Another 4-post lift question

[Smokenarrow]

Hopefully someone here has ran into this and can give me some insight. I have a 3 bay garage with in floor heat. When we ran the tubes in the floor we ran them with the idea of going with 2-post lifts in each bay. As of now I have two BendPak 2-post lifts in two of the bays. For my next lift I would like to purchase a 4-post. Are there any 4-posts out there that don't need bolted down? How could I go about bolting it down with the PEX in the floor? I do not want to puncture any of the tubes. This lift will likely see heavy daily use so I want a minimum 10k lb lift with the capability of doing alignments with it eventually. Thanks for any help that you can provide.

 

[Stuart in MN]

I would say most (but not necessarily all) four post lifts are designed so you don't have to bolt them down. I have one in my garage that's not, and it's very stable.

edit: If you really want to bolt it down, you can probably locate the heat tubes in the floor with an inexpensive infrared temperature gun.

 

[ket-tek]

I have a BP not bolted as well, works fine. The more weight you load it with the more stable it becomes.

But unlike the critical bolting of a 2 Post, on a 4 post (a 4 post brand/model that the manufacture says is ok to not bolt) you can get a way fewer and/or shorter bolts if you want to bolt it down but can't clear all the tubing underground.

 

[wssix99]

edit: If you really want to bolt it down, you can probably locate the heat tubes in the floor with an inexpensive infrared temperature gun.

Or make friends with the local fire department. Another poster here had the local FD come out with their fancy heat gun and they were able to give them a picture of the exact routing of the tubes. (It was really slick.)

 

[Aahz]

There are a few answers that you need here:
1.) I'm not aware of any 4-posts that are 10,000 lbs. capacity or greater that do not need to be bolted down. When you get into "professional grade" lifts, especially if you are an insured shop, you really need to have the lift bolted down.
2.) WSSIX99 hit the nail on the head about the heat gun. There are two great ways to determine the location of the tubes in the floor. One is the heat gun, the other is to have someone come out and x-ray the floor. (We have done that on numerous occasions and have found it runs $6-700 each time.) The benefit of the x-ray is that it will tell you both the location and the depth of the tubes. It can also will take a picture, which is EXTREMELY helpful when installing the lift.
3.) If you are looking to do alignments, the lift platforms (runways) need to be perfectly level (+/- 1/8"). Most floors have 2-3" of slope over 20' (the average length of a 4-post). That needs to be taken into consideration in determining whether you want to bolt the lift down or not. It's typically not a good idea to leave a lift free standing when there are 2-3" of shims underneath it.

 

[wssix99]

Here's the thread with pictures that show what the Fire Department's gear can do.

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=184199&highlight=fire+department+camera

BTW - If anyone finds one of these cameras lying around and wants to get rid of it, I'd be happy to help take it off their hands.

 

[Smokenarrow]

Great info guys, thanks again! Does anybody know of an industrial type, alignment capable 4-post that doesn't HAVE to be bolted down? I'd like to keep that in my back pocket if these suggestions don't work out.

 

[Aquaticbob]

Great info guys, thanks again! Does anybody know of an industrial type, alignment capable 4-post that doesn't HAVE to be bolted down? I'd like to keep that in my back pocket if these suggestions don't work out.

The question here is this in a professional shop or not? Because as Aahz said about commercial, you should have them bolted down. Technically they are perfectly stable not being bolted down, and you don't need them to be for operation. I operated mine without bolts for a while and they were just fine. As long as you don't do any sort of fast loading and quick stopping on them when they aren't bolted down you'll be fine. You need to run the lift up and down a few times anyway to get the posts just right

 

[Smokenarrow]

The lift will be used in a pro-shop environment. We have two 2-posts and I envision this one as being dedicated alignment bay in the future (when I can afford the alignment setup) but for now it will see the grunt work with the heavier vehicles that come into the shop. Just today we did rear brakes on a heavy F450 Dually and it was too unstable on our 2-post. From everything that I read, I think it will need to be bolted down. Now I just need to find the best way to do it.

 

[junkman104]

http://www.gregsmithequipment.com/Alignment-Lift-Combos

 

[Ross/Kzoo]

junkman104
Senior Member __________________
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"!" didn't work. What do I do now?

 

[wssix99]

The lift will be used in a pro-shop environment. We have two 2-posts and I envision this one as being dedicated alignment bay in the future (when I can afford the alignment setup) but for now it will see the grunt work with the heavier vehicles that come into the shop. Just today we did rear brakes on a heavy F450 Dually and it was too unstable on our 2-post. From everything that I read, I think it will need to be bolted down. Now I just need to find the best way to do it.

I would set up the lift where you want it, mark the holes, and then move it. Place a penny over each hole, turn on the radiant heat, heat the penny's up with a propane torch, and then use a fire department's heat camera to take a look. That should show you each bolt hole (penny) clearly on top of the tubes so you can confirm if you are going to hit anything. You may need to leave some bolts out or move the whole rig slightly.