2 post lift recommendations

[Rory428]

I want to buy a 2 post hoist for my garage, just wondering is any of use guys have had any good (or bad) experiences with hobbyist priced lifts. When I was working at the dealerships, the Rotary brands were great, but a commercial grade lift is more $$$  than I am looking to spend. A few brands that I have been looking at, have been Forward, Atlas, Challenger, and Peak. Since the ceiling in my garage is 11 feet, it would appear that I will be limited to a "floor plate" model with the cables running under a steel cover plate, above the floor. I would prefer a "clear floor" model with no covers on the floor, but most seem to require at least a 12 foot ceiling, and I would like to not deal with modifying my ceiling. Looking for something in the 8-9,000 pound range, and hopefully under $3000. Any thoughts?

[Gregwill16]

Thanks for posting this Rory I started searching last week and my "wants" are similar so look forwardto some opinions. So far my search has led to a Universalift 2 and a Bison 9kaf that are reasonable. But those are focused on the needs of someone wanting a lift that is portable. The popular brand names like Bendpak and such are a little pricey for my needs.

[MRadke]

A friend of mine bought a used rotary from a service station that was upgrading.  I think he paid around 3 for his.  You might want to put some feelers out to local garages.

[Joe-JDC]

Rory, I have a Benwil floor lift that has 9000# lift capacity, but it requires a 12 foot ceiling if you put a large vehicle on it, or must close the hood when lifting.  It has mechanical stops every couple of inches up to ~6 feet.  I had it installed when I built my garage in 2000, and it has worked flawless.  I keep my Shelby up on it, and park my T-Bird under it.  I lower the car occasionally to keep the O rings lubed, and the cable taut.  My ceiling is ~11'9" and everything clears even with a hood open.  Bar over top to keep from spreading, truck arms, etc.  Needs a good 6" 3000 psi concrete floor with rebar to be absolutely safe.  Cost was ~$3300.00 with installation and warranty.  Last time I checked the price wasn't too much more.  There are several lifts in the $2500.00 range that look almost identical but for 7500# capacity.  Joe-JDC

[cjshaker]

Needs a good 6" 3000 psi concrete floor with rebar to be absolutely safe.

That's the thing with a 2 post lift, you better have a good solid foundation. 4" is not considered safe, and that's a standard floor thickness.

[Katz427]

Well Rory, I know a couple of places that have Challenger. My decision became easier, insurance company, required an ALI certification for whatever lift I chose. So like you said, Rotary is used in many commercial locations. I chose the Rotary, they had a local dealer, they installed, and my insurance company was happy.
The Challenger lifts are pretty much all ALI certified, all the ones they  manufacture.

[gregaba]

Ten years ago I bought a Champion lift.They go to to all the car shows and swap meats in my area Ok. Two post with bottom plate 9000 lb rating and has worked great.
The price was $1995 delivered and installed. Took about 2 1/2 hour for the install.
The installer just ran it up and down once and after they left when I would use it it would groan and jerk when going down. I thought it was a bad lift but got to thinking and realized it had some air in the lines. I lowered the lift and filled the fluid tank and put a catch can [bucket ] under it and cycled the lift up and down a few times and got all the air out of the lines.
Has worked with no problems since then.
They are Champion lifts from Arkansas and can be found using a search engine.
Greg

[Falcon67]

I use a Derek Weaver lift.  Love it, been in use for 4 years now. Last winter I modified the shop to allow for full height use with the race cars.  The truck would work on it, but the shop is too short depth wise for it.  When I bought it, it was on sale for $1795.  Ordered, took the trailer over to Fort Worth and picked it up, did the install myself.  Most of the floor is 4", which is in spec for the lift.  If in doubt, your floor can be saw cut and you pin in something like a couple of 3x3 or 4x4 pads to the slab.  In place of wedge anchors, you could also use epoxy anchors which put less stress on the substrate.  Check with the lift supplier/mfg.





Fresh install 2016


After some serious ceiling hacking last winter

[Rory428]

I use a Derek Weaver lift.  Love it, been in use for 4 years now. Last winter I modified the shop to allow for full height use with the race cars.  The truck would work on it, but the shop is too short depth wise for it.  When I bought it, it was on sale for $1795.  Ordered, took the trailer over to Fort Worth and picked it up, did the install myself.  Most of the floor is 4", which is in spec for the lift.  If in doubt, your floor can be saw cut and you pin in something like a couple of 3x3 or 4x4 pads to the slab.  In place of wedge anchors, you could also use epoxy anchors which put less stress on the substrate.  Check with the lift supplier/mfg.





Fresh install 2016


After some serious ceiling hacking last winter

How tall was your ceiling in the first photos, and how tall now? My ceiling if nicely finished, so I don`t really want to cut it up. My height is 11 foot, most of the floor plate hoists that I have been looking at online are only about 9 1/2 feet tall, so plenty of room there. I do want to be able to stand under the car, for replacing transmissions and such. Most of these cheaper lifts appear to be made in China, with all the different brand names, I have to think many brands buy them from China, and painted and stickered to their spec. I can`t imagine that there are 20 or more Chinese companies making lifts for the North American market. I talked to the previous owner of our new house, who is a neighbor and built the garage, he said the floor is 5" thick 3000 pound concrete with mesh e, which seems to be at least what the hoist companies suggest as a minimum for a 9000 pound hoist. I doubt that I would ever put my F350 Dually on it, so likely 4000 pounds is the heaviest I would be lifting.

[RustyCrankshaft]

I've got 2 Benwill's at home (1 2 post and one 4 post drive on), both I got used from a dealership that closed down. Think I paid 1200 for the pair on them. Over at the shop I've got 4 Bendpaks and 1 is a challenger. At the shop I had 2 Rotatry's that were nice but just plain worn out.

Most of the "cheap" hoists are all made by one of 2 or 3 companies and rebranded. The domestic stuff like Rotatry's or forgien first world stuff like Koni (both of which rebrand a bunch of stuff as well) are always about 4 times as much. They are better quality, but the chinese stuff like the Bendpaks and Challenger's work fine for the price. Think the Bendpaks are going on 9 years in the shop and only thing I've really had to do is 1 pump motor.

[66FAIRLANE]

Pointless me making recommendations from Australia but here are some mods I made with mine you may want to consider.

1) Wrapped the hard rubber door pads in lambs wool (old seat cover)
2) Made a remote lift button with a about 20ft of cable so you can check clearances at different points while lifting.
3) Removed the limit switch from the column and put it on a wire (nylon coated stainless fishing stuff) that is suspended lengthways down the middle of the car about a foot down from the ceiling. Just to prevent calamitous stupidity.
4) If you do 3) you will need an override button to get it off the locks if the switch trips out.
5) Reflective tape on the columns so I can see them easier reversing in at night.
6) A very sturdy 'seperator' that runs between the columns at the very top to eliminate inward tipping load. (All load vertical please ) I didn't even put a car on it until I did this.

Its a very crappy photo but all these features can be seen here if you squint hard enough

[Falcon67]

The shop has an 8' ceiling.  I built the building, so I knew exactly how to cut it up LOL.  I think it's about 11' now.  The posts are right at 9.5' tall.  Same, I "might" have fitted a overhead lift, but I used a 5:12 pitch on the shop to save a few board-feet of lumber (vs 6:12) which put the peak a little low. 

Yes, a lot of these lifts are very similar.  Derek Weaver is local, has a good rep for after sale support and they said they have parts available should I need any.  The lift posts, arms, cables, etc are extremely stout. Nice thick steel columns.  The lift went together just like the manual, no weird issues. Only screw up was a mis-routed lock release cable which was my fault. Had to build a new one out of steel wire, so no big deal. 

The limiter is not in the middle, it's the back wall/tail end of the car where it closes in on the rafters well before the roof gets anywhere near the shop ceiling in the space.  The car will clear and the max lift is marked on the post over the lift pump and I installed the door bumper on the lift so that it's just below the rafter at the max lift point.  Lift will go higher, but not with the car on it.  I also have a clip that I put in the garage door track to limit the door - can't open it all the way with a car up on the lift.  The total compromise of 24' deep space.  If I go and blow the back wall out to 30', then I can move the lift back and raise the ceiling in the back of the lift area with a dormer.







Then insulated and re-skinned

[Falcon67]

My procedure is to set the arms, then raise the lift enough to catch the car.  Then I verify the pads are where they should be.  Then I lift it about a foot or so and shake the car good just to make sure.  Raise to working height then lower on the locks.  I go to each post and verify the lift arm is sitting on the manual lock piece.  THEN - I get under it.  I have had the Falcon on it a lot, used it to store the Falcon with the dragster under it (neat trick), had our old Fusion on it (tricky - no real "lift points" and even had the 93 F350 up on it to the first lock - 5900 lbs.  The 2020 F-350 will just barely fit in the shop and clear the door (22' long) so I would not even try that.