Two post lifts - anyone have current product knowledge?

michael_conatore

michael_conatore

I love endurance racing!
I am looking at purchasing a 2 post lift for my garage. I have 112" clearance, and many will fit. I need to be have clearance under the lift of at least 55". Costco had one on sale last month that only went to 46" or so and would not do. I see many online that meet my criteria (6,000# capacity) and the clearance I need.

Thanks for any product or vendor advice you can offer!

Best Regards,
Mike

Michael Conatore
ST Subaru STi #19
mconatore@yahoo.com
 
Lots of "junk" out there. I've bought many lifts over the years and for the last 17 years have been buying from NorWest Shop Equiptment, Bob McCauley, 1-509-951-3272 cell, 1-509-891-4134 office. He has lots of both new and used. Its in Eastern Washington, but he has installed quite a few west of Spokane. Good luck!
 
I bought a Complete Hydraulic model about 8 years ago. It is almost all made in USA, but do watch out for the import power switch. Mine welded the contacts after a few months and almost sent a car through the ceiling. I bought a good quality aftermarket switch and have had no problems since. The price was tough to beat for the overall quality. I have a 9000lb baseplate model below, but mine has assymetric arms (does not look like they offer that on the 9000lb model anymore). There is also a 10k model that can be ordered assymetric or symmetric for a little more. The nice thing is these lifts are onlt 9'3" tall and will lift almost as high so watch for the ceiling.

http://www.completehydraulic.com/lifts-2-post-cl09000bp.html
http://www.completehydraulic.com/lifts-2-post-cj10000bp.html

Give me a call or email if you have any questions.

Mike
 
Thanks John and Mike. This 9000# model appears to be manufacture and sold with a variety of names, as I have seen at least 3 that look identical with the different names. At $1,399 it seems like the right price for this tool! My ceiling is right at 9' 4.5" (112.5"). Some of these that are 111" tall say they need 2" more for installation, which I assume is so you can set them vertical. I think I will just cut out the drywall of the ceiling right above the posts to be able to stand them up.

I know I will have to be very careful about how high I lift, particularly with the garage door being a factor.

My goal is to be able to put my 911 and my STi in the same bay for storage, and I believe this is just possible with one of these lifts.....with about 3" of margin! Tight but very space efficient, and SO HANDY to be able to work on them! Should save my poor back a lot of strain.

Wonder about installation? I have been looking for installation guides but nobody seems to put them online. I expect I will have to drill and set bolt anchors in my garage floor, and I will also have to provide a 220V outlet. Seems like that's about it from what I can see. Getting the darned thing home is another trick....I suppose I can pay a local freight company to deliver it. I know getting a 53' semi in my driveway is futile as getting my 34' RV in is tight enough.

MC
 
Install is all about measure, measure, measure then drill!!! We set all ours in with epoxy but the best is to use regular concrete lag bolts as they do need tightened over time. Is your floor standards depth for garage with no rebar? Need to be aware of how much pressure these put on the floor and they do "wiggle" and can crack the floor.

Install is no big deal though. I don't know of any of them (quality ones) that do not have an adjustable height limit switch. If the don't have that I would not but it.

Shop Equipment sells used also, take-outs from shut down commercial shops so you could get a top quality one for very reasonable price.

Good luck. One of the best investments you'll ever make.
 
Michael,
Email my husband at Mike at SHOsource dot com if you want to talk further about what he did. Having that lift has been one of the best, and most cost effective, investments we ever made. Highly recommend it.
 
Michael,

I too had to cut the drywall to get mine tipped up, but I think I had less room than you. I picked up my lift at the freight terminal with my 8' bed pickup with no problems. Once I was home, I used the engine hoist to lift one end while we slid it most of the way out of the truck. I set the first end down and picked the end in the truck and drove the truck out from underneath. As Kyle said, lots of measure, measure, measure, then drill the anchor holes in the concrete. I wired mine with a flexible cord and plug it into my welder outlet. This saved my bacon when the switch contacts welded, as I was able to run and pull out the plug before it went through the roof.

Best of luck on the project. I can't tell you how much I use my lift.

Mike
 
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