4 post lifts

On a recent trip to visit the stalled challenge car I saw that one of my fellow renters has doubled his bang for the buck by installing a 4 post lift in his parking space. This got me to thinking about my other project car that is currently suffering the outdoors at home. The gf wants a space to park too and my recent trailer purchase dod nothing to help ghe parking space issues. so i have been casually looking for another spot for the last few months. If I could park both cars for what we are paying now for one.... Well. That would be great! Looking online I found a company advertising a 7000 lb lift for about 1800 dollars. If I can get it for that it would be a cost wash after about 15 months compared to renting another spot. Has anyone here had any experience with a lift company called auto lift? Or purchased from a company called best buy automotive? They have the best price I have found so far, but value and price aren't always the same. Any help would be appreciated.

It does not hurt to check classifieds- I got mine for less than retail on the c-list

Sorry- have no info on auto lift or the seller.

Cheapest one I've found used on cl is only 100 bucks cheaper and not a brand I recognize any better. But yes. If I could find one used from a reliable source i'd be thrilled!

I have a 4 post lift. I wouldn't buy one based on price, but that's just me.

Apples to, well different apples here but.....
I just bought a scissor lift. It was a cheap one that looked just like a more expensive one. That thing was a POS! It broke 38 seconds into ownership, then broke two more times after the first use. I traded up for the better brand and it's much, much better. Don't buy the cheap crap. And am I to understand this will be installed outside? I'd never do that. These are not made to be in the weather.

Still shuddering at the craptasticness of that lift.

I've bought from Best Buy Auto... Decent experience, but there was a slight caveat: I ordered from them because they had the best price on the Ranger floor jack I wanted. Turns out they listed the price wrong. I don't think I really got anything from them in terms of a break or discount when they came back to ask for more money, but I still paid the lowest price I'd found. Wasn't worth quibbling over a few bucks ($10?). All in all nothing ill to report- the jack came as advertised and has served me very well since.

Are you talking about putting it inside a garage, or in an outside parking space? I don't think any of them are designed for outdoor use, and you need to make sure you have adequate headroom in the garage if you're parking one car on top of the other - usually at least 11 to 12 feet or more, but it depends on the sizes of the cars.

Also, the lowest price lifts are generally built offshore, if that's something you're concerned about.

It would be inside and there is 20 or so feet of headroom over my space. Thanks for the input on best buy. I'm definitely still looking so any input on brand or supplier would be great!

10 and 1/2 feet worked for me...

I purchased mine through Greg Smith Equipment. It's branded Atlas. Hard to avoid Chinese made without spending lots of extra $.

Purchase one with extra width and lift so It's sized based on the bay door, and the extra lift lets me walk underneath it if I don't have a car on it an put it in the maximum position.

I'm still on the fence between two and four post lifts. I was leaning toward a two post but I just showed Karacticus' photo to my wife and, surprisingly, she thinks the four post lift is the way to go. She hasn't seen the prices yet, but she know that one or the other is going to happen.

I'd like to store an extra car and I don't really want to drill into the concrete, but I hate the idea of still needing to jack up the car once it's lifted.

Arrgh...

In reply to Woody:

Not aggravating SWMBO was one of the reasons for the four post lift-- no posts around where she'd be opening doors, loading her vehicle etc.

Bridge jacks make it pretty easy to get the wheels in the air, but they are an extra expense and step in the process. When using them though, you do want to have the car pretty well centered left to right though. Trucks aren't as much of a problem since you're lifting from the frame, but with cars, you have to run the lift pads out a fair way to pick up the jack points-- at least with the two cars pictured. The Chinese steel they are made of deflects a fair bit at that extension, so I usually drop them onto wooden blocks after jacking--it's very secure at that point.

Bolting the unit to the floor is optional, though doing it would eliminate some minor walking around it does. It comes with casters that let me reset it, but I only do that maybe once a year or so.

Also, you either want to buy/fab some drip trays, or have the vehicle on top not leak! Kind of like calling "top!" in a bunk bed situation.

Do you have any photos with a car with the jacks that you use or on the lift with its wheels off?

This is what I've currently got I can immediately link to. Let me know what might be useful and I can take other pictures this evening.

This was in the middle of a winter machine polish detail after replacing the rotors. It's really nice being able to pick a height to work at with the buffer. However, you realize that the lift is an OCD enabler once you find yourself cleaning the bottom of the vehicle...

I did some looking, and I think this is the current equivalent package deal for what I purchased...

Karacticus wrote: However, you realize that the lift is an OCD enabler once you find yourself cleaning the bottom of the vehicle...

I'm not much of a wash 'n wax guy...I find that when my cars are dirty, I tend to drive them ore often.

What's your preferred method for removing the wheels?

I leave the bridge jacks on the lift, since they can be driven over-- just don't try to drive off the lift with one pushed down all the way next to the ramps.

Lower the lift to the floor

Hook ramps in place

Drive car onto lift. If I don't have any assistance, I may need to jockey the car back and forth a few times to get it close to centered

Unhook ramps

Put end stops and chocks in place depending on how dangerous I feel

Raise the lift to a comfortable point where I can fool in underneath on a stool and set the bridge jacks

One end at a time, extend jack arms and shift jacks as required to contact the jack pads

Pump up and block the bridge jacks

Impact off the wheels

Without hurrying, it's just over an hour for me to swap wheels and brake pads on the Z4. The bridge jacks might be 5 minutes of that time.

One thing to remember though, a lift another device that does require periodic maintenance and adjustment-- at least that's my experience.

Two or four post though, sure beats rolling around on the floor, trying to do torque + yield fasteners on a creeper with each leg braced against a jack stand

A 2-post is great for a shop, but unless you're working on cars every day, those posts will become annoying if the garage is used for DD parking. Plus, the suckers are wiiiiiide and often turn a 2-car garage into a 1-car with a lot of wasted space. It's not just the width of the lift but also room to walk around the car when it's in the air. While a lot of people whine about being able to walk under the car, the fact is most of your work will be done with the car at about waist height. Although my scissor lift will raise a car to 48" off the floor, I rarely have it that high..

Bendpack has come up with some truly goofy lifts designed for storage.

With 20 feet of height, I'd go with this one:

Canadian company, no affiliation, etc- Thay just send me a flier every couple of months: http://www.babco.ca/Automotive-Equipment-Products/Parking-Lifts

For you guys that like BIG trucks:

Even better:

Streetwiseguy wrote: Bendpack has come up with some truly goofy lifts designed for storage.

This one is... interesting...

http://www.babco.ca/Automotive-Equipment-Products/Parking-Lifts/PLT-6S

No thank you...

We all know what we really want is car storage like the Green Hornet's (and maybe Bruce Lee to work on your car too)

http://youtu.be/Be2T_zWGZ5Q

In reply to Streetwiseguy:

Cool looking idea, but the place has a 2 car limit for floor loading reasons

My dad bought the Atlas Garage Pro 9k from Greg Smith Equipment in Indianapolis (somewhat local to him.) He has a big garage (3,900 sq ft) so the portability is nice. If he needs to raise the car off the lift, he has an air/hydraulic bottle jack and jack stands--it takes only a couple minutes to jack up the car. A two-post lift would have always been in the way, and with the four-post, we can stand on the lift while the car is raised to get inside or under the hood.

Not that I condone this, but he has lifted his 9,600 pound 1948 International KB6 Fire Truck on the lift.

Woody wrote: No thank you...

Well, in its defense, it looks like it's meant more for commercial parking where if you can double the income @ $50/day the lift will pay for itself. I noticed it is rated for outdoor installations and has a full-deck (no oil drips on the car below).