dckotwicki

Thinking about a car hoist.
Leaning toward a 4 post, but not sure.
Any suggestions on brand and 2 post or 4 post...?
Also: I have some concerns about 2 post and balance. Should I?

Currently quoting a garage addition and in the quote will be a 6" cement floor.

badhabit_wb

I went through the same think recently. I finally settled on a 2 post lift. Mine is still being installed but I'll give you my reasoning. With a 2 post if you have to remove the driveline you can do it. I didn't want to be limited by my lift with service and maintenance. Tire changes and brake changes are much easier with a 2 post. You won't have any balance issues with a 2 post but if you're removing a major component you need a stand at the opposite end to keep things from falling.
A 4 post lift is better for storage. I wouldn't recommend storing a car on a 2 post lift unless it has wheel cribs that attach. It's probably a little quicker for oil changes but other than that I don't like the 4 post for servicing a car.

Big Lebowski

I’ve had my 4 post lift for almost 15 years. My original decision was influenced by safety as I had young kids at the time (now High school age). Not sure what concrete thickness matters for a 4 post as any car you own is sitting on 4 wheels (same as 4 posts). Wouldn’t you need special mounting for the 2 post?

badhabit_wb

I have 17" of 5000lb concrete poured into that section of the floor pad it's 4' x 16' so that's way more than enough. I think they recommend 4" of 3k or 4k concrete.If it's not that thick then you can't put a 2 post lift in without cutting the floor and pouring the lift section over.

jwcfbd

I plan on getting a 4 post. It may be a little less convenient then a 2 post but I'll be using for storage as well. To many toys and not enough space. LOL As of right now I'm looking a Bend Pak.

ZR1Bob

I also have had a four post lift for a long time. About 8 years. There are quite a few posts (no pun intended) on lifts here and on other forums. While I used to do some work on the lift, I now use mine almost exclusively for storage as my wife has over the years progressively moved me into smaller and smaller garages, and we are now in a two car. If you click on my avatar and go to my Garage Lift album there are a lot of pictures of my installation with captions explaining certain things. I bought a Direct Lift (subsidiary of Rotary) Pro Park 8S as a good quality mid price solution that didn't require a compressor for safety catches. Also a four post lift doesn't need to be bolted to the floor and can be moved on casters that come with it. My research also showed it to have the most width underneath and the least width outside to provide the most room for my wife's car. I store my Z06 for about 5 months in the winter then use the lift to swap cars depending on weather. Nice weather, Z06 is my daily driver; bad weather the BMW sedan. Put about 5,000 miles a year on each so given Chicago weather the lift gets used fairly regularly in the summer. The lift has been trouble free although I recently noticed one of the sub-cables coming loose so have ordered a new set of cables that are due to be installed Wednesday. I consider that a reasonable maintenance investment over the life of the lift that will provide many more years of use for me (or my heirs). If I can provide more info for you I would be glad to do so. --Bob

SLWRNU

Look into a Stinger brand four post lift. I have two of them and can highly recommend them. They are a little more expensive but are made right here in America. And my feeling is you get what you pay for. I use them for projects but mainly to store my cars and their quality give me piece of mind. Company name is AXE. Good luck with your hunt.

badhabit_wb

That's why I got the Mohawk and the Champion compressor. Both are made in USA.

C5 Z16

Sent you a PM