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Lift placement

2011laramie

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Apr 2, 2012
Messages
161
Location
Central Alberta
Hey guys, im working on planning my shop floor. I plan on getting a bendpak hd9 xl. I need the extra long cause ive got a project truck that has a 164" wheel base.

Ive got a big shop, but I am putting the lift in the heated bay so im kinda short on room. The bay is 24 wide x 44 deep, but im gonna have a office/mezzanine at the back, so floor space is only 24x29.

Where should i place the lift? More room on the front compared to back, equal space on both ends????

I tried to a attach a screenshot of the specs but its too grainy.

Anyways, the overall length of the hd9xl is just under 19ft. So I have 10ish feet free space, do i want 5ft up front? Im gonna run infloor heat, so i want to avoid the lift pads so i can anchor down securely.
 
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rburke65

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Nov 10, 2007
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12,349
Location
Canfield, Ohio
I think id do the 5' in front of the lift as this may allow you some space for a tool box or bench area. You will like having a lift.
 
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Sarki

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Mar 2, 2010
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225
Location
NY-Lower Hudson Valley
Yup, having a 4 post is great.
I'm with Mr. Burke, minimum of 5' of free space up front would be my choice. Keep in mind the length of your drive-on ramps even though they're detachable.
Even without casters, with a buddy you can move the lift a bit if needed once assembled.
 

astroracer

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Jun 22, 2005
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Mid_Michigan
Make sure that space up front allows you to fully open the overhead door. With a truck on the lift 5' won't you do that unless you go with a roll-up. :)
Mark
 

Falcon67

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Jun 11, 2009
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Location
Merkel, TX
FWIW because I have a 2 post, not 4 - What I used as a guesstimate was that the steering wheel of the vehicle would line up with the post somewhere between the middle or on the front edge. In my 23' 4" depth that meant dead in the middle to allow for work room front and back on the race cars with the overhead open or closed. Trucks, not gonna work and still close the overhead because they are just too long. 90% of lift work is "race car" so that dictated placement.

That space limit is also why I went 2 instead of 4. 4 would just be a poster bed of **** in my way.
 

3Series

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Apr 16, 2012
Messages
27
Yup, having a 4 post is great.
I'm with Mr. Burke, minimum of 5' of free space up front would be my choice. Keep in mind the length of your drive-on ramps even though they're detachable.
Even without casters, with a buddy you can move the lift a bit if needed once assembled.


I'm in the process of overhauling my garage. Need to dormer part of it to get ceiling clearance for a 4-post lift, mainly for storage.

Are you saying you can just push the lift with a friend and it slides across the garage floor?

Are you talking feet or inches of pushing the lift into place?

I'm asking because my dormer is only going to give 10ft out of 21ft for additional ceiling height right in the middle, essentially making a "pop out" section in the ceiling tall enough for the cab area of the car. The hood and trunk will be staying in the 8ft ceiling section of the garage.
 
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Sarki

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Mar 2, 2010
Messages
225
Location
NY-Lower Hudson Valley
I'm in the process of overhauling my garage. Need to dormer part of it to get ceiling clearance for a 4-post lift, mainly for storage.

Are you saying you can just push the lift with a friend and it slides across the garage floor?

Are you talking feet or inches of pushing the lift into place?

I'm asking because my dormer is only going to give 10ft out of 21ft for additional ceiling height right in the middle, essentially making a "pop out" section in the ceiling tall enough for the cab area of the car. The hood and trunk will be staying in the 8ft ceiling section of the garage.
In terms of moving without casters I'm talking inches and not feet. It will NOT 'slide' across the floor but with a guy on each of the 2 front posts I repositioned mine forward about a foot in without any drama. I also moved it sideways about 6" as well........no issues, just about 1-2" each gentle push and it was done.
I actually purchased casters with my lift and sent them back as $275 better in my pocket than theirs:beer:
 

keen

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Sep 12, 2010
Messages
125
Location
geneva, fl
haven't looked up that lift lately, but if it's symmetric (or versa), keep in mind that "front" is where you park.

I've found that with trucks particularly, but really anything, I prefer to BACK into the 2 post (mind is fairly narrow with only 2" clear to the tires on my rams combined). I can maneuver the front end a lot better to position the rear into the "right place" then swing the front in line as I slide in. Trying to tweak position going in front-first requires competely backing out instead of tuning on the fly. (dinged the wheels on a brand new cummins that way.)

As for placement -

Figure out the balance center of everything in your fleet. (that's not "center" usually). Some service manuals cover this in the "how to lift your car/truck" and show typical CG.

You can also do it with a few jack stands and a jack. (you don't need to actually -balance- the truck/car on 2 stands. put the stands where you'd expect to put your lift pads and check your front/rear balance, then split the distance and now you have your CG.)

Now grab some tape and figure out where you want the longest part (from CG to end) of your longest truck (or car if you're into some 50/60/70's iron) to stop. 5ft from the a wall is a good starting point if you have the space, but 5 foot from a CABINET if that's going to be a working end.

In my case that was my longbed quad cab ram at the time. I allowed -that- truck's rear bumper to sit 1ft from the cabinets at the end of the shop, knowing that for the times that truck was on the lift, I could move whatever might have landed there.

Since my lift is symmetric (and my next one will be versa) I can equally put that truck in nose OR tail first and have room, since my lift is at the -back- of the shop, not near a door.

I prefer to have the "open" end (the end that doesn't face a wall) be my typical working end - for most cars that's the nose - but my VWs of course that's often the back. But if I'm working on brakes, that's the front. I'll select which is "front" based on difficulty of getting it into the lift and what i'll be working on.

Swapping out a rear sway bar? rear out. Engine work? rear in.


(note you can do a lot of this in whatever drafting program you may be using, if you don't have a slab and walls yet, but actually driving it is harder..)

So - tape yourself a nice line that's your furthest point. Now, go tape out the center mark for that car/truck. And now go tape out the nose of that car.

Now reverse your marks - add a nose and tail mark as if you're in the lift the lift turned the other direction.

Mark out where your drivers door is.

Mark out where your posts are going to go - your CG line of that car is where your posts will line up with.

Stick some cones and sticks (or toolboxes, or whatever. but you're going to hit them if you've never parked in a lift before.. so cones. and sticks to give you some height reference) where your posts go.

Now practice parking. Then practice working - car on the ground so you see the worst case space taken up. Add some gear to the area (or mock it up with tape or boxes or whatever) like you'd normally have.

I also tape and mark on the floor where my tires go to line up - different marks for my different cars. Helps a lot. tape on the drivers side so I can spot myself in the mirror.


....and I just realized you're talking about a FOUR post lift. :) A lot of this still applies - mark out your lift itself, including it's minimum clearances, and park your truck in there and visualize. you might realize you want more or less space around it.

Four post lifts have a lot less variability since the lift length never changes. :)

BUT - your tail or nose might hang off (either by choice for access, or because the car is longer than the wheelbase and why have a longer platform than wheelbase, right?), so factor that in.
 
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2011laramie

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Joined
Apr 2, 2012
Messages
161
Location
Central Alberta
Hey guys, thanks for all the replies.

Im hoping i can pour the footing for my divider wall and some footings for my mezzanine posts today.
 

jfitz

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Joined
Feb 20, 2012
Messages
66
Location
Eastern Ontario, Canada
I have a HD9XW and lift my 08 Dodge Megacab without any problems. Others are correct, you will want the extra space in front of the lift as the trucks front end will actually hang over the end of the runways. My lift is not bolted to the floor and use my casters quite frequently
 

ryan77

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Joined
Apr 15, 2014
Messages
148
Location
Indiana
that's one of the best features of a 4 post lift, you can move it around easily, you don't have to pick one designated spot and have to live with it.
 
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