another thing to keep in mind with a 2 post lift is the width of your garage ... and the ability to open a car door in the adjacent parking space. the lift tends to be near where a door opens.
Car lift for a home garage use.
- Thread starter Rex Kapriellian
- Start date
To that, my door-to-door spacing is quite narrow at 10'-9" center-to-center. I had them install the lift on the narrower spacing, which is fine for my purposes. And I have the lift located such that I drive onto the lift forward, and the lift and the car is further towards the back wall than, say a shop that has room for a toolbox at the nose end of the bay. But we back in our DD cars, and keep them close to the garage doors (the opposite side). With this arrangement, I can open my rear car doors and they clear the lift posts. However, if I pull back a little too far, the right rear door would conflict with the lift post. It isn't a problem, but a very workable work-around to make my garage world work.
Belgiumbarry
Well-Known Member
i have done quite a bit of mechanical jobs on my 4 post the last 20 years..... cannot imagine it would be as easy or even possible with a 2 post .
Of course i have a hydraulic bridge jack .
Image demounting a complete front or rear suspension. With a 2 post you would need a extra lift .... movable work bench ...
Constructing exhausts or dial in suspension we see the ground clearance on a 4 post
doing a job , amazing how may tools gather on the ramps
for inspection car is on and up in the air in... 20 secondes ? On a 2 post you must look for the right support spots ....
etc...
sorry , a 2 post if ideal for a tire shop..... nothing more imho....
Yes, i could use a 2 post outside for high pressure clean the underside after rallies....
Of course i have a hydraulic bridge jack .
Image demounting a complete front or rear suspension. With a 2 post you would need a extra lift .... movable work bench ...
Constructing exhausts or dial in suspension we see the ground clearance on a 4 post
doing a job , amazing how may tools gather on the ramps
for inspection car is on and up in the air in... 20 secondes ? On a 2 post you must look for the right support spots ....
etc...
sorry , a 2 post if ideal for a tire shop..... nothing more imho....
Yes, i could use a 2 post outside for high pressure clean the underside after rallies....
I can confirm this isn't true (or a bit of a bold statement). I dropped both of my subframes effortlessly with the 2-post lift and no other lifts or equipment. Just a wheel plate that I set the assemblies onto, which did raise them off the floor a bit.
The 2 post versus 4 post discussion is a bit like the carb versus fuel injection or maybe even manual tranny versus automatic tranny debate. There is simply no one option that is better than the other in the absolute. Each one fits an individual‘s personal requirements or preferences better.
Like many, I don’t own a lift but I have used both types quite a lot. There are three big advantages to a 4 post in my humble experience:
1) Much faster to get a car up. All you do is drive the car up on the rails and push the button. With a 2 post you have to crawl on your knees, guess align the front pads, then guess align the rear ones, then go to the other side and do the same, then come back to lift up to the point where the pads almost touch the lift points and go back on your knees to make sure it’s hitting the right point exactly, same on the other side and then finally lift it all up.
2) You never have any issues with opening the door. If you’re going to do any interior work, The 4 post gives you all the freedom you want. If you have to remove seats and that sort of thing it is really nice not having a post constantly in the way.
3) It gives you the storage option if you ever need it. Even if it’s just for the weekend when guests are coming for a visit and the weather is bad, or no parking on the street. At least you have that option available to you.
And of course, adding the bridge jack makes for a highly versatile setup.
But, again, those points may not be important for someone else.
Like many, I don’t own a lift but I have used both types quite a lot. There are three big advantages to a 4 post in my humble experience:
1) Much faster to get a car up. All you do is drive the car up on the rails and push the button. With a 2 post you have to crawl on your knees, guess align the front pads, then guess align the rear ones, then go to the other side and do the same, then come back to lift up to the point where the pads almost touch the lift points and go back on your knees to make sure it’s hitting the right point exactly, same on the other side and then finally lift it all up.
2) You never have any issues with opening the door. If you’re going to do any interior work, The 4 post gives you all the freedom you want. If you have to remove seats and that sort of thing it is really nice not having a post constantly in the way.
3) It gives you the storage option if you ever need it. Even if it’s just for the weekend when guests are coming for a visit and the weather is bad, or no parking on the street. At least you have that option available to you.
And of course, adding the bridge jack makes for a highly versatile setup.
But, again, those points may not be important for someone else.
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Serious coupsters eventually wind up with both types of lifts.
Note to self. Looking at mid lift options. His garage is 10’. Audit TT about 53” tall, same as e9. Looks like I could lift it full height without hitting an 8’ ceiling.
@rsporsche you mentioned the deck width. They seem plenty wide and I can space them accordingly.
Bendpack MDS-6LPF
@rsporsche you mentioned the deck width. They seem plenty wide and I can space them accordingly.
Bendpack MDS-6LPF
My concern with this lift is the non-linear loation of the e9 jacking points. The rear point (sub frame bushing bracket) doesn't line up with the front point (frame rail) which is inward by about a foot or more, so would you have to point the fronts of these lifts inward or??
99% of real mechanics use 2 post. Anything requiring wheels off (a majority?) is much easier and interior work never happens on a lift. Besides storage, I don't see an advantage of a 4 post.
There are “mobile”scissor jacks which have adjustable arms sort of like a two poster.
Here is an example: APlusLift HW-SL6600X Mid Rise
I don’t like them because the cross frame is always in the way.
How about a MaxJax?
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this looks pretty interesting. curious what kind of block he put between the deck and the car - a rubber or wood block? the downside of this unit - most people would need to redo their slab in order to recess the lift so that it is flush. very interesting but might not be right for me.
They have identical low profile units that sit on the slab and you drive over. They cost less also.
Belgiumbarry
Well-Known Member
now that is just the opposite of my "experience" wrenching 40 years ....
Yes , for brakes/tires i need to use my bridge jack 2 times on the 4 post while a tire shop will prefer a 2 post and have all the wheels in the air at once.
I do a lot of interior work on the lift... seats, under the dash... i lift the car just enough that i can see/reach it while standing up ... good thing for my "bad" back.
Another example... we made quite some custom exhausts... we can prefab/measure/adjust it by laying wooden cross beams to support the mufflers .... prefab the tubes before any welding and seeing constant the ground clearance.
I can lower a sub frame all standing up.... with a 2 post you will end working on your knees/back unless you have a extra jack table.
I think a really well designed height and tilt adjustable rolling chair would make that an excellent option for pretty well all types of jobs. Build LED flood lights into it and add a cup holder.
I talked to Bendpak when looking at one of these a couple of years ago. They did not recommend trying to jack an e9 on one of these specifically because of the point Steve makes - the fact that the rear jack points are inboard from the front ones.
My research was rather cut short when I bought a house with a four post lift installed. Having a lift is a huge improvement from working off of the floor, which I had been doing for 40 years. For me, the question is whether to jetison the 4 poster in favor of a two post lift. I've decided to learn to work with what I have rather than going through the hassle of making a change.
Barry
I am in total agreement that a 2-post lift is always in the way when you are working in the interior. For major mechanical systems, however, I prefer a 2-post. For interior work, I prefer a 4-post with adjustable width ramps.
I assumed, mistakenly, that people do mechanical work more often and interior work.
FWIW, I use a 2 post lift at work and a 4- post lift at home. For some jobs I still use jack stands and a rolling floor jack.
John
I’m not particularly worried about that. I can make a bridge that places the lift points exactly where needed. IMO, this is by far the best option for a small garage. My garage will only be 10x20 with an 8’ ceiling.
Markos - I bought an engine support bar several years ago in order to change the steering box in my e39 to the M5 box. It supported the engine while I dropped the subframe a few inches. If I had gone in the direction of one of these jacks, I was thinking of using that bar across the scissors jack. The bar could rest on the scissors jack directly underneath the rear subframe bushing attachment, with the rubber blocks on top of the bar between the top of the cross bar and the car.
1000 lb. Capacity Engine Support Bar
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