The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The Tool Chest 2 post lift

iv done it i have a big shop i used for wood woking moving all that out for the love of the trucks now i want to get a 2 post lift anybody know ware to get a deal near seattle i wanted to get a 4 post but everyone says the 2 posts are so much better im a little worryied about it falling over but i have a good solid 6 inch floor it sure is nice to get back into wrenchen on the old stuff i alwayes loved these old chevy trucks

go no the net and make your choise,,,with a 6in floor you will be fine...doc

We have a 4 post in the hangar where we keep a couple of cars. If I were to have my own I would still prefer a 4 post. Maybe its me. The local gas station has a pair of 2 post lifts and they are nice, but much more robust than our 4.

It all depends on how you use them.A two post is nice for working on vehicles,whereas for storage the four post is OK.Just make sure you buy a good one,stay away from the cheapies.Pretty sure Back Yard Buddy makes some good ones.

Rotary or Challenger....
I own a Challenger 10,000 lb 2 post hoist and LOV it!

My personal preference would be a 4 post with a jack bridge, the best of both worlds. There are times you'll want weight on the wheels AND the vehicle up where you're not rolling around on the floor working on it. If you need the wheels hanging free use the jack bridge. My 2¢.

2 post in ground.

the guy at the muffler shop told me get a 2 post he said the 4 post what ever your doing theres always something in the way even if you can jack a tire up he wishes his was a 2 post he has used both types for years

It doesn’t take an engineer to see that from a structural stand point the four poster is a much more stable base for a multi ton load 20ft long and 6ft wide. The thing that always bothered me about the two-post lift was the base. I haven’t gotten to the stage where I’ve really looked into the mounting of the two-posters but from the questions I have asked it appears that the base is just mounted to the concrete floor with anchors. Loading a standard four-inch concrete floor with that much weight concentrated in such a small area seems risky at first glance. The leverage that the cantilevered load can impose on the anchors looks like it would tear the anchors right out of the floor if one got hold of the bumper and started rockin’ it a bit.

Now if you were to bust up the floor and pour a footing a few feet deep and a few feet square with threaded rods imbedded in the footing then I might feel safe with that.

I first noticed the two-post adjustable arm floor mounted lift roughly a couple of decades ago when they began to populate the commercial garages and the stables of the leisure class do-it yourselfer. I believe the four-post lift predated them by a few years and was popular with the working class do-it-yourselfer cuz they were relatively inexpensive to manufacture.

The hydraulic adjustable arm type of lift was making the scene around the time I first started driving, i.e., mid to late 50’s. Pryor to that almost all of the lifts that I remember seeing were the twin rail hydraulic lifts which were buried deep in the ground. Can’t forget the grand daddy of them all, the grease pit.
So has any one ever heard of an instance of the two post lift pulling the anchors out of the floor???
Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

Nope, we have had them mounted in our fleet shops for many years. We have facilities old enough to have pits, in ground two posts, in ground three posts, above ground two posts and above ground permanent truck lifts. The last problem we had was some welds fail on a saddle of a below ground three post that dropped a boom truck from about 6 foot. Scary! Most important is regular maintainence of these lifts.

I use a 2 post in ground at work, that would be the preferred choice. When I'm working on a long vehicle, I'll put a jack at the back to help stabilize it and to keep it from moving around. My home shop has 7 inches of 1/2 rebar reinforced concrete in it and I still haven't got up the nerve to install an above ground hoist yet. Part of the problem is floor space. Most of my trucks are too big to be lifted so having a hoist taking up shop space would be a real nuisance. I may put one over in my parking side so I can double up the parking space and do mild weather light duty work on. We'll see,
Scott

I assume your talkin' hydraulic when you say in ground Scott. You sure have enough height for a nice lift in the shop and your floor would support a 747. My concerns are with the way they are mounted to the floor. Like I said, I've never heard of any one having a problem with one pulling out of the floor. I must be missing something, I probably need to go out and look at a few to get a better handle on how they are installed.
Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

As long as you use the lift right and follow all the safety procedures, you will have nothing to worry about.

one guy told me when pulling a tranny or something they move a little i was thinking of running chains up to the trusses i have a 6 inch floor 8 in some spots so has anyone heard of one falling at gas stations it always made me nerves walking under cars a screw jack at the ends i think will be a must if i go with 2 post i sure am torn please lets here some more lift stories

I worked as a mechanic for twenty years and never had a problem with a car or truck on a lift. If need be, put some jack stands under each end. If you work smart, you will not have any problems. If you working like an animal and shaking the hell out of what your working on, then your asking for trouble.

another guy was telling me if your doing front wheel drive 2 post is the way to go i see these nice shops that have a 2 and a 4 post then i see one that looks like a big floor jack i guess it would be a one post portable on wheels with two long forks it would work good for me but its twice the money

Ya got a good point there guy, in fact for me the best one yet. That would present sort of a problem with a four post lift. I sold my real nice Dodge Caravan a while, which I liked a bunch, when it dropped a rod bearing on the way home from work one night. I couldn't pull the engine out from the top and refused to pay a shop to do it so I just sold it as is. The guy that bought it was a Ford mechanic and had it back up and running a few days later, he had a two poster in his shop.
Well me mind is made up, as soon as I can clear the airplanes and a hundred or so old radios out of the hanger I'm gonna go lookin' for a good doublet.
Now, all I have to do is decide, which corner do I put it in?
Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

Denny,

The assymetrical 2 posts are the way to go for working on vehicles as you can pull the tires and work on the suspension.

As far as mounting points, they have anchor plates that distribute the load wider out than just the footprint of the post. The lift manufacturers will say 4" of unreinforced concrete will work. Hey, you figure the footprint of 4 tires (basically the area of your handprint) is holding your truck up on your concrete floor now....

Finally, before you buy, look at the Mohawk brand--nice lifts if you have the dough. The Rotary's, Bend-Paks, etc. are next tier from what research I have done a few years back.

Not a fan of Rotarys, seem to have more problems that they are worth. Plus, it seems that when you do need parts for them, they aren't available or have been discontinued. I have heard that Rotary went out of business or went bankrupt.
Seems Bend-Pak is the popular brand, now.
Whatever you choose, make sure that you get one with sufficient capacity, bigger is better, and have it mounted securely. And as stated, as long as you get the lift ponts set right, they are very stable. Oh, and one moe thing, get one with enough lift hight that you can work comfortable under it. The ones I work with (Rotarys) don't really go high enough for me to get under, and I stand at 6'4".

Well I've looked at the Mohawk and kind of had them in mind. Hey Bill, many years ago in the 50's-60's I used the the hydraulic lifts with the arms ocasionally. If your talking about centering the weight up on the lift that's just using good sense. My only conceren was with the amount of leaverage that was avalable at the base where it was mounted. When you think about it, you have half the length of the vehicle, about 8 to 10 feet and if its 6 or 7 feet in the air that gives you a 14 to 17 foot lever arm to pull the anchors out of the floor with. Of course it's an unfounded concern but it does stay on my mind.
I have a 14 foot celing in my barn so height isn't a problem and I'm sure I would get one that would at least reach 7 feet.
All depends on how good of a sales man I become this summer. got a lot to get rid of before I have room for a lift.
Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

I have 3 lifts, all ROTRAY. 2 are 4 posts, EVOLUTION model, rated at 7000 lbs and 1 is a 2 post asymetrical rated at 10000 lbs. I am very happy with them.

John Gott

BTW, my shop floor is 6 inches thick at a 4500 psi load. The 4 posts are not anchored to the floor. SInce I have 6 inches I did not need footers under the 2 post lift.

I've owned two Rotary brand lifts. An extended 4 post #18000 w/ 2 rolling air jacks and a 2 post assymetrical #12000. Both gave good service except for having to replace the cheap plastic air lines on the rolling jacks. My preference is the 2 post. It's easier to get around the vehicle with but you gotta watch where you place the lift arms. Get the lift arm kit(different adaptors to go on the arms for vehicles w/ full frames) and be sure to get the air release locks. These allow you to hit a button near the lift control to release the lift locks when you are lowering the vehicle. just my .02 Joe