Two Post Lift recommendations

[rown4au]

Ok we are closing shortly on a new house in Texas and it has a great detached workshop with plenty of space and 14 foot cielings so I would like to install a lift. I have narrowed it down to a two post so I can do suspension work and pull tires and wheels easily when needed.

The lift will need to be able to handle everthing between my 93 Jeep wrangler to my F150 supercrew and I would like to have the ability to lift an F350 diesel crewcab as well in case I upgrade the pickup at some point in the future. I am leaning toward a 10k lift capacity for that reason.

I have been doing some research online and read a lot of forum postings here and other sites but I still don't feel like I have made much progress as many seem to contradict each other. The previous Owner of the house had a two post in the shop which he took with him so I know the floor should be able to handle the stresses but I am also in contact with the builder so I can check with him on floor specs of the particular model I choose before pulling the trigger.

I have heard good things about Bend Pack and been told that Mohawk is the "cadillac" of lifts and I should go that route by a few people but I am not sure if that's overkill.

Do I go with asymmetic or symmetric? Another concern is I have a very low slung car that I want to be able to lift as well so the lift needs to accommodate that as well.

The Mohawk will probably cost about double (or more) what a bendpack or something similar will, but in my research it does seem that are more stable (wider footprint) and generally safer, and I do really wonder the merits of saving some money if I am going to be standing under this thing with several thousand pounds hanging over my head. If you read the manufacturers literature on any of these lifts they all make the competiton sound like death traps too!

I am not a master mechanic by any means but with a job change and some more free time I am thinking there are a few potential future projects that I would like to tackle over the next few years and a lift will make them much easier. I also figure this is a buy it once kind of tool and every time I have gone with a cheaper tool because I thought I might be overdoing it I have regretted it later.

Would appreciate any suggestions those in the know might have.

thanks

 

[allapanoo]

www.gregsmithequipment.com is another good place to look at lifts

 

[GT_Rich]

Hi - I can relate, as I finally made the purchase of a lift a couple weeks ago. The research and contradicting opinions are endless. I have a few opinions/points that I'd like to point out b/c I think they are important and often not discussed.
1. Asymmetric vs. symmetric: I prefer (and purchased) a symmetric lift b/c it can be positioned so that you can back in or pull in vehicles. Also, an asymmetric lift will always have more tensile loads carried by the anchors. I don't like that. It seems like asymmetric lifts are built with stronger rear arms and (hopefully) a baseplate designed to carry more loads on one side. A symmetric design seems more logical to me. If you are worried about door clearance, simply back in too far, or don't pull all the way in, get out and push it the last foot or two. I've found I never get the vehicle quite right anyways and I usually roll it to the perfect spot. If you have level concrete, it's no big deal.
2. Jack stands: I NEVER see this discussed. If you're like me, you probably don't want to spend 2x on a Mohawk lift to feel safe when you're under a large/long vehicle, like the trucks you mentioned. Jack stands are cheap, Adjustable 2-ton stands are about $80. The ones I have go up to about 80". Buy a few with your lift. When you have long trucks on there, use them under the rear-most leaf sprng mounts and under the front frame. It makes the load significantly more secure. I'm NOT saying to buy a 7k lift for your 8k truck and then use jackstands, but I am saying that in my case, $300 in jack stands gives me a more secure feeling than the extra $3,000 I could have spent on a Mohawk. Just my opinion
3. Overhead vs. baseplate: If you have 14 ft. ceilings, this is a no-brainer. The overhead lift design is more convenient. I think the direct-drive design used today is really nice. I only have 11 ft. ceiling, so I had to go with a baseplate design.
4. Manufacturer: My opinion on this is to not even give an opinion. Do your research and contact the customer support of each company you are considering before you make a decision.

You're going to enjoy any lift you get. Enjoy the decision making process too. There's a lot to learn and you'll be glad you learned it before making the purchase.

Rich

 

[rown4au]

Hi - I can relate, as I finally made the purchase of a lift a couple weeks ago. The research and contradicting opinions are endless. I have a few opinions/points that I'd like to point out b/c I think they are important and often not discussed.
1. Asymmetric vs. symmetric: I prefer (and purchased) a symmetric lift b/c it can be positioned so that you can back in or pull in vehicles. Also, an asymmetric lift will always have more tensile loads carried by the anchors. I don't like that. It seems like asymmetric lifts are built with stronger rear arms and (hopefully) a baseplate designed to carry more loads on one side. A symmetric design seems more logical to me. If you are worried about door clearance, simply back in too far, or don't pull all the way in, get out and push it the last foot or two. I've found I never get the vehicle quite right anyways and I usually roll it to the perfect spot. If you have level concrete, it's no big deal.
2. Jack stands: I NEVER see this discussed. If you're like me, you probably don't want to spend 2x on a Mohawk lift to feel safe when you're under a large/long vehicle, like the trucks you mentioned. Jack stands are cheap, Adjustable 2-ton stands are about $80. The ones I have go up to about 80". Buy a few with your lift. When you have long trucks on there, use them under the rear-most leaf sprng mounts and under the front frame. It makes the load significantly more secure. I'm NOT saying to buy a 7k lift for your 8k truck and then use jackstands, but I am saying that in my case, $300 in jack stands gives me a more secure feeling than the extra $3,000 I could have spent on a Mohawk. Just my opinion
3. Overhead vs. baseplate: If you have 14 ft. ceilings, this is a no-brainer. The overhead lift design is more convenient. I think the direct-drive design used today is really nice. I only have 11 ft. ceiling, so I had to go with a baseplate design.
4. Manufacturer: My opinion on this is to not even give an opinion. Do your research and contact the customer support of each company you are considering before you make a decision.

You're going to enjoy any lift you get. Enjoy the decision making process too. There's a lot to learn and you'll be glad you learned it before making the purchase.

Rich

Thanks for the info Rich, I noticed a few others in other forums speaking about the merits of tall jackstands for stability when lifting longer vehicles on a two post lift and definitely plan to order a couple at the same time I order the lift.

 

[pattenp]

BendPak and Challenger both have a lift that lifts both symmetric and asymmetric. I have the Challenger Lift which is called a Versymmetric and the columns are not rotated at the normal 30 degrees as a true asymmetric lift. The lifting arms are designed to allow for asymmetric lifting.

 

[knucklebusted]

Ok we are closing shortly on a new house in Texas and it has a great detached workshop with plenty of space and 14 foot cielings so I would like to install a lift. I have narrowed it down to a two post so I can do suspension work and pull tires and wheels easily when needed.

This is my first post and my main reason for joining.

I feel like I'm in the same boat. I've neglected finishing the inside of my garage because I don't know how the lift will go in and I just can't process all the negative sales tactics and contradictions in designs. I have 12'8" ceilings and 6" concrete with rebar but I'm to the point of just wanting to write a check and make it happen!

Good luck with your choice! Post what you come up with.

 

[PassnThru]

Hey man. Glad you made it.

 

[MMW]

We got a Challenger CL10-2 lift about a year ago from Automotive Eq. of South Texas out of Corpus Christi. He had the best price around and did an excellent install on the lift.
I had looked at used lifts for 2 years and at that time ( pre recession ) most people wanted too much for their used lifts.
I then bought a new Rotary lift from a San Antonio dealer. I confirmed many times that it was the model that I wanted, well they showed up with the wrong lift and wouldn't lower the price as an incentive to take it. So back to San Antonio it went.
As my luck would have it 2 months after the lift was installed a local car dealer went out of business and sold all of it's lifts at about 50 % of new costs. The dealer had been in business less than a year.

I lift a Dodge diesel crew cab and it has no problem with it.

Good luck1

 

[MMW]

here are some pics of the ram on the lift, I have the CL10-2 with the 2 ' extensions on the lift columns. They probably won't be needed but I got em anyway.

 

[wendell]

I am saying that in my case, $300 in jack stands gives me a more secure feeling than the extra $3,000 I could have spent on a Mohawk.

Based on the failure mode of a lift, help me understand this statement. When the lift arm locks are engaged on the columns, what makes you feel more safe under a Mohawk (besides the extra $3000)? I hear this stuff a lot and for the life of me I don't get it.

A few years ago when I was researching lifts, I looked at them all. Once I understood how they work, I saw that lift failure was the result of 1) bolts pulling out of the slab and 2) improperly loading the auto on to the lift. There just isn't another way for it fail.

Ultimately I chose the 10K lift that had the design layout I wanted (clear floor and easily customizable to maximize my ceiling height). I never put on the brand stickers so I've since forgotten the name and I've been nothing but thrilled with it.

 

[Hiball]

Another thing to think about coming from a guy in the Hydraulic Repair business is to buy from a company that supports there product and can source Rebuild kits or Hard Parts if ever needed.

 

[Shadowdog500]

Based on the failure mode of a lift, help me understand this statement. When the lift arm locks are engaged on the columns, what makes you feel more safe under a Mohawk (besides the extra $3000)? I hear this stuff a lot and for the life of me I don't get it.

A few years ago when I was researching lifts, I looked at them all. Once I understood how they work, I saw that lift failure was the result of 1) bolts pulling out of the slab and 2) improperly loading the auto on to the lift. There just isn't another way for it fail.

Ultimately I chose the 10K lift that had the design layout I wanted (clear floor and easily customizable to maximize my ceiling height). I never put on the brand stickers so I've since forgotten the name and I've been nothing but thrilled with it.

Since you asked, here is my rationale on why I think the Mohawk is better lift for me, and yes I do feel safer under a Mohawk than a Chinese 10,000 lift.

Here is a photo of the baseplate from a Mohawk 10,000lb. lift(top) compared to a less expensive 10,000 lb. lift (bottom).

Here is a photo of the tower of a Mohawk 10,000 lb lift (top) and an inexpensive 10,000 lb lift (bottom).

Lets assume that there are only the two failure modes that you indicate.
1) Bolts pulling put and (2)improperly loaded lift.

The mohawk lift has about twice as many bolts holding it to the concrete, and the footprint is allot bigger, so a the same lift imbalance will cause much higher tension on each bolt of the smaller footprint lift. Both of these put together mean that the bolts will pull out of the floor on the other lift way before the Mohawk. Second, the extra girth of the Mohawk makes it much more forgiving to an improper load. In short, both lifts may perform the same if the lift is properly loaded and balanced, but when the lift is improperly loaded, I believe that the other lift will fail first.

I also believe that a lift is a lifetime purchase, like a rifle or a wrench so the extra money I spend for it wont mean much in a few years.

Chris

 

[GT_Rich]

wendell - re-read what I originally posted. I think we are in the same boat. I don't have a Mohawk. I'm saying that with long trucks I use jack stands to firm up the load. I'm sure it would be fine without them, but I feel better having the jack stands in place.

 

[krooser]

I stopped at a guys shop today and he had a 8K Complete Lift 4-post in the service area with an MG sitting on it... when he left for a minute a shook one post and it swayed maybe three inches...

I really hope he keeps working on those small cars and doesn't risk putting a full size pick-up on it...

Here's the base plate on my 9K Weaver...3/4" steel.

Compare that to any Chi-Com lift... tell me which one is stronger. You can't buy a Weaver anymore (bought up by Rotary) but a Mohawk or Rotary is the way to go. What's your life worth?

 

[volaredon]

I too just bought an old Weaver 9K capacity above ground... 4 of us didnt feel safe laying down the columns without someone being crushed or trampled so we tied a 27' ratchet strap around the top (think the tiedowns that flatbed semi drivers use)-- it's all we brought with us, didnt think of a rope didn't think it would be that big of a deal to dismantle but it took all 4 of us once a 5th guy started tipping the columns away from us towards the trailer to "ease" them down
In the last shop I worked at the owners insist on "nothing but" Rotary hoists and I saw a couple of them installed like 15 years ago and 2 guys walked those columns up w/o a problem; that aint happenin with my Weaver columns, w/o a comealong from above....