I'm ready to pull the trigger on a lift. Facing the usual debate of 2 post or 4 post. I have the room (height included) for either. When the slab was poured, I had it reinforced where a lift would go. Usage would mostly be storage of an extra car, but also work. I know there is no perfect answer. I'd love thoughts from those that have either already!
Two post. Life changing tool.
Mostly storage = 4 post based on my own research.
I agree that there is no perfect answer.
I had a MaxJax two post for about six years, and it was great when I was doing lots and lots of work. Now my needs lean more towards storage and occasional work. I sold the MaxJax and bought a four post BendPack. I have loved both, but for different reasons. It all depends upon where you are in your automotive life.
Even if it's mostly for storage, why not a 2 post? They still hold a car just fine, right?
I chose a 2-post because for 90% of the time, I don't want to be tripping over all that the 4-post takes up.
For simply storage, nothing beats a 4-post.
For dealing with suspension, dropping the powertrain, or pulling a cab off a chassis, I do like a 2-post.
Ideally you want both.
Two post is nicer for 90% of the work you do, but if you don't have a flat bay for interior work, the posts can be a pain. A four post is simpler for storage, and with a couple of jacking beams you can do almost everything. The notable exception is dropping the cradle out of the front of a car, which is becoming more common all the time
Either is better than none.
If the primary use is storage, get a four post lift. Most lift manufacturers have jack accessories that you can get for working on the car.
Space considerations were a huge factor when I was contemplating both purchases but, surprisingly, living with the two post was more intrusive than I had expected and the four post has proven to be less intrusive. Not what I expected.
Having owned both, let me say this:
I have a three bay garage and one bay has a four post lift. I have been considering adding another lift to the middle bay, but if I do, it would absolutely be another four post lift.
You can get some mid car lifts with a 4 post lift- mine has 2. Which means I can get the entire car off the ramps. Not quite as clearly open as a 2 post lift, but it's a great compromise for what one would use if for.
alfadriver said:You can get some mid car lifts with a 4 post lift- mine has 2. Which means I can get the entire car off the ramps. Not quite as clearly open as a 2 post lift, but it's a great compromise for what one would use if for.
I'm not familiar with what you're describing. Would you be able to share a link to it or a similar product?
I am at the point where I actively dislike 4 post lifts. They are in the way for 99 percent of the work you put a car on a lift for. Doing brakes, pulling engines, rotating tires, shocks and struts? You're still doing that stuff on the floor with a 4 post.
The notion that a 4 post is better for storage is also a bit odd. Both are safe enough to store humans under, Both can double up cars.
There are some astonishingly inexpensive storage 4 posts out there with casters for easy moving. I can say from experience that working on a car on one of those feels sketchy. 3000lbs swaying above you is unnerving. I strongly prefer them anchored to the concrete
In reply to Trent :
You can't move an elevated car on a BendPack lift. You can have a car on it, but the lift needs to be at it's lowest point for the casters to be in contact with the floor.
I know that. The inexpensive lifts I'm referring to might be challengers. Even without the caster plates installed they move more than I am comfortable with unless they are anchored
dyintorace said:alfadriver said:You can get some mid car lifts with a 4 post lift- mine has 2. Which means I can get the entire car off the ramps. Not quite as clearly open as a 2 post lift, but it's a great compromise for what one would use if for.
I'm not familiar with what you're describing. Would you be able to share a link to it or a similar product?
Mine came with two from the manufacturer. FWIW, I got the whole thing used, and set up by the local distributor, too.
Trent said:I am at the point where I actively dislike 4 post lifts. They are in the way for 99 percent of the work you put a car on a lift for. Doing brakes, pulling engines, rotating tires, shocks and struts? You're still doing that stuff on the floor with a 4 post.
The notion that a 4 post is better for storage is also a bit odd. Both are safe enough to store humans under, Both can double up cars.
There are some astonishingly inexpensive storage 4 posts out there with casters for easy moving. I can say from experience that working on a car on one of those feels sketchy. 3000lbs swaying above you is unnerving. I strongly prefer them anchored to the concrete
With the sliding jacks, one can actually put the car on permanent jacks and then raise and lower it for comfort. My Miata has been sitting on jacks on my 4 post lift for a couple of years now as I do some body work. And I can lift and lower it at will, so it's quite comfortable to work on.
In reply to alfadriver :
I totally get that but the jacks add more cost investment to a 4 post which is usually more expensive than the two post to start with. They also block access to even more of the bottom of the car.
I have spent plenty of hours working around the hydraulic bridge jacks and simple shop built bridges with bottle jacks and jack stands. They add more complexity and wasted time to any task when you compare it to a two post.
I'm not intending to come off as some knowitall and I apologize if it seems that way. I am in charge of 8 techs in a busy restoration shop. We have 8 storage lifts and 4 service lifts of which one is a 4 post bendpak 17k lb. Unit. Every single tech there would rather have the empty floor space than that lift. Those wide rails are just in the way for everything we do.
Edit:
I would just feel bad if one of our forum brethren went out and spent a wad of cash on a lift from our recommendation and on their first use realize they can't install their new coilovers, or do brakes, or swap wheels, or change CV axles, or drop a rear end, or do ball joints... without spending even more money
We used to have a four post and a two post lift at FM.
Now we have five or six two post lifts and no four posters. And I chose a two post for my own garage.
Just did an engine install this afternoon that would not have been possible on a four post, and the job before that was a suspension install that would not have been possible on a four lift, and before that it was a bunch of brake work that, you guessed it, would not have been possible on a four post. And before that was an engine install... you get the idea. They're useful once in a while but overall are less functional and a lot less space efficient than a two-poster in my experience.
In reply to Keith Tanner :
Can you park another car next to that two post lift in an average 2 car garage? Can you park another underneath in that same garage?
AnthonyGS said:Can you park another car next to that two post lift in an average 2 car garage? Can you park another underneath in that same garage?
In general the answers are no and yes.
You average 2-car garage is 18-20 feet wide (at least in this part of the country), and your average narrow footprint 2-post lift is 10-11 feet wide. It sticks over the centerline and does it in the worst possible place -- right where the driver's door needs to open. Parking underneath really only depends on having a tall ceiling.
4-post lifts, OTOH, are both generally narrower in maximum width as well as placing the posts at the front and back where they don't get in the way of the car doors. That's much friendlier for a home garage. In a commercial shop, 4-post lifts are good for specialty tasks like alignments and above-ground dynos, everything else you're better off with a 2-post.
I have a 400 square foot garage and no shop, that's why I own a 4-post. By adding rolling bridge jacks it'll do 90% of what a 2-post will, with a 50% increase in hassle (lift the main lift, then lift the wheels using the bridge jacks). If I had more space I'd definitely have bought a 2-post instead, but that would have required 6 figures' worth of demolition and rebuilding on the garage.
Minor benefits to a 4-post lift for storage are that the suspension isn't dangling and it's a bit more stable in earthquakes.
The main advantages of four post lifts is that they tend to be heavier duty, so you can lift heavy trucks. You don't have to set any lift arms. And you can work under the car while the suspension is at ride height.
The main disadvantages are everything else.
One thing that sucks about parking under a 4 post (aka "drive on") lift is the lift takes up vertical room, and the ramps may be an issue too. When I used to have to pack bays every night, pulling a car under the drive on was a pain because for all but the smallest/most narrow vehicles, someone had to stand there and hold one of the ramps up so you could drive under, even with the lift all the way up.
I feel the need to state, if you have jacking beams on a four post, you can do brake and suspension work easily. In some cases, more easily than on a two post. The jacking beams also slide out of the way easily.
If you buy a 4 post without at least one jacking beam, you've bought a parking spot.
Trent said:In reply to alfadriver :
I totally get that but the jacks add more cost investment to a 4 post which is usually more expensive than the two post to start with. They also block access to even more of the bottom of the car.
I have spent plenty of hours working around the hydraulic bridge jacks and simple shop built bridges with bottle jacks and jack stands. They add more complexity and wasted time to any task when you compare it to a two post.
I'm not intending to come off as some knowitall and I apologize if it seems that way. I am in charge of 8 techs in a busy restoration shop. We have 8 storage lifts and 4 service lifts of which one is a 4 post bendpak 17k lb. Unit. Every single tech there would rather have the empty floor space than that lift. Those wide rails are just in the way for everything we do.
Edit:
I would just feel bad if one of our forum brethren went out and spent a wad of cash on a lift from our recommendation and on their first use realize they can't install their new coilovers, or do brakes, or swap wheels, or change CV axles, or drop a rear end, or do ball joints... without spending even more money
I understand your point, and point of view- but if one finds a great deal on a lift, get it- regardless of the type.
And one should note that the work pattern of a person are very, very different than a shop. Like I posted, my car has been on a stand on the lift for over a year, so the change in work needed to put it there is negligible by now. I'm not a tech, and when I had 5 cars in my garage, storage was, by far, the most important thing.
In reply to Streetwiseguy :
Where I used to work, we had some Very Tall Jackstands. We'd drop the cars on them so the suspension could hang.
It's still a pain, but doable when the 2 post lifts were tied up.
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