Asymmetric 2 post placement.

[600SL]

Hello all. I am considering an Asymetric lift for my new garage. Since this garage is limited in depth of 24', I would like to place the lift as far back as possible but still be able to close the garage door with my F150 on the lift. My problem is I never used an asymmetrical lift and have no idea where to line the post up to the vehicle. And of course I need to figure this out before I order the lift or pour the concrete because the floor will be radiant heated and I need to know where my avoid areas need to be. My F150 is a 2WD long bed with 145" wheel base and does represent the longest vehicle that will be installed on the lift. So when driving an F150 onto an asymetrical lift, where does the lift column get positioned in relation to the front door jamb.

 

[kbeefy]

Exactly where they are the most inconvenient to open the door. Roughly the middle of the door.

Do you know anyone with a similar sized lift you can do a trial run on?

 

[600SL]

Exactly where they are the most inconvenient to open the door. Roughly the middle of the door.

Do you know anyone with a similar sized lift you can do a trial run on?

Unfortunately I do not. But certainly would like to find someone.

 

[ycgoat]

There may be a DIY rental garage where you rent a bay with a lift

 

[infinkc]

Mark out the 24’ and drive your truck in the area.
The lift arms will need to be positioned to the lift points, and you want the arms to come out to those points. Should give you a good idea where the posts would land.

I kind of wish I went with a standard lift instead of the asymmetrical one. My Tundra requires the posts to be fairly forward. So when I work on other cars, I have a ton of room in the rear. Would be nicer to have had more room in the front area.

 

[CraigStu]

I would also look at the lift manufacturer literature. The last dealer shop I worked in added on a new shop. The lifts all had a square metal plate on the floor where the front wheel should be placed. The plate had a ridge front and back. We were told park normal sedans w/ the tire on the plate between the ridges. Then there were instructions which I no longer remember about lager/smaller vehicles. My point is that the lift installers must have had a measurement for where that plate should be placed.

 

[svtride]

Exactly where they are the most inconvenient to open the door. Roughly the middle of the door.

^^^ This exactly applicable to my Rotary SPOA10. Mid front door is where I spot my vehicles

 

[600SL]

There may be a DIY rental garage where you rent a bay with a lift

Non of those around here anymore. Probably due to liability issues.

 

[600SL]

Mark out the 24’ and drive your truck in the area.
The lift arms will need to be positioned to the lift points, and you want the arms to come out to those points. Should give you a good idea where the posts would land.

I kind of wish I went with a standard lift instead of the asymmetrical one. My Tundra requires the posts to be fairly forward. So when I work on other cars, I have a ton of room in the rear. Would be nicer to have had more room in the front area.

Unfortunately I need to know where it goes before I purchase the lift. But I think the Bendpak drawings will get me in the ball park. I'm also dealing with two vehicles. Mostly being used for the Mercedes 560SL, sort of like a Corvette layout car and the F150 which will really drive the post positioning. The symmetrical lift would place the post to a more difficult position to open the doors on the 560SL.

 

[TobeyA]

Find your lifting points and measure between them front to back. Read the lift instructions. And draw a diagram.

You didn't say what year F150, so here's the lifting points on a new-ish one.

 

[600SL]

I would also look at the lift manufacturer literature. The last dealer shop I worked in added on a new shop. The lifts all had a square metal plate on the floor where the front wheel should be placed. The plate had a ridge front and back. We were told park normal sedans w/ the tire on the plate between the ridges. Then there were instructions which I no longer remember about lager/smaller vehicles. My point is that the lift installers must have had a measurement for where that plate should be placed.

Yes we had those plates for our inground lifts at the dealer. I will see what Bendpak has. They must have instructions. Thanks

 

[600SL]

Find your lifting points and measure between them front to back. Read the lift instructions. And draw a diagram.

You didn't say what year F150, so here's the lifting points on a new-ish one.

Mine is a 2009 single cab long bed, 145" wheel base, but that is subject to change so I will need to give some margin in case I get a new truck with different points. But one question I have is regardless of where the jack points are am I more concerned about where the CG of the truck is. I assume the asymmetrical lifts put the post nearer to the CG of most front engine vehicles.

 

[600SL]

^^^ This exactly applicable to my Rotary SPOA10. Mid front door is where I spot my vehicles

Does that make it difficult to open the door up enough to get in. For my 560SL with a single long door, I was afraid of using a symmetrical lift because the post would be further back and limit the door opening to a reduced amount. The BendPak 2 post lifts have two width settings between the posts. I am considering the narrow setting since most of its use will be for a 560SL. That also means that for the F150 I would need to fold in the mirrors to get it in. Not too bad a compromise since about the only thing I do on the F150 is oil changes and an occasional break job.

 

[Shootinok]

Here’s a pic of the instructions from my rotary lift, it’s an older SPA09 and I’m not sure if they even make it anymore. The spotting plate helps with placement based on wheel length.
I don’t have the spotting plate, so I painted two dots on the floor to guide me.

My F150 ends up with the post just past the mirrors, and I can open the door enough to get in and out - obviously not a full open swing.

 

[TobeyA]

If I have a problem with opening doors on my lift, I just put the car/truck in neutral and push it the last foot or two to the final location. Leave the windows down and you can put it in park and turn off the key. It's not that big a deal.

 

[u2slow]

I have mulled over lift placement for 9 years now. Got my used lift 4 years ago and think I have it positioned and figured for setting pins in the concrete. The key is I've been working in the shop and shaping the space the whole time.

What I've decided is going closer to the OH door is favourable for me to save space against the opposite wall. The few times I will have my longest vehicle on the lift, I can deal with having the door open and the back end of the truck hanging out. The rest of the time, short vehicles on the lift give me the best working space in the shop.

 

[Walkers]

There are , literally, thousands of pictures online. The posts are going to end up roughly middle of the door.

 

[BillK]

I dont know where you are in NC but surely there are a couple of local repair shops that you could ask to take a look and help you out ???? I cant think of any repair shop owner that I know that wouldnt gladly do it. That combined with talking to someone from the lift manufacturer and I am sure you get the right answer.

 

[kbeefy]

Does that make it difficult to open the door up enough to get in. For my 560SL with a single long door, I was afraid of using a symmetrical lift because the post would be further back and limit the door opening to a reduced amount. The BendPak 2 post lifts have two width settings between the posts. I am considering the narrow setting since most of its use will be for a 560SL. That also means that for the F150 I would need to fold in the mirrors to get it in. Not too bad a compromise since about the only thing I do on the F150 is oil changes and an occasional break job.

Even the smaller lift will have plenty of room to open the doors on the 560.
Issues arise with wider vehicles, the F150 shouldn't be too bad. Larger trucks get really tight.

I went with a wider lift because of this, and I had plenty of room.
Now getting in and out isn't as big of a deal, but really long vehicles are challenging because the wider lift didn't have longer arms, thus restricting the reach when they're swung in.

I also sometimes leave the car in neutral and push it into place. A lot of newer cars I'll disconnect the battery instead of trying to reach in, put them in park and turn off the key.

An unforseen bonus of the wider lift is that I can back my car hauler under it and pick up or drop off stuff. The wheel covers get in the way for cars, but I can fit the arms between a fullsize truck frame and the wheel covers.

 

[CraigStu]

I just re read your original post and have a thought. Why not run over to the local Ford dealer and look around their shop. I am betting they have asymmetrical lifts and there are bound to be pickups on them to check out. One other thought. When you lay out the heating in the floor leave a 4-6ft long area for each lift post. Worst case, if you decide you want to move the lift you have 2-3 ft in both directions to play with.

 

[Leevon]

I can measure my shop (8 Versymetric Challenger lifts) from the doors to post on Monday if that will help you. F150's leave us about 30" behind the bed to the door. I'll get that overall dimension for you. As others said, the door opens into the post, but it's a little forward of half through the door.

 

[svtride]

Does that make it difficult to open the door up enough to get in. For my 560SL with a single long door, I was afraid of using a symmetrical lift because the post would be further back and limit the door opening to a reduced amount. The BendPak 2 post lifts have two width settings between the posts. I am considering the narrow setting since most of its use will be for a 560SL. That also means that for the F150 I would need to fold in the mirrors to get it in. Not too bad a compromise since about the only thing I do on the F150 is oil changes and an occasional break job.

No, I can get in the vehicles but not like when column is not there. I leave the vehicles in neutral (I can then manually pull or push car to make final position adjustments for optimal lift arm placement) when I'm done servicing, I sometimes roll car back by hand so I can fully open door without hitting post then back out. I did add padding to the column in case I inadvertently did touch door to column.

 

[macdabs]

Go with a wider lift you will thank me later . I have in floor heat and moved my asemtrical lift ( Rotary ) from my other garage cause it was only a few years old at the time. I wanted to go Rotary in ground wit the clear floor at the time but money and the extra excvation would jut put the job behined . I lift a F 350 crew cab diesel with a 8 ft utility body, crew cab small trucks and cars. Go wider and not asemetric! If it isn't the width of the car its the wheel base making it a pain to get out of the vehicle without the door against the post. You will find yourself always pushing the vehicle in position cause you cant open the door . When I buit my shop I laid out the pex around 3' x10' rectangles in the center of three bays to mount any future lifts . You can also use a heat gun or the water method to find the pex later .
Mac M