4 Post Lift
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 342
Likes: 2
From: Pennsdale Pennsylvania
4 Post Lift
I'm thinking about installing a 4 post lift and have it narrowed down to the Superlift, Bendpak or Backyard Buddy. What I'm looking for is stability, I don't want something that wobbles while working under it. Are the lifts with the inside slides as stable as the ones with the outside slides, like the Backyard Buddy. I would like to hear your input!
Bill
Bill
Melting Slicks
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 3,457
Likes: 0
From: bolckow missouri
bill
i've got direct lift 9000 lb it is great , VAROOM2 has the superlift 7000 lb and has had 0 problems with it . you can pm him or i'm sure he will respond sometime . good luck if you have more ? just pm me .
oak
i've got direct lift 9000 lb it is great , VAROOM2 has the superlift 7000 lb and has had 0 problems with it . you can pm him or i'm sure he will respond sometime . good luck if you have more ? just pm me .
oak
Race Director
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 10,554
Likes: 33
From: Not on either liberal coast.
I've had a SUPERLIFT 7000# four post in the past and currently have a BEND PACK HD9 four post lift...both professionally installed by manufacturer recommended installers. Both are very stable w/o bolt securing to the floor. I would recommend either manufacturer.
The BEND PACK has a secondary air locking system that requires an air compressor, which most shops have anyway. It's more "commercial" grade than most "hobby" storage lifts.
Always keep in mind safety and weight limitations, users knowledge and floor grade. My shops have all had 0 grade, absolutely flat. I also don't allow anyone to use my lift to avoid home insurance issues.
I don't care for the BACKYARD BUDDY personally.
The BEND PACK has a secondary air locking system that requires an air compressor, which most shops have anyway. It's more "commercial" grade than most "hobby" storage lifts.
Always keep in mind safety and weight limitations, users knowledge and floor grade. My shops have all had 0 grade, absolutely flat. I also don't allow anyone to use my lift to avoid home insurance issues.
I don't care for the BACKYARD BUDDY personally.
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 342
Likes: 2
From: Pennsdale Pennsylvania
Drifting
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 1,382
Likes: 0
From: Buckingham PA
Bill,
I purchased the lift last August at Carlisle from Danny at Kwiklift...see here:
http://www.kwiklift.com/FourPostLift/index.htm
Here's the Rotary Revolution site:
http://www.revolutionlifts.com/
The lift meets a number of independent safety standards....see here:
http://www.revolutionlifts.com/liftStandards.asp
If you have any other questions...just let me know.
Tom
I purchased the lift last August at Carlisle from Danny at Kwiklift...see here:
http://www.kwiklift.com/FourPostLift/index.htm
Here's the Rotary Revolution site:
http://www.revolutionlifts.com/
The lift meets a number of independent safety standards....see here:
http://www.revolutionlifts.com/liftStandards.asp
If you have any other questions...just let me know.
Tom
Burning Brakes
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 900
Likes: 38
From: Waunakee Wisconsin
St. Jude Donor '20
I'm thinking about installing a 4 post lift and have it narrowed down to the Superlift, Bendpak or Backyard Buddy. What I'm looking for is stability, I don't want something that wobbles while working under it. Are the lifts with the inside slides as stable as the ones with the outside slides, like the Backyard Buddy. I would like to hear your input!
Bill
Bill
Drifting
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 1,360
Likes: 1
From: West Grove Pa
I have a Superior Superlift SR7-H. Been very happy with it. The vendor was across from KSCC's spots at Carlisle. I would just be carefull of any product made in China and sold at the lower price. The quality of steel just isn't up to par with the US made. Don't know where you live in Pa. but I'm in West Grove and if it's close your welcome to check out mine.
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Team Owner
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 23,283
Likes: 906
From: Lake Elsinore, CA
First, here are a couple of threads I posted on my Bend Pak HD-9 installation.
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/show....php?t=1468748
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/show....php?t=1470876
I will only speak to the two types / brands of 4-post lift I am most familiar with - the AutoLifters which a friend of mine owned (AL now out of business but being produced by former AL employees - same design as the BYB) and the Bend Pak HD-9 I currently own. I spent many a weekend under the AutoLifters (7K lb. cap.) over a few years and have owned my HD-9 (9K lb. cap.) for less than a year.
The AL uses the fully boxed post section with collar-style crossbeam ends while the BP has a C-channel post design with internal runners that slide on ladder locks suspended from the top caps.
There seems to be a perception that the C-channels can spread under load, but that's not how these lifts work. There is virtually no side load on the posts and certainly nothing to splay the channels apart during raising or lowering. Basically, they are cable and pulley systems with crossbeam and column supports to manage the transmitted loads. What's important is that the members remain stationary (rigid) and no one corner binds - or lets loose - during the lifting or lowering process, destabilizing the equilibrium enough to allow one of the posts to tip too far.
The posts can actually tilt in/out a certain amount without destabilizing the lift and toppling it. I've seen this happen twice in person - once on the AL lift when one of the manual lever-actuated locks didn't engage while lowering and the other the first time I actuated my BP and one of the cables was still too loose. Both times, the tilt in the post was completely recoverable because the lift was not allowed to travel beyond one lock level. Remember that the entire mechanism is tied together with a tensioned cable system and tends to want to stay tied together rather than spread out.
I have noticed that neither design has more tendency for the corner attachments to decouple from the post or allow post tilt. Both designs are quite secure. What I have noted are the differences in lock designs which is the reason I went with my BP. The BP has a double lock system - the first is a pneumatically-actuated, "normally-closed" set of ladder locks. These are the primaries and the only way for these to allow the lift to lower is to keep one's hand on the release button and hydraulic release continuously and simultaneously until the lowest lock is passed.
The secondary, "slack-cable" set of locks are purely for safety. Should a cable break or go slack for any reason, that corner lock will release and automatically lock into the next detent, not allowing that corner to drop uncontrolled. This was the failure suffered recently by an AL lift with pictures posted here.
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/show...ht=autolifters
I'll qualify that link by saying that could have been prevented with proper maintenance and replacement of a faulty pulley setup that the manufacturer warned of. But it does illustrate that, ultimately, it's up to the owner/operator to safely install, maintain and operate his lift.
Also, high quality components and construction are vital when weighing the issues of cost and safety. My Bend Pak is made in America with solid engineering backed by decades of commercial lift design and construction, high-strength, high-quality components and great workmanship, including beautiful welds. The cost was comparable to it's competitors too.
I spent a lot of time researching lifts before ordering mine and I still believe I'd make the same choice today that I did when I chose the BP. Others have their own thoughts and opinions - and requirements. My decision was between the All American, the Revolution (Rotary), the Backyard Buddy and Bend Pak. Cost was not the primary factor, safety was. Check all the certification and testing that a manufacturer does on it's lifts - that alone is a very educational process.
Whatever your choice is, have a healthy respect for the potentially dangerous piece of heavy equipment that a lift is. Safety should be foremost on your mind always when working around a lift. That behavior alone should keep it a safe and fun piece of equipment to own.
As always, this is JMHO.
My buddy's AutoLifters. Note the collar-style beam ends.
The channel and ladder setup on my HD-9. You can see the air-cylinder-enabled main lock and the spring/lever pulley secondary safety.
The vette represents just a little over a third of it's rated weight capacity.
My dd parked under it.
Good luck with your decision and be safe!
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/show....php?t=1468748
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/show....php?t=1470876
I will only speak to the two types / brands of 4-post lift I am most familiar with - the AutoLifters which a friend of mine owned (AL now out of business but being produced by former AL employees - same design as the BYB) and the Bend Pak HD-9 I currently own. I spent many a weekend under the AutoLifters (7K lb. cap.) over a few years and have owned my HD-9 (9K lb. cap.) for less than a year.
The AL uses the fully boxed post section with collar-style crossbeam ends while the BP has a C-channel post design with internal runners that slide on ladder locks suspended from the top caps.
There seems to be a perception that the C-channels can spread under load, but that's not how these lifts work. There is virtually no side load on the posts and certainly nothing to splay the channels apart during raising or lowering. Basically, they are cable and pulley systems with crossbeam and column supports to manage the transmitted loads. What's important is that the members remain stationary (rigid) and no one corner binds - or lets loose - during the lifting or lowering process, destabilizing the equilibrium enough to allow one of the posts to tip too far.
The posts can actually tilt in/out a certain amount without destabilizing the lift and toppling it. I've seen this happen twice in person - once on the AL lift when one of the manual lever-actuated locks didn't engage while lowering and the other the first time I actuated my BP and one of the cables was still too loose. Both times, the tilt in the post was completely recoverable because the lift was not allowed to travel beyond one lock level. Remember that the entire mechanism is tied together with a tensioned cable system and tends to want to stay tied together rather than spread out.
I have noticed that neither design has more tendency for the corner attachments to decouple from the post or allow post tilt. Both designs are quite secure. What I have noted are the differences in lock designs which is the reason I went with my BP. The BP has a double lock system - the first is a pneumatically-actuated, "normally-closed" set of ladder locks. These are the primaries and the only way for these to allow the lift to lower is to keep one's hand on the release button and hydraulic release continuously and simultaneously until the lowest lock is passed.
The secondary, "slack-cable" set of locks are purely for safety. Should a cable break or go slack for any reason, that corner lock will release and automatically lock into the next detent, not allowing that corner to drop uncontrolled. This was the failure suffered recently by an AL lift with pictures posted here.
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/show...ht=autolifters
I'll qualify that link by saying that could have been prevented with proper maintenance and replacement of a faulty pulley setup that the manufacturer warned of. But it does illustrate that, ultimately, it's up to the owner/operator to safely install, maintain and operate his lift.
Also, high quality components and construction are vital when weighing the issues of cost and safety. My Bend Pak is made in America with solid engineering backed by decades of commercial lift design and construction, high-strength, high-quality components and great workmanship, including beautiful welds. The cost was comparable to it's competitors too.
I spent a lot of time researching lifts before ordering mine and I still believe I'd make the same choice today that I did when I chose the BP. Others have their own thoughts and opinions - and requirements. My decision was between the All American, the Revolution (Rotary), the Backyard Buddy and Bend Pak. Cost was not the primary factor, safety was. Check all the certification and testing that a manufacturer does on it's lifts - that alone is a very educational process.
Whatever your choice is, have a healthy respect for the potentially dangerous piece of heavy equipment that a lift is. Safety should be foremost on your mind always when working around a lift. That behavior alone should keep it a safe and fun piece of equipment to own.
As always, this is JMHO.
My buddy's AutoLifters. Note the collar-style beam ends.
The channel and ladder setup on my HD-9. You can see the air-cylinder-enabled main lock and the spring/lever pulley secondary safety.
The vette represents just a little over a third of it's rated weight capacity.
My dd parked under it.
Good luck with your decision and be safe!
Last edited by Patches; Feb 25, 2007 at 01:13 PM.
Drifting
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 1,382
Likes: 0
From: Buckingham PA
Tom
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 342
Likes: 2
From: Pennsdale Pennsylvania
First, here are a couple of threads I posted on my Bend Pak HD-9 installation.
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/show....php?t=1468748
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/show....php?t=1470876
I will only speak to the two types / brands of 4-post lift I am most familiar with - the AutoLifters which a friend of mine owned (AL now out of business but being produced by former AL employees - same design as the BYB) and the Bend Pak HD-9 I currently own. I spent many a weekend under the AutoLifters (7K lb. cap.) over a few years and have owned my HD-9 (9K lb. cap.) for less than a year.
The AL uses the fully boxed post section with collar-style crossbeam ends while the BP has a C-channel post design with internal runners that slide on ladder locks suspended from the top caps.
There seems to be a perception that the C-channels can spread under load, but that's not how these lifts work. There is virtually no side load on the posts and certainly nothing to splay the channels apart during raising or lowering. Basically, they are cable and pulley systems with crossbeam and column supports to manage the transmitted loads. What's important is that the members remain stationary (rigid) and no one corner binds - or lets loose - during the lifting or lowering process, destabilizing the equilibrium enough to allow one of the posts to tip too far.
The posts can actually tilt in/out a certain amount without destabilizing the lift and toppling it. I've seen this happen twice in person - once on the AL lift when one of the manual lever-actuated locks didn't engage while lowering and the other the first time I actuated my BP and one of the cables was still too loose. Both times, the tilt in the post was completely recoverable because the lift was not allowed to travel beyond one lock level. Remember that the entire mechanism is tied together with a tensioned cable system and tends to want to stay tied together rather than spread out.
I have noticed that neither design has more tendency for the corner attachments to decouple from the post or allow post tilt. Both designs are quite secure. What I have noted are the differences in lock designs which is the reason I went with my BP. The BP has a double lock system - the first is a pneumatically-actuated, "normally-closed" set of ladder locks. These are the primaries and the only way for these to allow the lift to lower is to keep one's hand on the release button and hydraulic release continuously and simultaneously until the lowest lock is passed.
The secondary, "slack-cable" set of locks are purely for safety. Should a cable break or go slack for any reason, that corner lock will release and automatically lock into the next detent, not allowing that corner to drop uncontrolled. This was the failure suffered recently by an AL lift with pictures posted here.
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/show...ht=autolifters
I'll qualify that link by saying that could have been prevented with proper maintenance and replacement of a faulty pulley setup that the manufacturer warned of. But it does illustrate that, ultimately, it's up to the owner/operator to safely install, maintain and operate his lift.
Also, high quality components and construction are vital when weighing the issues of cost and safety. My Bend Pak is made in America with solid engineering backed by decades of commercial lift design and construction, high-strength, high-quality components and great workmanship, including beautiful welds. The cost was comparable to it's competitors too.
I spent a lot of time researching lifts before ordering mine and I still believe I'd make the same choice today that I did when I chose the BP. Others have their own thoughts and opinions - and requirements. My decision was between the All American, the Revolution (Rotary), the Backyard Buddy and Bend Pak. Cost was not the primary factor, safety was. Check all the certification and testing that a manufacturer does on it's lifts - that alone is a very educational process.
Whatever your choice is, have a healthy respect for the potentially dangerous piece of heavy equipment that a lift is. Safety should be foremost on your mind always when working around a lift. That behavior alone should keep it a safe and fun piece of equipment to own.
As always, this is JMHO.
My buddy's AutoLifters. Note the collar-style beam ends.
The channel and ladder setup on my HD-9. You can see the air-cylinder-enabled main lock and the spring/lever pulley secondary safety.
The vette represents just a little over a third of it's rated weight capacity.
My dd parked under it.
Good luck with your decision and be safe!
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/show....php?t=1468748
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/show....php?t=1470876
I will only speak to the two types / brands of 4-post lift I am most familiar with - the AutoLifters which a friend of mine owned (AL now out of business but being produced by former AL employees - same design as the BYB) and the Bend Pak HD-9 I currently own. I spent many a weekend under the AutoLifters (7K lb. cap.) over a few years and have owned my HD-9 (9K lb. cap.) for less than a year.
The AL uses the fully boxed post section with collar-style crossbeam ends while the BP has a C-channel post design with internal runners that slide on ladder locks suspended from the top caps.
There seems to be a perception that the C-channels can spread under load, but that's not how these lifts work. There is virtually no side load on the posts and certainly nothing to splay the channels apart during raising or lowering. Basically, they are cable and pulley systems with crossbeam and column supports to manage the transmitted loads. What's important is that the members remain stationary (rigid) and no one corner binds - or lets loose - during the lifting or lowering process, destabilizing the equilibrium enough to allow one of the posts to tip too far.
The posts can actually tilt in/out a certain amount without destabilizing the lift and toppling it. I've seen this happen twice in person - once on the AL lift when one of the manual lever-actuated locks didn't engage while lowering and the other the first time I actuated my BP and one of the cables was still too loose. Both times, the tilt in the post was completely recoverable because the lift was not allowed to travel beyond one lock level. Remember that the entire mechanism is tied together with a tensioned cable system and tends to want to stay tied together rather than spread out.
I have noticed that neither design has more tendency for the corner attachments to decouple from the post or allow post tilt. Both designs are quite secure. What I have noted are the differences in lock designs which is the reason I went with my BP. The BP has a double lock system - the first is a pneumatically-actuated, "normally-closed" set of ladder locks. These are the primaries and the only way for these to allow the lift to lower is to keep one's hand on the release button and hydraulic release continuously and simultaneously until the lowest lock is passed.
The secondary, "slack-cable" set of locks are purely for safety. Should a cable break or go slack for any reason, that corner lock will release and automatically lock into the next detent, not allowing that corner to drop uncontrolled. This was the failure suffered recently by an AL lift with pictures posted here.
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/show...ht=autolifters
I'll qualify that link by saying that could have been prevented with proper maintenance and replacement of a faulty pulley setup that the manufacturer warned of. But it does illustrate that, ultimately, it's up to the owner/operator to safely install, maintain and operate his lift.
Also, high quality components and construction are vital when weighing the issues of cost and safety. My Bend Pak is made in America with solid engineering backed by decades of commercial lift design and construction, high-strength, high-quality components and great workmanship, including beautiful welds. The cost was comparable to it's competitors too.
I spent a lot of time researching lifts before ordering mine and I still believe I'd make the same choice today that I did when I chose the BP. Others have their own thoughts and opinions - and requirements. My decision was between the All American, the Revolution (Rotary), the Backyard Buddy and Bend Pak. Cost was not the primary factor, safety was. Check all the certification and testing that a manufacturer does on it's lifts - that alone is a very educational process.
Whatever your choice is, have a healthy respect for the potentially dangerous piece of heavy equipment that a lift is. Safety should be foremost on your mind always when working around a lift. That behavior alone should keep it a safe and fun piece of equipment to own.
As always, this is JMHO.
My buddy's AutoLifters. Note the collar-style beam ends.
The channel and ladder setup on my HD-9. You can see the air-cylinder-enabled main lock and the spring/lever pulley secondary safety.
The vette represents just a little over a third of it's rated weight capacity.
My dd parked under it.
Good luck with your decision and be safe!
Team Owner
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 23,283
Likes: 906
From: Lake Elsinore, CA
Door is 8 feet high with a 10-foot ceiling. Obviously, I can't park a pickup or taller vehicle under the vette but I still have a good 8" more to work with if I need it.
Here's a shot of the clearance I still have. The door opener is between cars so not an issue. The ceiling is the limiting height - parking the vette backed-in gives excellent clearance with the door raised.
Here's a shot of the clearance I still have. The door opener is between cars so not an issue. The ceiling is the limiting height - parking the vette backed-in gives excellent clearance with the door raised.
Team Owner
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 23,283
Likes: 906
From: Lake Elsinore, CA
I am planning on bolting the lift pads down this spring when it warms up. I didn't bolt it down immediately because I wanted to make sure I was happy with the initial placement. I am thinking of moving it in 4-6" and bolting it in there for a bit more clearance with the drive-on ramps when they are attached. They fit now but it's close.
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 342
Likes: 2
From: Pennsdale Pennsylvania
Team Owner
Joined: Mar 2004
Posts: 30,055
Likes: 351
From: Big Red Ne
I'm thinking about installing a 4 post lift and have it narrowed down to the Superlift, Bendpak or Backyard Buddy. What I'm looking for is stability, I don't want something that wobbles while working under it. Are the lifts with the inside slides as stable as the ones with the outside slides, like the Backyard Buddy. I would like to hear your input!
Bill
Bill
