Symmetric or Asymmetric 2 Post for Trucks

[duwem]

I have an Extended cab 1/2 ton with 6.5' foot bed now.

Will probably get a crew cab next time.

Other cars are a VW Golf and a Toyota Sienna van, and a 1950 1/2 ton Chevy truck.

Am thinking something along the lines of a BendPak XPR10 or XPR10A (asymmetric). for a lift.

What you would recommend?

Shop is in the planning stages, but want to figure out where and how much room in front of/back of the lift I will need.

 

[Durasmack]

Terrific question. I'm also in the market for the same lift. Anxious to see responses!

 

[zkdiesel]

If your lifting crew cab long beds symmetrical is the way to go
If it's only ex cab short beds and other not crazy long ones a asymmetrical will work for you, the longer and heavier the trucks the more you want a symmetrical

 

[pattenp]

That's why I have a Challenger Versymmetric Lift. It can be used asymmetrical or symmetrical.

http://www.challengerlifts.com/two-post-lifts.shtml

 

[JasonF]

Great info, I've been meaning to post the same question.

 

[Iroc-Z]

Working I a shop for many years I will be getting the xpr10a. If I worked mainly on 3/4 ton trucks and up I would go with the xrp10. It's easy to put a screw jack under the back for extra stability when the truck is up.

 

[zkdiesel]

That's why I have a Challenger Versymmetric Lift. It can be used asymmetrical or symmetrical.

http://www.challengerlifts.com/two-post-lifts.shtml

Still not as good as a true symmetrical lift. My three stage arm front and back spo12 will rack stuff a challenger verasymetric won't touch
But this also on the extreme end of stuff like crew cab f450 dump trucks and the like....

 

[duwem]

I'm looking at homeowner use, biggest thing I would have on it would be a duramax crew cab Silverado, no dump trucks

 

[zmotorsports]

That's why I have a Challenger Versymmetric Lift. It can be used asymmetrical or symmetrical.

http://www.challengerlifts.com/two-post-lifts.shtml

I have its twin sister, the Ammco 2in1 model CV210S. Been a great lift with 10k pound capacity.

Still not as good as a true symmetrical lift. My three stage arm front and back spo12 will rack stuff a challenger verasymetric won't touch
But this also on the extreme end of stuff like crew cab f450 dump trucks and the like....

Agreed, but then you have to look at your overall work envelope. I knew the heaviest thing I would be putting on it is my 2006 CCSB Duramax and occassionally a four-door dually Dodge Cummins of my brother's. My Ammco 2in1 lifts both of those routinely and well. The majority of the vehicles I put on my lift are Jeeps and mid-size sedans. Had I needed a lift to lift F450's or work trucks I would not have chosen the 2in1 style lift.

Again, it all comes down to what the OP's work envelople will be which sounds very close to my criteria.

Mike.

 

[Falcon67]

After looking at this a while, a symmetric post lift with asymmetric arms is my choice.

 

[duwem]

Since I'm not ready to buy a lift for say a year, but do want to plan its position in the shop. Say I have 25' depth I want to put the lift in, would I put it 12.5' from the front wall for symmetric and something closer for a symmetric since more will hang out the back than the front?

Is 25' enough depth?

 

[Wood'nMetal]

I have the assymmetric and I wish I would have left more than 12 feet to the front. When I get a crew cab on there it can be a little tight, especially if I have a tool cart or want to pull a motor.

 

[GaryBrady]

Just bought a BendPax 12,000C two post symmetrical lift. You can get some models that have a wide installation option. That is what I went with. The only advantage of of asymmetric is you can get in the car easier. With the symmetric arms you can lift with car headed in or out. With asymmetric you can only lift with the car headed in. With the symmetric lifts the loads are raised with 50 % on the front arms and 50 % on the back arms. With asymmetric the load is 25% on the front arms and 75% on the back arms. The clear floor lifts seem to be stonger with the bar joining the two post at the top. I mostly lift one ton dully trucks with flat beds. That is why I went with the 12,000 symmetric lift. I just felt the symmetrical lift to be more stable and heavier duty lift. With the wide option getting in the truck is no problem. Your building size may affect the choices you have. My BendPax is 14 feet high and the floor plates are 24-1/2" x 25" and 3/4" thick. From outside edge of the floor plates is 155". There are a lot of choices and brands of lifts. Haveing been a machinist and millwright I liked the way the BendPax are put together. I could have bought a lift for less money but not one I wanted to stand under with a 7000 pound truck over my head.

 

[WhiffySpark]

You can pick up a car backwards with asymmetrical. I do it all the time you just have to position it correctly.

Just put the car and neutral and roll it where you want it if you can't get out the door. Very simple

That being said, I like asymmetrical with 3 stage front arms. Basically a combination of both.

I pick up long bed crew cab duramaxs on a 9k rotary lift. Just traditional flip pads

 

[493 scamp]

I have a semi symmetric Atlas at home for light car use and at work a 9k Rotary asymmetric that works great with flip up arms for small vehicles and light trucks. We also have an Atlas at work that has asymmetric arms but straight columns. It is better for larger trucks. Heavy long Diesel trucks need a 12000lb wide symmetric lift. We get by with the screw jack to stabilize longer ones but its not recommended. Neither is loading an asymmetric backwards. You will probably do fine with your choice unless you upgrade to a larger truck.

 

[rodsnratfinks]

If you expect to be lifting long trucks much at all, I would advise a symmetrical lift. You don't want to have to work like this:
...A closer look:

 

[duwem]

That is sketchy!

So how much total room should I accommodate for where the lift will go, is 25' of overall length good, and then I will just position the lift where I need depending on sym or asym?

Thanks

 

[TwistedRay]

Just bought a BendPax 12,000C two post symmetrical lift. You can get some models that have a wide installation option. That is what I went with. The only advantage of of asymmetric is you can get in the car easier. With the symmetric arms you can lift with car headed in or out. With asymmetric you can only lift with the car headed in. With the symmetric lifts the loads are raised with 50 % on the front arms and 50 % on the back arms. With asymmetric the load is 25% on the front arms and 75% on the back arms. The clear floor lifts seem to be stonger with the bar joining the two post at the top. I mostly lift one ton dully trucks with flat beds. That is why I went with the 12,000 symmetric lift. I just felt the symmetrical lift to be more stable and heavier duty lift. With the wide option getting in the truck is no problem. Your building size may affect the choices you have. My BendPax is 14 feet high and the floor plates are 24-1/2" x 25" and 3/4" thick. From outside edge of the floor plates is 155". There are a lot of choices and brands of lifts. Haveing been a machinist and millwright I liked the way the BendPax are put together. I could have bought a lift for less money but not one I wanted to stand under with a 7000 pound truck over my head.

I'm looking at the same lift with wide option. Room is not a big deal in my case. My only concern is being able to get under low vehicles. With the wide option, are the placement of the are wide enough to get under a low car?

 

[75toolman]

If you expect to be lifting long trucks much at all, I would advise a symmetrical lift. You don't want to have to work like this:
...A closer look:

You gotta love that chinese arm droop....lmao

 

[75toolman]

I work in a shop full of rotarys. 1 is an assymetrical. It's great for cars. That's it.

 

[bob_the_builder]

Does anyone have any pictures of a Tahoe or full size SU on a symmetrical lift. I am just trying to see how much room I would have for getting in and out compared to an asymmetric.

Bob

 

[zkdiesel]

Does anyone have any pictures of a Tahoe or full size SU on a symmetrical lift. I am just trying to see how much room I would have for getting in and out compared to an asymmetric.

Bob

It's rough. Back edge of front door will hit the post when racked properly
Crew cab trucks you pull foreqard enough where the full door opens past the column

 

[575cat]

Does anyone have any pictures of a Tahoe or full size SU on a symmetrical lift. I am just trying to see how much room I would have for getting in and out compared to an asymmetric.

Bob

Either way you will be sqeezing in .

 

[WhiffySpark]

That's what neutral is for

 

[bob_the_builder]

Would a Tahoe fit better on an asymmetrical lift then? Trying to find a good lift for a Tahoe, crew cab short box, extended cab short box, and camaro.

After seeing the above picture I was worried that a asymmetrical lifted would not be good for all the full size trucks.

Bob

 

[z28ke]

I have an xpr-10A and use it for the wife's tahoe and my 1500 crew cab no problem. I just pull more forward with them vs my Camaro and cj-7.

 

[bob_the_builder]

Thanks z28ke,

Do you have any pictures of the Tahoe or crew on the lift?

 

[z28ke]

Took a minute to find, all I have.

 

[boosted-delslow]

I have an atlas pv-10p that I have had no problems picking up anything from an acura integra to a cc duramax. My only complaint about it is that some trucks hit the post right on the door and it is hard to get in and out of. But as others have said I just leave it in netual and roll it in the last little bit.

 

[z28ke]

Pic of camaro loaded further back. I went asymmetric so I can have more room in front of it and my jeep cj, and be able to get out of the camaro (long doors). My shop is not very deep and the door is in the center. I put the lift at an angle in the corner so I can still park a vehicle on the other side.

 

[zmotorsports]

I don't know if this will be of any benefit or not. Here is my CCSB Duramax on my Ammco 10k pound asymmetrical/symmetrical two post lift. If memory serves I ended up at 4' from the side wall, 14'6" from the column center to the shop door in the rear and 16'6" from column center to my workbenches in the front.

I still have about 6' between the front of my truck and the workbench with my CCSB on the lift.

Mike.

 

[zio]

Zmotorsports do you know how much room you have between the back of the truck and the garage door?

 

[zmotorsports]

Zmotorsports do you know how much room you have between the back of the truck and the garage door?

I have about 20" with my truck on the lift. With my brothers Dodge dually four door longbed I have less than an inch. He had a ball mount in his hitch the first time and I had to remove that to close the overhead door.

It was a toss up on spacing as I had a saw cut to contend with if I moved the lift any further away from the door and yet I wanted as much room as possible between my work benches in the front and the front of any vehicles that would be on the lift.

Ovarall it seems to work well with a nice balance of space in the front but yet tight at the rear. I can still work on anything I need to at the rear of the trucks with the exception of bumper work without having to have the door open. Any rear suspension or axle work can easily be done with the shop door closed.

Mike.

 

[GaryBrady]

It will lift cars with 5 inches of ground clearance. Picks up my Ford Taurus with not problem. May not be able to lift every car out there but will lift most.

 

[TwistedRay]

It will lift cars with 5 inches of ground clearance. Picks up my Ford Taurus with not problem. May not be able to lift every car out there but will lift most.

Well heck. I've got to be able to get under a low Mustang and other low drag cars.
Does anyone know if Bendpak makes an option to swap arms?

 

[motofool33]

Well heck. I've got to be able to get under a low Mustang and other low drag cars.
Does anyone know if Bendpak makes an option to swap arms?

wide doesn't have much to do with getting under the low cars, what your looking for is minimum pad height.

most lifts that work on lowered cars are using a pad height of maximum 3 5/8" most of the cheaper lifts are 4-5" minimum pad height.

so you have to drive the cars onto blocks and then lift them

there are lifts that have low pro arms that go down as far as 2.5" but the sad part is NONE of them will lift a diesel pickup. i have been researching this for months with no brand loyalty. i need a 10k minimum lift that can pickup my lowered porsche and my CCLB Cummins Diesel at 9kish pounds.

choices are :
Bendpak XPR10LP Lopro arms no screw adjustment, dismissed this choice due to lack of service personnel locally
Challenger 3 7/8" pad height around 4500$ for their lift delivered and installed
Rotary spoa10k 5200$ installed (3 5/8" pad height)
Nussbaum 10k 3800+ delivery and install (around 4" pad height)
Nussbaum 10k with minimax adpaters 6600$ but goes down to 3" and upto 5inch or something only company offering this its pretty awesome just not 6600$ awesome for me. and you cant change the adaptor to truck style

Maha USA offers a low profile lift down to 2.5" but it only lifts 7000#

Whip industries has nice lifts but nothing that is Low profile and can lift the diesel trucks.

Worth Lifts i dismissed after the sales guy steve keep hounding me on email

if your going to be working on low height cars you need screw up pad adapters, unless you like lifting lowering onto something to change your adapter to lift further.

 

[KDXSR5]

If you expect to be lifting long trucks much at all, I would advise a symmetrical lift. You don't want to have to work like this:
...A closer look:

That is scary. I was considering an asymmetrical lift until I saw this. My list of vehicles includes:

2012 crew cab long bed dually Chevy Silverado 3500 w/ Duramax
2008 Chevy Suburban
2006 crew cab long bed dually Chevy Silverado 3500 w/ Duramax
1999 reg cab long bed Chevy Silverado 1500
1985 Toyota Pickup
1967 Buick Electra

After seeing your post, I would only feel comfortable lifting the Toyota, Buick, and maybe the half ton truck on an asymmetric lift. Thank you for this picture/post. It has helped me greatly.

 

[rodsnratfinks]

You're welcome. Most of the lifts in that shop were symmetrical jobs by Rotary, but this one was a **** one. When that truck came in, I told my employer I needed to use one of the bigger lifts. He was like, "That one will lift it just fine!". Then he showed me that if you double stack the pins, you can get it to lift the frame rail without the truck tipping. Nevertheless, as the truck started to lift, the pads moved several times and the whole thing was bouncing and swaying. To make matters worse, that lift had been repaired before. One of the arms had broken off before and was welded back on! "That weld is probably stronger than it was before!", they'd say. Great, then you you work under it... In the end, I did the job with that lift, but wouldn't spend a spare second under that truck. **** like that is why I eventually quit the trade.

 

[INTMD8]

After seeing your post, I would only feel comfortable lifting the Toyota, Buick, and maybe the half ton truck on an asymmetric lift. Thank you for this picture/post. It has helped me greatly.

I think what you're seeing is not so much because the lift is asymmetric but because it has the low profile lift arms.

I have pretty much the same lift at home (and have nothing heavy to put on it).

The shop I work at has bend pak asymmetric lifts with both standard and low profile lift arms and when we put heavy trucks on the lift with standard arms they do not flex (at least not any way visible like the pic above).

 

[rodsnratfinks]

I think what you're seeing is not so much because the lift is asymmetric but because it has the low profile lift arms.

I have pretty much the same lift at home (and have nothing heavy to put on it).

The shop I work at has bend pak asymmetric lifts with both standard and low profile lift arms and when we put heavy trucks on the lift with standard arms they do not flex (at least not any way visible like the pic above).

You may be right about that, but for as long as that chassis is, I would have liked the arms set wider than they were. They were maxed out.

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