2 post-4 post lifts

[BTR69]

Looking for input on 2 post-4 post lifts. Quality of brands and customer support if ever needed. New garage, has plenty of height, so that's no issue. Lots of floor space as well. May end up with my dually, (crew cab long bed) on it from time to time, so length and weight capacity will matter. Short term plan is getting one in there asap. Long term plan is for a 2nd one at some point, which I expect I will eventually end up with one 2 post and one 4 post.

Any brands to avoid as well?

Thanks.

[stage1scott]

I had 2 10,000 lb Mohawks at my business-had full size crew cab duallys on both, really heavy duty well built lifts. Also hard to go wrong with a rotary product

[1matcoman]

I sold quite a number of Forward brand lifts over the years and always had good luck with them. Certainly not "budget" priced, however.

[BTR69]

Thanks. I?ll look those up and see what they have that fits my needs. 👍.

[Eric Voigt]

We have a BendPak 2 post 10k lift and BendPak 4 post as well as a DirectLift 9k 4post.

Both have their advantages/disadvantages. Biggest advantage for us is being able to park another car under. With the 2 post not so easy.

On the 4 post, get the jacking cart and tray. Don't get the cheap ABS plastic drip trays, make your own.

2 post is great for suspension/brake work and on.....

Support from BendPak has been great as well with DirectLift

Eric

[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.

[Rod Greene]

I bought an ADVANTAGE 4 post lift. It is very well constructed and does not need to be bolted down. I have had several long wheelbase dually trucks on it. I have rolled it outside to do steam cleaning on the underside. I could not be happier.

[BTR69]

Thanks for the input everyone. Been looking at some online based on your input.

Originally Posted by Rod Greene

I bought an ADVANTAGE 4 post lift. It is very well constructed and does not need to be bolted down. I have had several long wheelbase dually trucks on it. I have rolled it outside to do steam cleaning on the underside. I could not be happier.

I checked out Advantage. They look pretty impressive and are at the top of my list as of now. Not writing others off yet, but the Advantage you referenced is looking really good

[joe collins]

I got a Forward 10000 pound 2 post lift works real good

[Kenney Kelley]

Aaron Allison at Racetoolsdirect 1-330-692-9990 sells both I bought a 4 post lift from him. I picked it up from one of his Suppliers and had it put together that afternoon..The reason i purchased the 4 Post lift was i didn't know how thick the concrete was in my garage My brother has a 2 post lift and we poured the floor before we installed it . Where the lift was going we dropped down 30" and installed 24"-x 1" L bolts to bolt down the lift it's pretty solid. I don't trust them drop in anchors for something that heavy that a car or truck is going to be on with me under it working on it and I've used a lot of them on jobs.plus you don't know how thick the concrete is.