Help me pick between these lifts

[Nazarah]

Long time lurker, first time poster! Hello from Nebraska. Yes, yet another post about lifts. But this one is very specific.......so hopefully I'm not "that guy".

Just moved into a new home this month, and have decided a lift is a necessary upgrade. The wife didn't even blink an eye when I mentioned this, so it's time to act before she changes her tune.

We have a 3 car garage. Two stalls on the left hand side with a 2 wide door, and then a separate stall on the right with a single door. My daily driver is a 2005 TrailBlazer, and my toy is a 70 Chevelle. She drives a 2012 Ford Escape. Due to combing households and the new neighborhood not allowing storage sheds in the back yard, one of the stalls on the left is filled with "stuff". Mower, snow blower, bicycles, etc. She would like to park her Ford in that second stall on the left, while I take the right hand side. The Chevelle is already parked there and fits nicely. Which leaves the TrailBlazer outside. For now, that's fine. It's spring in NE. I'll park outside all season. But when winter hits, different story. So I need to eventually be able to park in there. That's a very long way of saying that this is going to be 50% used for storage, 50% used for light work on vehicles.

Anyway, I'm considering two Bendpak lifts. The HD-7W and the HD-9. From the spec sheets, they seem to have the same actual footprint on the ground. The 9k capacity lift just seems to have a lower max lift height. 86.5 vs 74.5 on the 7 vs the 9, respectively. The ceiling height in the garage is 11'8". I think the rough measurements for the vehicles look like this:

Chevelle
Length - 197"
Width - 76"
Height - 54"

Blazer
Length - 192"
Width - 75"
Height - 74.5

The height is concerning. Seems that the max lift height on the 9 is equal to the height of the TrailBlazer in stock form. I am not certain it will actually fit under there at that point, depending on if the lift height is measured from top or bottom of the lifting platforms.

I'm a bit limited on length as well. I want to stay under 205" if I can. Each of these are 200" total length.

I really only plan to put the Chevelle on the lift, with occasional use for either SUV we have if need be. Curb weight on the Chevelle is just a hair over 3500lb where the TB is ~4600lb. Both well under 7k.

At this point, I feel like the HD-7W is the way to go, but I wanted to get opinions from the experts!

Thoughts?

 

[Nazarah]

Also, I've already got a guy that came out to quote high lift conversion on the door. He hasn't gotten back to me quite yet, but he did say that they definitely can do it, and to expect it to be somewhere in the $1k ballpark.

I've researched doing this myself. It seems fairly straight forward, but I don't feel comfortable messing with those springs myself. I'd like to not cut myself in half.

 

[pbon]

HD-9XW goes up as high as HD-7W and is 198 inches without the ramps. They add 26” so you would have to take them on and off to stay under your length limit. That is a pain. The HD-7W can do everything you need. I bought the HD-9XW because I want the most open area to work on cars and have 2 bridge jacks taking up over 4’ of of the opening.

 

[Nazarah]

That brings up another question I had!

My driveway approach to the inside of the garage is fairly steep. If I did go with a lift that the ramps would stick out into the driveway when in use, would that slope make that not an option? Or do they move about pretty freely?

 

[eschoendorff]

Oh ****... he’s considering a BendPak. Run to the hills! Lol

 

[protegeV]

Oh ****... he’s considering a BendPak. Run to the hills! Lol

 

[Nazarah]

I have seen many great debates about the brands of lifts out there. That consumed my first week of searching for what I really wanted here, in the end to just go back to what my instinct was in the first place.

 

[Whoismiked]

Since the above poster provided his childish joke without any useful information to you as what that joke meant I figured I'd let you know that there have been numerous reports of people having issues with BendPak lifts. The last thing I would want is for you to make a choice that may end up with you getting hurt.

Here is some information:

https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=417965

 

[kabinenroller]

Oh ****... he’s considering a BendPak. Run to the hills! Lol

I agree, don’t say you haven’t been warned.

 

[Nazarah]

Ahhhhh, gotcha. That makes more sense now.

Can't let that scare a person away. You're gonna find haters of whatever a brand may be out there for whatever reasons all day. Not that I'm trying to discount their bad experiences, it seems like their particular cases need to be addressed. I'm sure similar things have happened wither other non BendPak lifts out there, just haven't been posted about.

 

[Higgins]

Does the actual height of the vehicle included the GPS antenna (3") that is on the vehicle roof?

AL

 

[Nazarah]

I'm not 100% sure. Heck I don't know if my SUV even has that. It's a pretty basic model. If it did have it, and it became a problem, it would quickly not have it

 

[Nazarah]

At this point I'm kind of leaning toward the 7W. Especially if I can push it back towards the garage door all the way and still use the ramps on the incline of the driveway. It'll give me more room between the front of the lift an my toolbox / workbench that way.

 

[BroncoAZ]

At this point I'm kind of leaning toward the 7W. Especially if I can push it back towards the garage door all the way and still use the ramps on the incline of the driveway. It'll give me more room between the front of the lift an my toolbox / workbench that way.

The angle of the driveway isn’t going to help you, you will likely drag the belly of the Chevelle when trying to drive it on the lift.

 

[WaterBoyz]

I've got the HD-9. I was limited on the length and needed the width because of the wide track of my Tundra. I have not regretted my purchase. I did a post on here with some information about my self-install.

I'll get you some pics and measurements tomorrow.

The ramps are detachable so you can build/assemble just about anything that would fit your needs to keep from belly-scraping.

As to the "haters".........
Some brands never show up in the negative column because of the sheer volume of installed units. Bendpak, I believe, sells more units in that price range than most of the other non-professional units combined. So, the more sold the more public issues. Gotta balance it out.

 

[Nazarah]

After talking with the folks from BendPak last Friday, I decided to go with the 7W. Being able to fit the lift with ramps attached inside the garage is my best bet. Pretty excited Now, to do the transport / install myself, or to pay a crew.......Part of me says DIY. It's just going to take WAY longer. But might be more satisfying in the end.

 

[anndel]

When it comes to lifts, 3 USA made brands comes to mind - Mohawk, Rotary and Challenger (Snap-on owns Challenger lifts).

 

[isb cornbinder]

I watched Jay Leno's last shop video. Jay must have 20 BendPac four post lifts. If BendPac is good enough for Leno, I think BendPac is good enough for me.

 

[WaterBoyz]

After talking with the folks from BendPak last Friday, I decided to go with the 7W. Being able to fit the lift with ramps attached inside the garage is my best bet. Pretty excited Now, to do the transport / install myself, or to pay a crew.......Part of me says DIY. It's just going to take WAY longer. But might be more satisfying in the end.

Congrats on the selection.

Here are my self-install notes.

https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=406991

I learned more from this guy's install than anywhere else.

 

[Nazarah]

Thanks. I'll check out those links for the tips.

Local boys want $1,100 to install. NO THANKS!

 

[pbon]

I did my HD9-XW install solo, with 2 floor jacks and 2 HF furniture dollies ($12 each on sale).

 

[tonyciambrone]

Ahhhhh, gotcha. That makes more sense now.

Can't let that scare a person away. You're gonna find haters of whatever a brand may be out there for whatever reasons all day. Not that I'm trying to discount their bad experiences, it seems like their particular cases need to be addressed. I'm sure similar things have happened wither other non BendPak lifts out there, just haven't been posted about.

Can't wait for your next thread a few months from now...

 

[MrSurly]

When it comes to lifts, 3 USA made brands comes to mind - Mohawk, Rotary and Challenger (Snap-on owns Challenger lifts).

Just to flesh out the list; Other USA lift makers: Backyard Buddy (OH) (makes only four-post "parking duty" lifts and Worth Equipment (TX ~all types and sizes of lifts, from Fiats to fire trucks)

 

[Nazarah]

Can't wait for your next thread a few months from now...

Just joking of course. We'll see how it goes.

 

[tonyciambrone]

lol_hitti

Just joking of course. We'll see how it goes.

 

[finn]

Another possible advantage to the lower capacity lift s smaller posts that will take up less room.

I considered a 14k lift for a while but ended up with a 10k for reasons of space conservation.

The Bendpack bashing is out of hand here. If you read through the threads, and separate the threads complaining about scratched paint and those that jumped on the Internet before even contacting customer service to resolve an issue, and then consider that BendPack probably overwhelms the competition in market share, things look different.

 

[WaterBoyz]

Another possible advantage to the lower capacity lift s smaller posts that will take up less room.

I considered a 14k lift for a while but ended up with a 10k for reasons of space conservation.

The Bendpack bashing is out of hand here. If you read through the threads, and separate the threads complaining about scratched paint and those that jumped on the Internet before even contacting customer service to resolve an issue, and then consider that BendPack probably overwhelms the competition in market share, things look different.

 

[Nazarah]

I remember reading on a forum somewhere (maybe here but I can't find it) that some folks have used a tow truck to have these things delivered to their residence. I'm considering my options right now on how to get it from the freight terminal to my home. I didn't have a forklift at home so they (BendPak) wanted it to go to the terminal to let me deal with getting it home.

 

[finn]

Flatbed tow truck will work, but so will a car trailer and an engine hoist.

 

[Nazarah]

I think the trailer and hoist route is the direction I'll go in. I should mention, my driveway approach to the garage is pretty short and fairly steep. Freaks me out a bit unloading into driveway and moving to garage. I'd rather unload right into garage if I can. We'll see what happens the day of! Should be a fun day.

EDIT:

Thinking about it now, I dunno if I'll even be able to back a trailer in there without getting hung up.

 

[Nazarah]

I suppose worst case scenario I could pull the trailer to the end of the drive and carry the individual pieces in. Most of them I would not be worried about. The actual platforms are the only parts that would concern me. These have to be the heaviest. Any estimate on what they weigh? I'd guess the one with the cylinder is maybe 400lb or more?

 

[WaterBoyz]

I suppose worst case scenario I could pull the trailer to the end of the drive and carry the individual pieces in. Most of them I would not be worried about. The actual platforms are the only parts that would concern me. These have to be the heaviest. Any estimate on what they weigh? I'd guess the one with the cylinder is maybe 400lb or more?

Do you have any lawn equipment that can be used to drag up the stuff on a dolly or small trailer?

Got friends? Got beer? Problem solved

 

[Jazzman442]

Since the above poster provided his childish joke without any useful information to you as what that joke meant I figured I'd let you know that there have been numerous reports of people having issues with BendPak lifts. The last thing I would want is for you to make a choice that may end up with you getting hurt.

Here is some information:

https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=417965

Yup There Junk... I ended up buying a Direct Lift. Cant beat Rotary. No issues. Way to many Issues with BP...

 

[Nazarah]

And I just got an offer from a dude with a rollback truck to pickup and deliver straight into my garage for $250. No unloading, no hassling of friends, no worries......That's hard to pass up.

 

[WaterBoyz]

And I just got an offer from a dude with a rollback truck to pickup and deliver straight into my garage for $250. No unloading, no hassling of friends, no worries......That's hard to pass up.

Still more than what beer and pizza would have cost ya for hassling your friends. Especially with your driveway situation.

Now you can use your friends for the assembly help

 

[Nazarah]

Indeed it did cost more than pizza and beer, but it's home safe and sound (mostly!) now.

I've only unpacked the vertical posts so far. When I got down to the runways, all was well except for a bit of damage I'm guessing was from shipping. The tab that sticks off of the back of the runway that the ramp attaches to got bent somehow. Not a huge deal to bend back I'd assume using a bit of mechanical advantage later on. But I've emailed my rep and BendPak just to be certain of how to proceed before going on.

The guy with the tow truck was pretty surprised when he showed up. His boss did not give him the story on what he was picking up. It's a good thing I did have an engine hoist at my place. He was stumped on how to get it off the bed of the tow truck once it was inside the garage. Hoisted one end up, put it on a 4x4, pulled forward and hoisted the other end up. He drove out from under it and put it down on another 4x4. Simple enough.

Having done this much of the unpacking, I will say one thing. If I were to ever do this again, I'd have it delivered straight to my door on the freight truck that BendPak puts it on. I'd break it down while the delivery guy was right there in my driveway. It really is a very quick process and most all pieces are movable with one person. Especially if you have a hoist. It would be easy. And less money! Even if you had to slip the driver a bit of cash for his time. Live and learn I suppose.

 

[Nazarah]

 

[Nazarah]

BendPak is sending a new runway. Had it been a less severe bend I would have just tried to bend it back and use it. They completely understood, no hassle.

This is a big, expensive and heavy piece for them to replace. Kudos to their customer service team.

 

[WaterBoyz]

Indeed it did cost more than pizza and beer, but it's home safe and sound (mostly!) now.

I've only unpacked the vertical posts so far. When I got down to the runways, all was well except for a bit of damage I'm guessing was from shipping. The tab that sticks off of the back of the runway that the ramp attaches to got bent somehow. Not a huge deal to bend back I'd assume using a bit of mechanical advantage later on. But I've emailed my rep and BendPak just to be certain of how to proceed before going on.

The guy with the tow truck was pretty surprised when he showed up. His boss did not give him the story on what he was picking up. It's a good thing I did have an engine hoist at my place. He was stumped on how to get it off the bed of the tow truck once it was inside the garage. Hoisted one end up, put it on a 4x4, pulled forward and hoisted the other end up. He drove out from under it and put it down on another 4x4. Simple enough.

Having done this much of the unpacking, I will say one thing. If I were to ever do this again, I'd have it delivered straight to my door on the freight truck that BendPak puts it on. I'd break it down while the delivery guy was right there in my driveway. It really is a very quick process and most all pieces are movable with one person. Especially if you have a hoist. It would be easy. And less money! Even if you had to slip the driver a bit of cash for his time. Live and learn I suppose.

Odds are, unless you are near them in CA, it will get transferred many times.

No chance the driver will let you break-it-down it the driveway. He will let you notate on the waybill "Subject to inspection for damages".

 

[WaterBoyz]

New and improved packing