I'm finally ready to buy a 4 post lift. Mostly for an extra parking place, will also be used for occasional service. I have plenty of ceiling height so no concern there. What should I buy? How do I find someone to install it for me?
I live in north Florida. Advice is welcome!
dyintorace said:Blah, blah, blah ... I have plenty of ceiling height so no concern there.
Show off. 
Installation isn't that tough as long as you can round up a couple of friends and an engine or gantry hoist.-- it's managing the logistics of a 3000+ lb delivery that's the tougher nut to crack.
As far as what you get, make sure it's of the size (width, length, clearance height) you want.
Also, if I had it to do over again, I'd make sure I got something with a 220 V motor rather than 110. Running something that needs a 30 A breaker on 110 is kind of marginal-- I either need to replace the plug pretty frequently or spend a lot of time resetting the breaker.
I bought a Bendpack (HD9?), mostly because of the air locks. I didn't like the mechanical linkages that a lot of the other brands use
No regrets.
I did buy the drip trays and the rolling jack bridge from Advantage though. Also no regrets.
I also have a BendPak (HD9ST -- that's the one that's short in height and narrow in width).
The delivery isn't a big deal if you have an open trailer. Ship it to a freight dock then go pick it up, they'll forklift the crate onto your trailer then when you get it home you break the crate down in place and take the individual components off to assemble.
If you call up BendPak they will contact you with a local dealer who will offer installation service if you like.
I got an Atlas 8000 EXT over winter. One of the best purchases I have made. I would have gotten the even bigger (longer, EXT-L) one if I had the room.
GJ thread on pickup, assembly and use https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=471197
Local distributor delivered mine on a roll off. Just tilted back and carefully slid it off.
Gearheadotaku (Forum Supporter) said:Local distributor delivered mine on a roll off. Just tilted back and carefully slid it off.
For me, a local distributor picked up the used one I bought, and installed it in my garage. At lot easier than DIY, and was very worth the few hundred bucks.
If you don't have a ton of length, then go Bendpak HD7W. It's the tallest, widest 4 post on the market. Gives me the height/width I need to park a tall SUV underneath it. If you have more length, gow tih the Benpak HD9W, basically the same lift as the 7, but longer decks.
I hate 4 post lifts, only marginally good for exhaust work, best for an alignment rack.
A 2 post lift is more versatile and easier to work under.
You can't drop out an engine in the cradle on a 4 post, only marginally safer in an earthquake.
Following for info. Been looking at a Bendpak HD-9 or GP-9F for a couple years now. My garage is 20' x 24' with a single, slightly offset 16' door. Floor space isn't a problem. Overhead space is. While the ceiling is roughly 11.5' tall there's a load-bearing beam that bisects the garage that's just under 10' from the floor. The issue is the beam prevents me from raising the garage door and torsion spring up by more than about 12", which are currently just over 8' from the floor when open.
bentwrench said:I hate 4 post lifts, only marginally good for exhaust work, best for an alignment rack.
A 2 post lift is more versatile and easier to work under.
You can't drop out an engine in the cradle on a 4 post, only marginally safer in an earthquake.
He said he wants it for storage, not to start swapping engines ...
After fretting over the logistics of getting three friends together on a nice day and figuring the whole thing out for the first time, I decided that it was well worth the cost of having mine professionally installed. I think it cost less than $900.
Totally worth it.
Agreed. I got a bunch of friends together to help me uninstall, move and reinstall my first 4 post lift in my garage. The current Bendpak lift I had professionally installed. Totally worth the $800 I paid.
Woody, how far is your's off the wall. Not the bottom ledge, but higher up.
In reply to Slippery :
19 inches to the post, 33 to the ramp. Plenty of room to walk, once you're past the post.
I bought the optional caster kit so I can move the whole thing wherever I want, even with a car on board (all the way down), though I've only used them on the first day to get it to where I wanted it.
I moved it after this picture was taken.
There's actually more room than this picture seems to indicate. The inside of the post is even with the garage door opening.
It took me maybe a day and a half total taking my time, by myself mostly (wife to list the crossbars and my 6yo "helper") the engine hoist and some wood blocks. Was a fun experience, I can see if you are moving or don't have the time the <1k price makes sense. The ramp with the cyl was HEAVY and that took some thinking.
Paul_VR6 (Forum Supporter) said:It took me maybe a day and a half total taking my time, by myself mostly (wife to list the crossbars and my 6yo "helper") the engine hoist and some wood blocks. Was a fun experience, I can see if you are moving or don't have the time the <1k price makes sense. The ramp with the cyl was HEAVY and that took some thinking.
Yeah, if you've got 3 or 4 buddies who are game to come over, eat pizza, drink beer, and help you put a lift together then it's fun. If I hadn't had a group like that then I probably would have paid to get it done.
codrus (Forum Supporter) said:Yeah, if you've got 3 or 4 buddies who are game to come over, eat pizza, drink beer, and help you put a lift together then it's fun. If I hadn't had a group like that then I probably would have paid to get it done.
Even having done it once, it wasn't so bad. Once I build the shop I have to move mine so I get to tear it down and re-rig it. Will be smoother next time.
As others have said, make sure you get a model that will accommodate whatever you're planning to lift, including weight, width and length. I have a Bendpak HD-9XL, which works well with my Suburban as well as smaller cars. Width is adjustable with some effort, but I've never found the need to use the narrower setup. The lift was delivered as essentially one bundle and to get it up the hill to the garage we disassembled the bundle and moved the individual pieces. Once in the shop, I did the assembly alone with the help of an engine hoist.
One thing to consider is the slope of the floor where the lift will be installed. Some floors have significant drop towards the door of the building which can make leveling the lift challenging. You want the runways level when in the locked position so make sure whatever lift you get has sufficient adjustment to account for any slope in the floor.
Thanks for all of the advice so far. I'm leaning towards something like the Atlas that Paul bought above. Bendpaks seem nice but are almost twice the price from what I've seen.
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