I am finally getting a garage to work on my cars-hopefully by summer. One thing I am considering is having a hydraulic lift put in. 1) For you that have these, why did you choose a 2 or 4 car lift? What model did you buy, and are you happy with it? I have a TR6 and a bugeye, but I may have a pickup in the future too-what weight capacity do you have? 2) I was thinking of a lift with 10,000 pound capacity-most information points to 4" reinforced 3,000 psi per square inch concrete. How specifically do you meet this requirement? Any information/opinions are welcome.
Thanks,
Kevin
You have two basic questions, what should I consider when thinking of a lift and how do I go about getting it in there. Here is my experience and take on your questions:
1) I have a two post lift. I have used four post lifts as well. The choice between two post and four post comes down mostly to how you see your primary usage of the lift. For most types of work, I prefer a two post asymmetrical lift. With the columns being angled out, you have much more clearance for getting in and out of the car without banging the door against a column but positioning the car is more critical than it is on a symmetrical two post lift. A two post lift is no good for storage in the event you need to "stack" vehicles.
A four post lift places more limitations on under vehicle access, but is better for some types of work such as tightening up suspension components once you've made a quick run to let the suspension settle. You drive it on, raise the lift and then torque everything down with load on the suspension so you don't wind up with twisted bushings for example on cars that are sensitive to that such as my wife's Miata. You can get jack trays for them and raise the car up off the ramp surface, but you just don't get all the undercar access that a two post offers. On the other hand, they are very good for "stacked' storage.
My two post is old enough that it has been superseded by a later model but the one linked below is pretty close to what I have. Mine is set up with controls on both sides columns as well as electrical outlets and pneumatic lines so I can hook up my tools right at the lift. There's nothing like an air ratchet when you have lots of longish thread runs on fine thread fasteners. As far as lift pads go, I have a set of the adjustable round pads and adjustable truck pads. I have found that the truck pads get the most use and are my pad of choice on the Triumphs since we are talking about a body on a square section tube frame cars.
https://www.rotarylift.com/LIFTS/SPOA10-TRIO/
Since I now find myself with more cars than holes to put them in, I am considering putting in a four post at this time primarily for storage purposes but haven't committed to it yet. I'm still researching what's out there to meet my needs and so far I keep coming up with stuff that's a bigger footprint than I really want, but as my grandfather told me when I was whining about something as a kid, "yea, and the people in **** (a very warm place under Beelzebub's management) want ice water too."
2) A 10K capacity lift should handle most trucks so unless you go nuts in the truck department you should be OK as far as the lift goes but....
You need to think in terms of footprint on the floor for the lift you choose as well as front and rear clearance which is more critical on a four post lift because of the rods for the locking mechanisms. As an example the four post I'm looking at requires a minimum of six foot on the controller end and nine feet on the other end of front and rear clearance for the lock rods in addition to the runway lengths. You also need to think about overhead height. While a four post lift in and of itself doesn't need any where near as much height as a two post lift, you have to think in terms of the vehicles that will be placed on it and lifted as well as the height of any vehicles stored on the floor below a lifted vehicle. With the two post, you have to think about how far ahead of the columns and how far behind the columns the vehicle will be and that is impacted by the vehicles and whether you go with a symmetrical or an asymmetrical column set up.
Since it sounds like you will be having a new building constructed, to meet the requirements for the floor strength and lift envelope dimensions, you talk it over with your contractor and if there is one directly associated with the project, the architect as well. The concrete guys know what they need to do from a thickness, reinforcement and concrete make up and can make the floor meet or exceed (my recommendation) the requirements stated by the manufacturer/seller of the lift. As far as just making it thicker/stronger in the area where the lift will be located, unless it is a very small area of a very large building, you're better off just having them make the floor the same across the entire shop.
When I was getting my shop set up it was essentially a matter of handing them a copy of all the stuff from Rotary with the lift's envelope and floor requirements and saying this lift is going in the shop's middle bay, make it work.