Best single post lift?

Do you want it just for storage or do you want to use it for work?

The collector I used to work for go a two post Rotary with the asymmetrical low rise arms and it's IMHO the best out there. The low rise, asymmetrical extension arms are a must for the F40. Even them it might be close and you'll need planks to get it high off to swing the arms under.

I'd also recommend getting the optional soft pad mounts to avoid marring the surface.

 

I have two of their m1-6.5 lifts and love them. The only problem is you have to back one car on so you can get out of the car. Also this may be a problem with the cars parked under the lift. You may have to back the one on the left in.

 

Solution for me was the BendPak single post lift. Gets the car up and out of the way, but maximizes useful floorspace underneath. Did a thread on the single post options over on the GarageJournal website. The Definitive Single Post Lift Thread: BendPak, AC, Girolift, Gemini,Tec - The Garage Journal Board
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I have a single-post bendpak for parking and a two-post bendpak for working on the cars. You can see the single-post in my profile picture. It has worked well for me for 4+ years.

 

Here is the setup I have in my garage and it works great...single post BendPak 6000 pound lift..
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Not sure about the price for the ac one... I paid around 6k for mine installed. I thought that was a fair price for this lift.

 

Bendpak doesn't have it on their website anymore. It says "discontinued"

 

Aaron, are the ramps low enough so that you don't scrape the front end when you drive on them? I used to have a 4 post lift that required modification to avoid that issue. It was such a pain I removed the lift. Thinking about a single post like yours now. It looks less intrusive and safer to drive on. Thanks, Tom

 

Just curious - how tall is your garage and how much room left when the garage door unfurls above when open?

 

I had my doors converted to high-lift, and changed to jack-shaft openers on the wall eliminating the center rail of your typical garage door. IMO, those are must-do changes and can add notable cost (compared to the lift itself). Added pic from my profile:
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That's quite interesting. I can think of two reasons based on feedback I've gotten on mine over the years: 1) The lift is pretty terrifying for installers. I am sure the physics pencil out, but there is still some substantial risk factor around the integrity of the concrete slab, quality of the anchor bolts etc. If you look at my build thread on the garagejournal link, you will see my 'safety chain' to add a bit of piece of mind if an earthquake (they do happen in NJ) were to suddenly jolt the base loose.

2) the lift is quite expensive relative to a 4-post. 4-posts are incredibly inexpensive and made by dozens of mfrs. This lift is $6K which would buy 3 cheap 4-posts. So maybe the addressable market wasn't that big. But see my garagejournal thread for more single post options...



PS: if I had to do it over, I think I would've bought the AC lift. I think it was slightly more expensive and also there was no 'certified' local installer, so I went with BendPak. But the quality of of the AC seemed higher and I liked that it was US made.

 

Tom, yes the ramps are low enough that I haven't had any issues driving up on them.

 

I have around 11 feet from the garage floor to the bottom of garage door opener, this set up works good for me because I have two low profile cars, the 458 and a 1933 ford coupe with a chopped top. I would probably have to go to the jack screw opener system if I had two regular height vehicles.

 

My garage looks similar in dimensions to yours. I wonder if I could squeeze this type of lift in. I haven't done anything to date because the 2 and 4 post lifts seem to be wide enough to impact the space available in the other bays for our other cars.

What, if any, additional concrete reinforcement work did you do to install this lift? I'm pretty sure I have a traditional 4" slab in my garage which has been structurally fine with no cracking over the 16 years I've been in the house. But I question whether that is enough?

 

Is it ok to use a lift like this, with the driver over kit, for long term storage?

 

No additional reinforcement but slab was poured 6" thick and it was a high density concrete formulation. If I had to do it over, I think I would pour a special footing with the 'cast' in place. But so far no problems. (6 yrs)

 

I'm considering buying a lift as well but am wondering about installation. Did you hire someone to install it for you? If so, where did you find them?

 

I'm also considering this. There are installers recommended on the BendPak site, as a starting point.

http://www.bendpak.com/Support/clickserve/

 

I had an AC lift in Florida (similar design to the Backyard Buddy), and it was awesome!

They are a great company, and their customer service is very good in my experience.


BT

 

Great! Didn't realize they recommended installers. Surprised they do in fact. Thanks for posting.

 

As with what I mentioned in regard to care car products, you get what you pay for. Be sure not to buy some cheap asian made lift, chances are you will toss it out in a year and buy a better one.

 

This is not a BendPak unit. It looks like a SP-6K-SS which goes by various company names but is the same unit.

I've have heard it works well.

Auto Lift AL-SP-6K-SS 6000 lb. Single Column Car Storage Lift