[Rory McNeil]

Both Rotary and Bend Pack are top quality lifts, and often found in commercial repair shops, but are fairly high priced for a hobby shop. I was facing the same dilemma 4 years ago, deciding between a 2 post and 4 point setup for my home garage. Having worked at new car dealerships most of my working career, I am familiar with 2 and 4 post, as well as scissor lifts, and single and twin post in ground hoists. If you plan to park cars under the lift, a 4 post is the way to go, but I chose a 2 post lift, since most of my work is Re & Reeing transmissions, and doing other under car work. I found that most 4 posts have wide deck runners, so they are pretty narrow in the middle, so bumping your head or shoulders while pulling a transmission is common. Since my garage only has a 11 foot finished ceiling, I had to go with a "floor plate" lift, which has the equalizing cables running from side to side, just above the garage floor, with a steel cover plate covering the cables. If you have the ceiling height, a "clear floor" is nicer, since the cables run from tower to tower from above , so there is no plate to to roll the transmission jack over. I chose a non symetrical Atlas 2 post lift, rated at 9000 pounds , I will never have anything that heavy on it, but I did a clutch of my F350 Dually a few months ago, and the lift handled it without issue, although with such a long, heavy vehicle, I did use a pole jack at either end of the truck to help keep the truck from bobbing up and down. Of course, with a 2 post, you need to ensure that your concrete floor has adequate thickness for safe anchoring of the towers. Every style of lift has some pluses and minuses, so you need to consider how you will use it the most often. I have had my lift for 4 years, and wish that I could have had one years ago.