I am considering the purchase of a car lift for my garage.  I went to the car show in Carlisle a few weeks back to look at the car lift for various vendors.  Does anyone have experience in this area and are there specific brands/manufacturers to avoid?  Has there been a Consumer's Report version of a head to head comparison of brands?

I prefer the two poster because you can get to the entire undercarrige and remove the tires/wheels to do brake work. It gives you much more versatility than the drive on lift.

Scott

i have a scissor lift that raises my car 53' off the floor. VERY SAFE to work under. i went with it because i only have an 8" ceiling in garage, so for me to get the 2 or 4 poster, i felt i would be wasting half of it. another plus is when i am not using it it is under car and out of way. and it was about half the price of the other ones. i will say that if i had the room i might have went with the other ones. just my opinion.

I got a Rotary, 10,000 lb, asymetrical, two-post lift.  I preferred a two-post over anything else for the same reason as Scott did above.  I knew the lift was going to be used for maintaining and its so nice to quickly get all four tires off the ground.  Down the road I'd like to put a 4-post next to it, so I can easily store a car and get the drip pans that go between the ramps so stuff doesn't leak onto what's parked below, but for me, a two-post was the way to go now. Norsky2007-05-09 21:31:45

  I have the Superior 4 Post Lift and it works Fine. However if I was to do it all over again I'd Probably get a 2 Poster. If Your getting it to Work on Your Car I'd Go with a 2 and if Your just going to store a Car and Park another under it I'd get a 4. You will probably get a lot of Hipe about getting an American Made one or an Import. Every One I have seen Use's the same Hydaulic Unit and I doubt any of them Use American Made Steel. You can get a Couple of Brochures and Start Comparring Specs most People Just Look at the Lift Capacity to see what it will Lift. If Your going to get a 4 Post You should be more Concerned about what Your going to Park Under it . My Superior has the Most Lift and I got the Wide Model and to Park my 02 Silverado under it I still Need to Pull in One Mirror. If I didn't get the Wide Model it wouldn't go under. Some of the Better Brands don't even offer Height and or Widths Options so I just Eliminated them. Another Concern is Shipping. They are very Heavy and Trucking them is not Cheap. However when I got Mine they Threw in Free Shipping on the Deal. I've had Mine about 5 Years and If You let it get out of Ajustment a Cable can Slip offf a Pulley and Start Sawing Threw the Axel Bolts. About four Years ago there was a Picture of a C3 that was Hanging at about a 40 degs Circulating in the Corvette Web Sights and Yes I beleive it was a Superior. After studying the Picture I have no Idea how they managed to get it so wrong. No matter what you do You need to look it all over and make sure its Ajusted right once a Month. I have been Told that if I hook the Motor up to 220 Volts rather than 110 it will Lift twice as fast but I havn't done it Yet. I'm My Grand Sport Club they have got Group Discounts when 4-5 people all want one at the same time. (after I got mine) One disadvantage to consider is it will make You Lazy in that You will never work on a Car again if its not on a Lift.....Richard........  

I'm looking at this one , it will fit in my garage just right..

[QUOTE=spielman5]I'm looking at this one , it will fit in my garage just right.. [/QUOTE]

I have the 4 post.   The main idea was for storage but we have used it constantly for working on cars.  If doing it again I would still do the same because it is mobile.  I have a 24 x 36 shop and with the casters can move it anywhere.  It is a little tougher to do tire and suspension work with the 4 post.  It requires the extra step of jacking the vehicle to remove wheels once it is on the lift. 

Gale,

Don't pay any attention to the guys who claim more speed from 220 volts. If it is indeed a dual voltage motor, it will merely pull half the current of a 110 volt motor. The HP of the motor and the GPM of the pump determine the lift speed. The frequency (60 HZ) determines the speed of an AC motor, but hooking a 12 volt DC motor up to a 24 VDC suppply would likely double the motor speed just before the smoke comes out of the motor.

Most everyone knows 'lectric stuff all runs on a sealed closed circuit of smoke circulating through the wires. If you ever see the smoke leaking out of electrical equipment, it is probably shot.... As long as you keep the smoke circulating INSIDE electrical stuff, it will probably run forever. Once it leaks out... fergit it!!! BTW... leaking 'lectric smoke really stinks when it gets out in the air.....

If the nameplate of your AC motor doesn't specify 120 / 240 volts, hooking up a 120 volt motor to 240 volts AC will quickly release the smoke from the motor rendering it scrap.

Want more speed.... get a bigger motor and a bigger pump. I wish I would have had the forethought to order my lift with an upgraded hydraulic unit....

DaveAutom8r2007-05-11 15:46:26