2 post lifts

anderson750

I'm working on it Rose
Location
Price, Utah
I am in the market for and have been doing some research on 2 post lifts. In particular I am looking for a 9k lift. I thought it would be good to have a thread about them.

What would you look for in a lift and do you have any real life experience with some of the brands out there on the market?
 

I Lean

Mbryson's hairdresser
Vendor
Location
Utah
I don't have lots of experience, but I can share what I know about my Atlas lift. (Greg Smith Equipment) I have no complaints with how it works at all. I chose a 10K model because that option gave me a few extra inches between the uprights, which I do like. It's pretty tight to full-size vehicles as is, so having it narrower would make it less convenient when needing to open doors.

Mine is a base-plate model since my ceilings aren't high enough. I don't like that part of it, but that's not the lift's fault. :)
 

anderson750

I'm working on it Rose
Location
Price, Utah
I don't have lots of experience, but I can share what I know about my Atlas lift. (Greg Smith Equipment) I have no complaints with how it works at all. I chose a 10K model because that option gave me a few extra inches between the uprights, which I do like. It's pretty tight to full-size vehicles as is, so having it narrower would make it less convenient when needing to open doors.

Mine is a base-plate model since my ceilings aren't high enough. I don't like that part of it, but that's not the lift's fault. :)
Good info. I have a 17’ ceiling so height won’t be a limiting factor. One factor I have to consider is width. I have not measured yet to see where everything would sit but I don’t want the post to prevent me from putting the slide all the way out on my motorhome while it is in the garage.

What is the footprint on your lift?
 

zmotorsports

Hardcore Gearhead
Vendor
Location
West Haven, UT
Like Carl, I chose a 10k pound model so I could get a wider inside column width mainly, plus I work on some larger trucks such as 4-door Duramax and Cummins trucks and wanted the capacity. The interior width was a small amount but every bit helps.

I also work on a lot of FWD cars so I waffled on a symmetrical vs. asymmetrical style of lift more than anything. I know most automotive lifts are built oversees and then some are assembled in the US and advertised as "Made in the USA", however, more importantly I only chose to look at lifts that are ALI certified. Reason being as in order to be ALI (Automotive Lift Institute) Certified the lift must pass a specific set of standards such as cable type, swedge spec's and safety locking mechanisms but more importantly they must be rated to safely lift and suspend 150% of the rated capacity. That means a 10k pound lift must be able to have a safety margin built in for 15k pounds. I knew it would not only be me under the lift but also my son and wanted that certification if nothing more than peace of mind.

I also didn't want a base plate design because I do a lot of suspension and transmission work and really didn't want that plate on the floor impeding my transmission jack or even my tool cart being rolled around. I know some people with ceiling heights don't have much of a choice but if at all possible get one with overhead lines rather than a base plate model.

Lastly I started looking at ones with the largest footprint at the column. My thinking was a bigger footprint meant more stable as it would not only spread the load out over a larger area but also the floor anchors would not be as close as a smaller column base.

With looking at all these parameters I decided I really wanted a Mohawk 10k pound 2-post lift. Mohawk is the only fully USA made lift, however, my budget was about a third of what those run. My next level down brought me to Atlas, Challenger, Ammco, Rotary and Forward brands. A buddy of mine has several of the Atlas lifts at his shop and he loves them. However, his biggest gripe is with smaller cars as all his Atlas lifts were symmetrical lifts.

I then went to a couple other shops around that I knew the owners of and started asking questions. My findings resulted in most everyone was happy with their purchases and no one was actually unhappy with any of them but it seemed they all had pro's and con's. One shop had just installed Challenger Versa-lifts which were a hybrid between symmetrical and asymmetrical style of lifts. They were very pleased with the 3-stage arms both front and rear as the symmetrically positioned columns but on really heavy vehicles they preferred to use there Rotary or Forward symmetrical lifts even though they were rated 1k pounds less (9k vs. 10k lifts).

I then stumbled across the Ammco 10k pound 2-post lift in a NAPA Real Deals ad one day and noticed they were also more of a hybrid design by keeping the symmetrical positioned columns yet equipped with triple stage front arms and dual stage rear arms thus allowing vehicles to be lifted in both the traditional symmetrical fashion as well as small to mid-size front wheel drive's lifted in the asymmetrical configuration and had very large mounting feet at the column bases. Upon further investigation I found that both the Ammco and the Challenger lifts came out of the same Dannaher factory and were quite similar and advertised as hybrids between symmetrical and asymmetrical lifting configurations. I ended purchasing the Ammco 10k pound 2-in-1 labeled lift on the NAPA Real Deals pricing and a co-worker of mine purchased the Challenger Versa-lift several months later as it was on sale at the time in the Real Deals ad. Both are quite similar but not sure if they are still made by Dannaher or not. I purchased my Ammco 10k pound lift back in mid-2011 so I have had it for over 10 years now. No issues whatsoever and still use it very frequently. There are times I wish I had a second lift in fact so I don't regret purchasing it.

Here are some pictures of my Ammco 2 in 1 10k pound lift being used to lift a variety of vehicle sizes and designs in both the symmetrical and asymmetrical manner.
lift1.jpg

lift2.jpg

lift3.jpg

lift4.jpg

lift5.jpg

Hope this is helpful.

Mike
 

cruiseroutfit

Cruizah!
Moderator
Vendor
Location
Sandy, Ut
I did Challenger at my house and shop. There is a Utah dealer that stocks, installs and services them. They install the same lifts in auto shops, dealerships, schools, etc quite regularly.

The local outfit (Automotive Specialty Equipment) was fantastic to work with. Very clean install, etc.

 

Jinx

when in doubt, upgrade!
Location
So Jordan, Utah
Another option. I ended up working with Professional Automotive Equipment this year to install a lift.

Pretty impressed with them helping me decide what would work vs. telling me what I wanted to here.

 

bryson

RME Resident Ninja
Supporting Member
Location
West Jordan
I have the same 10k# Challenger 2-post that @cruiseroutfit has with the exception that I opted for the extended height option. The work-under height does not change, but the height between the lift arms and top of the lift is 2' taller - this allows me to lift taller-bodied vehicles (think Sprinter van, SUV/truck with roof rack, etc.) to the same height off the ground without fear of hitting the top of the lift. Nice option for sure if you have the vertical space for it. My ceiling is 17'-18' and I have room above the lift to spare even with the extra 2'.
 

skippy

Pretend Fabricator
Location
Tooele
I have a 10k ATLAS with extra height and extra width. Its my favorite lift I have ever used. I have 2 others at the shop as well but they are definately inferior to the atlas.
 

Vonski

nothing to see here...
Location
Payson, Utah
A lot of good info, so I’ll be watching as well… I’ve had a spot ear-marked in my shop since the slab was poured. I had planned on a 10k lift, but now have a truck that exceeds that by 1500#, so been looking at the 12k-13k models. 🤷‍♂️ Any recommendations/info welcome.
 

2002maniac

Active Member
Location
Brigham City
One option I found a while ago that seemed pretty budget friendly but still had good reviews Is Twin Busch.


They have a warehouse in Vegas if you don't mind taking a trip down there you could save some shipping costs.
 

anderson750

I'm working on it Rose
Location
Price, Utah
One option I found a while ago that seemed pretty budget friendly but still had good reviews Is Twin Busch.


They have a warehouse in Vegas if you don't mind taking a trip down there you could save some shipping costs.
Was in Vegas today and stopped by Twin Busch to look at the lifts in person. The only lifts they have in stock right now are the 9200lb units. I think the build quality on them is good and would consider them medium duty. I have looked at some lifts that seem to be a little heavier built but these do not look cheap. The 9200 with the auto unlocking is 2599 where the manual unlock is 2399.

I want to look some others but am keeping this on my list of lifts I would consider.
 

rholbrook

Well-Known Member
Location
Kaysville, Ut
I have been looking at 4 post lifts. I mainly want it for storage of another vehicle. My problem I am finding is drive through height. My garage height is more that enough, I will have to have my garage door open tracks moved to go up instead of back.
 

cruiseroutfit

Cruizah!
Moderator
Vendor
Location
Sandy, Ut
Y'all see the Atlas lift arm failure that was all over Facebook last week? I didn't dig way into it but may were suspect of the weld quality on the Atlas. Others said it was loaded wrong and that cause the arm to crack. Atlas was high on my list of options too.
 

I Lean

Mbryson's hairdresser
Vendor
Location
Utah
Y'all see the Atlas lift arm failure that was all over Facebook last week? I didn't dig way into it but may were suspect of the weld quality on the Atlas. Others said it was loaded wrong and that cause the arm to crack. Atlas was high on my list of options too.
Link?

Since I haz an Atlas lift....
 
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