What brand of 2-post lifts?

[aggie91]

Did a search and could not find what I was looking for. I am in the process of building a shop and would like to prep for a lift that will be installed down the road. I have settled on a 2 -post, 9000-10,000 pound capacity lift.

I have looked at BendPak, Auto Lift, Triumph and Altas brands. There are others, but cost becomes a factor. The 2 BendPak models are right at $3k shipped. The Auto Lift is $1850 shipped. The Atlas is $1600 plus freight. and the Triumph ranges from $1700-$2000 shipped.

BendPack and Altas have the widest drive thru dimensions at 106" and 101.5" respectively. The Triumph and Auto Lift are 92" and 93".

At this point I am leaning toward the Atlas XH-9KOH lift depending on the freight. I am looking at getting it thru GregSmithEquipment.com.

What do you guys have or recommend. Do any of you have experience with the Atlas lift? The BendPak is about $1k higher in price and looks to be a very good product. Just want some feedback from you that have lifts of your own or have used them in you work...

[Advanced Design]

I did a lot of research on many brands before I bought my 10,000 lb Rotary lift. I even stopped by Greg Smith in Indianapolis to look those other lifts over.

And decided to spend more on the Rotary lift because...
They are certified in the American Lift Institute.
I see them in many many dealerships getting lots of heavy use with no problems.
I have a good dealer close by for any needed service or parts.
Getting a lift was a goal of mine for years and I plan to use it over the next 20 plus years. The extra cost divided by the planned usage was very little per year.
After putting a lot of blood, sweat, tears and money in a project, I want it picked up and retained by a good quality lift.
And most importantly, i want that good quality lift to keep the vehicle up anf off of me so I can do this for another 20 plus years.

Now that isn't to say any of the lifts you have been researching won't do the job. I am just sharing the thought process I went through. The only regret I have is not buying it 10 or 15 years sooner.

[mongocanfly]

I bought the atlas OH-10X from Greg Smith..I can't say enough good about it...I planned on buying one when I built my shop..the only regret I have is not getting it sooner..hands down one of the best things in my shop.i use it 3-4 times aweek. I made sure to get the extra wide/extra tall..I wanted to be able to back my trailer loaded with new toys in it and lift them off .The local tire shop guy bought 2 new ones of a different brand and he gave way more for his than I did and his won't pick up a 3/4 ton diesel..my will pick em up all day long and boy is he pissed..

[aggie91]

Thanks guys. After posting, I found another site that has a place over in Ft. Worth.

http://www.derekweaver.com/

He has some lifts that I like. They are just a bit more, but I can go pick it up and see one before I purchase if I choose that route.

Still doing research, I can't get the rain to stop long enough to get the pad finished to even start building the shop....

[mongocanfly]

I got mine at the greg smith atlanta store..they had a showroom setup that had most of their lifts so you could run em up and down. When I got there they asked if I was in a hurry to buy one and I told him not really. He said if I would come back the next day they would sell me the demo for $300 off.but I had to wait on them to take it down..I wish they had told me that before I drove over there. But it wasn't worth $300 to me to have to drive back there and thru Atlanta..arghhh. I hate 6 lane traffic.....I also scored on a $400 high lift transmission jack for $50 while I was there

[mongocanfly]

Aggie I know you probably already thought about it but before you pour your concrete I would recomend figure out where your lift bases will sit and dig you a deeper footer where it will sit. About 3'x3' is good.so if your slab is 4" I would go down another 4" so your lift would be sittnig on about 8" of concrete thats about 3x3..

[clinebarger]

In this day & age I don't trust any manufacturer, Rotary & Ammco used to make some of the best lifts, My dad has a 35 year old Ammco 2-post that will not die. Some of the highest capacity lifts I have ever worked with are Rotary "Air over Hydraulic" in ground lifts that can lift class 8 trucks.

[Daddy'O]

Originally Posted by mongocanfly

Aggie I know you probably already thought about it but before you pour your concrete I would recomend figure out where your lift bases will sit and dig you a deeper footer where it will sit. About 3'x3' is good.so if your slab is 4" I would go down another 4" so your lift would be sittnig on about 8" of concrete thats about 3x3..

x2

Karl,

I'm still going to get a lift put in my shop before the end of the year come heck or high water! Looks like the high water will come first given all the rain we're getting...

I'm going with a BendPak 4 post lift and possibly a 2 post lift in the way distant future. My slab is 6 inches thick but I also made deeper footings in both bays of the shop to accomodate the 4 post and possible 2 post lift.

Like mongocanfly said though, you have most likely already planned for this.

[aggie91]

Thanks for all the feed back so far guys.

Originally Posted by mongocanfly

Aggie I know you probably already thought about it but before you pour your concrete I would recomend figure out where your lift bases will sit and dig you a deeper footer where it will sit. About 3'x3' is good.so if your slab is 4" I would go down another 4" so your lift would be sittnig on about 8" of concrete thats about 3x3..

Originally Posted by Daddy'O

x2

Karl,

I'm still going to get a lift put in my shop before the end of the year come heck or high water! Looks like the high water will come first given all the rain we're getting...

I'm going with a BendPak 4 post lift and possibly a 2 post lift in the way distant future. My slab is 6 inches thick but I also made deeper footings in both bays of the shop to accomodate the 4 post and possible 2 post lift.

Like mongocanfly said though, you have most likely already planned for this.

I have already got that in my plans. My "extra" footings are going to be 4'x4' and 4"-6" deeper than the bottom of the actual slab. In the post area it will be almost 10" thick. I install VERY large cranes where I work so I will be going a little overboard on the footings for this lift for my shop....

I think the high water is going to get me too at this point. Rained again today and in the forecast for 7 of the next 10 days....

[scotts72heavyhalf]

I have a forward two post 12K lift with the larger foot for securing it to the floor,I love it, it will lift my C10 and my Powerstroke Crew cab and not even grunt, it has manual locks with at first I didnt like because you have to do them one at a time to unlock them but its actually no big deal and I bought it used off Craigslist and installed it myself, it was pretty easy. best thing I ever bought too.