Questions for 4-post Lift Users/Owners

[turbojimmy]

This is going to be a long one, but I’d appreciate any advice people with 4-post lifts can offer.

I think I’m going to pull the trigger on a Rotary 4-post lift. They’re probably the most expensive but also appear to be the best built. The purpose is mostly for parking, but I also want to make sure that it will help in ‘day to day’ maintenance of the GN (or other cars).

Obviously with the 4-post lift you don’t have the benefit of being able to raise the car in a manner that hangs the tires. But, with a jack plate you can at least get the car up to a comfortable height and jack up the wheels from there.

How about exhaust work, transmission work or other types of underneath-the-car work? Do the platforms get in the way so much that it’s not really worth messing with a 4-post lift from a maintenance perspective? I’m particularly interested in transmission work.

I have the ceiling height to put the GN on top and the Caddy on the bottom so from a parking perspective it’s good. If I get a car that’s much taller than the Caddy it’s going to be a problem but for now it’s good.

My second line of questioning is around floor prep. I have a fairly new house so the floor should be 3,000 PSI or better. The Rotary sales guy says that’s all I have to worry about, except for slope. If the floor slopes more than 1/8” over a foot then the lift needs bolted down. I planned on bolting it down anyway. My problem is that I’m pretty sure that the fill under my floor has settled and that the floor is essentially floating. I’d swear that when my wife pulls in I can feel it ‘bounce’ and when I drag the floor jack over it it sounds hollow. Might be my imagination though. The Rotary rep didn’t seem concerned with this as long as the floor was 3,000 PSI or better. The floor was installed with rebar drilled into the foundation walls as well as a reinforcement mesh. There is a pillar in the middle of the garage and there are cracks that start at the pillar and go outward making me think that the floor has settled around the pillar. But….looking at the edges of the floor where it meets the foundation there is no obvious sign that the floor has sunk. I’d be able to see a line where the floor originally was versus where it is now. It looks okay. I guess the question is did anyone have to do anything special to their floors? Given my description would you do something different in my situation? I’m concerned because the lift weighs 2,000 lbs. and the Caddy weighs 3,500 lbs. so that’s another 5,500 lbs on the floor that wasn’t there before. Again, the Rotary guy said that if the concrete is good that shouldn’t be a concern.

Last, for those that installed them yourselves how did you take delivery? They said I can have a flatbed (tow truck) pick it up and dump it in my garage. I could then disassemble the 2,000 lb. pallet and move the individual pieces. Thinking about it, a flat bed would only be able to dump half of it into the garage. I was thinking I could put 3” PVC under it in a few places and roll it into the garage.

Thanks,
Jim

 

[Limited87]

Jim, I can tell you about mine. I wanted my 4 post lift for all the same reasons as you. Mostly for the 2nd car storage. I have found myself using it for work way more than I thought I would. Trans changes, exhaust systems, brakes, oil changes, exc. You name it and mostly on Buicks . It has never been a problem. The jack tray makes it almost identical to a 2 post if your working on one end of the car at a time for tire/wheel changes, brake work, exc. I recommend getting a trans jack to make those trans job's real simple. The style that goes clear up in the car with the foot peddle pump. There a little pricey but well worth it. I can do trans swaps in TRs in an hour and fifteen minutes by myself.

Exhaust work in my opinion is better on a 4 post. You get the exact ride height of the suspension of the car when your putting it on...there is no lowering the car onto the wheels and having the exhaust hit the or rub something it wasnt even close to when the wheels were fully hanging down from being suspended in the air.

As far as the floor situation. I dont know anything about concrete but I will say that I was told by several places you need a minimum 4 inches of concrete thickness to have a lift. I know a couple guys who dont bolt theres down who just use them for the storage purposes but if your doing tranny work and you start getting evil with shoving things a bit it obviously way safer to have them bolted to the floor.

As far as delivery. I went and picked it up at the the R&L truck terminal with a utilty type flat bed trailer. They loaded it with a fork lift and I took it home. I had a couple buds come over and help set it up. With 3 guys lifting the pieces it wasnt bad. We carried one pillar at a time in and stood it up in place and did the same with the section the car rolls on. It took maybe 2 hours to complete but wasnt a bad job to do. It is the best piece of equipment I have ever bought bar none.

Hope this helps you.

Brian

 

[turbojimmy]

Jim, I can tell you about mine. I wanted my 4 post lift for all the same reasons as you. Mostly for the 2nd car storage. I have found myself using it for work way more than I thought I would. Trans changes, exhaust systems, brakes, oil changes, exc. You name it and mostly on Buicks . It has never been a problem. The jack tray makes it almost identical to a 2 post if your working on one end of the car at a time for tire/wheel changes, brake work, exc. I recommend getting a trans jack to make those trans job's real simple. The style that goes clear up in the car with the foot peddle pump. There a little pricey but well worth it. I can do trans swaps in TRs in an hour and fifteen minutes by myself.

Exhaust work in my opinion is better on a 4 post. You get the exact ride height of the suspension of the car when your putting it on...there is no lowering the car onto the wheels and having the exhaust hit the or rub something it wasnt even close to when the wheels were fully hanging down from being suspended in the air.

As far as the floor situation. I dont know anything about concrete but I will say that I was told by several places you need a minimum 4 inches of concrete thickness to have a lift. I know a couple guys who dont bolt theres down who just use them for the storage purposes but if your doing tranny work and you start getting evil with shoving things a bit it obviously way safer to have them bolted to the floor.

As far as delivery. I went and picked it up at the the R&L truck terminal with a utilty type flat bed trailer. They loaded it with a fork lift and I took it home. I had a couple buds come over and help set it up. With 3 guys lifting the pieces it wasnt bad. We carried one pillar at a time in and stood it up in place and did the same with the section the car rolls on. It took maybe 2 hours to complete but wasnt a bad job to do. It is the best piece of equipment I have ever bought bar none.

Hope this helps you.

Brian

Thanks for the info. I hadn't thought about using a utility trailer. I could also rent a truck. My concern was getting it off the truck/trailer but it hadn't occurred to me that I could break the pallet down and move the pieces individually.

Jim

 

[ChrisCairns]

I have a two post.

And it was recommended to me to have at least 6" of concrete so I made certain the area of the shop where the lift is situated had that.

I can't compare the 2 and 4 posts since I've only ever had a 2 post. But I looked at a 4 post before I bought mine and it would have been too cramped and inconvenient to work on the underside of a car I thought. The one I looked at just had about a 2 foot opening between the wheel pads which may or may not have been enough to remove a tranny etc.

The first couple of years I had mine I did park a car on it and one under all winter with no problems.

Oh one more thing....it's the BEST and most useful tool I've ever bought. And I got the cheap one...lol. $1700 plus freight of about $350.

 

[turbojimmy]

Oh one more thing....it's the BEST and most useful tool I've ever bought. And I got the cheap one...lol. $1700 plus freight of about $350.

If I had the ceiling height I'd consider a 2-post but I only have 10' 7".

Jim

 

[ChrisCairns]

If I had the ceiling height I'd consider a 2-post but I only have 10' 7".

Jim

I just went out and measured. I'm not limited by the roof of the car hitting the ceiling, I'm limited by the trunk hitting a crossbeam. So from the cement floor to the crossbeam it was 105". Putting the tape measure on the trunk I eyeballed the measurement to the car's rooftop. It was around 18". Total of 123" or 10' 3". You might be alright.

With that said, on mine I need another 2" (my wife agrees) because right now my head hits the frame slightly when I walk under the car.

 

[Grumpy]

I have a 4 post to... Limited 87 said just about everything .. I had mine delivered and installed for $500.. I just couldn't be bothered wasting my time .. Mine is bolted to the floor with no problems.. got it in 1999 or 2000 from what my brain remembers . Oh I got the "air jack" that slides on the inside rails on the ramps.. works great BUT was pricey ($1800) .. my ramps are adjustable to .. plenty of room to do anything on the car

 

[gnxtc2]

If I had the ceiling height I'd consider a 2-post but I only have 10' 7".

Jim

Then you will defineitely have to install a footing for the 2 post lift.

Don't forget that the lift has to go up to unlatch the safetys.

Billy T.
gnxtc2@aol.com

 

[Buicksx2]

Jim,

I have a 2 post 7000lb Rotary and I have not had a single problem, you will be happy if you decide to go with Rotary.

Best of luck.

 

[turbojimmy]

Jim,

I have a 2 post 7000lb Rotary and I have not had a single problem, you will be happy if you decide to go with Rotary.

Best of luck.

Thanks. I'm going to do a chalk outline on the floor this weekend to make sure my measurements are correct. I'm then going to poke a hole in it to see how thick it is. If all goes well I'll probably take the plunge next week since I don't have to work.

Jim

 

[DCVING 6]

Don't forget that the lift has to go up to unlatch the safetys.

Billy T.
gnxtc2@aol.com

Could you imagion making that mistake. I went up too high, now I can go any higher to get the car down.

 

[turbojimmy]

Could you imagion making that mistake. I went up too high, now I can go any higher to get the car down.

Yikes! Yes, that would suck.

I have plenty of room, relatively speaking. In the calculation they have you leave 2" from the lowest obstruction so that you can lift it out of the locks. Even then, I have an extra 4" or so at the top lock. I'll just have to be careful what I put on there. The Caddy is 3" taller than the Buick.

It's a little tight but it should work. I need to put the transmission back in the GN so I can get to that bay and take some more measurements.

Thanks for all the replies! It's a huge decision and I'm trying to do it in an educated manner. The angle I'm using on the wife is that it adds value to the house, which isn't totally without merit.

Jim

 

[DCVING 6]

I've been researching 2 post lifts for a few months now. Most of them require 145". We are looking at building a new house within the next 2 years or so. I'm hoping we can do 12' ceilings to start with.

 

[ChrisCairns]

The angle I'm using on the wife is that it adds value to the house, which isn't totally without merit.

Jim

You better hope she doesn't find out the truth or we know whose chalk outline will be on the floor.

 

[chopped39]

My buddy has a 4 post rotary with two sliding center jacks. We have pulled transmissions with lots of room . The center jacks are not cheap. I have an old line-o-tronics 2 post. They dont make them like this anymore 3/4 plate steel it will lift 10,000 lbs. Rotary is by far the best lift out there.Very reliable. If you were around chicago I have a guy that installs them. He can get used and new rotary lifts priced very fair.

 

[NASSTY]

I've been researching 2 post lifts for a few months now. Most of them require 145". We are looking at building a new house within the next 2 years or so. I'm hoping we can do 12' ceilings to start with.

I have a 12' ceiling in my garage.My Challenger CL9 can be set at 11'4" or 11'8" column height.
http://services.contentmagic.com/files/54/1123160925590.pdf

 

[Turbo Indian]

as for your concrete situation if your home is a track home " a home built by a huge developer in a development" I would say that there is a good chance that the floor was not compacted properly. but if it was built by a custom home builder it was probably built correctly. to be safe what you could do is install the lift it the location you want, mark it's location, then saw it out & re pour the ares to 8'' thick to insure it not falling through.

 

[turbojimmy]

as for your concrete situation if your home is a track home " a home built by a huge developer in a development" I would say that there is a good chance that the floor was not compacted properly. but if it was built by a custom home builder it was probably built correctly. to be safe what you could do is install the lift it the location you want, mark it's location, then saw it out & re pour the ares to 8'' thick to insure it not falling through.

My home is a track home and I know for a fact that the builder was a scumbag. I know the fill was not compacted properly because I watched them do it (not knowing at the time, of course, that it was being done incorrectly). I was thinking I'd have to pour 'pads' for the 4 posts but then I wondered what cutting holes would do to the integrity of the floor in general (i.e., the lift would be okay but my Cadillac would fall through the floor).

Thanks for the reply.

Jim

 

[Turbo Indian]

you have a couple options.
#1 remove the entire floor should cost you about $2500. or so
#2 leave what you have & hope for the best.
#3 cut the floor out & re pour some pads & then you would see how much
settling you have had & make your decision about #1.

I'm willing to bet there is not that much settling under the slab you have. if there are no huge cracks in your floor it has not settled because there is nothing compressing the soil under the existing concrete. I have 1 spot in my shop floor that sounds hollow but I poured my own floor @ 6-8'' thick with wire & fiber in the concrete because I drive heavy trucks into my shop.

 

[cruzn57]

my 2 cents

drill the concrete where the pads will be, see how thick the concrete, and...
look at the compaction, I have pumped concrete thur a hole to reinforce the floor, and to add support,
worst case , you fill up the holes you drilled, if eveything is ok,
if there was a gap/space between the concrete and pad, fill it with cement.
good luck!