4 post lift recomendations

[Roncallo]

Hello

Does anyone have any experiance with Americas Pride 4 post 9000# lift P/N PP4HD9C.

Is it good bad etc.

Thank You
John Roncallo

[92497pmu]

Do you have a website?
I think my buddy Tommy just bought one of these- around $2000 right?

PMU

[whunter]

http://www.directlift.com/auto_lifts/index.html

http://www.liftsunlimited.com/

http://www.revolutionlifts.com/

http://www.classicautolift.com/

http://eagleequip.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Category_Code=LI

[nhdoc]

I recommend Rotary lifts. I looked last year and saw lots of imported steel and really felt queezy about climbing under some "budget lifts".

Rotary is made in the USA (Part of Otis Elevator I think) and their installers are trained to know the proper way to install a lift. Some would bolt a lift to a 2" slab but rotary will not. They will not sell you a lift until they checked to see the floor can support it...that's what sold me on them. Just my $0.02.

You might save $1000 or so by buying some chinese made lift, but when it falls on you how will you spend your savings?

I think I paid $3200 installed for a 7,000 lb asymmetrical 2 post lift, and, I needed to have 2 footings poured special to support it because my floor slab was only 3" thick. Now I have 6" footings and it ain't going anywhere. The price did not include the floor work, BTW.

[DustyRusty]

A standard 4 post 9000 pound lift requires about a 3 1/2" thick, 2500 psi concrete floor. Most modern garage floors are poured with 4" 3000 PSI concrete, so a 4 post lift will not overload it. When in doubt, check with a structural engineer.
I prefer the Bend Pak 4 post lift because they are American made and the company has been around for 35 years, so I am inclined to believe that they will be around for a long time to come. This is important, because you want to know that you will be able to get service parts should you ever need them. It is a lot easier to get parts from an American company than to get them for a lift that was made by an unknown company in some far off land such as China.
I purchased a Bend Pak HD9 four post lift that is presently in transit from the manufacturer in California. It is expected to arrive some time next week. Once I get a crew together we should have it assembled in a few hours.
I have compared the Bend Pak 4 post lift with the Rotary 4 post lift and they appear to be identical in every detail. Rotary doesn't offer a 4 post lift that is under 12,000 lift capacity, so the Rotary was "beefier" than the Bend Pak in the cables. All the rest, including the safety locking system were identical in appearance. Also, both brands are certified by a National lift organization, which I don't now if the other brands of lifts are.

[nhdoc]

What the floor thickness is in actuality is what is important. In theory our floors were supposed to be 4" but the contractor apparently skimped on the pour and in the area where the lift was to be installed it was only from 2.5 to 3.5 inches. This is NOT uncommon. They figure, "whose gonna check"? And this was in an industrial building.

The Rotary installer came out before the order was placed and drilled test holes in the floor and we measured the thicknesses. When he and I discovered the floor was less than 4" he told me I'd have to have the floor fixed before they would install the lift. Nobody else has such a program, that I know of.

So, yes, the best thing to do is to check your own floor before you buy a lift if you don't have a good installer like I did do it for you. It cost about $500 to have two 2X2 areas saw cut out and re-poured with high strength concrete 6" thick to support the posts. If you have a 4 poster then you'd have to do all 4 corners. I'd never install a lift unless I knew the floor was strong enough to support it first.

Of course the 4 post lift has not only a lower load per post than a 2 post but also the load tends to be pure compression, unlike the 2 post which can actually rip up out of the floor and fall over if the CG of the car is not centered so it is much more critical in a 2 post application that the floor be strong, still, it is important to check.

[carymcooper]

John:
I have an Eagle 7000# 4-poster and am very satisfied. It is made in America, but this would not necessarily be a requirement for me. When I purchase foreign made heavy-duty equipment I discount the load ratings by 25-50%.
Not many of us are going to drive a tank on our lift but some may want to work on a Hummer.
Cary.

[Roncallo]

Thanks to all that replied. After all my research and horror stories I'v heard from owners, I have pretty much narrowd it down to a Bend Pack

Thank You
John Roncallo

[DustyRusty]

My Bend Pak arrived last Thursday and when I uncrated it, I found that there was a bent part. I called the Customer Service number and they sent me a replacement part Next Day Air - Saturday Delivery. Can't ask for anything better than that. Great company to deal with. For the best price on a Bend Pak unit, go to www.asedeals.com . They sell more units than anyone else, so I have been told, and I found that they had the best prices. The price you pay is the only differance..... they all get shipped out of the factory in California and the shipping is always included in the price. I guess that it is their volume that helps them to sell for less.

[mpolli]

Those prices look pretty good, as well as their price on wheel balancing machines!! That would look good in the garage. Anyway, I really want one of these lifts also, but I have no experience to help decide 2 or 4 post, clear floor or floor plate etc. I seem to like the look of the floor plate type 2 post with the open top. Can anyone give some pros and cons based on experience?

Thanks,

Mike

[DustyRusty]

Without knowing your full circumstances of use, it is hard to make recommendations. Two post lifts do have their benefits, but they also are not for all vehicles. Larger, longer, and heavy vehicles are not suited to two post lifts. An example is if you were going to remove the transmission from the car on a two post lift, you have to properly support the vehicle because you will be changing the weigh distribution once the transmission is removed. Two post lifts also require a thicker floor and in some cases, you have to pour special piers under the floor to attach the lift to. Lots of variables to consider. A four post lift is easy and handles most things that a hobbyist will encounter. While not as convenient as a two post lift, you can also do a lot of the service work on them, including transmission removal. Like anything that you own, you have to learn the shortcomings and learn how to work around them. I have seen people change complete rear ends on a 4 post lift by supporting the car forward of the rear with large timbers. Long before there were two post lifts, four post lifts were all that was used. My original four post lift by Weaver was made in the 1940's. It was twice the weight of the current models, and had half the weight lifting capacity......

[engatwork]

I've been very pleased with my Forward Manufacturing 10k# two post lift.

[mpolli]

Which one? They have about 5 models of 2 post 10K lifts in different configurations.

Thanks,

Mike

[engatwork]

DP10A, if I remember correctly it was around $3600 installed.

Forward Lift

[JWJ]

When comparing 2 post vs. 4 post lifts I see that 4 post lifts appear to have a bar located below the engine compartment that would hinder engine/transmission work. Is this the case?

I'll be using a purchased lift for vehicle work not for storing a car.