Anyone own a 4 post garage lift for their Z?

[whamo]

Here is the side by side comparison I mentioned in the earlier thread.

http://www.metro-lifts.com/backyardbuddy_BendPak_compare.pdf

[WW2Winger]

I bought a two post lift about a year ago and have been very satisfied. Like Steve said above, they will really put the sales pitch on you to buy their product. I researched for months to be sure I got what I needed. I learned that many of the imported lifts are the same manufacturer but are marketed under different names. Not a problem with that, just be aware that many of them are identical and the only difference is the name, hype, color, etc. Four post or two, I think, is a matter of personal preference. My vision saw very few advantages to the four post that the two post didn't have, while the two post offers features that the four poster does not. Again, personal preferences and needs should prevail. For the price diffeence, I chose the imported lift after comparing side by side with the domestic models. If I owned a shop and would be up and down dozens of times a day, I might have spent the extra bucks, but for my needs, I have more than I will ever need. I did go with a bit of over capacity as I believe it is more heavy duty and this should translate into less wear and tear and therefore, longer life. Mine has an 11,000# capacity and is an "asymetrical" design. Not to belabor this thread, but just my .02. Again, a very good buy for my needs. Good luck

[mgmoreau]

Jim and Steve,

Thanks for the helpful feedback. I am going to a dealer tomorrow after work to compare two lifts, a TEC7000I and a Revolution 7000 (made by Rotary).

Steve, thanks for the tip on the extra height lift to walk under neath easily. I never thought of that and was thinking I only needed to shorter lift.

I really appreciate all this feedback!

[mally002]

I have been following this thread and am going to ask a stupid question....maybe....

I really like the bendpak lift and after looking at the specs it has a total height of 100" or 8.3 feet. It looks like when a vehicle is on it the car is raised to about 60" or 72". I have a 9 foot ceiling in my garage, so wouldn't this lift work if I just raised the car to 5 feet....does that make sense, it would still leave 4 feet to the ceiling. 240's are what...51 inches or so tall (that a guess), so in theory couldn't you use this lift with a 9 foot ceiling.

Does this makes sense...You would just have to be careful when raising the car so that you don't crush the top on the ceiling and still have room underneath.

If this will work I'm all over it...

[whamo]

I have been following this thread and am going to ask a stupid question....maybe....

I really like the bendpak lift and after looking at the specs it has a total height of 100" or 8.3 feet. It looks like when a vehicle is on it the car is raised to about 60" or 72". I have a 9 foot ceiling in my garage, so wouldn't this lift work if I just raised the car to 5 feet....does that make sense, it would still leave 4 feet to the ceiling. 240's are what...51 inches or so tall (that a guess), so in theory couldn't you use this lift with a 9 foot ceiling.

Does this makes sense...You would just have to be careful when raising the car so that you don't crush the top on the ceiling and still have room underneath.

If this will work I'm all over it...

Yes, you could just lift the car 5 feet, but that wouldnt allow much room for working under the car.

[bigoak]

Remember that you'd gain a few inches as you lift from the base of the body, not the wheels.

[xray]

Don't forget to account for lost height due to the track of your garage door. If it hangs down 18-24", in an 8-9ft high garage space you probably can't open the door with a car raised on the lift. You could if your ceiling height is 10-12ft or (in a lower-ceiling garage) your door gets very close to the ceiling when in the open position . Or, your door does not open vertically....

[mgmoreau]

Don't forget to account for lost height due to the track of your garage door. If it hangs down 18-24", in an 8-9ft high garage space you probably can't open the door with a car raised on the lift. You could if your ceiling height is 10-12ft or (in a lower-ceiling garage) your door gets very close to the ceiling when in the open position . Or, your door does not open vertically....

Steve,

Good point, I have been doing a lot of measuring to see how the different lifts would fit in my garage. My ceiling is 10'6". I was going to look into having a new track installed for the garage door so that the track would only be 6 inches from the ceiling rather than the 30 inches it hangs now.

PS Steve, I enjoyed viewing your photo album on the restoration. You did an awesome job restoring the Z. I can't imagine how many hours you have invested. Where did you get the SEM paint for the interior vinyl? It looks great.

Edited October 1, 2008 by mgmoreau
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[xray]

Hi Marc,

Thanks for the compliments! It was an enjoyable job, for sure. Not sure how many hours--it's easy to lose track of time doing what I like! I got almost all my paints from Eastwood, although I bet most are available locally at auotmotive paint shops.

Steve

[DougN]

I bought my 4-post lift from Greg Smith, and am very pleased with it. After doing lots of research and looking at the specs, I could not justify the significant extra $$$$ for the BackYard Buddy (not that there is anything wrong with it) for what I am using it for. Mine is the Direct Lift Pro Park 8 Plus (which incidentally seems to work just like the BYB)

The lift I got includes 3 drip trays, a jack "tray/stand" and they threw in an oil changing funnel/drum when I asked for it. The lift also includes 4 wheels that you can attach to the posts to move it around the garage or wherever you want to put it (you can see them leaning on the back garage wall behind the air compressor next to the lift in the photo I have attached). No clearance problems, it has a great safety system to ensure the lift doesn't fall.

My garage is almost the same size as yours is Marc. I am 21' wide and 24' deep ( 27' on my side with a 3' alcove). I put mine as close to the wall and back of the garage as I could. I can put a car under it and open both doors if necessary, but it is a bit tight on the wall side (so I back in the car that will be under the lift). My wife can get her car on here side, and even with a lawnmower in the middle, still has plenty of room on both sides of her car.

As you can see from the attached photos, I put 3 cars on my side with no problems. The garage door is the standard 8' door, and opens without any issues, and stops a few inches from the end of the lift (see second photo taken from a ladder).

I love the lift and it is great for getting under and working on the car. Be advised, you'll see lots of things you might not have noticed about your car(s) before! In the photos, the lift has 2 more notches and is 68" at the bottom of the ramp, and over 6' under the car).

[mgmoreau]

I bought my 4-post lift from Greg Smith, and am very pleased with it. After doing lots of research and looking at the specs, I could not justify the significant extra $$$$ for the BackYard Buddy (not that there is anything wrong with it) for what I am using it for. Mine is the Direct Lift Pro Park 8 Plus (which incidentally seems to work just like the BYB)

The lift I got includes 3 drip trays, a jack "tray/stand" and they threw in an oil changing funnel/drum when I asked for it. The lift also includes 4 wheels that you can attach to the posts to move it around the garage or wherever you want to put it (you can see them leaning on the back garage wall behind the air compressor next to the lift in the photo I have attached). No clearance problems, it has a great safety system to ensure the lift doesn't fall.

My garage is almost the same size as yours is Marc. I am 21' wide and 24' deep ( 27' on my side with a 3' alcove). I put mine as close to the wall and back of the garage as I could. I can put a car under it and open both doors if necessary, but it is a bit tight on the wall side (so I back in the car that will be under the lift). My wife can get her car on here side, and even with a lawnmower in the middle, still has plenty of room on both sides of her car.

As you can see from the attached photos, I put 3 cars on my side with no problems. The garage door is the standard 8' door, and opens without any issues, and stops a few inches from the end of the lift (see second photo taken from a ladder).

I love the lift and it is great for getting under and working on the car. Be advised, you'll see lots of things you might not have noticed about your car(s) before! In the photos, the lift has 2 more notches and is 68" at the bottom of the ramp, and over 6' under the car).

Hey Doug,

Thanks so much for posting these pics. This is the lift I am leaning towards because of the price and they are now ALI Certified. It is one of the few Chinese lifts that carry that certification.

Does your lift have the double lock system and how do you like that feature? Also did you go with the 110 or 220 motor?

Was it worth the extra money to get the plus version?

Thanks again,

Marc

[DougN]

Marc,

Gald to be of assistance. Yes, the lift has the double lock system. It definately works because when we were installing it, we ran the cables the wrong way thru the first time (which made the system think the cable was broken) and the lift would not go anywhere! I like the added security - to me, anything that helps make sure that my car will not fall is a good thing The channel locks are good too, I just lift the car to the point I want it, then let if back down to engage the channel lock. So the lift is not dependant on hydralic pressure to keep it where it is.

I got the 110 motor, it take about two minutes for the 110 motor to go from the ground to 6 feet up. To me, that is plenty fast enough.

I like the plus version as it is higher than the standard. This means that I can put the car at 6 feet up and still have two more notches (over one more foot) to go higher, and I like that the lift is not all the way at the top where I normally keep it. I think it is more stable that way. If you have the ceiling room, I'd get the plus. If not, I am sure the standard would work just fine as well. Based on my photo, you can see that even with the standard you could keep it a bit lower for storage use (and raise to the top when you want to work on the car) and still get a car under it without a problem.

Also, I did not have mine bolted down, and it stays in place just fine.

Hope this helps, good luck with your lift purchase!