I do not currently have a lift in my shop. Installed several two post lifts in my past and have two friends with 4 post lifts. I have researched many for my shop. I do actually want a single post to mount against my wall and have minimal other structure in the middle of the shop - other than the 3 inch floor structure sticking out at the base it’s the cleanest. But with the/my desired additional custom height and only one manufacturer I would trust, the price is over $20k installed..
Since storage is your primary use and with minimum space on the sides to fumble with two post “arms”, I would think a good 4 post could be your best option. Like your already doing - research sizes/styles, build quality and options that would work/fit in your space to narrow down to the manufacturer of choice.

 

I think the most out of the way lift is a 2 post in the floor lift. bottom if car is wide open for service and when down you have no posts sticking up.
if i had the ceiling height this is what i would install


ken

 

The one I bought after a bunch of research was the Grand Prix lift made by Bend Pak. It seems to be more of their "home owner" version. A couple of the big differences that I liked was it ran on 110v and has a mechanical lock release instead of requiring and air compressor.
The 4 post lift will probably be the easiest to put in, but the 4 posts will block your ability to get around the lift in your small garage. I have mine in a smaller stall at the end of my garage and two of the legs are tight to a wall. It's easy to get around when the lift is raised (you just walk under it), but when it's down and you have a car on it, you can't go around the legs and you will have trouble squeezing between the car and the post with any tools/parts in your hands.

The other thing I liked was it is made in USA.

 

A ridiculous amount of work, but I'm glad I did it. Full 6 feet of clearance. Disappears completely when not in use. I've linked two threads below - the first is my installation.

https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/threads/atlas-fm9sl-scissor-lift-flush-mount-install.383717/

https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/threads/in-floor-scissor-lift-install.35433/

 

This is my MaxJax in a 9-0 ceiling garage. The beauty of this unit is it's portable. However, it doe need to be bolted to the floor, but, it can be unbolted and rolled to a corner.

 

Some lifts in 4 post come with a wheel kit if that helps.

 

If it's an existing single car garage, it probably only has about 3.5 to 4 inches of concrete and of questionable strength. I think you would be asking for trouble if putting in a two post lift. I personally would only use a two post on a minimum of 6" reinforced concrete. If your floor is 4" or less, It is possible to have the floor cut out and have the 6" pad thickness added in and tied into the existing 4" floor.

 

For a primarily "storage" situation, in an existing small garage, I'd go with a 4-post and probably a Bend-Pak. With a 10" width garage, I'd probably go with the 110" span between columns which would put the posts right next to the existing wall.

BendPak HD-7W Four-Post Lift - 5175120

Purchase the BendPak HD-7W, the wide-width model in the HD-7 series. Featuring a 110.25-in overall width and a spacious 100.25-in spread between the columns.

www.bendpak.com

 

I have a MaxJax like @kenash and use it regularly for the Mustang as well as our two dailies. I will admit that I did have issues with the lift pump, but BendPak was able to make it right.

I have plans to remove the remaining divider wall in the garage (built by a PO) to give me more room. But being able to get under the car easily, even if it's only a 'half-height' life, is a godsend.

 

Not a one car garage but I have two four post lifts in a two car garage. It's not too bad getting between the cars and the posts but I'm not a large guy either. These are both Triumph NSS-8 lifts. One regular and one classic, which is a little shorter. The one on the left is pretty much right up against the concrete. Whatever space is there is what the dollies needed that move it around. Maybe an inch or so. I love my lifts. Life is so much easier with them and they're obviously great for storage. The pump on the left lift, I made a bracket to move it from the side to the back so I could get it closer to the wall on that side. If I had to do it over again, I'd have flipped that lift around so the pump was on the front side.

 

Battleship Gray for a1965 Lincoln Continental seems, well, appropriate. 🚢

 

I have a Max-Jax in a 13' x 20 garage that has a 9-1/2 ceiling. It is a mid-rise, and doubt you could get any car underneath it even at its max lift. It is great for working on a car, but movement underneath requires a low rise chair or creeper.

 

My MaxJax is a dream compared to the 50+ years I've been wrenching a floor beneath cars on 18" jack stands.

 

I see it doubles as a place to hang your clothes


ken

 

Another MaxJaxx the drying rack fan here!

I can’t even begin to imagine doing the scope of work I did on my without a lift-full suspension, steering, rear end, all four brakes, 3 to 5 speed swap, etc.

 

Another MaxJaxx the drying rack fan here!

I can’t even begin to imagine doing the scope of work I did on my without a lift-full suspension, steering, rear end, all four brakes, 3 to 5 speed swap, etc.

It’s doable but much more time consuming. And not near as easy. I did all of that on mine on stands. I can get as high as a Quickjack but not near as tall as a Max. A Max in my place would only be able to give me another 10” instead of the full 40” (I’d leave 6”or so the table). There were a few Quicks and 2 Max being blown out the last day of SEMA at the Bendpak demo area. You had to come back for them at the end of the day but there were some deals to be had.

 

Could it be done, sure.

Could I have done it by myself-suspension/brakes/steering/rear axle-yes.

Trans-hell no.

 

Could it be done, sure.

Could I have done it by myself-suspension/brakes/steering/rear axle-yes.

Trans-hell no.

Yep. I can't tell you how happy i was to have my lift in when i was pulling/stabbing the T-56 over and over again to check for clearances during that phase of my build.

 

I had a nice 2 post lift a few year back but my wife had issues with how much room it would take up in the garage that she also uses to park daily. We have a steep sloped driveway and I do not want her to have to park outside on it either, for her safety and security the only spot for her is in the garage. So lift had to to go, that also ruled out 4 post lifts. I looked at the build in scissor lifts but didn't like the $$$ involved. So I eventually took the easy route and just got a pair of Quick Jack 7000 portable scissor jacks. Things are amazing and so easy use, with just enough hight to be useful. Are they as nice as a full size proper lift...no but certainly better than nothing.

 

I'm looking to get a Quick Jack 5000 combo that includes pinch weld rubber blocks and the wall hangers. Do you guys that have Quick Jack use the pinch weld areas (same area to jack up to replace a flat tire) or the frame rails?

 

Mine is the QuickJack 7000 not the 5000 which has more stroke and is a bit higher. I just use the 4 supplied rubber blocks on frame rail areas but may one day order or make my own pinch weld blocks to get the jack sets even further apart.

 

+1 on the quickjack! Use one for my 66 vert and my 22 Explorer. I use the pinch weld blocks on both. If you are short on space it works very well IMO.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

I dont have a lot of height 8'4" so i pickup up a snap on scissors lift. It only goes about 36" but if you set it on jack stands and put 6x6 wood blocks on it i can get it higher.
Here i used it to pull the engine out the bottom then rolled the lift out from under the car and raised it to make it a work bench.

 

I just got the new Bendpak Bloxjax. It’s 100% organic and portable.

 

good to see the block the correct direction

 

I use the QuickJack 5000 and the pinchweld blocks to have more side to side space underneath, works great for me. kip

 

snip
Question #2 - anyone with a 4 post in a one car garage? Is it really very hard to live with or do you not even notice the posts after awhile? Would you recommend centering the lift, or offsetting it to one side? I would think a little offset would minimize the impact of the posts being in the way since two would be essentially up against a wall.

I have the Bendpak HD-9STX, a narrow, tall, four post lift. It's in a garage that is 11' wide and 20' long, and 13-16' tall. I set it up off more towards the end farthest from the garage door so the drive up ramps fit inside the garage when the door is closed and lift is up.

I can squeeze between the two posts on the sides at the garage door end, but they're pretty close to the wall on the other end and so don't really stick out that much, and I just squeeze between the post and the car when down, and no
issue when the lift is up.

I chose this model because it gives good headroom when at full lift, and I'm 6'4". When the lift is down, or partially down, it can be awkward to move around it, but I do that only when doing specific work. Otherwise it's all the way up most of the time.

It's great for my needs to mostly store and occasionally work on my car. And it allows me easy access and use of the space below.

I installed the lift with the help of three friends in less than a day. The instructions were good and clear, once I had read through them a dozen times in advance. I've had it in for just a year now and had no issues with it at all,

 

Thanks for all of the responses - a lot of good information here!

 

Lifts? here I thought I was spoiled because I finally got concrete, walls and a roof!

 

Another MaxJax user here.
A benefit of a 2 post lift is it is just about necessary if you are going to put the body on a rotisserie or a body cart. I just installed a body cart on mine, so glad I have the MaxJax.

 

that depends on your rotisserie and body cart design.
I can set the frame rails on the floor
and the body cart fits over my scissors lift to work it at a comfortable height.
I can also install and remove the engine and transmission with the scissors lift
and when not needed it is a work bench. and it is portable to any location in the shop no bolts required.


ken