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Ping Furbird and anyone else who has a Lift or uses on Frequently


rockmeupto125

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Lots of fancy talk out there about things I nothing about.  Symmetrical, asymmetrical, 2 stage, 3 stage, top bar, bottom bar, and all kinds of confounding talk.

 

What works for you, and what recommends?  I'm leaning toward one with a top bar so there's nothing interfering on the floor.  Does a top bar add structural rigidity vs a bottom channel?  I've read of some that fit down into a cut into the floor, but haven't found any for sale.  Tell me what you got?

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Forward DP10A****, overhead bar, asymmetrical.

I don't know the science behind the overhead bar/structural rigidity argument but it is my understanding that the towers weigh less vs a bottom bar so the overhead bar is designed to connect the towers as part of the structure.  The overhead bar also carries the cables and the hoses that connect both sides together to allow them to work in unison for both lift/lower and the locking mechanism, so you can't just not install it.  If I can find the installation manual I'll see what it says.

Like you, I didn't want anything on the floor so an overhead bar was the way to go.  Plus it has the stop switch to prevent anything from hitting it and the only thing that has tripped it was the roof rack on the Astro so now I know where to stop that vehicle before it gets that high (it's about one click before max height anyway, no big loss.)

Symmetrical vs asymmetrical, almost everybody uses an asymmetrical lift unless they are exclusively lifting LWB fullsize trucks.  Reason is it allows you to offset the vehicle to the rear so you can get out of it.  This is why I ALWAYS tell everybody to get the widest drive-thru lift you can find (and why I went with the Forward) and why almost everybody goes with asymmetrical.  There's nothing that's been in my shop that you can't open the door on.  As I've said before, my 2500HD has tow mirrors and I don't even have to fold them in.

The more stages on the arms, the more adjustment you have, and the more vehicles they fit.  They also sit lower to the ground if you're not a big fan of lifting on pinch welds (like me) so you can swing under the vehicle to get to structure.

My Forward is a previous generation than what's out there now, so it came with the extended height, truck adapters, etc. which are all add-ons now.  It's made by Rotary.  If you have a problem with a dirty shop, get over it, ain't nobody got time for that.  This is a broom surface concrete finish, ain't no damn museum.  That oil spot is courtesy of John Deere circa 3 hours ago.

 

model.jpg

bar.jpg

arms.jpg

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I like the idea of a drive-on lift with a trolley jack...or maybe two trollies if money allows.  It's fast and easy to get on it and many things one does doesn't require the wheels to be unloaded, and for some things the wheels need to be loaded.

 

I had one but didn't have a place to put it so it got sold.  Had it been a 4 post instead of 2 it would probably be in use today.

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The problem with a 4 post is that they are just SO damn big.  They take up a tremendous amount of room and are always in the way.  They also cost far more than an equivalent two post and when you factor in two trolley jacks (especially air jacks) you are looking at triple the cost for a two post.  We had two at the dealership; one was the alignment rack (duh) and the other one was our oil change rack.  They did that to make it faster to do oil changes and if they upsold a rotate and balance they wouldn't have to pull it off and rack it on a two post.  The problem was those handy-dandy drive on ramps were ALWAYS in the way.  I can't tell you how many people hit their head on those things, because everybody was used to a two post.  It also made it extremely difficult to actually get the wheels on the car; because you can't "walk" the wheel up to the lugs on a 4 post, you have to fight it back on the hub.  I certainly wouldn't want to work on one daily.  Eventually they moved it to detail and it became our undercoating rack.

I'd like to have one now, but it would only be for vertical parking, certainly not to work on cars.  Those style don't have near the footprint (or the capacity) of the commercial monsters plus you can get some with wheels so they can be moved when you still need to use that space for something else.

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Mine was a Rotary alignment lift with a trolley and all the alignment gear.  I knew going in that I might not be able to use it, but it was so cheap I wasn't going to say no even if I knew I couldn't use it.  It was $500, or maybe less.  I bought a bunch of stuff at the same time and they threw in some freebies so I don't remember for sure what I paid for it.

 

The only reason I wished it was a 4 post is because I could have used it without pouring a slab for it.  I considered modding the 2 post to eliminate the need for concrete, but other things pushed me toward selling it.  If one already has an adequate slab, or isn't opposed to pouring one, a 2 post is better.  I don't recall what the concrete requirement was for mine, but it was considerably more than what a standard driveway or home garage would have.

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9 hours ago, superhawk996 said:

Mine was a Rotary alignment lift with a trolley and all the alignment gear.  I knew going in that I might not be able to use it, but it was so cheap I wasn't going to say no even if I knew I couldn't use it.  It was $500, or maybe less.  I bought a bunch of stuff at the same time and they threw in some freebies so I don't remember for sure what I paid for it.

 

The only reason I wished it was a 4 post is because I could have used it without pouring a slab for it.  I considered modding the 2 post to eliminate the need for concrete, but other things pushed me toward selling it.  If one already has an adequate slab, or isn't opposed to pouring one, a 2 post is better.  I don't recall what the concrete requirement was for mine, but it was considerably more than what a standard driveway or home garage would have.

But you would only need it for the posts, not the whole floor right?  

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48 minutes ago, blackhawkxx said:

But you would only need it for the posts, not the whole floor right?  

To be safe you'd have to pour it to spec for at least the length/width of the entire lift, realistically you could probably do it smaller.  When you have a couple tons over your head how much comfort will you have knowing that it all hangs in the balance of your guestimate?

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Since he's building a shop from the ground up, the entire slab only needs to be 4.25+.  If you were cutting into the existing floor to pour a pad, that's when it has to be super deep.  The load is spread across a lot more floor than your think.  My floor was 4.5+ because any lift installer checks the slab before they install it, otherwise they won't install it due to the liability.

https://www.bendpak.com/car-lifts/concrete-floor-requirements/
 

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29 minutes ago, Furbird said:

Since he's building a shop from the ground up, the entire slab only needs to be 4.25+.  If you were cutting into the existing floor to pour a pad, that's when it has to be super deep.  The load is spread across a lot more floor than your think.  My floor was 4.5+ because any lift installer checks the slab before they install it, otherwise they won't install it due to the liability.

https://www.bendpak.com/car-lifts/concrete-floor-requirements/
 

Where does Bendpak, or any other manufacturer, show different concrete requirements for "entire slab" vs. a cut and pour pad?

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46 minutes ago, Furbird said:

Since he's building a shop from the ground up, the entire slab only needs to be 4.25+.  If you were cutting into the existing floor to pour a pad, that's when it has to be super deep.  The load is spread across a lot more floor than your think.  My floor was 4.5+ because any lift installer checks the slab before they install it, otherwise they won't install it due to the liability.

https://www.bendpak.com/car-lifts/concrete-floor-requirements/
 

Where in that link does it show that an "entire slab" can be thinner than the stated minimum requirement of a particular lift?  As far as a cut and pour pad, they show much higher requirements because they're allowing for a very small slabs.

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Oscar, if you read it you would see that it is explaining what you have to do very clearly.  If the floor is not of even thickness and reinforced then you have to build a large enough reinforced pad to support the lift and all the weight it is holding, plus it has to prevent tipping/shear and a lot of other factors.  Here is a video showing what this guy had to do (it's shown in the first two minutes.)

I've said it before and I'll say it again; buy once, cry once.  You install this fucking thing wrong, you're dead.  I had my entire building designed for lifts, not built a building then decided to put a lift in later.  That's also why I had it permitted.  They couldn't do jack shit until it was signed off on.
 

 

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2 hours ago, Furbird said:

Oscar, if you read it you would see that it is explaining what you have to do very clearly.  If the floor is not of even thickness and reinforced then you have to build a large enough reinforced pad to support the lift and all the weight it is holding, plus it has to prevent tipping/shear and a lot of other factors.  Here is a video showing what this guy had to do (it's shown in the first two minutes.)

I've said it before and I'll say it again; buy once, cry once.  You install this fucking thing wrong, you're dead.  I had my entire building designed for lifts, not built a building then decided to put a lift in later.  That's also why I had it permitted.  They couldn't do jack shit until it was signed off on.
 

You said that an existing floor only needs to be 4.25+.  The lowest requirement for an existing floor is 4.5" and it goes up to 8", all depending on which model lift is being installed.  So again, show me where it says that 4.25+ is all that's needed.

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10 hours ago, Furbird said:

Yes, I was thinking of a different brand's list, you're correct that 4.25 will cover some lifts.  It's still incorrect to say "all he needs is 4.25".  Especially when there are requirements beyond the thickness.  And with that I'm done poluting Joe's thread, it's pointless now since his slab is done.

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Well, it's concrete, but it identifies as stucco.

 

You know, like that guy that wins all the women's swimming championships.

 

it's 3500psi fiber reinforced concrete.  I should have had them put dye in it. Can't cry over poured concrete.

It's thicker at the perimeter and under the area for the lift. Minimum thickness is 4-4.5 inches. There's mesh in the lift area.  I have no idea what the air mix was or the thermomagnetic coefficient of the mesh, Lowes didn't have the MSDS for it.

 

 

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