Which lift would you buy?

[airmissle]

I know this comes up all the time, I have read through hundreds of posts about lifts but I still haven't been able to narrow down what lift I should buy.

What I'll be lifting -

Hummer H1
F250 supercab short bed
Crew cab dually long bed trucks
Cabs and beds off of trucks
Cars?
Chevy c4500 kodiak crew cab

Obviously the Kodiak throws me into a completely different class of lift but I would like to see what my options are.

From what I have read it's better to have a symmetric lift for doing the heavy stuff, but is it possible to still lift cabs and cars?

My other limitation is building height. I am designing the building now, but I am restricted to a 12' average roof height with a max gable height of 16'. I am planning on going with a metal building so I would imagine I should have 13 - 14' in the center under the gable.

I read a garage build recently that used the 9k Atlas scissor lift that was completely flush with the concrete, it was way cool but it really wouldn't work for lifting cabs/beds, nor was it strong enough for my trucks.


Thanks in advance.



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[unslow1]

What is the weight on that Chevy c4500 kodiak crew cab? I'm guessing 11K-12K? I bet you are a little limited in your choices.

 

[airmissle]

What is the weight on that Chevy c4500 kodiak crew cab? I'm guessing 11K-12K? I bet you are a little limited in your choices.

Yeah, It's about 11500 empty. So 15k is what I would need. I guess my question is what is it that a 10k can lift that a 15k can't?


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[jav]

well for me- I want a higher capacity lift BUT as capacity goes up- the arm configuration can get troublesome for smaller lighter cars. Minimum pad height can get quite quite high to where you need to pre lift smaller cars just so the pads can get under the lift points. AND sometimes, the arms can't retract enough to fit between the font and/or rear tires.

SO- if you have to lift that Kodiak- your stuck with a very heavy duty lift which might be a bit of a pain for cars... but there's no way around that. You have to buy a lift that will handle the heaviest axel weight. Keep in mind that if that Kodiak has an axel weight above 7500#- a 15k lift won't be enough. A heavy duty lift will work great for truck but will likely be a pain for cars... but it should work with some extra effort.

I've been looking at the Atlas BP10K and it's pad height is 4.5". I'm thinking of going up to the 12K simply because of the higher capacity with the same 4.5" pad height.

 

[rburke65]

A big *** Mohawk lift!

 

[IndyGarage]

My 12K Mohawk has lifted Everything from a Yaris to a small dump truck.

As mentioned above, for small cars the arm retract and the minimum height is sometimes a bit of an challenge, (you have to get it centered just right front to back on a really small car in order to swing the arms under at both ends) but I haven't had a car that I can't lift with it yet, and haven't had to pre-lift any to get it them on the arms. However I have had a couple that were low enough that I had to pull up on the car by hand in order to push the arm under.

My posts are set I think 10 feet apart, which is the standard recommended and works fine for most vehicles.

I have lifted an F450 box truck - at about 10,000 lbs, there was no sweat lifting the truck, but it was a bit trickier to get it centered correctly. If I was doing large trucks all the time I'd be tempted to put a little more space between the posts, but there would probably be other challenges. No more often than I lift larger vehicles, it works fine the way it is.

 

[NES]

I've heard that Eagle makes good lifts.

 

[zkdiesel]

Rotary spo 12. Have two
Lifted all you have done, including just regular cabs off ford/Chevy frames, as well as 5500 kodiacs with 9' dump body's
Also lifted crew cab f550 with wheel lift wrecker bodies

This lift has three stage arms front and rear and will retract short enough to pick up a mini or smart car

 

[sberry]

I have lifted an F450 box truck - at about 10,000 lbs, there was no sweat lifting the truck, but it was a bit trickier to get it centered correctly. If I was doing large trucks all the time I'd be tempted to put a little more space between the posts, but there would probably be other challenges. No more often than I lift larger vehicles, it works fine the way it is.

This. I have a couple larger trucks, I just don't lift them and they don't need regular work. I had the equipment stripped out of this one, now its loaded and I need to do a spring and will do it on the ground,,, floor.

 

[zkdiesel]

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=273458

 

[scott442]

Look at Rotary's catalog and call their local Rep. Our truck shop has them (Ford Dealer) no issues.

 

[KDXSR5]

Pick a manufacturer (or several) and call them to get reccomendations for the correct lift for your application. You want to lift some big heavy trucks, and to do it safely, you will need a pretty heavy duty lift. My family has several trucks that weigh in around 15k at all times. We are going to do a 4 post for stability sake. We will eventually end up with a lighter duty 2 post to work on cars. In the mean time, we have an overhead hoist to pull cabs and such. This was the best solution for us, you may come to a different conclusion. Good luck!

 

[airmissle]

Pick a manufacturer (or several) and call them to get reccomendations for the correct lift for your application. You want to lift some big heavy trucks, and to do it safely, you will need a pretty heavy duty lift. My family has several trucks that weigh in around 15k at all times. We are going to do a 4 post for stability sake. We will eventually end up with a lighter duty 2 post to work on cars. In the mean time, we have an overhead hoist to pull cabs and such. This was the best solution for us, you may come to a different conclusion. Good luck!

Thanks for the info. What kind of overhead hoist do you have? Any pictures of it?


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[KDXSR5]

Thanks for the info. What kind of overhead hoist do you have? Any pictures of it?


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We have two of them, both homemade built out of scrap. One is a non movable beam about 30 ft long or so, and the other is a 10ft or so beam attached to a massive bearing assembly and can spin 360*. Each has a manual trolley and chain fall on it. I will try to snag a pic or two next time I am at the shop. Both have been used to pull engines and beds and such in the past. They work very well.

 

[KDXSR5]

I know these are horrible pictures, but they should give you the general idea of what is going on. The stationary beam goes back into a paint booth. The two post beams spin 360 degrees. They each have been used to lift all sorts of stuff including engines and beds, etc.

 

[KDXSR5]

I am left handed so of course none of the pictures are going the correct way. Sorry about that. I tried flipping them on my phone before uploading, but it did not help.

 

[kbuhagiar]

I am left handed so of course none of the pictures are going the correct way. Sorry about that. I tried flipping them on my phone before uploading, but it did not help.

Here ya go...

 

[KDXSR5]

Thank you good sir.

 

[bill9860]

Hard to beat Mohawk.