WJF2K2

I am looking to pick up a C5 as my third car, and would like to get a four post garage lift to store it on in my garage.

I have a young child who is starting to get into everything. I have not ever seen a garage lift up close. Is there a way to lock a child out of "playing" with a lift to avoid a potential disaster? Other kids will be around, so I essentially want to know if these things are completely child proof. Thanks.

Vega$Vette

I have a 4 post. They are much safer for a hobbiest then a 2 post.

Mine plugs into 110V outlet. So you can unplug it. Or you could replace the push button switch with a key switch.

It has locks on the posts. You can only lower the car if you have the locks disengaged. The locks are spring loaded so they are passive and always locked unless you pull and hold the lever while lowering the car at the same time. A small child could not do this.

I feel safer with the lift then with a kid around a car on jack stands etc.

MSG C5

Good to know.

Patches

My Bend Pak has double safety locks. The primary locks can only be disengaged if you put compressed air to the system so it puts yet another level of safety in. If you don't have air and power to the lift, it's not moving - period. Plus you have to be able to reach the air switch which I have mounted too high for a child and you have to hold both the hydraulic valve lever and switch at the same time and continuously during the descent. Even an adult has to be trained on it in order to be able to lower it so it's safe from stupid grownups as well.

doublec4

Safety features were already mentioned by other members here, so I'm just going to reiterate that I would feel safe having a child around mine.

They would have to pull the lever for the locks, and at the same time, press the button to lower it for the lift to come down. To knock it over, well they don't possess enough strength to do that. And if you unplug it, they can't raise it to damage anything if you have limited ceiling clearance.

34RedRage

my son is 6 and he plays in the garage all the time when it is cold out. i have no problem with him going under my lift. it has locking tabs on it so there is no way he could mess around with it and drop it on him.....

Ultimate ride

On mine you have to first raise the lift to disengage the locks, then hold the lock lever down while holding the hydraulic lever down at the same time to lower the car. The lock lever is over 7 feet off the ground and the hydraulic lever is over 5 feet off the ground. No way a child could manage it. If the lock lever is let go at any point during lowering the lift stops. The stops are at every 3 inches.

$$$frumnuttin'

All of the above, and this. The biggest safety issue to anyone big or small is the tripping hazard on the floor, not what's up in the air. When the lift is down you really have to watch where you are stepping. There are several tripping hazards including the hydraulic hose and spring loaded connecting rods, not to mention the ramps themselves. I have safety tape all over mine, and I still do dumb things around it. Some hazards are visible in this pic.



Also, get yourself some real good wheel chocks made of solid rubber; get 4 of them for overkill and chock more than one wheel when working on the car. Also, get good jack stands with the Pin feature rather than the cast iron ones with teeth that can snap off under load.

When ready to buy plan out your lift dimensions on the floor with blue painter's tape, right down to the inch. Determine car door swing clearances from walls or other damaging objects. Also, kids will want to play on the ramps with their Tonka trucks...make sure it is off limits to be safe.

Also, you'll want to invest in some high grade lighting. T5 florescent workshop lights are best using natural daylight bulbs...put in more than you think you need.

Finally, put up a sign to remind you to work safely:

This machine has no brain, use your own!


Jerry

Jistari

My Gawd I would kill for that much space

LT1driver

vettesplus...Ed, wow, what a garage, can I come live with you much envy here

hotwheels57

I also have a BEND PAK HD9 variation which requires two separate steps to lower the lift. I ran the air compressor hose and 220v cord overhead to provide a clear (safer) shop floor. Even my BATTERY TENDER PLUS is mounted to the right front column and no power cord on the floor...

bumble-z

Nice , smart, clean set up. I like.

pjbracing

Nice neat set up BUT those ramps hanging at the end can certainly be a hazard for anyone walking by especially a young person. When it comes to safety, you always need to ask yourself, "What happens if...?"
With over 40 years as a safety professional in the auto industry, I have unfortuately seen too many incidents with serious injuries. Personally, I would not trust a two post lift.

MSG C5

Nice! Did you bolt down the lift through the floor mats/pads or is it free standing?

Vega$Vette

Most guys do not bolt down a 4 post. Really no reason to.

Basically you have the same as a 4 legged table with a weight in the middle. Very stable.

Mine came with big wheeled casters so you move the lift around if you wanted to.

24695bob

I own two 4 post lifts ...one is a back yard buddy and the other a Gemini. I'm retired so I do not have any small children around BUT as others have stated I do not think a small child could raise the car a few inches then be able to pull down on the lever to swing the locking tabs out of the way and also push a second lever to release the prressure so the lift would come down...in either of them,....

Now if the lift is down on the ground and no cars are on it then a small child (or you) could trip over the rails etc..but heck that could happen in the kitchen..

I guess my major concern would be if the kid rammed into one of the posts while riding a bike ...in which case the Back Yard buddy would not allow the post to move enough to have everything collapse ...the Gemini however uses 3 sided posts unlike the four sided posts used in the Backyard Buddy and IF you ran into a post (at the correct angle and hard enough I can honestly see the possibility that the entire lift could collapse ...

To be honest I would NEVER recommend any lift that did not have posts with 4 sides on each post and the slide mechanism running outside the posts... for that reason alone...

That said my Bach Yard Buddy is close to 20 years old and my Gemini close to 10 years old at least and neither has given me any problems at all...and I have no fear of walking under a car on either WITHOUT locking the the lift in place...

The one thing I really like about 4 post lifts (and only discovered after I bought one) is that it makes getting a car ready for a show a joy...no bending over to clean the rocker panels or wheels...just sit down and raise the car up to a comfortable height ... LOL

Bob G.

Vega$Vette

Side Note.

I paid under $2k for mine delivered.

After 4 or 5 years of use I could easily sell it for $1500

Works out to less then $10 a month IF I ever decide to sell.

hotwheels57

It's free standing as I have casters to move the lift around. I have two 220v outlets on opposite walls, twenty feet of heavy duty power cord and twenty five feet of heavy duty air hose. That allows me to move the lift around quite a bit within the 33x55' shop or outside into the driveway if I want.

It's very stable. I doubt even bumping into it with another vehicle at typical low speed (as in driving into the shop or under the raised lift) would cause it to fail, move a little, yes. It's weighs close to 1,900# without a vehicle. The "feet" on the columns are 12x12".

I previously had a two post lift (commercial grade FORWARD MANUFACTURING 9000#) and a different four post lift (SUPERLIFT SR-7H 7,000#). Both were excellent lifts at the time as I was building frame off tri five Chevy cars. Now, I think the BEND PAK offers me the best lift for a C5 and our high profile daily drivers. The redundant safety features really sold me on it.

Our home shops are always designed around the lift requirements. My previous two post was on fully cured concrete @ 3000psi, 36x36x48" deep and #5 rebar reinforced footers poured beneath the columns. It was rated to 9,000#, tested to over 20,000#. That's why independent testing called ALI/ETL in automotive lifts is so important. Some lift companies refuse to submit their products for such testing (BACKYARD BUDDY is one). But lifts don't generally fail, operators fail to heed general shop safety when using the lifts.

We don't have children to be concerned about in the shop. When friends want to use the lift, we have a safety talk before hand. No one but me operates the lift. No one gets under the lift until I know it's lowered on the locks. The lift was professionally installed, at the suggestion of our home owners insurance, another consideration if a lift is in your plans.

As far as the ramps being a hazard...my Z16 is normally at full lifting height during storage (12' walls) so they haven't been an issue. BEND PAK also provides brackets to permanently extend the ramps outward instead of pivoting ramps. I have not seen a need to use them.

Evil Oil Apologist

Live dangerous. Trust Darwin.

Evil Oil Apologist

Kidding aside, I drool over the four posters and the garages above. Not meaning to hijack the thread, but I've always been impressed with the Dannmar MaxJax two poster.

I know four is much more stable, but I have a regular garage with limited room. Is the two poster doable?