lifts

[57pro]

appreciate your input on 2 post lifts versus 4 post. i have a bad back.like to look after the toys and still try to build. 3 years into a 57 post pro street?
personal experiences and reccommendations appreciated

[Dave Hughes]

Having a bad back won't make to much of a diference between a 4-Post Lift and a 2-Post Lift.
The primary diference where that is concerned is that with a 2-post lift, you'll have to get down on your knees to get a view of the under-carriage in order to set the arms properly before lifting.
Alternately, a 4-post lift requires no initial setup before lifting, just drive on and go.
The real diference is going to come down to how much space you have.
A twin-post lift will require about 12 feet of cieling height and about 11-1/2 to 12 feet of side to side space if you go with a clear-floor model.
Other twin-post lifts are available in a floor-plate style which allows for shorter cieling heights. These lifts link the towers under a ramp on the floor which makes it more difficult to position transmission jacks and auxiliary stands as well as the occasional trip when you're looking up at the vehicle while walking around.
The four-Post Lift takes up a lot more floor space. We're talking about 11 feet of side to side space as well as about 18 to 22 feet of length.
The other issue with the 4-Post lift is doing anything with wheels or suspension. If you want to pick the vehicle up off of the lift, you're going to need a rolling air jack. This jacking beam rolls between the ramps of the lift and allows you to position the thing under the axles to lift the vehicle up. These are costly when you consider that with a 2-Post lift, the wheels are already hanging free.
4-post lifts are also nice for vehicle storage. Lift one and park another under it.

Hope this helps.

[2.2 Straight six]

if you want to work on cars, a two-post is easily the best choice.

for storage and wheel alignment 4-posts are better.

at work i have both a 2-post and a 4-post, which covers everything, and we regularly store 4 cars in there at night.