Flintstone

Got the green light from the Mrs. to finally get my lift, and I've got a couple 4-post and 2-post lifts picked out.

This is going into a 1500 sqft. garage with a 10' ceiling. We currently have the C5, a 4WD Expedition (tank), and a POS Protege.

I'm afraid the 4-post is going to hog too much space and I want to lift from the frames of the cars (wheel changes and clutches, for example).

Best I can tell, the 9000 lb. 2-post asymetrical lift is the way to go for my garage height and basic tasks.

Any pro's and con's from you guys before I order?

Thanks
F

GUSTO14

I would guess the biggest issue you're facing is can your floor support the lift you want.

All you need is about 4" of concrete (to be safe) to support a 4 post lift. I've seen them easily supporting Corvettes on the grass with a 4 post lift at Carlisle for a couple of days at a time. On the other hand with a two post lift, it not only needs to be anchored to the floor, but the floor needs to be strong enough to support the asymmetric weight that inevitably occurs with these types of lifts. Imagine the imbalance of the Expedition on a 2 post lift. I would talk to the particular manufacturer of the different types of lifts and determine what they desire to anchor the lift and then see if you can determine just how thick your garage floor is. Many residential garage floors are little more than 4".

Having said all of that, I have a 4 post lift that does take up most of one half of an average 2 car garage, but I've been very happy with it. It can be an inconvenience to have to jack things on it to do suspension work. However, I have some 6 foot underhoist tripod stands that I place under the suspension and then lower the lift to free the suspension when I need to. There are needless to say some distinct advantages to a two post lift.

I designed my 4-car garage (and floor) around a lift and even with 12" of concrete under the lift I've not felt the need to bolt it down. It's very stable, looks great and has given me four years of great service so far. I don't know how I got along without it.

Good hunting… GUSTO

Flintstone

Good question on the concrete depth, as I forgot to include it.

Looks like I have 6". The original design for the garage was for farm implements, and the previous owner spec'd 6"

I should probably do a test bore to make sure. I was playing with the idea of laying down 1/2" steel plate under the posts to widen the post footprint.

F

kirbyloid

I went through the same thinking and for me it got down to I wanted to have it to also let me store a car under it and for the there is no comparison IMHO, if all you want it for is working on car then two post. Here is mine around 2k is hard to beat it!

WilliamCall

A buddy of mine had a two post lift installed in his garage. The folks that installed it checked the depth of the concrete, as part of their installation procedure. Unfortunately, the swing arms of the lift were too high (they could not fit under his corvette). I work on a military base and have access to their lifts. I ran into the same situation, swing arms wouldn't fit under a corvette. This can be overcome by building four wooden ramps and driving up the ramps to increase ground clearance. Just thought I'd mention the ground clearance issue. Good luck!

warpster

I'm curious about this also. I'm currently building a new house and plan on adding a 2 post lift. According to what I have seen the manufacturers require a 5" pad at 3000 PSI. I have toyed with the idea of adding a plate with the bolts already mounted under the concrete pour, but I don't think it is required. Maybe someone with first hand knowledge with comment. by the way what brands are you looking at?

TTT

Last C5

Definitely something to think about. Bend Pak has optional swing arms that are only 3 1/2" high. They make 9K and 10K lifts both sym and asym.

Blue Flame-less Joe

I have a 2 post lift that I bought from eagle equipment and got the low profile arms and they fit fine under my lowered C5. I have also lifted full size trucks with it for oil changes. I poured 6" of concrete and I have had no problems for the first year I've had it. I wanted a 2 post because I change wheels a lot because of drag racing. I can also park a car under it if I wanted to. You can see pics of my garage in my profile.

Brokerin

I have a Bend-Pak, 4-Post lift w/ the full length ramps situated in a garage w/ 10' ceilings ($2300-delivered, 1.5 cases of beer, 4 friends and a long day=priceless ))...This is a great lift if you plan to store a car underneath as I do and you can also get a kit from Bend-Pak that will lift the car off the ramps to get the tires off. Nice part is, only 4" of crete is needed I guess b/c it can spread the weight on 4 versus 2 pressure points. Either way u go, it is sooo cool having a lift in your garage

RonJ

I have a 2 post hoist sitting on 5" of re-barred 3500. I say 5", it's between 4" and 6".

To get the hoist arms under the 'vette, I drive the front tires up onto a 2x10 spacer which is fastened to a piece of 1/2" conveyor belt rubber. The front tires go onto the rubber first, then up a taper onto the 2x10. This keeps the tires from pushing the spacer ahead.

In the winter, I'll often put one of the 'vettes up in the air and park or work on another car underneath it.

Once I got used to having the hoist, I don't even want to clean the wheels without putting the car up! It sure saves a bunch of bending over and getting a sore back!!

RonJ ...

Chris@East Coast Supercharging

Gusto made some very good points reguarding the achoring process. I look at is a a very simple choice. If you are just using the lift for storage only and dont plan on working on the car much more then some basic stuff like fluid changes the 4 post lift would suit you best because its very safe, easy to load and unload and better for storage. I personally think the 4 post lift is useless for working on cars. If you are going to be getting into more mechanics then flid changes, you would be better getting a asymetrical 2 post..

Hardtop01

All you need are a rotary hammer drill and concrete anchors/Kwik bolts. It will be easier to lay the lift out and set it up using them, after the concrete is poured. You would have to be dead on with your inserts if they are poured in the slab. I have helped a buddie install a few of these in his shop. Another thing you should consider is ceiling height. 10' is not enough IMHO. I would say that 12' is better. It really depends on how tall your vehicle is. A Vette is low, but some trucks and SUV's aren't. Rotary is one of the major players for commercial industrial lifts, and you can't go wrong with them. There are some cheaper lifts, that are probably fine, but buying a Rotary lift is like buying Snap on tools. Great quality, but not cheap. I wish my garage was big enough for a lift. I would go with the 2 post lift.

Bruce