RE: Lifts for cars

["Brian Shorey" <bshorey@domain.elided>]

> I believe the best one is the old, single post, in-the floor, hydraulic
> frame lift, that every service facility had twenty years ago. It has
> numerous advantages versus these two and four- post, above-the floor
> lifts and very few disadvantages. I know people who have both styles.
>
> Advantages:
>     Takes up less space. When you park a car over it, it takes up no
> more space than no lift at all.    Most of us probably need all the
> space we can get. These above-the floor units take up a lot of floor
> space beyond the width and length of the car.

true.

>     Eay to work on suspension, brakes, wheels and tires, as they are not
> supporting the car when it is off the floor.

my two post lift allows this as well, so i don't see this as an advantage.

> Easy to install (believe it or not). Only need a hole in the ground and
> a narrow, shallow trench to the air-supply source. A 5 hp (110 volt, for
> N.A. users) compressor on a 60 gal. tank will operate one very well.
> Don't need an extra-thick, reinforced, concrete slab.

two post lift is easier - i drilled 12 holes in my floor for the mounting
hardware.  the only potential disadvantage is that you need 5" thick floors.

> Cheap. Gas stations are taking them out to convert the old lube room to
> a mini mart. The lifts are going to the dump. Find a local business that
> services this equipment in auto shops and they can probably find one
> that is being removed.
>
> Disadvantages:
>
> Hard to do clutch and transmission work on front-engine, rear-wheel
> drive cars.

or exhaust work, or access to anything in the middle of the undersides.
other than suspension work, for all of the most common maintenance items
(exhaust, drive shaft donuts, etc) the lift gets in your way.  this, imo, is
a huge disadvantage.

> Not portable. Harder to move when you move to another house, but
> probably not as hard as it seems, if you have a professional move it.
> Above-the-floor units are tough to move,too.

my two post lift was relatively easy to move from the prior residence to
it's current one.

> Doesn't roll around the garage. How often would one move one of these,
> anyhow? Could one move an above-the-floor unit with a car on it?
>
> Can't store another car under it. Probably the only strong benefit of
> the above-the-floor, unit. But, the above-the-floor unit only does this
> with an above-average ceiling height.

if you can lift a car enough to make it worthwhile to work underneath it,
then you're high enough to store something under it.  fwiw i've also used
mine with the arms under the roof of a gutted shell to allow a car trailer
to slip underneath the car - makes disposal of gutted out parts cars with no
suspension a breeze.

one disadvantage you failed to mention is that with the in the ground
hydraulic system you don't have simple access to any or all of the working
mechanisms of the lift.  with all of the above ground lifts everything is
out in the open.

the biggest disadvantage of a two post lift, in my experience, is that you
sometimes can't open the doors all the way.

i think if you're looking to do body work, rocker repair, etc, then a four
post lift is your best bet.  otherwise i'd go with a two post lift.  the in
the floor hydraulic lifts have way too many disadvantages, imo.

i'm pretty sure they're all y2k compliant ;)

later,

bs

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