HIRISC

I've had a BendPak scissor lift (MD-6XP) for a couple of years and have been very pleased with its versatility.

Since winter is coming, and my garage is filling up with snowmobiles, I thought it would be a perfect time to 'justify' buying a 4 post lift to stack my Z06 and my Camaro for the off-season.

The lift is a BendPak HD-9 (the wider of their current options).

Rough dimensions are 121" wide (outside to outside) and about 174" long (excluding the ramps). I contemplated buying their 'ST' version that is about 103" wide, but that version wasn't wide enough between the crossbeam supports to fit the 76" (tire) width of my Z06. Close, but no cigar.

I bought a 110v for versatility - I'm planning to have a winter layout and a summer layout for the garage. FWIW, a 220v is also available and is supposed to raise the car faster. IMO, the 110v is plenty fast, raising my Z to the top safety lock in about 55 seconds.

Max lift height is 70" which gives you about 78" to the bottom of the car (5" for the ramp height and 3" or so of normal ground clearance).

My ceiling height is 121". The pic below shows the Camaro and the Corvette on the 2nd to the highest safety stop - it could go up another 5" or so, but the hood of the Camaro would hit the garage door.

The included ramps work fine for my '69 and my truck, but due to the low ground clearance of the Z, I ended up using the wood ramp ends I built for my scissor lift to help get the spoiler over the main crossbar. (See pic below).

I considered other brands - Backyard Buddy, Rotary, Revolution (Rotary), and Direct Lift. In the end, the combination of price (about $3500 installed, including casters which allow one to move the lift around), reputation of brand, (auto) air safety locks, enclosed cabling, adjustable ramp width (between 37.25" and 44" inside to inside), and optional rolling bridge jack made the BendPak HD-9 the best option for me. (plus, the blue matches my other lift )

BendPak HD-9 web page:
http://bendpak.com/products/automoti...lifts/hd-9.php

Bought it locally (Shakopee, MN) from a company called Benco (no affiliation with BendPak). They made their lives easy by bringing a truck with an on-board hoist.. Would be difficult to get the larger sections off the truck without some type of lift (engine lift would work). 2 guys took about 3.5 hours to set it up. The install was fairly basic really, but IMO, only 'easy' after watching someone do it. It would have taken me a lot longer.

Thanks to the CF guys who inspired/helped me - Patches, CAPTEJ, etc.

Here are some pics of the Z on/under:





Overall, very happy with it - should have bought it a long time ago.

SidePipeMusic

Am I understanding this right, you don't have to bolt it into the concrete? If not, I'm a happy guy. The only reason I'd not considered a full sized lift is that I'm not sure how long I'll be in this house, and really don't want to bolt one down.

painexpert

I have the same lift and you do NOT have to bolt it down.Mine works just fine unbolted.

UNKNOWN

nice, notice you need 9-6 inches of clear for opener

wont fit in less

make sure you measure b4 you buy

SpeedshifterZ06

What is the ceiling height you need for these?

AtomicZ

Chris -

Now that you know how to install one - come over and help me do mine. I have two 4 post and a 2 post waiting to be put up.

Eric

captej

told you brother....i love mine..ej

HIRISC

You mean for the garage opener? Mine's in the middle - not an issue.


Car 1 height + Car height 2 + 5" for the ramp height + 2" to get off the lock + any extra height you need to get to the 'next' lock. Different lift mfg have different lock heights..

Here's a good tool:
http://revolutionlifts.com/Ceiling.asp


I'd be happy to - PM me and let's work it out

2008corvette

nzk

wait a sec...the lift is not bolted to the concrete floor??? how is this safe?

painexpert

4 posters do not need to be bolted down.

SidePipeMusic

I sure am happy you posted about this lift. I was sure I'd have to bolt a 4 post down. To me, the extra $1,500 (installed for a HD9) is chump change more than the MD6. What am I missing here? This is great.

carcrazyandbroke

The lift is nice; now if you just had that old Camaro out of the way. I'll take it off your hands.

Joe aka - KODAK

WOW wish I had one ! Very Nice

camiv

I wonder why the Bend Pak is a grand more than Benco's other model. I got a black four post lift from them with all the extras as you did. I also had it installed but my total cost was 2500 installed. I wonder what the difference is, I had mine installed back in September. I guess it does not matter to either one of us but others may want to know. Absolutely no need to bolt down the post, these things are not going anywhere.

HIRISC

I think you can still get the MD-6XP scissor lift for about $1800 shipped. That's about 1/2 of the cost of the HD9.

The big difference between the scissor and the 4 post is the scissor gets the wheels off the ground - important if you change them a lot or do brake work. The downside to the scissor is it doesn't have 'total' under-car access - important if you're changing torque tubes

For now, I'm planning to keep my scissor lift - I change to winter wheels on 3 vehicles, so the scissor lift is easier. In fact, the scissor lift will fit between the ramps of my 4 post.

Next summer, I may sell the scissor and get two of the rolling bridge jacks like captej has - they aren't cheap however at about $1400 ea.

HIRISC

I looked at the Direct lift at Benco's shop - overall, I thought it was a good unit that might use some slightly less expensive components. That said, I think the overall stability of the lifts is probably very similar between the Bendpak and the Direct lift.

A few things I noticed about the BendPak vs the Direct Lift:

• Automatic air safety locks
• Non-slip runway surfaces
• Adjustable width runways (the max width of 44" was important to me so I could store my scissor lift between the 4 post)
• Dual hub cable sheaves
• 1 1/4" diameter sheave axels (supporting cable pulley)
• ANSI certification
• 14,000 cable strength - nobody could/would tell me the cable rating for the Direct.
• Rolling bridge jack was much higher quality than Direct's IMO
• Blue paint

Since this is a one-time buy for me, I weighed safety (or at least the perception of safety) over $$. Also swaying my decision was the BendPak brand - their reputation for quality and service seems consistent.

As you said, they are both very good lifts.. There is no question that Direct is getting more competitive and trying to take some market share from manufacturers such as BendPak, Rotary, etc.

Can't go wrong with either

HIRISC

Thanks..

SidePipeMusic

Believe it or not, the cost isn't/wasn't too much of a factor; the "free-standing" design/ability is!

kenmal5

Looks like a nice install. Had the same lift installed several weeks ago. And yes no need to bolt down. My installer said he installed these on dirt, self levelling to a point. Noticed that your ramps hang kind of low, so it looks like you remove them which is probably a pain. Mine have aluminum spacers under them and only hang down 3". Also added a high lift kit to the garage tracks and a Jackshaft opener. This brings the door almost to the ceiling. Just some thoughts.

Ken