If you were going to get a lift for storage, is a 4 post lift the best? It seems like it would be but then does that limit the ability to work on the wheels/tires/brakes, etc? Are 2 post lifts more popular?

Thanx

 

Just went thru months of asking questions and decided on the four post. When it comes to the wheels, brakes etc.there are many options which will make you happy. The four post turns a two bay garage into a three bay.
If your going to pull the plug, don't go cheap. Highly recommend BendPac. In any case good,luck,and enjoy!

 

In my opinion seeing your main concern is storage I would go a 4 post, I feel it is much more stable for storing a car and you can still work on the wheels and such with it.

 

I own both a two post and a four post lift. My four post is just for storage as the two post is much, much better for working on the car. Just as the four post is for storage much, much better.

If your use is "Mostly" going to be storage and once in a while for working on the car, you will be best served by the four post lift.

RS

 

I agree with the others, a 4-post lift is best for car storage and a 2-post lift is best for doing work on your car. However, do keep in mind that you will need to ensure that your garage floor meets structural requirements for a 2-post lift. Something to keep in mind.

PS: I still get a chuckle from Mr. Bill's avatar.......lol.

 

I agree with the above but I will say that 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.

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

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










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


Current project underway

 

+ 1 on bendpack, and +1 four post.
Turned my 4 car garage into a 5 car.

Also, keep in mind that you can always get a rolling jack --- it's a pneumatic jack that can slide down the center, and, if you get two of them, can completely (and safely) lift the car off the lift for wheel work. Pricey, though well worth it if you want to work on your car.

 

what is the ceiling height in your garage ?

Thanks

 

What do you guys do about the door opener? Seems to be it would be right where you want the car to be.

 

You can purchase a garage door lift that sits on the side so you only have the two door guides, nothing in the center. No more expensive and soooooo quiet.

 

My ceiling height is about 10 feet at the front by the garage door ,then goes up with the roofline from there, so plenty of clearance.

For the garage door is one that rolls up at the top of the opening with a motor on the side the best?

 

I never thought a four post can make a difference what's the price for one of these lifts

Thanks for Sharing

 

What you need to do is have your door high lifted. They will extend the garage door rails so that the door will go all the way to and along the ceiling when open. You then use a Liftmaster 3800 garage door opener which mounts to the side.

I have a Direct Lift 4 post. I've had it for over 4 years had it had performed flawlessly in that time.

 

search: quickjack.com

 

I currently have a 7-foot-high door. The last one was 8-foot, 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.

 

Great thread, and timely. We'll be moving back to upstate NY next summer and plan to build a new house. Does anyone have specs -on the floor as far as depth of the concrete? Recommended ceiling height? Width/depth?

a few dumb questions: can one park a SUV underneath with the Vette on top? Can you lift them that high? And secondly, how feasible is it to turn a two-car into a four-car? During the winter I could have a '49 Dodge on the top of one and my C6 on the other. Underneath, my winter "beater" and the wife's SUV.

I appreciate all comments...if I'm going to build it, I want to build it right the first time.
Thx
Mike

 

Look at the Bend Pak website. They offer 4-post lifts that are for two cars, so you can have two above and two below.

I did some preliminary measuring. My ceiling height is 10' 2" at the doors and 10' at the back wall. Unfortunately, I'd be trying to stack my Corvette over (or below) a Lexus RX350. My 'vette is in storage out of state so I can't measure its height, but doing a little research I found a diagram of a C5 showing 47.5" of height. I doubt that was for a convertible, which may be a little different one way or the other. Can someone tell me the height of the 'vert?

The Lexus is a tad under 68" in height. Adding the two together, I get 115.5", or a mere 6.5" less than the full height of the garage at the door and 4.5" at the rear. The Bend Pak website indicates (if I read it correctly) that the lift operates in 4" increments. It appears that I'd have to be lucky or good to get the lift to the precise height each time to avoid having a car hit the ceiling. Is there a way to program these lifts to get to the exact height that you want each time? What is the thickness of the platform on which the elevated car sits? How much room do I need between the roof of the lower car and the bottom of the wheels of the elevated car?

Maybe I need to trade in the Lexus for something lower. That's a large cost, since I just bought the Lexus. Any suggestions?

 

Wow! This is a question for rich guys. Luckily we live in a part of the country that we don't have to worry about this. If we did have to worry about winter storage we wouldn't be able to have our Vette as it is a DD.

 

It is also about being able to store more cars in your garage that you would be able to otherwise. A 4 post lift is not that expensive.

 

I guess it depends on what you define as "rich". I'm a working stiff just like most others here. I consider this my primary hobby and psychological therapy so I think a bit of investment to make it easier, safer and more enjoyable is a no-brainer.

A four-post lift can cost new roughly anywhere from $1500-$5000, depending on brand/features. Mine fell right in the middle with several options and custom paint color. (BendPaks were always blue and you had to special order a different color back then. Didn't match my color scheme, thus the black paint.)

With what many of us here spend on mods and for caring for these cars - I consider this a fairly minor expenditure compared with the overall I spend on my "hobby". It keeps me busy and out of trouble and is a huge, much-needed distraction from an otherwise stressful job so I think it's well worth it. Not only do I get a fourth parking spot, I also get a lift to make mods and maintenance much easier.

I've had this lift several years and, after realizing the benefits all this time, I will always have one as long as I am able.

Oh, and I live in SoCal now but originally bought this lift in Indiana to be able to park my dd Mustang GT in the garage in winter so I didn't have to scrape the snow and ice off my car early on cold, winter morning before sliding off to work. The other benefits were just icing on the cake.

Rich guy? Enthusiast?

Our Indiana garage