Another 4 post lift question..best value?
12-06-2011, 11:52 AM
#1
Racer
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Another 4 post lift question..best value?
Hey guys- started looking at 4 post lifts this weekend- I'm ready to make the plunge, but still have some unanswered questions.
First of all, I have a Z06, so I assume I'm going to need a "wider" drive in area, plus the racks/tread platforms will need to be wider as well. Correct?
As far as lift capacity, I only plan on using it for the Vette, so 7000 lbs should be plenty ..not sure that paying 4-500 more for another 1000 lb capacity gets me anything. Agreed?
Also..brands- Bendpak is on the upper side of what I want to spend, but I see Greg Smith, Panther, Autolift, Direct Lift etc as listed brands of lifts. Most seem to made in China. Not sure if I like that idea.
Ceiling height in my garage is 10'5. Is that high enough?
How about some feedback, opinions, etc?
First of all, I have a Z06, so I assume I'm going to need a "wider" drive in area, plus the racks/tread platforms will need to be wider as well. Correct?
As far as lift capacity, I only plan on using it for the Vette, so 7000 lbs should be plenty ..not sure that paying 4-500 more for another 1000 lb capacity gets me anything. Agreed?
Also..brands- Bendpak is on the upper side of what I want to spend, but I see Greg Smith, Panther, Autolift, Direct Lift etc as listed brands of lifts. Most seem to made in China. Not sure if I like that idea.
Ceiling height in my garage is 10'5. Is that high enough?
How about some feedback, opinions, etc?
12-06-2011, 11:56 AM
#2
Melting Slicks
Go to the Gregg Smith Equipment site and read about lifts, certifications, ISO9000 manufacturing facilities etc. Best value should include quality, 3rd party certifications, appropriate specs and (to me last and least) cost.
Michael
Michael
12-06-2011, 11:58 AM
#3
Racer
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Yeah, I have read about the certifications, and to me that is definitely important. Most certified lists only cost abot 200 bucks more..well worth it IMO.
12-06-2011, 12:48 PM
#4
Tech Contributor
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I won't make a recommendation on a lift. I will make some comments about things you should consider.
I have a 10 ft ceiling. My mid rise scissors lift raises the car 48 inches off the floor. At full lift the top of the car is ~ 28 inches below the ceiling. You have to leave some room for light fixtures, open hood, etc so you can't go all the way to the ceiling. Not sure how much higher the top of an open hood is over the top of the car but I do know when the hood is open on my car it is right at the same height as the fluorescent light fixture hanging from the ceiling. I put a couple of nicks in the edge of my C5Z hood due to that light. Another thing you need to consider is how high the bottom of the car needs to be to comfortably work under it. If my lift went another 24 inches higher I could walk under the car but at a height of 5' 10" the bottom of the car might be too low for me to comfortably work on it. The extra 6 inches you have could make the difference but you do need to account for how tall the car is with the hood open. As soon as you say I won't worry about that because I will close the hood each time I raise the car is when the potential accident is setup. You will forget sometime just as I did.
Another thing to consider with a lift is where the posts are located and whether or not you will be able to get around them when cars are in the garage and you want to walk through it. That is what kept me from going with a two or four post lift in my 22 ft wide by 22 ft long garage. With two cars in the garage there wasn't any place to walk between the two with one or two lift posts between them.
I don't think it makes a difference where the lift is made. The difference is in the quality of the company selling the lift. A good company will not sell a crappy lift no matter where the lift is made. Think of all the good products you get from China (which happens to be the source of almost everything you buy nowadays). My Eagle Mid Rise looks almost exactly the same as others on the market including the BendPak ones. I think it was made in China but there isn't any label I can see. I do know that from a quality stand point it is crude looking but well built. Quality isn't in how good something looks but in how well it functions. Think AK47 Vs M16. My lift sees a lot of use, has served me well for 8 years and has never failed me.
Bill
I have a 10 ft ceiling. My mid rise scissors lift raises the car 48 inches off the floor. At full lift the top of the car is ~ 28 inches below the ceiling. You have to leave some room for light fixtures, open hood, etc so you can't go all the way to the ceiling. Not sure how much higher the top of an open hood is over the top of the car but I do know when the hood is open on my car it is right at the same height as the fluorescent light fixture hanging from the ceiling. I put a couple of nicks in the edge of my C5Z hood due to that light. Another thing you need to consider is how high the bottom of the car needs to be to comfortably work under it. If my lift went another 24 inches higher I could walk under the car but at a height of 5' 10" the bottom of the car might be too low for me to comfortably work on it. The extra 6 inches you have could make the difference but you do need to account for how tall the car is with the hood open. As soon as you say I won't worry about that because I will close the hood each time I raise the car is when the potential accident is setup. You will forget sometime just as I did.
Another thing to consider with a lift is where the posts are located and whether or not you will be able to get around them when cars are in the garage and you want to walk through it. That is what kept me from going with a two or four post lift in my 22 ft wide by 22 ft long garage. With two cars in the garage there wasn't any place to walk between the two with one or two lift posts between them.
I don't think it makes a difference where the lift is made. The difference is in the quality of the company selling the lift. A good company will not sell a crappy lift no matter where the lift is made. Think of all the good products you get from China (which happens to be the source of almost everything you buy nowadays). My Eagle Mid Rise looks almost exactly the same as others on the market including the BendPak ones. I think it was made in China but there isn't any label I can see. I do know that from a quality stand point it is crude looking but well built. Quality isn't in how good something looks but in how well it functions. Think AK47 Vs M16. My lift sees a lot of use, has served me well for 8 years and has never failed me.
Bill
12-06-2011, 02:20 PM
#6
Melting Slicks
To your question about ceiling height... take a look at this thread and 2nd page I give some critical dimensions
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c6-c...age-folks.html
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c6-c...age-folks.html
Last edited by C6FirstVette; 12-13-2011 at 05:32 AM.
12-06-2011, 03:01 PM
#8
Team Owner
I have two of the standard width 4-post lifts and have no problem with driving my Z06 on them for oil changes. My ceiling height is 10'6" and I can raise the lift to it's highest point with the Z06 on top.
The width over the ramps is 77" and the drive through width is 89". With the lift in the highest position, it has 63" under the deck(72-73" from the garage floor to the bottom of the Z06 oil pan). Another 5" in rasied height would be be nice, but I'm able to get everthing done. I wouldn't want to spend 8 hours working under the car, though.
My garage is 20' wide X 24' long so I have my lifts staggered about 3 1/2' lengthwise which makes it easy to walk through the garage. Tight, but doable. I have had my two lifts for close to ten years and have not walked into a post yet.
The manufacturer of my lifts is out of business(100% American made in Kansas and couldn't compete with the Chinese made lifts). My lifts are of the same design as the BackYard Buddy that is in business.
The width over the ramps is 77" and the drive through width is 89". With the lift in the highest position, it has 63" under the deck(72-73" from the garage floor to the bottom of the Z06 oil pan). Another 5" in rasied height would be be nice, but I'm able to get everthing done. I wouldn't want to spend 8 hours working under the car, though.
My garage is 20' wide X 24' long so I have my lifts staggered about 3 1/2' lengthwise which makes it easy to walk through the garage. Tight, but doable. I have had my two lifts for close to ten years and have not walked into a post yet.
The manufacturer of my lifts is out of business(100% American made in Kansas and couldn't compete with the Chinese made lifts). My lifts are of the same design as the BackYard Buddy that is in business.
Last edited by JoesC5; 12-06-2011 at 03:09 PM.
12-06-2011, 03:24 PM
#9
Drifting
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I won't make a recommendation on a lift. I will make some comments about things you should consider.
I have a 10 ft ceiling. My mid rise scissors lift raises the car 48 inches off the floor. At full lift the top of the car is ~ 28 inches below the ceiling. You have to leave some room for light fixtures, open hood, etc so you can't go all the way to the ceiling. Not sure how much higher the top of an open hood is over the top of the car but I do know when the hood is open on my car it is right at the same height as the fluorescent light fixture hanging from the ceiling. I put a couple of nicks in the edge of my C5Z hood due to that light. Another thing you need to consider is how high the bottom of the car needs to be to comfortably work under it. If my lift went another 24 inches higher I could walk under the car but at a height of 5' 10" the bottom of the car might be too low for me to comfortably work on it. The extra 6 inches you have could make the difference but you do need to account for how tall the car is with the hood open. As soon as you say I won't worry about that because I will close the hood each time I raise the car is when the potential accident is setup. You will forget sometime just as I did.
Another thing to consider with a lift is where the posts are located and whether or not you will be able to get around them when cars are in the garage and you want to walk through it. That is what kept me from going with a two or four post lift in my 22 ft wide by 22 ft long garage. With two cars in the garage there wasn't any place to walk between the two with one or two lift posts between them.
I don't think it makes a difference where the lift is made. The difference is in the quality of the company selling the lift. A good company will not sell a crappy lift no matter where the lift is made. Think of all the good products you get from China (which happens to be the source of almost everything you buy nowadays). My Eagle Mid Rise looks almost exactly the same as others on the market including the BendPak ones. I think it was made in China but there isn't any label I can see. I do know that from a quality stand point it is crude looking but well built. Quality isn't in how good something looks but in how well it functions. Think AK47 Vs M16. My lift sees a lot of use, has served me well for 8 years and has never failed me.
Bill
I have a 10 ft ceiling. My mid rise scissors lift raises the car 48 inches off the floor. At full lift the top of the car is ~ 28 inches below the ceiling. You have to leave some room for light fixtures, open hood, etc so you can't go all the way to the ceiling. Not sure how much higher the top of an open hood is over the top of the car but I do know when the hood is open on my car it is right at the same height as the fluorescent light fixture hanging from the ceiling. I put a couple of nicks in the edge of my C5Z hood due to that light. Another thing you need to consider is how high the bottom of the car needs to be to comfortably work under it. If my lift went another 24 inches higher I could walk under the car but at a height of 5' 10" the bottom of the car might be too low for me to comfortably work on it. The extra 6 inches you have could make the difference but you do need to account for how tall the car is with the hood open. As soon as you say I won't worry about that because I will close the hood each time I raise the car is when the potential accident is setup. You will forget sometime just as I did.
Another thing to consider with a lift is where the posts are located and whether or not you will be able to get around them when cars are in the garage and you want to walk through it. That is what kept me from going with a two or four post lift in my 22 ft wide by 22 ft long garage. With two cars in the garage there wasn't any place to walk between the two with one or two lift posts between them.
I don't think it makes a difference where the lift is made. The difference is in the quality of the company selling the lift. A good company will not sell a crappy lift no matter where the lift is made. Think of all the good products you get from China (which happens to be the source of almost everything you buy nowadays). My Eagle Mid Rise looks almost exactly the same as others on the market including the BendPak ones. I think it was made in China but there isn't any label I can see. I do know that from a quality stand point it is crude looking but well built. Quality isn't in how good something looks but in how well it functions. Think AK47 Vs M16. My lift sees a lot of use, has served me well for 8 years and has never failed me.
Bill
12-06-2011, 03:51 PM
#10
Team Owner
The top of my ramps is 4.5 inches above the garage floor and the detachable approach ramps are two feet long(20 lbs steel each). My front splitter on my Z06 just clears and the soft rubber air dams barely touch. I store my 56 and my 64 on top of the lifts and park my Z06 and my DD under them. When the lifts are in the raised position, there is nothing to drive over when parking underneath.
12-06-2011, 06:41 PM
#11
Instructor
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I have a bend pak 9xw 4 post. I have my '11 grand sport on it. My ceiling height hight is 10' 4" (no light fixtures in the way). I can get my car about 2" away from the ceiling at the highest available locking point on my lift. I am 6' tall and have to duck to make it under the runways, but I can stand up with plenty of room when I am under the car. I did not buy the longer ramps, and wish I would have, because I have to back my car up the lift so my front splitter doesn't hit the front cross member of the lift. As far as my opinion of quality goes, I wasn't real impressed when I got it, but It seems to work just fine.
12-12-2011, 08:21 PM
#12
Burning Brakes
I have been looking like crazy for 4 posts as well and keep coming back to the greg smith site. I was originally looking at the pro park 9+ and the sales on the phone said that is great for a crew cab daulie. He would happily sell it to me if it is what I wanted but recommended an 8K XLT for the wide outside to outside tire measurement on my GS, same as Z06. My car measured 76" outside tire to outside tire. The lift is 86" from outside edge to outside edge on the ramp area, so a few inches to spare, not much but I don't want my tires hanging over the edge. Not sure if it helps you or not but just some info where I am at with a car that tracks the same as yours.
12-12-2011, 11:18 PM
#13
Pro
I've seen American made and was very underwelmwd. It sucked frankly and I returned it, only to have Superlifts rip me off for 2 grand
I then bought a Chinese made rotary revolution that was 10x the quality. American made doesn't always mean better when you have horrible quality control from "bubba the welder" with scrap metal.
I then bought a Chinese made rotary revolution that was 10x the quality. American made doesn't always mean better when you have horrible quality control from "bubba the welder" with scrap metal.
12-13-2011, 08:24 AM
#14
Le Mans Master
I bought a Bendpack HD-9STX a couple of years ago. It's two feet longer and has a higher lift range. Since my garage is 27' deep and has 13' ceilings I have the room for it. I'm 6'3" and can walk under it with plenty of room to spare. It was not "cheap" but is very good quality and I'm happy with it. FWIW. Good luck!
12-13-2011, 08:28 AM
#15
Melting Slicks
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Anyone put a 4 post lift in with a 9 foot ceiling? I'm only looking to stack cars not work on them so, I don't need to walk under it only drive one on..lift and drive another on.
I think it can work as the vette sits low and I'd be putting another either under or above.
I think it can work as the vette sits low and I'd be putting another either under or above.
12-13-2011, 09:02 AM
#16
Le Mans Master
I am also looking at a 4 post for storage and thinking Bend Pak
12-13-2011, 09:18 AM
#17
Racer
Anyone put a 4 post lift in with a 9 foot ceiling? I'm only looking to stack cars not work on them so, I don't need to walk under it only drive one on..lift and drive another on.
I think it can work as the vette sits low and I'd be putting another either under or above.
I think it can work as the vette sits low and I'd be putting another either under or above.
12-13-2011, 09:23 AM
#18
Melting Slicks
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I have a slight issue as it is 9 foot to a point then it drops but, I think it will still work. I'm going to lay it out at some point and get an exact picture on it.
Do you have any pics of the lift in with your cars on it?
I'm also haveng my door moved up to almost ceiling height. And putting lights on the side in the corners where wall and ceiling meet so, I can avoid issues with lift and door. At least that is what I am attempting. Electrical guys come Jan 3 to do the estimate.
Last edited by Bonefishmak; 12-13-2011 at 09:28 AM.
12-13-2011, 09:24 AM
#19
Safety Car
What are the benefits to the 4-post versus 2-post variety?
Do the 4-post variants also need to be bolted to the floor, or is it a comfort/preference issue? I can see how a 2-post lift would make me nervous if I had to remove half the drivetrain (breaking loose highly torqued bolts, changing the weight distribution, etc); but I'm also wary of the stresses on my concrete garage floor... we have a room right below the 3-car garage so I don't know if that means the garage floor is stronger, weaker, or the same?
Do the 4-post variants also need to be bolted to the floor, or is it a comfort/preference issue? I can see how a 2-post lift would make me nervous if I had to remove half the drivetrain (breaking loose highly torqued bolts, changing the weight distribution, etc); but I'm also wary of the stresses on my concrete garage floor... we have a room right below the 3-car garage so I don't know if that means the garage floor is stronger, weaker, or the same?
12-13-2011, 09:17 PM
#20
Racer
Yeah I've looked at it and looked at it and see no reason why it won't work.
I have a slight issue as it is 9 foot to a point then it drops but, I think it will still work. I'm going to lay it out at some point and get an exact picture on it.
Do you have any pics of the lift in with your cars on it?
I'm also haveng my door moved up to almost ceiling height. And putting lights on the side in the corners where wall and ceiling meet so, I can avoid issues with lift and door. At least that is what I am attempting. Electrical guys come Jan 3 to do the estimate.
I have a slight issue as it is 9 foot to a point then it drops but, I think it will still work. I'm going to lay it out at some point and get an exact picture on it.
Do you have any pics of the lift in with your cars on it?
I'm also haveng my door moved up to almost ceiling height. And putting lights on the side in the corners where wall and ceiling meet so, I can avoid issues with lift and door. At least that is what I am attempting. Electrical guys come Jan 3 to do the estimate.
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/pict...ictureid=91719
Last edited by Jermo; 12-13-2011 at 09:20 PM.