dwe8922

I am going through the building permit process to build a shop in my back yard, and I want to put a lift in. I'm looking at making it 60x40, and will make it however high I need it for the lift.

I'm tall (6'4"), so I'd like to get the most underneath clearance I can. And I want something I can lift the cup car and a 2500 truck. I talked to the Rotary rep a long time ago, and he recommended a symmetrical two post lift to accommodate the truck (or an asymmetrical if I was only lifting cars). I've used a Rotary and another brand I can't remember now, and both I had to jack up the cup to get the arms underneath, so I guess that will be the case with any of them. I also looked a little at getting a 4 post, but I thought it would be a lot of hassle with the cup.

What do you think would be the best brand and style? Any comment on new vs. used?

Thanks!
David

ltusler

I have 10k lb. Rotary Asmmetrical. No problems lifting trucks. They wiggle a bit fore and aft if you push on the bumpers, but not a problem so far. Your height may be an issue regardless of which you purchase. Be sure the floor is at least 4" thick at the mounting point. I just drive the front wheels up on 2x12's and that gives me enough height for the race car without jacking. Plus they are removable when you don't need them.

Good Luck!
Lon

RobT 394

American Custom Lifts http://www.aclifts.com/ has a lot of different products, American made, quality is top notch. I purchased a 4-post from them with a rolling jack to get the car up and it is fantastic. They have other models as well. Ask for brad.

kurt M

I deal with 150 lifts at work. 4 post, 2 post above ground, 2 post in ground, sym and asym. A mix of Rotary, Challenger and Hunter. At home I have a Bend-pac. For trucks the symmetrical are better. Yes you can get one on an asymmetrical but it is far more work and the rear arms are working real hard. My 2500 king cab is hard to get out of when it is on a asymmetrical lift. Much easer on a standard 2 post but I am lazy and have my pick so for oil changes I just drive it up on one of the 4 post alignment racks.

I think a Rotary 2 post lift is a good blend of cost and value. Sure you can go nuts and get a Mohawk but they are overkill in some ways and basic in others. Don't let people use the safety line on you. The user is the weak link in lifts. By far user error is the #1 reason for lift failures.

altonj

I have a Bend Pac two post in my garage and could not be happier with it....


Cheers

amso3

I had an Eagle 9000 asymetrical at my last garage. I bought a Challenger 10,000 lift for this garage. This can be used either as symetrical or asymetrical. The pads are a little lower than my other lift so it goes under Porsches a little better. The lowered race cars do need to be jacked a bit. The quality of the Challenger is great.

DrJupeman

I am nuts and love my Mohawk lift.

As for basic, the lift picks things up and puts them down.

http://youtu.be/3FGZvFZdVbk

007DT

Eagle.. They make one that will go high enough for you to stand under it..

BrandonH

www.garagejournal.com is for the obsessive-compulsive garage-builder. Tons of opinions on lifts. I concur with the comments on Rotary. I recently bought a Bend-Pak single post parking lift more for storage than service. I thought quality was lower than Rotary. My build from '06:
http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/s...ead.php?t=5272

dwe8922

I looked at the Bend Pak site, and their comparison to Rotary, and they seemed to have some more stout parts. They are about $1k less than the Rotary. I think their lift height is shorter than the Rotary though, at 69" vs 78" for the Rotary. Very nice garage Brandon! What are the dimensions?

This is my current garage. The previous owner was highly eccentric!

Viperbob1

Went through all this with my shop. We actually tried a number of lifts. The deal with the independent company that sold them to us was a Porsche, and even a Cupcar, would be able to be lifted and NOT by jacking the car up to position the arms under the car. That is a pain. So dealer installed and deinstalled a number of lifts as they did NOT fit as advertised. Final solution was a Rotary lift that is not in any of their catalogs. They have a lift that is supposed to only be sold to Porsche and Audi dealers. With these we were able to directly able to lift even a Cup... Good luck.

kurt M

This is my point. Considering the safety factor is not based on the machine you should look at price and intended use. As much as we all dither about how nice the welds or paint might look or if the lift uses rollers or slides it is the user that sets the safety factor. Lifts don't tend to fail but cars do fall off of them far too often. For home use a Mohawk might be a bit too bulky as it has thick posts, carrages and arms. The good thing is there are so many to pick from you can get a lift that you like.

When I was shopping the Bend-pac floor plate 2 post was the one with the longest stroke. 4.5" to 6' 4" feet pad hights down to full hight. The bottom of the arms are right at 6 feet full hight. This and the price for a gold sticker lift is what sold me.

At work the Rotary and Challanger in ground lifts are way too short IMO. The rotary 2 posts a bit better but still shorter than my Bend-pac.

A 9000 pound lift is tested to 27000 pounds. Shop among the tested lifts and buy on features. In home DIY use none of us are going to wear a lift out.

007DT

David.. You are brave to park your Ferrari in that.

kurt M

Missed that. There is a good caption in this image. F car inside and an ADT sign in front of a "value built" garage.

BrandonH

That's very interesting. Would love to get a model or SKU number or something. Would my Rotary guy know about this?