car lift

Just bought a 4 poster for my shop. Will pick it up Wednesday. "Some assembly required". Think the wife might be taking my creeper away from me? I know she despises it.

I need one of those, but will have to build shop with a higher ceiling

I don't have a high ceiling so I opted for one of these. Its somewhat mobile too. Compared to a creeper its the cat's a$$.

I'll be buying a new 2 poster to replace my current
2 post.. mine doesnt go quite high enough for me and
I bang my head on the arms.. the new one will go up
another 10" higher.. the one I have now I bought used
when I built my shop... its worked fine but just isnt
high enough.. $2400 gets me the new one.. already have
it picked out.. my buddy has the same one right now...
its NICE

I finally just bought creepers for here at the house and at the shop.

Just wait big D, age will eventually start "creeping" up on you.

What brand did you buy? I bought a cheaper one and wished that I had spent $300.00 more for a better one like the Benpacks

I have a 4 post in the garage on my house. I mostly use it as added parking, but it's great. Thinking of adding another. Just make sure whats on top doesn't leak or you have a drip pan............LOL!!!!

I keep my boat on the one I have. Boats aren't used every day and still have use of garage. Works out great

I want to put another drive on and a 2 post in my shop, just haven't gotten around to it

Went with "Advantage Lifts, LLC." Saw it at SEMA and liked a lot of the features - 9000 lb cap., mobile ( caster kit standard), 36" aluminum ramps, rolling jack tray, drip trays, adjustable upper limit stop switch, double safety's on mechanicals / hydraulics - all standard. I did buy 2 options - rolling air/hyd. jack and light kit. Got a good SEMA discount on all.

I have a mid lift from Rotary. Makes life MUCH easier. It works perfect to doing body work. I can remove all the front and rear suspension from the car on the lift also. In s perfect world, I'd have 3 lifts. A 2 post, 4 post, and this.

I bought an Atlas 9000# two post lift two or three years ago and love it. In the winter I keep my Dart on it and the mower and four wheeler under it.

I noted that you have straps on the front subframes as insurance for when you are doing chinups off the rear bumper off that B-Body

I am saving my pennies for a 4 post...I am too old to get down on the ground to position the lift arms and still want to be able to walk all the way from front to back under the middle of the car. I will buy two jack trays. My shop has 14' ceilings so clearance is not a problem.

90% of the time the 2 poster works great for what I do
but yesterday I could have used a 4 post to align my
front end(as long as it had the hyd jacks to lift it..
instead I put my Rampage on cinder blocks(2 blocks high)
to do my finish readings.. which works great for me because
if I have to pull any of the heims to make a adjustment I
just lift the hoist

All the bases covered.

Those straps are necessary when the pads are on the rear crossmember - there's too much rear end weight.

Got one of each...4 post and 2 post...Both are Atlas..going on 3 yrs now.

I want to see if a 4 poster will swing around the new
2 post that I am buying.. if it will clear I might pick
a 4 poster also so I can have 1 car on it and another car
below.. then my Rampage on the 2 poster and my Jeep under
it.. I can get 4 cars in my shop now and it fills up 2/3rd
of the shop.. the other 1/3 is my machine shop area and no
way can I get any car over there

I bought a budget four post lift about 10 years ago when the wife and I built our house and detached garage.
I specifically had 11 1/2' tall ceilings put in the garage along with a high lift garage door.
I contacted the lift vendor who put me in contact with a local company that sold their lifts. I had the local place deliver and assemble the lift in my garage so there would be no excuses that I installed the lift incorrectly should the lift have any issues.

It is been a great investment and very useful tool.
Mine came with extra drip trays, a jacking tray and casters.
I did not bolt mine to the floor so I can lower the lift down on the casters and roll the lift anywhere I want in the garage or even out into the driveway if needed.
It's great for doing mechanical work on cars with the wheels on or off and creates well needed extra storage space when stacking cars.
The only issue I've had with it is I had to have new seals installed in the main hydraulic cylinder last summer as it was dripping very lightly but I have no complaints after 10 years of service.
I'm also thinking of buying another.

2 post here

I knew that...sometimes you are just too literal. I used to work in a wrecking yard and when we moved the cars around, whether they were equipped with an engine or not, we would slide the forklift forks under the front of the car and wrap a chain on each side over the frame rail and around the fork to keep it from tipping over...you have no idea how much noise it makes when you drop a Buick on it's a$$ and have to explain that to the boss.

I settled for a 2 post down under.

Had one of theses at the dealer way back when... Loved that lift. Never realized they were not that expensive.(about 2gs)
These are not my pics, just internet finds.

How high is your ceiling?

Thanks,
Bill

9-1/2 feet. About a foot or so of clearance above the car with this one. Yes, I could probably have found a 2 or 4 post but I also don't want to have to work around posts right now. Maybe some time down the road.

When I had my work shop / garage built, I contemplated adding a lift in the future, so I went with a 11'6" ceiling ( measured to the lights ). I also went with a roll-up door, so no door clearance issues - plus the door doesn't block any ceiling lights when it is up.

Being that I have the in concrete heating I made a map
of the tubing so I can put the hoist in and not hit any
of the tubing.... plus I went with 19' in the center
peak area.. the walls are 12'.. 10x10 roll up door that
I put a electric door opener on this year.. that mounts
on the side of the door up where the shaft is(with the
counter balance springs on it).. love that opener.. super
quiet and has a automatic lock

CINDER BLOCKS??

Get some helmlock or jack stands. LOL
Concrete blocks are not good to use.
Matt

You mean I just spent several $100 on turn tables when I could have used cinder blocks??? CRAP!!!!

It works fine for me.. I'm not under the car.. I just
have to get it high enough to see the gauge on the
rotor and the steering arm.. plus the arms are right
there... I had my 73 Ply fall on me years ago so I know
all to well about cars falling.. that TANK crushed both
of my shoulders... a week later a guy just a few streets
away did the same thing.. he wasnt lucky.. crushed his..
head... now day(since back then) I am deathly afraid to
get under a car without supports or a hoist

Knowing I wanted a lift in the future I also went with a higher ceiling (10') but utilized a scissor truss which yields an extra +/- 4' 6" interior height in the center without the additional wall and overall garage height.

I am in the market for a lift as well. My new building has 12' ceiling height.
I am leaning toward a 2 post.
Are there brands that should be avoided?
Thanks,
Mark

I have a 2 post Danmar,would hate to live without it, my knees being bad make the creeper not a good deal. A subsidiary of Dover Corp makes a bunch of the Chinese two post lift brands, from what Ive seen there are basically 3 different models of lifts built by the Chinese and many "brands". Friend of mine has a BenPak, only difference to the Danmar is the color.

I could have gone with a scissor truss but I figured I needed storage space more than I needed a hoist. I bought attic trusses instead and have a 5-1/2' high attic the length of my shop.

I only used the scissors at the door locations where the lift would be. The rest are flat bottom trusses and I will have some storage in those areas...
Edit: Scissor trusses are in light yellow...flat bottom trusses are in light red...

You can see the brown beam going around the building..
thats at 7'.. I am putting a 2' wide shelf most of the
way around the place for storage.. I already have storage
above the clean room/office... I didnt put it in front of
the hoist or where I have cabinets.. I bought a bunch of
Air Force steel wall lockers that are 8' tall so the shelf
didnt fit there
EDIT
let me get a smaller pic... looks like I dont have any
small pics... but there is a beam at 7'

Picked it up yesterday. About 2200 Lbs of "lift-in-a-box". Wife has her work cut out for her!!

11.5' ceiling. 8' roll-up door. Lift will go where that little red thing is sitting.

Is she done yet.. LOL... have her pick up the pace

I'm so envious of you guys with nice lifts. I would love to have a four post lift but my 36-28 shop has 8 foot ceilings. I bought one of these 5-6 years ago and it help my old bones but its not anything like a lift.


http://www.kwik-lift.com/uses.html

I'll be done if she reads this thread.

LOL... I hear ya

I ended up with a Direct Lift. They are affordable and are ETL certified. Very nice quality compared to some of the cheaper ones I've saw. I couldn’t imagine life without it now!

This looks identical to the one I am getting... I'm
looking at the 9000# lift.. the old unit I have now
is a 12K

[/quote]

This looks identical to the one I am getting... I'm
looking at the 9000# lift.. the old unit I have now
is a 12K
[/quote]

Yes its a 9k I've lifted my dually no problem to do tranny services, oil changes etc.

Four post works for me in small garage

you mean that engine picker ?

Off-loading 2200 lb container.

Lotsa parts.

Ok, breaks over!

Ready to rock&roll! About 2 days worth of work. Gonna have to learn how to do things a little bit different than the last 50+ years.

Looks good

Cool stuff John! Maybe when I get old I'll get one too.

I can afford a concrete floor in my 40x30 shop, or a lift, but not both. Time to start digging four holes for footers I guess

A few years back they had a great deal on lifts at asedeals.com at the time I was wanting a bend Pak four post and it was around 2400 delivered to socal.

Looks good, you're gona enjoy it, no more of this,

hey mods, how about an emoji with a lift

Nice!

looks like a winner ! i still have a "few" years supply of cardboard creepers left before a lift of any kind can be considered.

I have a pair of asymetrical lifts, and I love having lifts. Prepare for new levels of lazyness lol. I'll run one up in the air to wax the sides, or even to check air pressure.

Nicely organized shop you have there. I cannot imagine how nice it must be to have your woman willing to help!

My driving force.

My wife helps out when ever I ask.. she doesnt
come out to the shop unless I ask.. but I also
know her limitations on what she can do.. she
knows alot about cars but also knows I can be
a A$$ when things arent working out right... I
do come into the house and pass ideas past her
but she also knows I'm just talking out loud.. LOL

So....I'm still in the throws of choosing a lift(s). I am considering an Bendpak 2 post 10,000 asymmetrical for doing most work, and a second (portable) 4 post lift (no specific brand) mostly for storage that I can move around.

Any last minute input or advice before I pull the trigger?

A guy in my old neighborhood bought a CEM lift and they are in Post Falls, ID...real handy to you.

Another friend has a big shop (with high ceiling) in need of a lift, like me, and the current plan is borrow a car trailer from another neighbor and drive to Portland, OR where we will visit Greg Smith Equipment at the Oregon store. The 8,000# 4 post is what we both are looking at. Two of those strapped to the car trailer will probably be the max load, but we are going down empty and it is less than 300 miles back to where we will drop the first one at my house and then we can strap my cherry picker to the trailer and drop the last one at his place

What about the one you are going to drop off at my place?

The place I'm looking at is about 20 miles from
me and gave me a quote that I'm happy with.. I
have another buddy looking for one also.. I am
checking to see if I buy 2 if he will give me a
better price for the pair.. either way I am getting
one for myself(I hope its a bit cheaper with the pair)..
I will have to borrow my buddies open trailer to pick
them up.. my open trailer is at my up north place

Great minds think alike

Scott, you are a little out of the way for me and I think 3 lifts on one trailer will be a little too much

Mr P where are you getting your from?? do they have a website

Thanks

I bought the Bendpak 9000 4 post, and also bought the sliding center lift jack. I really like mine.

Tried it without bolting it down, but it was little wobbly, and bolting it down to the floor, and it is solid now!

Also bought the aluminum removable ramps...best thing I did!

regards, Mark

I'm not a lift expert for sure, but after looking at many 4 posters at the SEMA show this year we liked the Advantage lift best for the $. They have a good web sight that you might want to visit. It includes a 6 part video on unpacking and assembly that will give you a very good insight on this lift. After reviewing the videos a few times, my wife and I were able to assemble it in 2 days ( including unloading it off our trailer ) with very little referring to the assembly manual. They offer 3 different sizes to choose from with lots of options. They still might be offering a SEMA discount.

I have the same set up,,,Bendpak 9K 4 post with sliding center jack. Great lift,,,no issues for the past 4 yrs.
I also bolted mine down,,,which made a big difference,,,very stable with the car in the air,,,
I don't have the aluminum ramps,,,but that sounds like a great upgrade,,stock ramps are heavy

Hi Doc,

I got mine from your recommendation, and got the Aluminum Ramps to keep from hitting my head...great suggestion!

Now I just need to heat the garage...this summers project.


Mark

One option I bought was a light kit. Gonna take some getting used to?

Here are a couple pics of my rolling jack. I went with the air over hyd unit, but they sell a manual unit also. Jack comes with several pad height plugs. Pic from the front shows the short ones. Rear view shows the long ones in their storage holes ( center of jack pad).

Bling for your lift!

One of the problems with lifts is light blockage. Kills all your shop lighting. So now you need a drop cord light, which is never in the right spot ( at least I am no longer running the cord over with my creeper ) These lights work great illuminating the under side of the car, but they boarder on too bright IMO - distracting. I will probably get used to them.

I like the lights.. if I buy a 4 post I will
look at both of those options (rolling jack
and the lights) did it come with the electric
outlet on it... also do you have to plug your
air hose on the jack or is it plumbed in

When I bought my shop (it came with a house and a garage for my wife) the PO had a 4 post lift in there. It was not bolted down (if it were bolted down, it would have been legally mine as part of the property and I would not have had to negotiate for it) The PO wanted to get stupid money for it and I would not play that game. The lift started out in the garage (30'x 30' with 12' ceilings, but only a 4" concrete floor) and he and his family rolled it over to the shop (2 bays each @ 20' x 20' with 14' ceilings and the concrete floor is 18" thick). So I know I will have no problem bolting it down. I had to spend money on the house and her garage, so I am still saving a little here and there for my lift... So now we work on the ground floor.

Hi Mark,,,,how is the GTX doing ?
Sorry I didn't recognize your user name...
I did put a electric heater in,,ceiling unit,,but does not seem to throw much heat,,,still use the torpedo heater as needed..
Happy Holiday's,
Doug

I would go with the bendpak! One thing is to get it installed properly. I believe Bendpak will assist in finding someone to install it in your area.

Next is learning how to use it. I can't stress this enough. Raise the car so that the wheels are almost a foot off the ground. Grab the bumper and rock the car. If it rocks it's not centred properly.
Last thing is just me but buy four tall jack stand to go under it, just incase. I now I'm paranoid but I'm still hear. Arms breaks welds let go and safety catches break. I don't want to know that the robot or person welding it had a bad day.

Gotta plug in an air hose to it Mike. A rolling plarform comes as standard with this lift ( pics). Good for 4500 lbs. One of the pics shows the pig tail for the lights, which comes with a switch and a length of wire and plug for a wall outlet. Also standard was 4 drip trays - musta known a Mopar was going on it.

would i be possible to get you to measure out the rolling platform and post the dimensions ? length, width, height, material thickness ? plus the roller dimensions and the axle diameter ? thanks in advance ! also, how wide are the ramps and how wide is the space between them ?

rolling platform
L= 33.5"
W= 14"
H= 2.5"
Material thickness= 7/32"
roller wheel= 2 1/4" O.D. 1 5/8" groove dia.
axle= 1.5" dia through platform. 1" dia through roller.
ramp width= 18 5/8" (tread surface area)
space between ramps= 35" (open area).

thanks a bunch !

That rolling jack is awesome! The 4 post lift my dad has uses a jacking plate but when using a bottle jack you have to be extremely careful the car doesn't roll. Especially when lifting the front.

Have you posted a link to where you bought it?

www.advantagelifts.us Tony Weber 316 648-6213. They are located in Elk River, Mn. They are warehoused all over the US. I picked up mine at a warehouse in Phoenix, Az

Congrats to all who are living the dream


I don't have all the accessories, but out of every tool I own...the hoist is probably the one I use the most.

Nice landyacht!!

Last time we had a C-body in my shop we had to do complete brakes and that would have been perfect...instead we had three old fat men rolling around on the floor with that boat on jack stands

I am still going for the 4 post and I can almost see it...

the reason i ask this, is i have a short lift system almost built from scratch. i have no room for a conventional 2 or 4 post, nor do i have enough room for a mid lift [4 foot] either. so, i fabbed up an item similar to that "quick lift" ramp deal. it is a set of 20"wide ramps, for lack of a better word, that are hinged [with 1 1/4" pins] to a pier the front tires set on that is 22" from the ground. when you drive on, the rear of the ramps are lifted by a set of big truck air bags. when the ramps are just a little above level, a second pair of piers are slid under the ramps, and the air is let out of the bags allowing the ramps to rest on the rear piers with the remaining air left in the bags. chocks are permanently welded to the front piers [which also contain provisions for alignment turn plates], and are adjustable in the rear to accommodate different wheel base vehicles. i have been working on this for a few long years, and hope to be able to complete it sometime in mid 2017. it won't be the ideal set up, but will be better than nothing. plus, i still get to use up my "stock" of cardboard creepers, but will be at least able to set up instead of being flat on my back.

Wow! Sounds pretty cool - making due with the space available. The provisions for turn tables is interesting. Got any pics to share? I have turn tables, but I'm used to doing alignments on the floor. I would prefer to do them on the rack, but don't know how it will work yet. All alignment adjustments on my 33 have to be done from underneath the front fenders - Major pain!

i have a couple of pics on a usb stick from my old 'puter. i'll see if i can root them out. i just restored a set of $25 turn tables. they work like new ! i'll try to get a couple pics of those as well. they were pretty bad and i replaced the bearings just to be safe, although the originals seemed to not be flaking nor were pitting.