Flanman801

I have been looking on the forum at different lifts (2 post lifts and 4 post lifts) and wondering if I could put one in my standard two car garage. I have a 12 foot ceiling in my garage, not looking to stack cars, just a lift to work on my 2015 Z06 and wondering if a 2 post or 4 post lift would allow me to also park a car next to it. What is the measurement in the width once you have it installed? Also looking at some of the portable lifts that are out there. Any advice or feedback would be appreciated.

intensifi

fpfaeth

Have had a 4-post lift for many years now. Great for car storage, changing oil, lifting the car to a desirable height when detailing, and anything else underneath. However, for brake work and anything with the wheels/suspension, you will need some way to raise the wheel off the deck. Folks I know use this device: http://www.directlift.com/Pro-Jack-3500-P45C18.aspx. Turns your 4-poster into a more useful garage appliance. In my case, I also had to install a high-lift door. As for measurements, all the manufacturers can provide the info you need.

Konnor1212

with a 12 foot ceiling you definitely have a lot of choices, I have an eagle 2 posts lift in my garage with a 9 foot ceiling. You should check out on the eagle lift very reasonable price delivered to your house

capevettes

My ceiling height is only 11 feet and I'm fine stacking cars and working under a 4 post. You will have no problems with height. As far as width, the 4 post really doesn't extend too much wider than the car itself.

I really prefer the 4 post. Much easier to get a car up in the air without crawling around on the ground to position the telescoping arms of a 2 post. With a sliding jack tray, you can do wheel work with a 4 post. Great ofr stacking cars as well.

JanosNFS

Nice garages

ZR1Bob

When I did my search I researched dimensions of a lot of four post lifts. All the websites list dimensions. I wanted to get the lift with the widest space underneath and the least width on the outside.The key for you (as it was for me) is the size of your garage floor and the width of your door(s). I am fortunate to have a 21' x 21' garage with an 18' wide double door instead of the usual 16' door. As a result, my Direct Lift Pro Park 8S fits to the left of the garage centerline, allowing plenty of room for my wife's car and shelving and for me to get around the lift on m side (I ordered a special bracket that locates the pump and tank along the length of the lift rather than sticking out to the side). I also located the lift close to the door to allow for a refrigerator, tool chest, shelving etc at the front. although this means ramps need to be outside. I have a lower ceiling (10') and I had to raise the garage door tracks to within about 6" of he ceiling. I knew I wanted a four post lift (I don't do much work on the car myself anymore--old guy). Plenty of pics and commentary in my albums section but here are a couple. Good luck on your search efforts.--Bob



Garage has an 18' wide door--really helpful because lift is actually iside the garage centerline and still has 22" on the side.

Borntorun04/17

Is there a difference in concrete garage floor depth requirements between 4 post or 2 post ? This could be a good solution for my winter storage . What is the height of a C7 on lift . C7 I think is around 49 inches high and is track and frame of lift plus 5 inches. Trying to see if a 4 post would work for me. Ceiling height is 10'6 and want to store Serria pick up 76 inches under Corvette during winter. 76 + 49 + 5 = 130 divided by 12 =10'8 . Might have to raise ceiling a foot or at least where roof area of Corvette meets ceiling. What are your thought on my solution. Thanks Dave

Bill Dearborn

There are differences in floor depth requirements depending on the type of lift and on which one of those types you choose. The problem with most garages in newer houses is they aren't wide enough to install a two or four post lift. I have a Max Jax lift that I use. The lift has to be installed so the columns are at least 8 inches from a floor edge. That happened to be OK for me since I planned on having 3 ft of room between the garage wall and the car when I was working on the car. However, to work on the Corvette which has a perimeter frame the lift columns have to be separated by 130 inches. That means the other column takes up about two feet of the space I need to park another car in the garage. Even if I had that two feet I still wouldn't be able to walk between the two cars with the lift in place. At least with the MaxJax the lift is somewhat easily movable. The width of the garage is the main reason I don't have a 4 post lift. Even with one set of posts right out at the garage wall (not leaving any room to work on that side of the car) the other set of posts would be right where we need to walk through the garage and more than likely would make it near impossible to park two cars in the garage at the same time.

If you want something to lift the car so you can do maintenance on it then the best thing is to purchase a lift that sits under the car when it isn't being used. A mid rise scissors lift can do that but they can put a lot of stress on your concrete floor. They support all the weight on one long cylinder in the front and two 3 inch diameter, 2 inch wide wheels in the rear. If you think about the pounds per square inch being applied where those 3 contact points touch the concrete it needs to be strong. In my last house which was 30 years old when I added a scissors lift the two rear wheels left very shallow but visible grooves in the concrete where they rolled back and forth for about 10 years.

However, there are scissors type lifts that don't involve rolling wheels touching the concrete. They are more expensive but may provide what you are looking for.

Here is one that requires some garage modification: https://www.gregsmithequipment.com/FM9SL-In-Ground-Lift?
gclid=Cj0KCQjwr4beBRDNARIsAGZaZ5cgEcC9u4 uIqzEXxlc6s3WpfRFou2xeBGRcW1tX8FAPnjuRDJ A-xlcaAq2UEALw_wcB

Here is one that may work on your current garage floor: https://www.gregsmithequipment.com/A...0aAiPoEALw_wcB

These are examples of what I am talking about. There are others available with different prices and ones that only rise 4 ft (mid rise) but they can make it easier to get a lift in a narrower garage (18 to 20 ft wide). You are not limited to a 2 post or 4 post solution.

Since I do my own wheel alignments I would really like to have this lift which includes a wheels free lift on top of the ramps. However, since I only do alignments twice per year it is an over kill.
https://www.performancetoolcenter.co...els-free-jack/

Bill

capevettes

Dave, my ceiling height is 11 feet and I can't fit my GMC Sierra under it. Cars are fine, but no way with the truck.
My understanding is a minimum 5 inch thick concrete floor is required for a 2 post as it must be bolted in. 4 post can be left free standing, as mine is.

Borntorun04/17

Bill Dearborn, Thanks for response you bring up a good point with space with garage wall and parking other vehicle on other side of garage . Scissor jack won't work for me as I mainly want lift for winter storage but would get one with removable drip pans so I could do some maintenance if I chose too. Just measured garage floor is 19 .6 wide and garage door is 16 foot wide. I will have to go on lift web sites and get more info. I am/was trying to talk wife into agreeing to add on to garage on lets just say it's not going to well. (LOL) Lift could be a good solution.

Borntorun04/17

'Thanks for info. Just thinking sense reading thread today. Would a 4 post be better for winter storage over a 2 post . Thinking 2 post wheels and suspension won't have any support during 5 month storage. I have nothing above garage ceiling so I could raise ceiling to get enough space. Just looked in attic and the side of garage where Corvete is parked ceiling goes up on a angle and could raise it be raised 2 or 3 feet. Will check the lift web sites to see if they make a 4 post lift with enough clearance under to fit a Serria PU. Thanks Again, Dave

M M Alexander

My ceiling is 10’ 9” ... 8” concrete slab ...2 post Atlas lift with no issues over 3 years now. I also have no issues with putting full Trucke/SUVs on it and working under them (I use roller seats).

Redc8z06

My ceiling height is only like 10 feet if that and I can get 1 car under as long as it's not a SUV. Be careful and check where the lift is made I wouldn't buy a Chinese made one.

Redc8z06

Unreal

2 post or a quick jack work great for home use. When I was shopping for a house in Gilbert, I didnt see a single one with a garage large enough to have a full size lift. I had one at my last house. The other thing you need to be careful about is the slab thickness and post tension cables if you have a post tension slab which most houses here have. I have a max jax and a quick jack. Both work good depending on what I'm doing. Your more than welcome to come over and check them out.

dmaxx3500

go 4 post

Shinobi'sZ

I have a two post asymmetrical Rotary lift. The lift post had extensions (it is 15' lift) that I simply unbolted from the top so that I could install in my garage that has 12' ceilings. I cut holes into the sheet rock for the pistons to travel, had to go into the attic to make sure it wasn't under the trusses prior to installing. I also placed the safety stop bar back on top of the lift post by making some brackets out of 1/4 steel plates, then bolted them in place on top like the extensions had. I gained an extra foot of clearance by relocating the garage door opener off to the side as seen in the pic. This garage door gets daily use, and for 10 years it has worked just fine in case anybody is wondering about whether or not relocating the garage door opener/motor was an issue. Four post do not work well for working on cars like engine or suspension removal. They are good for storage and as a service rack for oil changes and that is about it.

Not sure why my pic attachments are not uploading. PM me for pics until I figure it out they are jpg too.

Warp Factor

If a two-post is used for storage, and the car underneath is used frequently, there can be difficulties getting in and out if the two posts don't allow the doors to open very far.

ZR1Bob

Whichever lift you go with, you should check certain dimensions carefully. For example, my Direct Lift Pro Park 8S has safety stops every 6 inches and when you get your top car to its storage position (sitting on the safety catches) you still need a couple of inches of clearance in addition because you need to be able to raise the lift a couple of inches to get it off the safety stops to lower it. Another thing is that garage floors usually slope about 2% from the front of the garage to the garage door. My ceiling is about 9'9" near the house and about 10'-1" near the door. You are trying to get a fairly tall vehicle in below the Corvette so you need to make sure the lift itself will provide room underneath for it when the car above is on one of the safety stops. I have a four foot tall car (C7 and C4 before it) and a five foot tall car (BMW 5 Series sedan). That's 9 feet of cars plus clearance depending on where the safety stops are, a couple inches of clearance on top to raise the car slightly to get it off the stops, plus height of lift ramp components. So for me, about 10 feet of ceiling height works to allow a few inches of clearance from the (raised tracks) garage door. Since I position my lift close to the garage door, my biggest problem was top car clearance to the garage door when it is open. I removed part of the highest door cross brace and replaced it with an "L" channel steel piece, plus I raised the door tracks to within about 6" of the celiing but still put a piece of thick rubber on the door edge just in case I overshoot a bit. I am sure you have already done research, but FYI here is one vendor's description of my lift including all the dimensions to give you an idea of things you need to know: https://www.derekweaver.com/rodders-...post-car-lift/. This is not a vendor I used but it is informative. THe picture below shows how close mine is to the ceiling but it works ok with a couple inches to spare. Lastly, I also considered raising part of my garage ceiling if I needed the clearance room. My architect son reminded me that to do so with my truss construction garage roof I should consult an engineer on how to do it, as doing it incorrectly could weaken the roof structure. Good luck on your search. --Bob