2 post or 4 post lift?

In reply to Lof8 - Andy :

That's the space I want!  In *addition* to a "regular" garage attached to the house for the DD's etc.  Maybe when I retire I'll be able to find a property large enough for me to build something like that.

Ian F said:

In reply to fiesta54 :

To be frank, shop-owner opinions don't count. It's your business to work on cars. The building is primarily set up to work on cars. Nobody will ever argue a 2-post lift is better than other lifts for working on cars.  But the needs of a part-time home mechanic tend to be more vague and need to weigh the cons of a 2-post lift when it comes to the space requirements.

If you're asking opinions on major shop equipment, be prepared for people who use major shop equipment all the time to have an opinion based on actual experience. ;)

In reply to Vigo :

I am leasing a 620 square foot garage, 20x30 with a little jog on one side that fits my toolbox and a workbench I made to fit the available space.  With two RX-7s and a large VW sideways across the back, it's cramped.  I'd love to have a Volvo 240 but they're too big to fit in there unless I get rid of TWO cars.

In reply to Lof8 - Andy :

Drool!

In reply to docwyte :

I would love to see your photos too.  Heck if we make it Denver this summer I'd love to see it and your 996 turbo.  

In reply to AnthonyGS :

For sure, I'll try and take some either tomorrow or this weekend.  If you're going to be in town definitely look me up!

In reply to Keith Tanner :

But telling a home user that 4-post lifts are worthless and that a 2-post is the only way to go because I have a shop and use a lift every day is not a helpful opinion.

codrus said:

 

Here I've got the FD on jackstands because I was replacing the clutch, so the rear RBJ is holding the diff up (it uses a PPF similar to a Miata) and the front RBJ was serving as a transmission jack.  The floor jack and 2x4 are for pushing the front of the motor up to help with reinstalling the tranny.

 

I have the caster kit for the lift so that in theory I can roll it over into the center of the garage to make more room on both sides.  In practice I've never actually needed it.

 

Thank you for the pics and the detailed measurements. I just closed on a house (3 car tandem garage), house built in 2003, so the specs are similar to yours. The "3rd garage" at the back, I was thinking of putting a 4 post lift there. I don't know the height and width, and it would allow me not to have to mess with high lift garage doors etc at this time.  

Your BendPak is about $3400 around here. Not sure how much more for install. It would help to make it a 4 car garage for me. I purchased hte house essentially just for the extra parking storage space. 

mr2s2000elise said:

Your BendPak is about $3400 around here. Not sure how much more for install. It would help to make it a 4 car garage for me. I purchased hte house essentially just for the extra parking storage space. 

Yeah, they've gone up a bunch.  The base lift was around $2K when I bought mine, about 5 years ago.

Installation is DIYable if you've access to an open trailer and a few friends.  They'll ship it to a freight depot, you can go pick it up there and they'll forklift it onto the trailer.  Strap it down, tow it home, then at your house you can take the package apart on the trailer and the individual pieces are more manageable.  Not single-person manageable, but with 3 or 4 guys it's not an issue.  An engine hoist is useful as well.

The RBJs came on a pallet that they put in the bed of the truck.

In reply to codrus :

Thanks! Very helpful. I will take some measurements of my space and see if it's doable in that space. 
 

do you have yours bolted to the floor? 
 

did you get any accessories ? 

mr2s2000elise said:

In reply to codrus :

Thanks! Very helpful. I will take some measurements of my space and see if it's doable in that space. 
 

do you have yours bolted to the floor? 
 

did you get any accessories ? 

Mine is not bolted to the floor.  Originally I did not do so because I thought I wanted to be able to move it around, but in practice I have never bothered to do that so I think it's fine where it is.  I have considered doing it since because the concrete on my garage floor isn't quite flat and it would sit a bit better if shimmed/bolted, but I haven't gotten around to it yet.

For accessories I have the two rolling bridge jacks, the air line kit for them, the removable aluminum ramps, a pair of drip trays, and the casters.  As I said I never used used the casters, and the drip trays are only somewhat useful with the RBJs because they sit on the same rails.  The RBJs are super useful, as is the air line kit for them (otherwise you need to hook up an air hose any time you want to use them).  The aluminum ramps are pretty much a requirement for my application because I don't have the space to leave them permanently attached and they weigh half of what the steel ones do.

I have the 220v motor for the pump, it's much much faster than the 120v motor that my friend has on the same lift.  I ran air lines around the garage to the lift, with a splitter to an inline-oiler for the bridge jacks (they need lubricated air) and a dessicant dryer for the safety catch release (they are dead-ended, so the air going to them needs to be as dry as possible).

I have found the big rubber wheel chocks that HF sells to be useful -- the steel chocks that the lift comes with are marginal.  Also, a lot of cars don't really fit the stands on the RBJs very well, so I often use rubber blocks between the top beam and the car (even though the instructions with the lift say not to).

I wish I had the air line kit for my RBJ's.  Right now I hook up an air line to them.  220v is definitely the way to go, lift operates much faster on it. 

Mine is bolted down to the floor and it's much, much more stable that way.  Initially it wasn't bolted down and its far more secure now.  Nobody is going to put this thing on castors unless they have a huge shop, in a residential garage its gonna stay wherever you put it.

The drip trays are huge!  I bought an extra one (the lift comes with one) thinking I'd need it and I definitely don't.  I should've bought the air kit for the RBJ's instead.

You can set these up yourself and I did setup my first 4 post lift myself but I definitely appreciated paying the cash to have a shop set up the Bendpak for me.  Especially since I had an issue with the lift right out of the gate...

In reply to codrus :

I took some measurements. Not sure I have enough space 

9.5 feet ceiling height 

width is 8 feet if I keep cabinets in olace

10 feet if I remove cabinet 

Not enough ceiling height there to lift a car a useful amount. That's the most common problem with lifting in a 'normal garage'. What's above it, though?

I briefly taught at a newly-built school where all the shops were designed to be easily converted back to classrooms, because they were supposed to have access to the shops at the college right next door, only that never happened, and that was 19 years ago.

All the hoists were limit-set to lifting a vehicle 4.5' off the ground (I measured).  It's not ideal, but they make it work.

It's still better than jackstands and a creeper.

Looks like the ideal garage for a MaxJax or similar. 

Yup, MaxJax or the Bend-Pak Quick Jacks.

Vigo said:

Not enough ceiling height there to lift a car a useful amount. That's the most common problem with lifting in a 'normal garage'. What's above it, though?

Thanks. If storage lift not doable, then of course won't do it 

above is bonus room/den. 

It depends on what you want to store.  A pair of Miatas will probably stack in 9.5 feet, if only barely.

codrus said:

It depends on what you want to store.  A pair of Miatas will probably stack in 9.5 feet, if only barely.

 

Elise and MR2. (48 inch and 45 inch)

mr2s2000elise said:

codrus said:

It depends on what you want to store.  A pair of Miatas will probably stack in 9.5 feet, if only barely.

 

Elise and MR2. (48 inch and 45 inch)

It's gonna be tight, but it might work.

AnthonyGS said:

mr2s2000elise said:

codrus said:

It depends on what you want to store.  A pair of Miatas will probably stack in 9.5 feet, if only barely.

 

Elise and MR2. (48 inch and 45 inch)

It's gonna be tight, but it might work.

I think it'll probably work.

Calculations assuming 4 post:   You need a certain amount of space between the lower car and the bottom of the runways, that's based on the spacing between the safety catch latching points.  On my lift that's 4 inches.  Then you need the height of the runways themselves (about 5 inches on mine), then the height of the car on top, and then enough space to lift it off the safety catches so you can start to let it down.  That depends on how well you have the four cables adjusted, but minimum is another 2 inches or so.  So 48 + 4 + 5 + 45 + 2 is 104 inches, you've got 10 inches to spare.

(on mine I also need to add the height of the 2x8s that I drive the car up onto in order to have it clear the rolling bridge jacks)

Note that with a 4-post like this, because of the need to go up 2 inches before coming down it's possible to get it "stuck" where it won't come down unless  you push the car into the ceiling.  Don't do that. :)  It hasn't happened to me yet, but my theoretical solution in that case is to let the air out of the tires.

Also be very careful if the car on the bottom has anything that makes it taller without conscious effort.  Air suspension, power antenna, hatchback with powerful gas struts, external sunroof, etc.

Thanks guys. Bendpack corporate is about 30 min from me. Someone will come out Friday at 9AM and give me the definitive "will it fit"

I don't want to get too excited

The discussion here has been fantastic. I need to take some measurements of my garage. Height is no problem (at all) but width is a consideration. I'm leaning towards a 4 post but am bummed that the rolling bridge jacks are so damn expensive. 

@mr2s2000elisa - These appear to be wicked expensive, but might have a lower overall height while still stacking 2 cars:

In reply to dyintorace :

Is there a brand  model you are referring to ?