Narrow vs. Wide Bendpak XPR-10A experiences?

[E30 Racer]

Hi Guys. Ground has finally been broken on our new home and while researching garage ideas I found the forum. The posts have been extremely useful!

Our garage design is essentially a three car front load, with two of the bays being 2x deep. The extended part of the bay is 21-ft wide, 20-ft deep, and has a 12-6" ceiling. A Bendpak XPR-10A will be installed on the right, a car stored on the left. My current plan is to locate the center of posts 10-ft from the front wall, and 2-ft from the adjacent (right) wall.

I've spend hours and hours trying to decide whether to use the wide or narrow configuration. Currently my cars are all small to midsized, but it would be nice to have the flexibility to accommodate a full-sized truck if necessary. I understand the wide option is the most desirable, but in my case, it will come at a cost...I'd only have 1-ft between the post and the car being stored to its left. The narrow configuration adds about a foot more, which seems like it could make a pretty big difference in actual use.

So, for those of you with experience using the narrow configuration, what would you recommend? Has there ever been a time you've been unable to use the lift?

Any feedback would be very much appreciated.

 

[May Pop]

Is that 1' total or 1' per side. Ive never used a narrow but if I lost 6" per side on the ones Ive used it would be no problem. The loss of one foot is a big loss when the stored car is tight to begin with. We built a narrow 3 car this summer for my son in Milwaukee. He is in the same predicament as you are. I will be looking forward to see pics of your finished project.

 

[Ross/Kzoo]

I would hate to lay out $3K + and find out that I shorted myself. You may not be thinking this now but resale of the wider lift would give you more potential buyers.

 

[E30 Racer]

Is that 1' total or 1' per side. Ive never used a narrow but if I lost 6" per side on the ones Ive used it would be no problem. The loss of one foot is a big loss when the stored car is tight to begin with. We built a narrow 3 car this summer for my son in Milwaukee. He is in the same predicament as you are. I will be looking forward to see pics of your finished project.

If I opt for the wide config, the stored car will have 1 ft between it and the lift post *and* 1 ft between it and the adjacent wall. Not much, but that thing never moves...it's an '87 BMW with 5.1k miles.

I'm renting a 10x40 ft unit now, and the driver's side of the cars are 3 ft from the wall. It doesn't seem that bad, which implies I could probably move the lift away from the stored car up to 1ft and still be OK. I'm just a bit uncomfortable having the post so close to the wall (don't want to risk cracking the slab).

 

[m.doza]

Get the wide version. Easier to get in an out of car, i have same lift.youll be glad you did.

 

[E30 Racer]

Honestly, I'm less concerned about getting in and out of the car than being able to properly orient the arms.

 

[tonyvlx]

I have a Bendpak XPR-10 set in the narrow setting in my residential garage. i lifted sedans,sport utilities and mini vans with this set up. A bit tight to get in and out with the trucks but its doable. i have not yet tried to lift full size pick up.

 

[Notch1988]

I currently have the XPR-10A in the wide configuration. My last hoist was a different brand but was setup similiar to a narrow config Bendpak and I hated it. Honestly trucks are easy on the narrow setup, it's the small compact cars that are a huge pain. With the narrow setup I found the arms were too long to hit the lift points on compact cars, I would have to have the car in the perfect position and compromise a bit on hitting the proper lift point. With the wide config this isn't a problem anymore.

 

[Blk88GT]

^^^ Same here. My last hoist was narrow and it was a pain in my ***. I love the wide configuration!!

 

[cyamaha2007]

I have a my xpr set wide. I can lift side by side utvs no problem and they are pretty narrow. If you set the lift up narrow it becomes a pain to lift short wheelbase vehicles. The arms will be all the way collapsed and makes placement hard.