular in my area.
My boss just installed an imported copy of a major brand & it works good so far.

 

[Snip]

I'll second what Finn said. At 60 my knee ain't "shot" yet but I can't believe going forward they are going to get any better. This is why I went with a 4 post (Advantage lift, with 1 rolling jack and one rolling tray,).I was able to defer delivery about a year until I move and the new shop is complete. Great folks to deal with BTW. About the only thing I won't be able to do is drop an engine or sub frame out the bottom on the 4 post, but I might even figure that out too. Another advantage to (at least some) 4 posts is you can move them around if needed

 

[HWH2017]

I put an Atlas 12k in my pole barn and have been very happy with it. You can pick up some extra tall jacks to support vehicles(Jeep frame rust. The 2-post also allowed me to pick a 4000lb mill off a trailer.





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[Shadowdog500]

I’ve worked under old fashion in ground lifts, two post lifts, and four post lifts and currently own a Mohawk Series1 two post lift. If I had enough room and money to blow I would want to have both a two post lift and a four post lift. No one wants to work under an old fashioned in ground lift!

I agree with everyone that a 2 post lift is a lot more handy than a 4 post lift. However you do have to get on your hands and knees to properly set the pads under the lift points. If you can’t get on your hands and knees to set the pads then a 2 post isn’t for you.
However, Once you get the car up in the air the suspension is unloaded and out of the way of everything. The lift is also out of the way of everything. You can do practically anything you want to the car, suspension, etc.

A four post lift is as easy as it can get to get the car on without bending over. If all you want to do is storage and oil changes it is ideal but once you get it up in the air it can be limited when doing serious maintenance to a car since the suspension is loaded and can be in the way of things you want to work on. You can’t do suspension work unless you jack the car off the tracks, but the tracks can still be in the way. A friend had what he called a European lift that was a 4 post but also had built in jacks to lift the car off the tracks to do tire changes if needed. It worked for him but seemed limiting to me.

I don’t want to tell people what brand to buy, but I wouldn’t get a lift that wasn’t ALI certified. Most of the major names are ALI certified, the no name brands aren’t.

Hope this helps.
Chris

 

[jpaw]

If you are doing actual work I would recommend a 2 post any day of the week bad knees or not.
I am an auto technician and have had a staph infection in my knee for a month and still wouldn't choose to work on a 4 post. I will find a way to get my broken *** up and down.
A 4 post has its place, mainly for alignments, oil changes or storage.
Really comes down to a person's needs.

 

[like2wheel]

I dont get where so many people think the OP said he had any problem kneeling on concrete.
He said it's hard to" LAY on concrete anymore".
I believe that is the reason to get any lift, so you can stand under a car.

That said, I agree that a 2 post would be best if he wants to do "serious work on his vehicles".

 

[356Guy]

Nothing inherently unsafe about a two post lift. In a commercial shop setting they out number four post 10x



In fact I have seen more vehicles fallen or driven off four post than two post lifts.

Yea, bite in my photo above, the supports in my 10,000lb 2 post lift are enourmous compared to the 4 post and the locking mechanism is equally overbuilt. I put the 4 post into service in 96, and finally bolted it down this year. I have the optional casters to roll it around, that is handy, but it is a little wobbly when it's not firmly attached to the floor. I have the jack plates for the 4 post and as folks have mentioned, they, and the ramps get in the way for some wheels off operations. Suspension work is difficult on the 4 post as getting the Jack's high enough to unload the springs creates the same kind of danger as it does on the ground. As for setting the lift arms in the two post, bendpak includes a book with vehicle lift points for many vehicle models, that is very handy. I have bad knees, I throw a piece of cardboard or my creeper on the ground and set the arms, no problem with my knees in that operation as I'm laying down to verify the placement. Good luck with your choice.

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[Dragfluid]

Nothing inherently unsafe about a two post lift. In a commercial shop setting they out number four post 10x

In fact I have seen more vehicles fallen or driven off four post than two post lifts.

Many moons ago, one of the service writers was working on his Nova after hours. I wandered back to where he was, on one of the 4 posts to give him some ****. He was removing the the driveshaft, and had just started prying the joint out of the rear yoke. Got it out, then the car started rolling backwards, as the doof didn't have any chocks in place. I quickly grabbed a piece of 2x4 that was sitting on a bench next to me and shoved it behind the front wheel. It save it.

 

[Falcon67]

I went back and forth a bunch and settled on a two post. Best choice for "serious" work IMHO. 4 post good for some maintenance and storage. With accessories you can do a lot on a 4 post. Way easier IMHO to pull engine/trans or drop a while rear end with a 2 post vs a 4 post. I've had my 3200 lb race car up on the two post for a month at a time without any particular issues. In fact, I usually store the door car up on the lift with the dragster parked under it over winter - unless the door car needs some work.

With a proper base, a 2 post is just as safe as a 4 post, with the benefit that the 2 post leaves way more usable floor space around it. Your main safety issues will be loading the car on any lift and maintaining the lift. On my two post the car doesn't get 6" high without a complete walk/crawl around to verify the lift points, apparent balance and lift action. It's then raised to the first lock and given a good "shake" just to see how it sits. If all checks out, up it goes. When it's up high enough to walk under, I go above the last lock, then lower onto the locks, then use a flashlight to verify it is sitting on both locks. I set the lift up with the power unit on the side with the most shop free space for the "getaway" should something bad start to happen.

 

[chsu74]

I am going through the same delimma. Mohawk 2 post offers a wheel carrier option so you can store a vehicle on its tires loading the suspension. Upon reading the specs, those wheel carries is only wide enough for a 205 to 225 tire or eight inches across. Most of car tires today are 255-285. Once I pointed that out, the Mohawk rep ghosted on me which is a huge disappointment.

 

[wanabemechanic]

Wow, thanks for all the responses guys! I didn't think I'd get so many opinions.
Now you are making in harder for me to decided on a 2 or 4 post. I've been checking out the BendPak XPR10 series. Pretty nice setup. I am also looking to lift my 1986 Winnebago LeSharo Motorhome as well to do some overdue repairs on that one as well. Who knows, maybe I'll end up with a 2 & a 4 post lift!! All of these opinions are welcome as I have no experience in using a vehicle lift. I used to lay on the ground and work on my car all the time outside with no human comforts available. Now I need to take it easy on myself. I'm also a LOT more cautious on what I'm doing these days.

 

[LPD ret]

I have an Advantage 4 post lift that I bought about 3 years ago. Mainly for storage and light maintenance. I got a trolley jack from Advantage this past summer which has made most of the wheel work much more convenient - brakes, tire rotation, etc. In the attached photos, my wife's CR-V tires are about 3"up off the tracks for tire rotation. Lifted the rear and then set up the jack tray with stands, then moved the trolley and lifted the front. It took me under 10 minutes to set that up. Certainly, a 2 post would accomplish this even easier, but for my needs this has worked quite well.

 

[kreitz]

For what it's worth I've been doing research and following threads for a while. Like years. I'm finally at the point that I'm ordering. That said I put a deposit down on a Steel Valley 7k workforce. I almost got the 9k, but the added width between ramps, and ability to put my truck on it weren't enough to make the leap. They come with casters and drip pans. I added a rolling jack plate and solid deck plates so I can put my MC up there too.

I debated 2 vs 4 for a long time and ultimately liked the versatility and storage benefits of the 4 post. IT might make some jobs a little more complicated, but shouldn't prohibit me from anything. I've been working on jack stands for ages, so anything is better.

So far my dealings with Steel Valley have been awesome. They are working with me on delivery as I'm overseas ATT and don't want it to sit outside during the winter.

Why I chose them is mostly because they are a small American company with American sourced materials and they are in Ohio. I could get a chinese lift for 2-3 k less but I like supporting American business and live by buy once cry once. I fully expect this lift to outlive me and hopefully be used by one of my kids some day. Also I'm getting a sweet Red, white and blue paint job.

 

[Tbird22]

Anyone familiar with scissor lifts? I work overseas and we have 2. They raise the suspension and tires so most work can be done on them but they also don’t require setting up. I love them! I go to them first unless it can’t handle the weight or the lift will get in the way of certain work


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[NitroShark]

Who knows, maybe I'll end up with a 2 & a 4 post lift!!

That's what I ended up doing! After years of using both, the 2 post get's work done. The 4 post ends up storing cars.





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