Four post lifts
 

Anyone have any expierence with either of these lifts? Biggest thing I'll be lifting is a 2005 extended cab 1/2 ton truck and the smallest is the Cobrs.

http://www.pantherlifts.com/Panther/...14&prevstart=0

http://www.americanautomotiveequipme...s7000xlt-d.htm

Check out Direct LIft.

Here are some picts.
http://www.gregsmithequipment.com/Ph...de=TP-XL-8K-DS


DJ

I purchased a 4 post use and was told it was American made. In reality it is one of the cheap chinese made ones. It works great as long as it does not fail. If I had to do it over I would go at minimuim with a greag smith or backyard buddy. I had no idea I would use mine so much and now that I have one I will always have one. So for something you will have for a long long time do not try to save $2 to $3K. Mine has no secondary latch system or flow restrictor in case of a hose or hydraulic pump failure. In other words it is possible the car could fall straight to the ground WHILE lifting or lowering and an uncontrolled speed. You could imagine the damage. On the other side once it is locked into position it is as safe as any other in my opinion. I am a mechanical engineer with 20 plus years of "shadetree" experience. I understand the mechanics of my lift and know where to inspect for wear and possible failure points. If you are not as mechanically inclined then do not risk you car or your life and go with the absolute best lift you can buy and have it professionally installed. Do not go with chinese, danmar, american automotive. Go with greg smith on the cheap side or backyard buddy. Once again I have a chinese model and should have gone with a "higher end unit.

I am looking at this lift. It looks pretty cool. New on the market. Go http://www.maxjaxusa.com/

you can use a cylinder lock valve in the port of each cylinder . It will allow free flow up and back as long as it is plumbed correctly .... or put a velocity fuse in the port . The lock valve does just that .... locks the cylinder where it is , the velocity fuse , or a flow control , allows it to come down at a controlled rate . However , please understand that these are intended to be used in the case of a hose or pump failure and that`s why they go directly in the cylinder port .
If the seals on the piston fail , it`s coming down .... but probably not very fast as the oil has to go past the piston and the cylinder wall , and that clearance should be fairly small .... acts like an orifice .
Lock valves are pretty much required in any case where a cylinder hose failure will cause personal injury .... such as a roof bolter in a coal mine or a manlift application .

Exactly Bobcatt,

Once again the question is, do you want to build the 4 post lift yourself?, the cheap chinese do not come with lock valve where the higher ends ones do. Soooo if you are mechanically inclided to find a lock valve and know where to install and inspect your hydraulic lines, then buying a cheap chinese made may be fine, if not buy the better lifts. I found the cable dragging across my hydraulic line to the point where the outer coating was worn away and the braiding was shown.

I have a panther and its works just fine

I have a Direct Lift I bought from greg smith. It has worked perfect for my needs.Mine is now about 2 years old and I have had no problems. It has a positive locking system at each post controlled from one position. I highly recommend it for a hobby shop. Good luck in your search.
sharpe 1

I've got a pair of Stinger lifts made in KS. Yup, they cost a bit more, but I was able to change a few thinge to make things more to my uses (I wanted a few extra feet of height so I could life to the second floor).

Great guys to work with and never had an issue!!!!!!!!

http://www.stingerlifts.com/

Madmax .... agree 1000% . If you can get an American made unit with the proper safety stuff on it .... do it . To go back and add it later gets a little difficult if you don`t work with hydraulics all the time . I believe you`re in Texas , and it also looks like you have the ability to do this ... so if you want to try and add them , maybe contact someone like Womack Fluid Power and they can help on the sizing ?

Thanks Bobcat, I'll give them a call. I also discovered the bolts holding the sheives are grade 2 made in China. Calcs show they have a factor of saftey of 2 based on a 8K-lb load, sad thing is with all the counterfitting going on can I trust the bolts are really from the Chines manufacturer, LOL. I will be changing those to grade 8 also.

Ditto on Stinger lift recommendation . I have had mine about 10 yrs now and never any problems with it . Bill

You bring up an interesting point on the bolts . If the product comes from China , in my mind , all hardware is suspect . A while back , we had a problem during assembly breaking some 1/4" bolts at only 10 ft/lbs torque ..... and not just one or two . The supplier had changed to an "offshore source " without telling us and all 1500 bolts were bad . Seems the carbon content was way off and they were too brittle .
Just my $.02 worth , but if I had any Chinese hardware ...... I wouldn`t . It would be gone in a heartbeat .

Rotary makes a very good lift and you can watch them being welded in Madison, Indiana.

What brand lift did you purchase?

We bought a DANMARR, we use it as a service lift, and storage lift, we've had no problems, It is 7500lb lift and is portable

Bend-Pak HD-9ST
 

Does anybody have any experience (good or bad) with Bend-Pak? I just started my research on a lift for my small, narrow third garage area.


http://www.bendpak.com/products/auto...fts/hd-9st.php

I have been researching Bendpak as well. My Shop uses them and they seem good. I TOO want one in my 3rd spot garage. Been looking at the 2 runner type for $1655 delivered, LR-60P model. supports between the wheels. Only goes up 26 inches though, which is kinda low, but I think sufficient for me.

I think I saw one on Costco.com - if it is not good, you can always return it.

How difficult is it to assemble something like the Danmar D-7X lift; can one person do it, or do you need other equipment and/or a group of friends to help with getting it assembled? TIA.