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I have been thinking about buying a 4 post lift for a couple of years and I am finally ready to do it. My wife is adament that I need to have it professionally installed and that I am not allowed to do a self install. Apparently she is worried about the quality of my work.
My question for the forum is what vendors have you used that will sell you a good quality 4 post lift, install it and hopefully service it as required.
I live in the Raleigh, NC area and I have tried to call a couple of professional lift installers that do installs for car dealership service departments, but they don't want to work on residential installs.
Any help would be appreciated. Last thing I need is to be trapped under my Corvette and lift due to a bad self install.
Check out Greg Smith Equipment Sales Inc. They can also recommend installers in your area. Although, when a friend and I ordered ours, we got two other friends and installed them both in one day. It is not hard if you follow the instructions and have some extra muscle.
Myself and so.e others on here have Eagle lifts and love them. MAKE SURE YOU MEASURE AND REMEASURE if you are going to put one car under the lift as the ceiling height will come into play. I have 3/4 of an inch from the top of the bottom car to the lift ramps and 1 inch from the top of the Corvette to the ceiling.
I bought mine from Greg Smith. Quality is good. There are better and worse ones out there. the instructions were pretty good and assembly / installation was not that hard. Two buddies and my wife helped. We used a engine hoist to maneuver the ramps into position.
I have been thinking about buying a 4 post lift for a couple of years and I am finally ready to do it. My wife is adament that I need to have it professionally installed and that I am not allowed to do a self install. Apparently she is worried about the quality of my work.
My question for the forum is what vendors have you used that will sell you a good quality 4 post lift, install it and hopefully service it as required.
I live in the Raleigh, NC area and I have tried to call a couple of professional lift installers that do installs for car dealership service departments, but they don't want to work on residential installs.
Any help would be appreciated. Last thing I need is to be trapped under my Corvette and lift due to a bad self install.
Thanks!
I bought a lift a couple years ago, a BendPak HD9, from ASE. They were very good to deal with and hooked me up with Rose Equipment Co from Rocky Mount NC.
They did a great job on the install and it was up and running by lunch time on the install day (started about 8:00)
ASE was great about installation and pre-delivery stuff like electrical requirements.
Lift has been a great asset. I do mostly oil changes, light mechanical work and detailing on my cars. Wouldnt be without it.
By the way... I'm not Bill from King of the Hill and I don't live in Arlen , Texas....
I have been thinking about buying a 4 post lift for a couple of years and I am finally ready to do it. My wife is adament that I need to have it professionally installed and that I am not allowed to do a self install. Apparently she is worried about the quality of my work.
My question for the forum is what vendors have you used that will sell you a good quality 4 post lift, install it and hopefully service it as required.
I live in the Raleigh, NC area and I have tried to call a couple of professional lift installers that do installs for car dealership service departments, but they don't want to work on residential installs.
Any help would be appreciated. Last thing I need is to be trapped under my Corvette and lift due to a bad self install.
Thanks!
A former neighbor near Pittsboro has one or two lifts in his garage, along with several Vettes. I'll send you contact info in a PM.
I have been thinking about buying a 4 post lift for a couple of years and I am finally ready to do it. My wife is adament that I need to have it professionally installed and that I am not allowed to do a self install. Apparently she is worried about the quality of my work.
My question for the forum is what vendors have you used that will sell you a good quality 4 post lift, install it and hopefully service it as required.
I live in the Raleigh, NC area and I have tried to call a couple of professional lift installers that do installs for car dealership service departments, but they don't want to work on residential installs.
Any help would be appreciated. Last thing I need is to be trapped under my Corvette and lift due to a bad self install.
Thanks!
I bought a lift several years ago, and I will tell you that you will never regret it. Like a good floor jack, after you have one, you can't imagine working without it.
I recommend you try and see some examples, either at a large car show where vendors show up, or from owners in your area.
When I went shopping, I had a couple of things I was insistent upon. I wanted the collar-over-post design, and I wanted American made. I bought one from Earl at AllAmericanLifts, who unfortunately is no longer in business. They and BackyardBuddy both use the collar-over-post design. Check out some videos on the BackyardBuddy website about why you might prefer this design.
I have a friend who has one of the bendpak lifts. It is prettier than mine in its smooth blue paint, but I do not feel as safe around it. There used to be a video online of a collar-over-post design lift that had a vw golf on it (elevated). Someone intentionally ran into the lift with a forklift, and the lift moved laterally - car and all.
With some of the foreign-made lifts I looked at, pushing on one of the legs could very possibly release the catch on that corner (no doubt why the manufacturers want you to bolt them down). The latch rests on a block welded inside a C-channel, so leaning one leg could potentially unlatch it.
On my lift, with the car on the locks, you cannot release it unless you can raise it. Even friends who have used both mine and my friends have commented on how mine seems sturdier.
Below is a picture, albeit without the corvette. Best of luck on your quest!
You are probably 80 miles from Eagle equipment in Greensboro. I bought 2 -4 posts from them and a 2post. All 3 have given good service. If you haggle with them, you might get them to knock off a few bucks. I got them to knock $150 off when I bought the second 4 post.
I hauled mine home on my car hauler and with the help of 3 friends and a cooler of beer, we had them up in a day. The pieces are heavy
A friend and I put mine together in a day. It's really not that hard, just follow the instructions, and save yourself $$.
Once you purchase the lift, either you put it together yourself or pay someone to do so, once you use it, you will kick yourself for waiting to make the purchase.
I have had mine for about 4 years now and it's by far the best tool I have ever purchased. It has payed for it's self several times over and over
Myself and so.e others on here have Eagle lifts and love them. MAKE SURE YOU MEASURE AND REMEASURE if you are going to put one car under the lift as the ceiling height will come into play. I have 3/4 of an inch from the top of the bottom car to the lift ramps and 1 inch from the top of the Corvette to the ceiling.
Yup... I have three Eagle lifts (one GLO-7000 and two GLO-8000) .... LOVE them. Never had any issues with them.
I installed all three myself. Chose to do that becuase I know friends who also have various models of lifts who had them "professionally" installed (cough, yak) and they endup up having to tighten bolts or tweak the lifts themselves anyway.
It's not difficult to assemble these, just takes a a little time (few hours) / some form of lifting capablity for the long / heavy parts (I used an engine hoist to do mine but you could do it with 3 or 4 guys).
Most difficult part is the cable adjustment and that is more about patience than anything.
Backyard Buddy - pricing is just ridiculous for a uncertified lift. $5395.00 for a 7k lb "over height" lift and the accessories are priced high as well. Made in USA
Bendpak - competitive pricing esp compared to backyard buddy used in many shops through the world - certified.
Greg Smith - Amazingly affordable, quality seems decent, many satisfied customers (hobbyist) not certified.
Eagle - much the same as Greg Smith, perhaps better quality??
Personally, I am hard pressed between the Greg Smith and a BendPak. The Greg Smith is about $1500.00 less if you calculate the added included accessories. I have a Greg Smith motorcycle lift that's been great for the last 7 years, however I don't have to stand under it or place a car under it.
My friend bought a Pro Pac 8- 4 post lift from Direct Lifts. rented a trailer.picked it up at their warehouse(they have one in NC)brought it home and had it up and running in about 6hrs. We are in our 70s if we can do it I am sure you and a few friends can do it also. Don't waste money paying someone else to install it.
Don't forget garage dimensions are very important! I had to add a panel to my garage door. That caused problems with garage door openers being too close to the ceiling. How high is your garage ceiling? I know that Corvettes never leak oil, or other fluids but that was always a big concern too as occasionally other GM products are over the Corvette! Drip pans and I even use plastic to catch droppings are a must.
02-05-2015, 05:11 PM
Buying 4 Post Lift - Advice? Dealers? Installers?
Apparently she is worried about the quality of my work.
