Lift Placement

[brassspike]

I am geting ready to order my two post asymetrical lift. It's a long story but I am not able to put it where I had intended. I am now having to try to avoid windows, expansion joints, etc. The longest vehicle that will be on the lift is an F-150 super cab (about 20'). Does anyone know where the posts will be in relation to the vehicle when it's on the lift? If I know this, I can "replan" the placement.
Thanks, Bill

 

[dougmac]

I have an asymetrical lift and when I put my ex-cap chevy on it, it is pretty far forward. The post ends up somewhere just in front of the door handle. Here is a picture to give you some idea.

 

[Notch1988]

The longer the vehicle the more you treat the lift like a symetrical lift.
As a side note, I will say that you should place the posts as wide apart as you can. I have a LOT of trouble with short wheelbase vehicles on my lift. If my lift was six inches wider it would give me more room to align the arms under lift points.

Here`s my truck on my assymetrical. It`s a little hard to tell, but the posts are pretty much between the doors.

 

[5thRail]

...
As a side note, I will say that you should place the posts as wide apart as you can. I have a LOT of trouble with short wheelbase vehicles on my lift. If my lift was six inches wider it would give me more room to align the arms under lift points.

...

I was just looking at the BendPak install instructions and it seems that they have an exact dimension for the posts (132" for the XPR-10AC model). I don't get the impression there is any flexibility in spacing them, except of course to buy the XPR-10ACX instead which is wider.

Like the OP I have been trying to locate a lift in the drawings for my new building. I found the width (above) but have not found any recommendations on the lengthwise placement of the posts. But I made a scale cutout of my lift area 11' wide by 16' long which is as long as any of my vehicles, and I've been moving that around on my drawings. And yes I will allow some additional clearance in case I ever get something longer - I'm just working with minimums for now.

How do you 2-post owners feel about the lift being placed at an angle to the walls instead of square (as pictured in the posts above)? I'm thinking it will be easier to get a car in/out of the lift area, and I can put car stuff in the corners (tire changing machine, tool chest, whatever).

 

[dougmac]

As a rule, the wider lifts are better to work with. So I would defiantely recommend the XPR-10ACX if you have the room. One thing that you also want to pay attention to is having enough room to walk around the outside of both posts. It can be a real pita if you have to walk completely around the vehicle to go from the front to the back.

My lift is directly in line with the door. I am not sure why you would angle it?

Doug

 

[5thRail]

Shop size is planned to be 30x50, but its placement on the lot is in the only path to the septic system - so I'm planning it with a high door at each end and slab strength to carry a #2 pumper truck all the way through. That means no permanent obstructions along that line, which is 7' in from and parallel to one long wall, and 9' wide. The doors are on the 30' ends of the building.

So if I put the lift so you drive the front of the car into the opposite long wall, I'm concerned that I won't have enough room to turn the car 90 degrees and line it up with the lift. OTOH, if the lift is parallel to the entry doors, it will sit outside of the drive thru line but I need to keep a lot of that space open to load and unload the lift. Angling it makes the turn possible/easy.

Like I posted above, I'm still experimenting so definitely open to ideas and experiences from others.

And to the OP, sorry about hijacking your thread.

 

[nehog]

...

My lift is directly in line with the door. I am not sure why you would angle it?

Doug

My lift is 90 degrees from the door, and I'm very happy with that setup. Only issue is longer trucks (like the silly Dodge) require that I move three vehicles from the garage to get it on the lift. Small cars I can take out two (the middle bay) and drive right in (in the door, and make a sharp right turn usually).

Originally was going to have it behind the middle door, but realize that with the door there was not quite enough headroom. Off-set works very well.

 

[Nutty 5.0]

On both my 02 F150 super cab and my new 2010 F150 super cab, the posts are at the middle of the front doors. I would have also loved to go with the wider Bendpak but woudn't fit with the expansion joints. Also had to move very far forward due to the garage door opener and wanted max room away from it.

 

[Notch1988]

Your floor looks shiny. Is it a sealer or do you have an epoxy down?

 

[dougmac]

Your floor looks shiny. Is it a sealer or do you have an epoxy down?

No it is not epoxy. I has white color hardener on it. The reason I went this way is because it is troweled in when the floor is poured and becomes part of the concrete. It is a permanent part of the concrete and will not chip off.

My son worked at a place that sold concrete polishing equipment and brought some machines over so that we could polish it. So it is polished too.

 

[brassspike]

Trying to find the right sopt is pretty hard! The door is close here.

 

[brassspike]

If it was forward, it would not be in the way when the truck is just parked and would clear the walk around the truck. I wouldn't mine moving it forward some but it would be almost on top of the joint seam.

 

[dougmac]

Trying to find the right sopt is pretty hard! The door is close here.

Do you have enough room to walk between the post and the wall? I have found that is very important.......