Project Backyard Shop: Installing a Lift

docwyte said:

Where it fails is really heavy work like pulling engine/transmissions. 

Longitudinal transmissions come out just fine on a 4-post, it's the transverse ones that are a pain.

re: size, as I mentioned earlier in this thread for typical 2-car garages where I live it's a choice between a 4-post that fits and a 2-post that doesn't.

In reply to codrus (Forum Supporter) :

Do you have a 4 post?

Maybe I'll start a thread specific to 4 post lifts - they've really peaked my interest now that my eyes have been opened to the bridge jack thing....

Transverse transmissions are *horrible* on the 4 post. I'd almost rather do it on the ground.

accordionfolder said:

Do you have a 4 post?

Maybe I'll start a thread specific to 4 post lifts - they've really peaked my interest now that my eyes have been opened to the bridge jack thing....

I do, mine is a BendPak HD-9ST.  It's the short/short/narrow version of their 9000 pound 4-post lift.

In reply to Paul_VR6 (Forum Supporter) :

I'm not sure I understand the problem - couldn't you use the bridge jacks to set the car on jackstands on the 4 post lift and then use the lift/a lift table to pull the engine out of the middle? 

A 2 post WOULD be easier, but as codrus pointed out - the calculation is a bit more convoluted for your average home owner using an average garage and the constraints that adds in.

In reply to codrus (Forum Supporter) :

That's pretty awesome! I need to get some dimensions and formulate some more questions/ideas. 

Also 4 posters have caster add ons where you can move them around in the garage - which is stupid cool.

accordionfolder said:

Also 4 posters have caster add ons where you can move them around in the garage - which is stupid cool.

They do, but IME it's not acutally all that useful in a home garage because there isn't really anywhere else to put it.  I had thought I might want to move mine to the middle of the garage to get better access to the driver side, but it's easier to just squeeze past the posts.  They also don't cope well with the remains of the wood forms that are in my floor.

I haven't tried doing a transverse transmission on mine (I don't actually own one except for my wife's CX-9, which is new enough that I'm not touching the transmission on it), but in general the runways on a 4-post are in the way of getting anything off the car in a downward direction near the sides.  The bridge jacks don't lift it high enough to get the body clear of the subframe.  It's probably worse than trying to do it on the garage floor with jackstands.

Works great for longitudinal though, you can even use one of the bridge jacks as a transmission jack.

accordionfolder said:

In reply to Paul_VR6 (Forum Supporter) :

I'm not sure I understand the problem - couldn't you use the bridge jacks to set the car on jackstands on the 4 post lift and then use the lift/a lift table to pull the engine out of the middle? 

my big constraint like many is a residential 2 car layout. 24w x 22d bot a ton of room in front to get the engine hoist from straight on. Now the post and ramps are in the way. I can pull an engine/trans if I put the car on backward with the nose near the garage door and work outside. Not ideal. 

The bridge jack won't help pull the motor unless you land it on the jack and take the car off the lift. To do that isn't trivial. 

codrus nailed the issue with the fwd transmissions, the ramp is just in the way of your body doing the work. Last time I did the final pull from the top but it was not good for my back. This is a relatively light 4sp not a big auto. 

If none of this sounds bad, then it could work well for you. 
 

Sorry - I think I'm getting my two engine orientations confused. I have a scissor lift for fwd - I'm more concerned about getting out a RWD engine/trans. All my track/race cars are Front engine, RWD - honestly doing FWD things is usually easier on the ground in my experience. 

codrus (Forum Supporter) said:

accordionfolder said:

Also 4 posters have caster add ons where you can move them around in the garage - which is stupid cool.

They do, but IME it's not acutally all that useful in a home garage because there isn't really anywhere else to put it.  

My garage is fairly wide inside and has two bays - it just has short ceilings and is not particularly deep - I believe that being able to move it from one side to the other would be an advantage in my situation, but I'd have to measure to be sure. There are a lot of times where I wish moving my scissor lift were easier - it's mobile, but difficult. 

accordionfolder said:

Sorry - I think I'm getting my two engine orientations confused. I have a scissor lift for fwd - I'm more concerned about getting out a RWD engine/trans

RWD trans comes out easily.

Front engines usually want to go out the top unless you're lifting the body off the subframe and 4-posts have too much stuff in the way to do the latter.  So now you're back to using an engine hoist, and the runways and crossbar are in the way of the legs of the crane.  You'd need to hold the lift a few inches off the ground to make space, and there isn't a safety catch near that height so you'd have to leave it sitting on the hydraulics.

I haven't pulled an engine since getting my 4-post lift, but if I was going to do it I would put the car up on jackstands in the bay next to it.  I don't think the 4-post would help.

Paul_VR6 (Forum Supporter) said:

I saw the earlier comments on the 4 post with a bridge jack. I have to say after a few years of using mine I'm underwhelmed. Maybe with a longitudinal setup it's better but transverse FWD it's a pain to pull transmissions and getting an engine hoist positioned with the ramps up is a bit tricky as well. Just bought a 2 post and will decide if I keep the 4 after I work with it some.

That is very true.  I pulled the trans in my AWD Golf and only cleared the hardpoints of the car and the ramp by a handful of mm.  It was pure luck that I parked the car in the right spot.

That said, pulling a transaxle is a once-a-decade thing for me (I hope).  My lift is mostly about storage.  I often do jobs on the ground just because it's not worth playing car tetris to access the lift.

One thing that didn't come up in earlier posts: you can reposition a 4 post pretty easily.  When I started buying motorcycles, I found that moving it about 8" farther from the wall opened up another parking spot for them.  

I drag race so clutches and transmissions are often removed. Normal people maybe care about it less 

SV reX said:

snip

(I install about 50 lifts per year)

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