I expect to get the floor poured in my barn to shop conversion within a week or two. After the floor is poured I will be ordering a two post lift.

I have almost 14 feet clear, so height is no issue. I don't need a floorplate model.

My question is; will the assymetrical be okay or should I stay with the standard unit? I know that these things are used all the time, but it's sort of like looking at the Leaning Tower of Pisa, it just doesn't look like it should remain standing.

I am putting in the floor to specs as recommended by the manufacturer, but I'm still worried about the assymetrical unit falling over.

Does anyone have any experience with these units? Any sharing of experience or advice is welcome.

Have a great day,

We have 8 assymetrical, 2 symetrical and one two post in ground drive-on alignment lift. The best lift is the alignment lift. It is easily driven onto and is massive in its ability to lift. It has two swing air jacks whick allow all four wheels to be removed at the same time.

But as to the question. We lift "S" class cars all the time with the assymetrical lifts. They are easier to deal with than the symetrical. It is impossible to open the doors on the symetrical lifts. Lifts come in all manner of quality, I would pay close attention to their shipping weights. I would also sink some iron to spread the footprint if your bolt pattern is real close to the post. I have an old Benwil symetrical that is rated to 9000 lbs without being bolted down, as it has legs that are about six feet long or more.

__________________
Steve Brotherton
Continental Imports
Gainesville FL
Bosch Master, ASE Master, L1
33 years MB technician

I have a four post and for me, there is no other to use. They all have pros and cons. With the 4 post when doing any wheel work
you have a built in table right where you are working. You can just lay the parts in succession of removal etc. Then you have a handy place fror your tools.
A regular two post is a pain as Steve said, you can't open the doors. Doing under dash work with a 2 post is impossible but with the asymetrical or 4 post, no problem. It sure beats lying upside down in the seat.
Another advantage of the 4 post is if set up properly, you can do alignment work on it easily as all wheels are compressed. To remove wheels either use a post, scissors or aluminum jack. I've
also made an arm which bolts on to hang motors from to load into a pickup and do this with a car on the lift. And yes, you can raise only the front wheels if need be...great to get all the oil to the rear of the oilpan.
Hope not to put a bug in, just my two cents. And by the way, you can move it easily if you move!

Tobias MB
3 MBs

Thanks for the replies guys. I had just discounted a four post altogether thinking that it might be good only for exhaust work. That's the only place I seem to see them. You make a good case for them though.

Steve, what do you have in mind regarding "sinking iron?" Are you talking about a plate under the concrete or welding more plate onto the floor plate that is part of the lift.

I am looking at the Eagle Premium at this point. They are built locally and the premium is quite a bit heavier than their bottom of the line. It also has a lifetime warranty.

Thanks again for your help. Since I still have some time before ordering, I am still in research mode at this point and unless I have to change to something that busts my budget, my decision is not cast in concrete (no pun intended.)

BTW, while you guys are on the line. I have a walking beam in my existing shop and runs down the center of two nose to nose stalls. My plan is to put this running dead center down the middle of the stall above the lift. Since it only is useful in front of the beam across the middle of the lift, should I center it over a different stall, or put where I mentioned over the lift.

It makes sense to put it over the lift, but if I want to use it for anything except engine work, it might not be convenient. Your thoughts on this?

Have a great day,

How about a pit instead.

Actually I was looking to increase the footprint. A lot of the lifts sold only have a bolt pattern a few feet long.

My gut would be to place an I beam in the concrete and bolt to it, but I'm sure you will be limited to normal construction techniques which I am not familiar with.

Pits are almost imposible to creat in a commercail setting anymore. They are really worried about the accumulation of flammible vapors in a pit. Other safety issues make permiting a real problem.

I'll show you my favorite lift. it's missing a bit of paint, but I bought it new in 1980. I wore it all off. The point to this lift is the simplicity of engaging the car and the absolute minimum of space necessary. I had a four post drive on once and it just took so much space. When this lift is down there is nothing in the way. I have two of the swing jacks that are visible at the front. They allow all the wheels to be lifted for run out compensation or any other use. The swing jacks offer all kind of versitality. These lifts are a fortune new, but I saw one on ebay recently and are not to bad to install with new construction.

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__________________
Steve Brotherton
Continental Imports
Gainesville FL
Bosch Master, ASE Master, L1
33 years MB technician

Steve,

Thanks a bunch for the further information and taking the time to post the picture. Do you recall how much the one on ebay went for? Who is the mfg. of this lift.

My brother in law did diesel truck work for years before taking to MB's. In one of the shops he worked in many years ago, there was what I would call a half pit. The front wheels drove out onto the rack in the pit, and on the rack were swing jacks.

When doing front end repair, he could support or pick up a lower control arm in about two seconds. I expect that this is similar to how yours works.

Laying a couple of sections of I Beam might be practical in my case. My concrete guy is a neighbor and I think he will work with me on about anything I want to do. I'm way out in the boonies so there are no building codes/inspectors/permits to deal with. There is a huge scrap iron facility in a town near here where I can dig out pieces and buy it for pennies.

Wow, what a deal: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2470323851&category=63697

That is a pretty ugly version of my Hunter lift. I spent $10,000 on it in 1980 and what you are looking at doesn't include the actual inground lift. It is the ultimate lift. I have lifted my buddies GM HD3500 wrecker on mine and it is the only lift we use for RollsR.

I don't know if Hunter still sells that lift as most localities won't allow a new commercial installation of the old style inground lifts. They do make a proper inground still but they are rather pricy at about 5k The current Hunter lifts use the same footprint but use lever arm hydraulics above ground which take up a lot more space with the lift up.

__________________
Steve Brotherton
Continental Imports
Gainesville FL
Bosch Master, ASE Master, L1
33 years MB technician

In addition to my 4 post lift I also have an I-beam with a trolley on with an electric hoist. This beam starts about two feet to the right of the lift and ends about ten feet to the left. It is over the lift at about the engine center, fore and aft.
I did this as then the hoist can move sideways and the car can roll fore and aft. In this manner you are covered on both the X & Y axis so the car does not have to be centered on the lift. Never had a problem with this setup.

Tobias MB
190/5.8

I have thought about putting the walking beam perpedicular to the center line of the vehicle. It would service two stalls that way as well as the advantages that you point out.

The problem is the direction of the trusses. Since they are perpendicular to the centerline of the vehicle, all the load would be on one truss unless I put lots of iron up there to distribute the load.

I'll have to think about this. A couple of long pieces of heavy angle would get the job done.

Thanks,