4 post vs scissor lift

[gtivr4]

I am debating whether to get a 4 post lift or a in floor scissor lift in my future shop. I am planning a pretty narrow garage, and space will be at a premium. I want to use the shop for building cars, maintenance and storage over the winter.

Heres my thinking:

Scissor Lift
Pros:
Takes up virtually no space when not in use
Good underside access
Reasonable price (around $2k)
Can work as an adjustable table

Cons:
Limited weight ability - 6k lbs - not a huge issue for my current needs, but who knows what I will have in the future.
Not moveable/repositionable, so if I got it wrong, I'd have to deal with it
Can't park on it and put a car underneath, so I would have to park two cars next to each other, which is tight in 18 feet, but doable
More difficult to get (shipped from China)

4 post
Pros:
Moveable
Made for parking two cars vertically
Reasonably priced (about same as scissor lift, maybe a bit cheaper) and readily available

Cons
Not as easy to access brakes/tires/suspension to work on, but still doable
Takes up a LOT of space if I want to work on non car stuff (although I suppose I could roll it out into the driveway weather permitting?)


What am I forgetting? What would you get?

 

[ket-tek]

Cons
Not as easy to access brakes/tires/suspension to work on, but still doable
Takes up a LOT of space if I want to work on non car stuff (although I suppose I could roll it out into the driveway weather permitting?)

Not sure why everyone continues to think brake/tire/suspension work is difficult with a 4 post. This myth is so far from the truth. My 4 post is an absolute blast to do suspension work on. I changed out the thrust arm bushings and end links on my friends e34 this past weekend in minutes without removing the wheels or even lifting the car off the ramps..

Yes they do take some space, but you get one that can lift over 6' high than you can run it up and the two columns that are away from the outside wall are all that are in in the floor space..

All lift types are great and any type you will love after years of rolling around on the ground killing your knees and back!

Good Luck with your purchase choice!

 

[Cryptic1911]

Not sure why everyone continues to think brake/tire/suspension work is difficult with a 4 post. This myth is so far from the truth.

Yeah, exactly.. You can get a scissor jack that rides on the inside rails that will lift the car up, and give you acess to anything, or even just the jack tray and use bottle jacks or whatever

 

[dmeadow]

Not sure why everyone continues to think brake/tire/suspension work is difficult with a 4 post. This myth is so far from the truth. My 4 post is an absolute blast to do suspension work on. I changed out the thrust arm bushings and end links on my friends e34 this past weekend in minutes without removing the wheels or even lifting the car off the ramps..

Yes they do take some space, but you get one that can lift over 6' high than you can run it up and the two columns that are away from the outside wall are all that are in in the floor space..

All lift types are great and any type you will love after years of rolling around on the ground killing your knees and back!

Good Luck with your purchase choice!

Having had both a 2 post and a 4 post I think it is true that it is EASIER to do brake/tire/suspension work on a 2 post (probably equivalent to the scissor lift in this regard) rather than a 4 post. But it is certainly easier to do brake/tire/suspension work on a 4 post than it is to do it with jackstands!

I just did a complete brake/shock job on a car with a 2 post lift and I liked that I didn't have to reach over and around the ramps or walk around the extra posts or deal with a bridge jack like I did with my 4 post. But all that is only incrementally better than a 4 post.

I think the biggest drawback to the scissor lift is the lack of access to the bottom of the vehicle, which is why you want a lift in the first place, IMHO. In any case, the 4 post does take up a bunch more space and can cause problems with walking around the posts and ramps in some shops. The OP doesn't explain why a 2 post lift wouldn't work in his situation, but I would think it would be the best solution-- no ramps in the way and 2 less posts to get around. If he doesn't want the permanent posts in the way he can get a Maxjax, but then he couldn't park anything under it.

 

[gtivr4]

Yeah, the MaxJax would be nice, but its lack of height hurts it, and the inability to park under it kills it.

 

[weegaz22]

I think the biggest drawback to the scissor lift is the lack of access to the bottom of the vehicle

I worked off a scissor lift in a dealership for 6-8 months, there was nothing you could do with a 2 poster that you couldnt do with the scissor lift, if you needed access to the sill area you just put the car on thicker rubber blocks before lifting, there isnt really any loss in access to the underside compared to a 2 poster in my experience.

Also you can adapt the scissor lifts to motorcycle lifts a lot easier if you have bikes buy just putting a front wheel clamp on the extending tray.

I plan on having a scissor lift in my garage, it keeps the area clear when its not in use which helps if you have a smallish garage, or if you maybe have to build something of a decent scale you dont need to worry about posts getting in the way when manuvering things around.

 

[mikeyr]

Scissor Lift
Not moveable/repositionable, so if I got it wrong, I'd have to deal with it

Of course you can move the scissor lift, you can move it anywhere, anytime you wants and its even easy.

I find the scissor lift great for suspension/brake work but I also use my 4-post for that, its really quick and easy.

I have both a 4-post and scissor and find I use them both about the same, whichever is easier that day. Right now doing frame work and the scissor is great, I don't have to bend over to work on the frame. Will do a oil change on the 4-post this weekend.

 

[mx757]

Mohawk USL-6000 is moveable scissor lift.

 

[rickycobra]

The MaxJax has the same cons as a scissor light but more pros.

 

[jdieter]

I went through the same exercise and decided on the inground scissor lift. My concern was space, I've been very pleased and having the ability to use it as a variable height work platform and as a liftgate to unload from my pickup is an added bonus I didn't think of. So far I haven't had an access issue in the sill area, as all ready stated additional blocking takes care of that because more of the lift is outside the sills than under the chassis.
So my next metal exercise is the cost/return of increasing ceiling height to go from a mechanics chair to standing.

 

[king nero]

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=86028