anybody use direct lift

thinking of a 4 post. 

$5800 installed 

https://shopequipmentlift.com/wp-content/uploads/Direct-Lift-PP8S-Cutsheet.2023.10-1.pdf

any thoughts or experiences? 

I am still finishing up my detached shop build and spent the last few months in endless research over what 4-post lift to buy. I considered them all: Direct, Atlas, Bend-Pak, Wildfire, Forward, etc.

I ended up going with the Advantage DX9000 along with their air-powered rolling bridge jack. It wasn't the cheapest, but I am beyond pleased with the setup. The box post design is extremely stable with a car on it. The rolling bridge jack from Advantage sits 3" above the runways (2.5" without the pads) at minimum height which I think is one of the lowest in the industry. It is not difficult to remove it from the lift using a furniture dolly if I ever was putting on a super low car.

The engineering and build quality in the Advantage is definitely top notch and self-assembly was a breeze. Customer service so far as been fantastic with extremely responsive reps who are not pushy with sales at all. I picked up the lift from a local freight terminal using my flatbed car trailer.

The Bend-Pak GrandPrix GP-9 and Wildfire have very similar box post designs. Bend-Pak's customer service approach from the sales side was an immediate turnoff for me. Wildfire is not ALI certified which turned me away. I know people debate on whether ALI certification is necessary but I equate it to racing safety equipment - there are probably perfectly fine helmets out there that are not Snell certified, but I am not going to be the third-party test dummy for their engineering department.

My buddy has two Direct lifts in his shop and also is very happy with them. They are over 10 years old and still in perfect working order. To be honest, regardless of brand, the only issue anyone seems to have is that they didn't buy a lift sooner.

I don't think you can go wrong with any hobby lift. The combination of a 4-post lift and bridge jack is a gamechanger in my opinion. Good luck!

In reply to 84EDirty :

Thank you so much for the info

Of course! I know it is a big investment and decision. I stressed over it more than I should have.

While the box post design is definitely a bit more stable than the traditional C-channel design, I don't think safety is compromised in either one. Every car lift "fail" video I find is always a car falling off of a 2-post lift due to poor placement. That's one nice thing with the 4-post - you have to really mess up for a car to fall off. Plus my use case involves the car stored more often than being worked on so a 4-post made more sense. The bridge jack and jack tray then provide nearly all the additional functionality I'd need from a 2-post.

Some reading for your pleasure. 

https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/4-post-failure.1329694/