2 post or 4 post lift?

mr2s2000elise said:

In reply to dyintorace :

Is there a brand  model you are referring to ? 

That would help. Sorry! Autostacker

A friend has a few of these and has good luck with them. The price is much more reasonable than the Bendpak equivalent. 

Bison 8000 FP

Call me crazy, but I'm starting to think Triumph, NSS, Bison, ATD etc are all the same imported 4 post lift rebranded for $2000 - $3000.  I'm not sure but I think Atlas might be different.  I'm pretty sure Bendpak is different and probably worth a little bit more.  I know there is also backyard buddy, Wildfire and some others too.  There is a defintely a $1000 price difference between the rebranded 8K lift and the HD-9 series Bendpaks.   I'm not sure if it's $1000 better, but I'm really leaning to the Bendpak HD-9ST myself. 

The Bison 8000 FP XLT has 79" of clearance under the rack in the full up position...

Looking over the Bison web page, here are a few differences to the HD-9ST that jump out at me:

- 90 seconds lifting time to max height is double the BendPak (that's probably the 110 vs 220 volt motors)

- overall dimensions are pretty much the same except there is an additional 4 inches between the posts on the Bison (and 4 inches additional width overall). 

- Spec says 10 locking positions on the Bison vs 12 on the BendPak.  The picture shows 12 on the Bison (?), but they are spaced more widely than the BendPak.

- Weight rating of 8K on the Bison vs 9K on the BendPak

- The wheel stops at the front of the Bison are fixed, whereas on the BendPak they can flip down to horizontal

- The pump/controls on the Bison are mounted on the outside of the column (thus adding to overall width) whereas on the BendPak they mount on one of the two sides (your choice), and are thus contained within the overall footprint of the lift.  That does, however, block a bit of access.

- The Bison has some kind of mechanical linkage arrangement on the front of the horizontal bar that holds the runways.  I'm guessing that's the safety catch release?  The BendPak uses compressed air instead, and the nylon line for that is much more compact.

- The vertical cables on the Bison are exposed, whereas on the BendPak they are contained within the columns.  (guessing this is why the extra 4 inches of width)

- Bison has diamond plate on the runway, BendPak has a high-friction paint with grit in it.

- Ramps on the Bison are steel, BendPak has optional aluminum ones which are much lighter.  If you're putting it in a garage you'll probably want to remove the ramps when you're not using it for space reasons, so lighter is definitely better here.

- Runway vertical height (thickness) spec is not listed for Bison, but visually they appear to be less than the BendPak.  Good for clearance, ?? for strength.

Interesting to note that the distance between the runways is the same, which suggests that accessories that mount on those rails (such as rolling bridge jacks) might be transferrable between the two lifts.

In reply to codrus :

I wish you lived a few more hundred miles south. You could just advise me in person. Your knowledge far outweighs the sales person I will see Friday morning 

thanks for the great info you provide - you are one of the best and most helpful forum members 

4" wider and slower lift time is not that big a deal in my case.  And, with all my cars under 2,500#, the difference between 8K or 9K doesn't matter.

What matters most is the nearly $2k difference in price.  

I have an Eagle 4-post lift, came with the house I bought. Seems to work pretty well, a bit slow on lifting but it is the 110v model. It is this one:  Lift      

Easy enough to get my cars on and off, but not quite long enough to put my 1993 K2500 on it. It is on the shorter side, but work well enough. For suspension work I would prefer a 2-post lift. Mine has the casters so it can be moved if needed, not that I have alot of room to move it in the garage anyways.

Here is a picture of it when I first moved in. Yes, my MGB is just wide enough to fit on it, would be close with a Midget or other small car.

In reply to 81cpcamaro :

Wow almost a $1200 cheaper than the BendPak option I am looking at

That's the same 8k lift rebranded again.  You can get it as low as $2200 if you decide to go that route.  

Someone here mentioned that they had a good experience with Titan Lifts when they bought a scissor.

They have a 74" and a 82" lift 8000lbs 4 post for ~$2300 (edit: Crap, that's only 200 bucks more than a MaxJax.) They've been on my shortlist for a while.

AnthonyGS said:

That's the same 8k lift rebranded again.  You can get it as low as $2200 if you decide to go that route.  

What are your thoughts on it? Skip the brand name to save the $$?

mr2s2000elise said:

AnthonyGS said:

That's the same 8k lift rebranded again.  You can get it as low as $2200 if you decide to go that route.  

What are your thoughts on it? Skip the brand name to save the $$?

I'm having this debate with myself currently.  I have no answer.  I know there are lift retailers in DFW.  I may need to just go look.

The one difference I see is internal vs external cables may be a bit safer.  The manual lock vs air of the more expensive lifts doesn't really make a huge difference to me.  If you look up the Triumph SS8 they have a good video of the lift on youtube.  Photos look the same as all the other 8k lifts.  I'm pretty sure there aren't 10+ lift makers and its a branded product.

In reply to AnthonyGS :

Thank you for the info

i may have to do more research 

https://miami.craigslist.org/pbc/tls/d/jupiter-bendpak-2-post-10000lb-auto-lift/7073016748.html

Purple Frog said:

https://miami.craigslist.org/pbc/tls/d/jupiter-bendpak-2-post-10000lb-auto-lift/7073016748.html

They need lower profile lifts for the vehicles they work on... like Range Rovers and Audis?

I'm beginning to think I'm really lucky to have a 12' ceiling in my suburban, attached to the house garage.

P.S. I went with a four-post, which gives me three parking spots.

We have a 4-post. I don't like the 4-post.

Fine for storage, but like Keith said on the first or second page, a total pain in the ass for most projects.

Yes we have 2 sliding jacks. The design on this particular set is retarded, leaving very little room to crank the handle.

We also had one slip off the rails and just about snap the canexican's spine. It was assembled *slightly* out of square.

Since then, I prefer just to crawl my ass around on the floor under jackstands.

I'd go 2-post if you're doing ANYTHING but just storing.

In reply to poopshovel again :

I sure love having the four-post for greasing the 32 fittings every 1000 miles though.

Lift guy came 

took measurements 

said totally doable in my space 

suggested 1 post more than 4 post. Will email 3-4 options that will fit my space , including 2 and 4 posts 

wearymicrobe said:

Ian F said:

The biggest issue with a 2-post lift in a residential garage is how wide they are.  Typically around 12 feet, not including room to move around it.  If you can deal with that for the 95% of the time the average home wrencher will not be working on a car, then go for it.

This is the real problem with them. Personally I have both but I use the 4 post for almost everything that is not suspension and brakes. If I had two of the rolling jacks that fit on the 4 post I would have bought two four posts. I have put some photos up to show just how wide they really are. Also to the low height arm ones are very expensive in a 2 post. I have to drive the Viper up onto stacked wood ramps to get the arms underneath. Once its on there though it is so nice to work on. 

 

 

Researching 4posts and found this one.  Have to say I have massive fleet envy after seeing your garage.

I have both of 2 post and 4 post. In my experience, If you only want to store your car,2 post is great. But if your garage is big enough and if you happen to have some maintenance skills. Then must be 4 post, you gonna love it, lol.

I feel like the above is a bit canoe, as the 2post vs 4post argument is exactly backward.

Still liking my Atlas 8000-ext with bridge jack in my garage.

I use my Bendpak HD7W with two bridge jacks a lot.  Will be using it tomorrow in fact to do front brake pads/rotors and brake fluid flush along with snow tire swap on my wifes cayenne.  If I'm still up to it after that I'll do an oil change and snow tire swap on my daughters Xterra.

A new challenger appears!

Single post 6k/lbs portable lifts. We bought a few for the shop because where we need lifts the concrete can not support them. They move like pallet jacks. 110V.

So far I put a BN2 Healey on one and ran it up and shook it. Seems solid, I would stand under it. I was totally able to move the car around while up even though that  is not what they are meant to do. 

Give me a few weeks for a proper review.