Vehicle Lifts: 2-post, 4-post, etc (2 Viewers)

[WarDamnEagle]

Has anyone else with asymmetric lifts cut the longer arms down a few inches to make lifting 40’s and 60’s easier?

My Trio arms have a lot of adjustment and can go pretty short. I haven't had a 40 or 60 on there but there was no issue with my 75 series pickup, 45 Troopy, or 55. Had my BIL's Tesla on there a few days ago and those lift points are right at the edge of the car (screw in rubber bumpers that you lift against) and had no issues.

By cut down, do you mean disassemble and saw off part of the arm? Seems a bit excessive. Are your arms 2 piece?

 

[PIP]

I have not cut lift arms down, but I have made a lot of custome attachments for the ends of arms and I was planning to make a setup to replace the arms completely just for lifting bodies off frames by the pinch weld.

 

[Waorani]

If I ever get another 2-post lift I'll probably go with flatter 3 piece arms. I've had some issues w/ my Atlas on smaller/lower cars like TR6 and HHR - pads too high, arms too thick, long, short, etc. I've been able to lift but have to get creative with wheel dollies, floor jack, backing in instead of forward, lift points, etc.

 

[WarDamnEagle]

If I ever get another 2-post lift I'll probably go with flatter 3 piece arms.

Not to be overly pedantic but my "Trio" arms are two piece arms with a slot in the outside arm that allows the pad (flip up adaptors in my case) to move an additional few inches (maybe 6" - haven't measured).

When I say "outside arm", I mean the arm closest to the car. Maybe I should have said inside arm?

 

[knuckle47]

I am wondering why the 4 post lift does not the the love in some circles. As for stability, it’s like a fixed steel platform and the 4 posts are rock solid when the trucks are on it. Granted, wheel work require an extra step but there provide a rolling platform to add a jack for lifting wheels above the runways. This D9000XL is tall enough to drive our Suburban under it and the runways are adjustable for width upon assembly. I have had both t-birds on it, one on top and one below for storage and of course weight distribution is a near no-brainer.

Sorry but these are the only pictures I have of it

 

[WarDamnEagle]

I am wondering why the 4 post lift does not the the love in some circles. As for stability, it’s like a fixed steel platform and the 4 posts are rock solid when the trucks are on it. Granted, wheel work require an extra step but there provide a rolling platform to add a jack for lifting wheels above the runways. This D9000XL is tall enough to drive our Suburban under it and the runways are adjustable for width upon assembly. I have had both t-birds on it, one on top and one below for storage and of course weight distribution is a near no-brainer.

Try to remove a body using a 4 post lift. For me the 2 post is more versatile and takes up very little real estate in the shop. If I was looking to maximize car storage then, of course, a 4 post is the only way to go. I really have nothing against them but I think the 2 post is a more obvious choice if you are doing any kind of restoration on vehicles and only plan on having one lift. In an ideal world I would have one of each (or more).

 

[Waorani]

Nothing against 4-post lift and eventually want to get one. And this is what I mean by 3-piece arms. I'd have to do more research though.

 

[cruisermatt]

So I’ve been wanting to do this since I put my lifts up (I have three Challenger 10k’s) three years ago, decided to finally try it on my front lift that sees the most regular use

My long arms were 38” long, I cut 8” off of the outer arm and left the inner arm as-is, it still fully collapses into the outer arm.

Last picture kinda shows the issue I had, the longer arms on my lifts are just long enough that they only fit in front of a 40 spring hanger if the truck is in the exact right position.


I should mention we work almost exclusively on 40’s and 60’s here (it’s been an issue with 60’s as well), I probably wouldn’t do this if I worked on a more general variety of cars/trucks

 

[cruisermatt]

I haven't had a 40 or 60 on there but there was no issue with my 75 series pickup, 45 Troopy, or 55.

That’s the thing, the distance between the spring hangers on a 40 are a lot shorter then a 45/75. What are the lengths of your arms when fully collapsed?

 

[WarDamnEagle]

@Waorani my arms are two piece but here’s a photo of the slots. I pulled the long arm all the way out in the slot and the short arm all the way in. That slot effectively works as a third section and is a lot easier to adjust.

@cruisermatt the long arm is about 39” from the center of the pin to the outside of the long flip-up adapter. My long arm pins are approximately 111” apart, center to center.

Just for completeness, the short arms are about 25".

 

[cruisermatt]

One of my employees had a genius suggestion over the weekend.
The bandsaw has wheels, doesn’t it?

 

[Waorani]

There were some questions previously about powering the line laser for centering vehicles in two-post lifts. They typically come with a 5V wall plug adapter but I was curious about using battery power to save another adapter/cord to deal with. Grabbed the cheapest one I could find off ebay for $24 shipped with no adapter/mount. Three AA batteries ran continuously for 4hrs before I turned off and then for another 2hrs next morning. Also tested at 6V and got 6hrs continuous run. So looks like it would be easy enough to rig up a battery holder/switch and mount on post. I'd bet batteries would last at least a year or more if turned off after the couple minutes it takes to get centered.

ETA - let the 4 AA 6V pack sit for a couple hours and got another hour out of it.

 

[PIP]

I have so many things that only run on batteries... I'll take the cord!

 

[PAToyota]

If I could (and it likely wouldn't be that hard...) rig up something to slip a cordless tool battery on when I needed the laser, I'd consider that. Something mounted near the lift controls, slip the battery on, use the laser to align, slip the battery off and onto my impact...

Otherwise, I agree with PIP. Particularly because up here the winter cold would kill the batteries in short order.

 

[knuckle47]

Last year my wife brought this home for me since we wind up with s#!t loads of batteries for anything from A to Z.
It holds D,C,AA,AAA,9V, CR2032, 675 BUTTON CELLS, RE-CHARGEABLE , 123A, and has a littl battery tester which gives a rough idea of its capacity. I think it was $14.95 but…… I will take AC adapters any day