Jeff T.

Thinking about a lift, never had one before so I'm asking my brothers for a little advice.

I looked on Bendpak's site and I see 22 - 4 post lifts!! I'm sure I don't need the heaviest duty one, but how light duty do I dare go?

Thanks!

tbar1963

I've been looking too…love to get one..But Which one..Bend-pak, BackyardBuddy etc...

Lee DeRaud

The Bendpak prices are quite reasonable...at least compared to having the roof of my garage raised 3-4 feet.

69monzacpe

I'm working on getting one, checking dimensions and the HD-9STX may be my pick.

Got a garage tech coming by on Monday to quote on maximizing the garage door height when it's opened, and depending on space, add a jack shaft to open the door and get rid of the old 1/3HP chain drive opener. Once that's done, it's on to the 4 post lift next.

Patches

I have a 4-post HD9 Bend Pak. In all my years of owning a 4-poster (which I bought primarily for increasing garage capacity), I have never not been able to do any job I needed to with relative ease. It takes a couple of extra steps to work on wheels/brakes/suspension but not a big deal. Two-posters are awesome for access to all of the car for major work - 4-posters are a good compromise for a combination of storage and maintenance.

Here's my BendPak HD9 (9000 lb. cap., 117" width):

In Indiana, it turned our 2-car into a 3-car

Our Indiana garage












Here in SoCal now, our 3-car is a 4-car


Current project underway




I currently have a 7-foot-high door. The Indiana garage door was an 8-footer, so I gave up a bit of clearance. This door was way too low to accomodate the lift posts so I had a garage door company add two feet of rail height so it hugs the ceiling. The side-mount opener was required to get the opener out of the lift path as well. Btw, that's a 10-foot ceiling.

Here's the clearance I had when I first installed the lift - no clearance. The door was hitting the posts.


The new door height.


The new side-mounted opener with battery backup


No problems with clearance now and I actually store the vette 4" higher than in the previous garage since the door is no longer the limiting height.

Pounder

One nice thing about a 4 post as to a 2 poster you don't have to worry about the door slipping out of your hand !!!!!!!!!!!!! I worked at a Cadillac Dealership where we had all 2 posters and hitting the doors was an issue.

RedySetVette

Patches- what rims are on the RED C5?

Patches

CCW 505a's. 19x10F, 19x11R

olbear1962

Definitely have to invest in one of these.

Capt Mike

I've purchased two 9K lb Bendpak lifts in the last 8 years

The first was in 2007. I must say that for a certified 9K lb drive-on lift, it was superb. The install went easy, no missing parts and good instructions. Installed & operated perfectly

I moved and started a small acreage development and built a new home & shop. I designed the the ceiling to 15 feet in the garage were the new Bendpak lit resides. I also installed a Lift Master 24 VDC Jack Shaft garage door opener with battery back up. The jack shaft opened solves the garage door opener issues and is one of the best I've researched.

The 2nd Bendpak drive on lift is still fairly new, but I am still not happy with this particular lift. I should have returned the complete lift. The packing was damaged when We picked it up and upon removing the packaging and un-bolted the components I was absolutely Shocked.

This lift had been assembled, possible a demo or return, unknown...

The misc packaging was full of leaves, dirt and misc crud,, as if this lift was stored outside for a period of time. So, I made a call to the dealer and decided to clean the lift and complete the install. He assured me they would deal with any of my needs,,, they never did

I had six friends assist in the assembly, five recently retire engineers (of different disciplines) and a Deputy Sheriff. We are all long term friends and complete the majority of our own vehicle maintenance repairs and mod's. I'm also an Engineer.

As we started the assembly I was finding scratches on most all of the Metal Components, which were supposed to be high Quality Power Painted. Prompted another call...

After the four posts and required parts were install We set the drive-on runways in place and bolted them in place. The first issue was the the bolt holes did not align up properly and it took a great deal of effort to get them bolted in place. The Hardware (nuts & bolts) we not the quality I had expected. Replaced with Grade 8 hardware and Flat Washers. We striped one of the original bolts when torquing it in place.

Once the runways were finally bolted in place we completed a better cleaning only to find more scratches and a pretty good dent in the top of the runway,, I was NOT Pleased. This prompted another phone call.

The remainder of the install went easy, just more scratches. Be prepared to purchase hardened hardware, it is not that expensive.

During the adjustments,,We discovered that the vertical safety bars (not sure the exact nomenclature) did not align properly. This means that when lowering the lift the safety lock Pawls did not engage. We had FUN with this part,, ha ha Bendpak sent new ones

The wire cable, hydraulic lines and the rest all fit properly. Luckily one of my Crew for the day was a Engineer designing Hydraulic Systems. He quickly assembled this hydraulics without a drop on the floor. Oh, You need to purchase the hydraulic Oil, But the Best You can Find !!!

All in All this is a great drive on lift. But the quality is CRAP. Prob because they are now manufactured in China

The Power Paint still comes off and the hardware was not acceptable, IMHO.

I had quite a "#$%" Time is getting repair parts, just Rhetoric for the Dealer and Factory Staff, I was thoroughly Peeved,, over the weeks.

I accidentally found the V.P.of Bendpaks email address. I emailed this Gentleman a long decisive email with my issues and required replacement parts. This was an evening email and he responded that same Night !! I pretty sure that He was not to pleased... "Things" happened..

In the end I did receive two new drive on runways, the safety vertical bars, two aluminum drive on ramps and jack bar for my troubles, Oh and Two can of rattle can paint, which was a slap in the face.

Sounds good, but it is a great deal of work to completely disassemble a drive on lift, esp with hydraulic lines filled with hyd oil.

first, If you purchase this lift,

get good hardware in advance

expect that the paint will fail, not convinced this is power paint and the steel parts were not sand blasted or prep'd

be prepared to the possibility that you will be adjusting the steel wire cables lines, I've had to three times.

Get the long aluminum ramps. They are easy to lift off when the lift in up or at ground level, the steel,, not so much.

The ramps get in the way constantly, so when I get one of my cars on the ramps for work or tinkering, off come the ramps while the lift in still down, just lift them off.

You will need to round the corners of the ramps, they are square and sharp. But longer,, best for low cars. and they are light weight

Get two jack plates, there are GREAT !!

Get two Fat hydraulic Bottle Jacks for use with the jack plates. Makes suspension, trans work,, much easier.

When raising or Lowering this lift, DO pay attention to the Hydraulic line just behind the motor/pump. It tends to get Caught on the ramp or body parts, could be messy and if this line were to be cut, well,,,

Good safely lock design, you will need air pressure. I plumbed in a 5 gallon air tank and fill it from my air compressor. It doesn't need to be filled very often

And Last, I do recommend that you track all of your re-adjustments of the steel wire cables. I'm quite concerned regarding cable Stretch.

If you do not 220 VAC in your garage you can order their lifts with a 115 VAC motor. Put the appropriate AC plug on the end on the motor power cable and plug it into the power outlet, no inspection required after installation. My first lift was 115 VAC, worked flawlessly.

FOLLOW the instructions exactly !! Especially in the leveling of the posts.

I would recommend that one does not purchase a "Parking Lift" or lift that is not certified.

Still a much better lift for a shop or Car owner at Home for a very reasonable price, DO NOT expect a perfect Lift Delivered,

Reasonable lift time and easy to get adjusted to driving on "Straight".

Almost forgot. I piece of tape on the vertical part of the runway at the center of the front wheel, FOR each Car - Centered on the Lift, much faster...

Good Luck..

Cobra64

Pricing not shown on web site.

Lee DeRaud

They've got this new app called "Google", you may not have heard of it yet.

Capt Mike

PM sent

Michael..

Cobra64

Thanks for the sarcasm.

Regardless, http://www.bendpak.com/car-lifts/fou...ifts/hd-9.aspx does not appear to have prices associated by model.

Capt Mike

Correct, goto one of their Dealers Price should be ~$2800

I sent you a pm with the link

Michael..

Cobra64

Got it. Thank you for your help.

Fast Cop

The only thing that has stopped me from getting one is the height of my garage. I have a FROG which means a 9 foot garage. If it was not for that I would have bought one years ago, these things are great.

Capt Mike

I understand that !! I'mm just finishing a new house build,, never again.

You could build a detached Garage ???. Cost are not too high if you DIY. I have three detached single car garages, no permit needed here.

But even permit and materials are relatively low for a garage. I almost build a double garage, but woth only one ten foot wide garage door - Wish I had now.

One needs plenty of room on both sides of a drive on lift. Provides room to open door fully with a the tools and "Garage Stuff". Plus just getting around when ones working..

Good Luck !

Michael..

Lee DeRaud

You're welcome.


Manufacturers know it's a bad idea to undercut their authorized dealers, so if you want the best price, you'll want to research the prices from Bendpak's dealers anyway. If buying direct from the factory is more important than the price, why are busting my chops about the lack of prices on the website?

Floridasky

I went with a Direct Lift. Same certification as Bendpak and don't need an air compressor to operate. No regrets, works really nice.