vehicle lifts

[chart]

hey i am looking at getting a hoist for the shop. does anyone have any recomendations on what to get or where from. i can't decide if i want a 2 or 4 post lift. Thanks in advance. Chart

[MagicRat]

Surface mount electrical hoists are great and reasonably priced.

If you have lots of space in the shop, go for a 4 post. The 2 post is best if you are short of space.

As for capacity, get the largest weight rating you can afford.

[dave92cherokee]

It depends on what you're planning on doing the most with the lift. If you're going to be lifting it up and pulling the wheels then go 2 post, on the other hand if it's going to be mostly drivetrain/exhaust work then go 4 post.

[Moppie]

2 post lifts give you a lot more room to work around the car, but then I have never seen a car fall off a 4 post lift, but I have seen the result of a car falling off a 2 post lift.

[HeavyJ]

4 post lifts are great, but 2 post are real handy for alot of modern cars, especially when doing trans and front end work. On many front wheel drive cars, doing a trans (or engine for that matter, cause some have to come out the bottom) the subframe and steering components have to come out, and a 2 post makes that job easier. Shop around and do your homework. Dont cheap out. If you can swing it and work on longer pickups, suv's and such, check out the longer (usually 3 stage) lift arms. Just some food for thought.

[slideways...]

i have always preferred the asymmetrical 2 post scissor style lift.

[___Brandon]

I've been using a four post lift for about 2 years in my garage and it works pretty good for just about everything.

If I have to pull the tires off I have a pair of cheap bottle jacks that I use to jack the car up off the lift. It is really pretty easy to do since it can be done once the car is already up in the air.

One huge bonus is the wheel runners make awesome tool trays when I'm working on something.

I did a tranny swap in a 94 grand am on the lift, and it worked out ok. I just lifted the front of the car way up off the lift and pulled the tranny out the bottom. One bonus was I could lift the tranny up and rest it on boards I put running across the lift. Then I got another grip from underneath and pushed it up into the car. I also did a tranny swap on a chevy half ton 4x4 and the transmission dropped out through the center of the lift with no problems.

I also clamp a motorcycle front tire vise on one of the wheel runners and use the lift for bikes. That's pretty cool in itself.

A negative of running a 4 post is a cherry picker for pulling an engine wouldn't work very well around the lift. I will have to get the engine ready to pull on the lift and then push the car out in the driveway to use the picker.

[2.2 Straight six]

having run a shop with both a 2-post and a 4-post i found the the 2-post was much better to work with.

a 4-post is good for exhaust work, tyres and wheel alignment but that's about as far as it goes for me.

any major mechanical work (and tyres/exhausts) are better done with a 2-post because they offer unrivaled acess to the underside of the car, by lifting it off the sills you can get to everything easily. changing things like Mercedes-Benz fuel filters on a flat 4-post ramp is awkward. wherease you can do just about any work on a 2-post with ease because of the space.