Which Bendpak Lift HD-9 or HD-9ST? Sizing Question

[woody45]

Hi guys. New guy here. Seems like a great community – thanks in advance for your help. I have no lift experience and I’m trying to determine which Bendpak lift to go with. The HD-9ST (narrow) or HD-9 (wide). The two cars I’ll be using the lift with have tracks of 62” (9” tires) and 63” (10” tires). The issue I’m concerned about is how close the tires will be to the edges of the runways.

In the case of the wider track, I estimate the tires will be about ~1” from the outside edges of the 19” wide runways. Is this a big deal? Too close for comfort? I know that the width between the runways on the HD-9 is adjustable up to 44”, which would better center the tires on the runways. I assume this would make it easier when loading/unloading cars on the lift.

I would prefer to go with HD-9ST because I’m tight on space, but could accommodate the HD-9 if I had to. What is everyone’s experience? Out of curiosity, if you go with the wider 44” set-up, do the runways stay centered on the lift, or do they become offset from the centerline?

Thanks again for any advice you might have.

 

[lis]

I have the wider version. I've actually switched the runways back and forth (narrow to wide and back) a few times, depending on what I'm trying to do. Sometimes it makes things easier to work on when the ramps are wider, so they don't cover quite as much of the underside of the car. I recently removed/reinstalled the engine in my MR2 by dropping it out the bottom and lifting the car off of it. That wouldn't have been possible with the ramps in the narrow position.

The runways do NOT stay centered when you adjust them. Only one side is adjustable.

 

[ovilla]

I have the wide one and love it. I've also dropped engines out of the bottom (Porsche 914's). Anyway, I normally keep the runways in the normal narrow configuration. What I really enjoy the most about having the HD-9 is simply that the columns are so far apart (10' I think). With regular (narrow) lifts the columns seem to always be in the way. Believe me, you won't even notice that they are there. Whenever I drive a car onto the lift I don't ever have to worry about hitting the columns with my mirrors. I have my lift in my third single door bay and the columns are actually much wider than the door opening. You'll just find yourself walking within the inside portion of the lift and not so much having to go around the columns all the time, especially if you have small/med cars. I'd go with the wider lift, especially if you're going to be working on SUV's or vans. You'll definitely appreciate the movable ramps and the wide columns. To me it's like having columns that are part of your garage walls, they simply don't get in the way at all.