Two post,four post

[Patrick brophy]

Did you ever reach the age,and point,where you decide you have crawled under that car for the last time?
I am well past due to both age and bad back,arthritis and a few other ailments. I am done.
I want to get a car lift.
I am looking for opinions as far as what I should look for,and also stay w away from.
I see there are 2 post and 4 post,what is advised.
And last,brand names to consider, and to stay away from.
Any advice will be appreciated.

[56sedandelivery]

I would lean toward a 4 post reason being my foundation is not thick enough to handle a 2 post. That being said it is probably more accessible underneath using a 2 post. I have heard good things about bend pac lifts. Other then that not much help

[miker98038]

Maybe 20 years ago one of my buddy’s bought a 4 post Direct Lift. Since then, 4 of us have a total of 6 of them. 2 are mostly storage, 1 is sometimes storage, but 2 are used extensively for maintainence. They’ve gone up and down hundreds of times. Part of the reason we kept using them was the local rep was really good about service, set up, relocating, etc.

We all had standard residential concrete floors, so the response from ‘56 was part of it. We have 3 of the large hydraulic jacks, and every lift has the bottle jack tray. We’ve changed engines, transmissions, rebuilt entire front ends, rolled out rear ends, and done normal oil, lube, etc maintenance.

Particularly with pulling engines, 4 post are a work around. You’ve got to raise the vehicle enough to get the cherry picker under, and you need the vehicle all the way forward. We finally broke down and bought a bigger commercial cherry picker, for pulling big engines and trans out of med duty trucks. More height and reach. But a gantry or ceiling rail/chain hoist would be better. Sometimes, like front shocks, we end up raising the car and putting blocks under the wheels. But you’re still working around the ramps.

But we’ve gotten spoiled. We’re all north of 70 years. We raise the car in steps to wax it, clean wheels, whatever. Sit on a stool and bring the work to you.

No maintenance problems, just some pilot error. One lift is in a higher altitude area and unheated shop. Didn’t get the hydraulic oil changed until it was milk white and corroded the pump. One guy won’t get out and look, and he’s driven the front end off the side of the ramp a couple times. Go get the dunnage, block it up, drive it off.

With the wheels on an empty lift, one guy (an old guy with lots of effort) can move it on a smooth floor. Young guys, 3 or 4, could probably move a loaded one with the vehicle up just a couple inches up. Then the wheels come off and go into storage.

Got any questions, I’ll try to answer.

[craig]

I have used 4 posts, non-symmetrical twin posts, in ground side by sides as well as in ground sliding/fixed posts. All have advantages and disadvantages. If you have a small space perhaps a 4 post is best, you can store a vehicle on the lift and another under the lift. As mentioned, if the floor thickness is questionable, the 4 post would be safer.

In my case I have a thick floor so I have a 2 post, symmetrical unit. I like it because it is easier to do brake and suspension work. The symmetrical design works better for me because I can either drive on forward or back the vehicle on, can't do it safely with the non symmetrical design. The main advantage of a non symmetrical is that it can be installed closer to a forward wall, because the vehicle isn't centered lengthwise.

There are quality manufacturers that have been around for sometime and are based in the USA. Rotary, Mohawk, Challenger, Bend Pak are just a few. Many of the US based companies are producing products overseas. The most important thing on any lift, regardless of where it is manufactured is to make sure it has a ALI/ETL Certification. Without that certification, not only the quality maybe iffy, but it probably won't pass a building code and your insurance maybe be void

[56 Panel]

Like mentioned before both have their advantages and disadvantages.
I have used both symetrical and a symetrical, and drive on lifts. I like the a symetrical seems a little more versitle.
My experience has only been with Mohawk
had them for over 25 years. You get what you pay for. Just my 2 cents worth.

[51504bat]

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FWIW almost every shop in town has BendPak lifts. Both 2 and 4 post. And most have more than one.

[Patrick brophy]

I am also at the 70 year old stage.
I am pretty sure I have done my last engine swap and tranny removal.
I am looking for the convenience of not having to get down on the floor and crawling under cars.
Having them at the level where it is easier to work on brakes and and wax and clean is what I have in mind.
I still have some transmission linkage and kickdown rods to connect ,as well as completing the exhaust to do, as well as a few paint touchups.
Space is not a issue as my shop is a nice 40 x 70 ,- a small man cave.
There is some great information above, I do appreciate the input.
I was not aware that there even was a ALI/ETL certification. That's a good piece of information to have.

[LOWRIDER]

Worked 40+ yrs as a mechanic and have used all types of hoists. The last 15 with a 2 post. Used some real scary air/hydraulic 2 posts when I first started. If a seal blew on 1 of the posts that car was coming down. After I retired I just had to have a hoist. I went with a 2 post Challenger. Only drawback is you have to get down to set the arms. After almost 10yrs with it the only problems I've had is a oring leaking and the cables out of adjustment. Simple fixes. I don't see how people live without a hoist and an air compressor.

[Daves55Sedan]

Hey, anybody seen Dave in the last couple weeks? Naw, he's probably layin dead under his car.

[ms fowler]

Another over 70 car guy, here.
I installed a 4 post about 6 years ago. I debated the 2 post/ 4 post question for months. I decided that 2 post made more sense. Then I went out to the garage and decided to drill some small test holes in the floor----I had seen just enough examples where the guy who built the garage had a tendency to cut a few corners that I thought I better check. The concrete floor varied in thickness from 5" to 3"---way too inconsistent for me to be happy with a 2 post. A 2 post relies on the mounting bolts acting in tension while on a 4 post almost all the loads are compression. In my situation, the 4 post was the better choice.
My garage has 10' side walls and conventional roof trusses. I had an Engineer work out what I needed to do to safely remove the bottom chord of the roof trusses in the area where the cars needed that extra room. It was a lot of work, but after 6 years both the lift and the roof are fine.

[PapaDave]

Another over-70 guy here with a thought…The 4-poster appears to be more stable, and the ones I’ve seen can be moved around. The 4-poster is also better (I think) if you are storing cars two high. However, if you are working on tires, wheels, brakes, etc, the 2-poster makes way more sense

[RKS.PA]

My issue is that at 80, I can still crawl under the car....problem for me now is getting back out!! About 6 years ago a bought a four post Quality lift and I love it!! Recently since I got the '56 T Bird, I'm using it nearly every day.

Here in southern AZ, they build houses....and garage floors... on "post tension" concrete slabs. It's dangerous to drill into these floors for fear of hitting one of the cables and causing an explosion!! For me the four post lift just sits on the floor and works just great. It's stable and doesn't move at all when driving on or off.

At this point in my life, I'm blessed to have a lift!!

[KULTULZ]

Tell me what you think - https://www.quickjack.com/

It's portable is what I like.

I don't have the ceiling height for much anything else (at my age, it is easier to lay down).

[KULTULZ]

Originally Posted by Daves55Sedan

Hey, anybody seen Dave in the last couple weeks? Naw, he's probably layin dead under his car.

Wondering where you were, thought I had p!ssed you off again ...

[paul2748]

A club member with a four poster made a bridge that has two bottle jacks on it to raise the car for wheel work

Originally Posted by PapaDave

Another over-70 guy here with a thought…The 4-poster appears to be more stable, and the ones I’ve seen can be moved around. The 4-poster is also better (I think) if you are storing cars two high. However, if you are working on tires, wheels, brakes, etc, the 2-poster makes way more sense

[Grumpy Rick]

Another old guy here. I have two lifts at home, both 4 post models.

The direct lift is the cheapest one they made about 15-20 years ago, paid $2500 installed. It was not bolted down for about 8 years and everything was fine, until I started to lower a car on the rack and I did not notice one dog had not fully released. The car lowered about a foot with the one dog staying in place, when I noticed the lift was leaning. Just then, with a big bang, one of the posts jumped sideways about 6". Believe me, it caused a skid mark in my long johns.

I snuck back in the garage and carefully raised the lift until it was level and locked, checked it out and then lowered it down and drove off so I could shove the posts back into proper place. Then went inside, called a lift expert to adjust the cables (stretching made them off a bit over time). He also bolted the lift to the floor for me. Still works fine.

The other lift is a Bend Pak, longer, wider, taller, and heavier duty than the 7K Direct lift. This one is 9K, and I got it because it would take my Diesel pickup (which I no longer own). It is definitely better quality overall than the Direct Lift, but I actually don't like it as much. I needed to put an extra compressor I have next to it, because the dogs are air operated. Great setup for a mechanix shop, but an extra thing to maintain for a home garage. Being larger I wish I had not gotten the wider model as it takes up too much room in the garage.

I use them for both storage and to work on the cars, and for a home setup prefer the 4 post, as you simply drive up on them and then run them up for storage, where with the two post models you need to move and adjust the four arms each time you move a car. Both of mine came with jack trays so I can lift one axle at a time for brake work.

My brother rents a commercial space for his car storage, and it came with two 2 post lifts. He hates them because of needing to lay on the floor to adjust each arm to the correct lift locations on his Corvettes. He has to shove the arms to the center to drive off, then readjust them again every time he drives a car, and gets jealous when I just drive a T-Bird off and then drive a sedan onto my 4 post models.

[ventport]

I bought a 4 post drive on Advantage lift. Where I worked they have 2 post lifts, and at my age getting down on the floor to set the arms and getting back up is not easy. I also bought the rolling bridge, and the rolling air over hydraulic jack. I can lift the car to do brake work or change tires with this setup. My shop floor was also not thick enough for a 2 post lift.

[russonator]

I have two Advantage 4 post lifts on my concrete garage floor. They're sturdy and safe to operate, do not require drilling the concrete, and come with casters if I ever need to move them. Although still spry at 72, I'm sure glad to have a lift for swapping out the automatic for a manual tranny in my '57 Ford. Changing oil and spark plugs is a snap too.

[Gene F]

Height can be a major issue. I have a (nice) barn, but don't do my work out there. I do my work in a 2/12 car "deep" garage along side my home. It has 8 1/2' walls.

[Abe Lugo]

Perhaps check out garagejournal.com there might be more info.