4 Post Shop Lift
 

We are in the market for a 4 post shop lift. Large enough to lift a 4 X 4 Quad Cab truck once in a while, but mostly for working on cars.

We have 10'6" under the door, and 11'8" to the rafters.

It's very confusing shopping for these, LOTS of companies making lots of claims, and lots of different models.

I've seen them from about $1600 to $3500 for units like we want. What's the best unit for the money?....thanks....Cliff

Don't know what the "best" is but look at a Bend-Pak HD-9. 9000 lbs. capacity, made in the USA. Well designed and made, in my opinion. mid $2000, I bought mine at ASE.

George

I have 2 Direct Lift model 7000 and am well satisfied with the product. Its not the quality that the Buddy lift from Warren, Ohio manufactures but its half the price. It appears to be well engineered with built in safety features and comes standard with a jack tray and oil changing gizmo.

Bendpak and good lifts.

A generic unit that's well made is sold by Greg Smith Equipt in Indianapolis Indiana.

Mike

Just got an email about this lift: http://www.americanautomotiveequipme...s-p/fp12-D.htm .

The backyard buddy lifts look really strong, haven't got a quote from them yet. I'm looking to purchase one in the next couple of weeks, so still shopping around. Thanks for the replies.....Cliff

Cliff, this is taken off the Greg Smith equipment site. It gives you alot of useful information about manufacturers, and what to look for in a lift. Tells where the weak points are and shows what to look for in quality lifts. It also shares the differences in hobby lifts as compared to ones used everyday in a business. I found it really informative as it sorts out alot of the claims that all manufacturers make. Here's the link;

http://www.gregsmithequipment.com/Articles.asp?ID=158

I would not be so sure. Read this:

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/s...bend+pak+china


BTW The Garage Journal forums has a bunch on threads on 4 post lifts. There seem to be two main camps those who like the Bend-Pak and those who like Direct lift.

Yep, they should be truthful about the content of their products. My four-post does not have any made-in-china stickers and that was one of my decision points when I bought it about 3 years ago.

George

Cliff,I have a pair of backyard buddies and really like them.We had a earthquake not too long ago and I had my 63 Cat on the top of one and my 69 GTO on the top of the other and first thing I did when I got home from work was to check if they were still up there.Everything was fine.Great product.Tom

According to the Greg Smith site there are plenty of lifts made in China, and some of theirs are too. The difference being is what factory are the lifts coming from. They have set up a manufacturing facility that is run by U.S. personnel in China and has the U.S. standards set in place and the U.S. quality control and engineering in place. Their site tells what the differences are in the quality of the lifts. It also shows a 2 post lift that is overated in capacity, and the catastophic failure that resulted when it was tested at the rated capacity. From their site, there are plenty of lifts that are rated at much more than they will safely lift. They also comare the actual weight of the steel in their lifts as to the competitions weights, metal gauges, engineering features.http://www.gregsmithequipment.com/Articles.asp?ID=152

Cliff:

I saw some lifts at Carlisle which were made, in Florida, by a guy named Rich Hunter. He said he had an ad in this months Hemmings and his company is Hunter Equipment, Inc. I took a quick look at the one he had set up and it looked pretty substantial. It was different in that it used I-beams under a plate for the runners, rather than using a channel. I was going to go back and look at them more closely, but didn't make it. He said he makes them all, himself. His e-mail address is [email protected] and his phone number is 800 237 0979. It might be worth looking into. If I had known of his existence before I bought mine I definitely would have done so.

I was going to reply to your request earlier, but I had misplaced his card. Sorry, I hope you haven't made your purchase, yet.

I have two Bend-Paks, a 4-post with casters and a 2-post. I erected the 4-post, it works well, and am in the process of erecting the 2-post, now. They seem to be good quality. The main reasons for me to purchase them was that they were advertised in Northern Hydraulics catalog as being made in the States. Now, it turns out that they aren't. If I had known they weren't, I would have bought a more expensive one which was. I don't have any specific problem with them and they claim that their QC is excellent. But, having been a Marine Engineer and having foreign-made fasteners fail within 2 days of installation, I'm leery of Chinese metal products. If I was going to buy foreign I probably would have bought the Direct Lift unit.

Bend-Pac's CEO claims that they didn't know that Northern was claiming that their units were made in the States, I'm just a little suspicious of that. You have to wonder if they didn't know what was happening and just overlooked it as they weren't the one making the claim and they were benefiting from it.

Thanks for all the info. I decided to get a larger "commercial" grade unit, 12,000 lb from the link above. It's no doubt made in China, like most everything else we end up with. It's due in next week, hopefully it will be a decent unit. The trans is coming out of the Ventura for "freshening" up and a converter change, so it will be tested out in short order.......Cliff

Thanks for locating this post. Here's an update.

We received the lift and absolutely love it. Very, very well made for the price. It will pick up a full size crew cab dually effortlessly, with plenty of room to spare.

We got some "run-around" on getting it shipped to us, it took several months from the time the actual order was placed, but it was well worth the wait.

As with most things these days, the installation instructions were USELESS, we just laid out the parts and figured it out on our own. It took about 8 hours to assemble, and a couple of hours to hammer drill the concrete floor for the 16 studs to keep it in place.

Everything required came with the lift, it arrived pretty much unharmed, just some very minor paint damage to one of the ramps....Cliff

Cliff -
I guess I missed it. What mfr and model and from where?
cm

...and how much.

Pontiac dealer in the area went out of business - I stopped in yesterday to ask him about equipment, he wanted $4k for his 12,000 2 post Mohawk.

4 post lift:
 

I purchased a Backyard Buddy and love it. I know of a used one in your neck of the woods Boss. I will get the info for you and forward it to you.

OK, Cliff ...
 

... Bringing this one back to the top.

I'm getting ready to have an extra garage built, and I need more info on the lift you got (or anyone else's lift).

Are you happy with the four post? (as opposed to two post)
What features do you wish you had? (if any)
What do you not like about your choice? (if anything)
If you could start from scratch, would you make the same decision?

Also anybody else... what DOs and DON'Ts would you give me on building a new garage?

Thanks to all,
Ogre

I looked up the guy I mentioned in my earlier posting, Rich Hunter, [email protected]. He was at Carlisle again this Spring. He doesn't actually make the lifts, he sells them. They're Superlift units.

I also looked the lifts over more closely and they compare well to the Bendpak units. They're at least their equal. The prices are very competitive and they're made in the States. I would have had no problem buying one of them over the 2 Bendpaks I did buy. Their runners are plate over I-beams, rather than channel, and look like they would handle more load. I also like the "free" (read standard) options of the Black Max model; aluminum approach ramps, jack bridge to raise the vehicle over the ramps, and 3 drip trays.

I have a real problem with the Bendpak CEO claiming he didn't know that Northern Hydraulics and other sellers were saying they were made in the States. Their own advertising brochures would lead you to believe they were made domestically.

Here's a link to Superlifts: http://superlifts.com/ They're well worth a look, I wish I'd known of them before I got mine. Here's a link to the Black Max model: http://superlifts.com/fourpostlifts/black_max.html

I'm looking at their brochure, right now, and there's one more significant selling point. They show a '62 Bonneville with a '65 GTO on the lift above it.

I would ask that they compensate for your loss.
Take the units back and buy the USA ones

One option that I have noticed on some of the four post lifts is a "Caster Kit" system. Anybody use this? Or are they all bolted down?

It would seem to be a nice feature (give yourself a little more floor workspace when the vehicle is not on the lift), but how stable are the lifts if they are not bolted to the garage floor?

What's the consensus? Good idea or Bad idea?

Ogre