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4 Post lift opinions

Stay away from the Chinese ones! I know of a couple that have failed! caused some serious damage to the car on it! One of the safety locks broke off and the car fell. Fortunately no one was working when it fell! Buy one with higher capacity than you need! Most importantly Buy U.S. made!!!! Superior Lifts Rolla Mo.
 
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Don't make the mistake I made. I bought two Bendpak four post 9K lb lifts. I thought they were USA made. Got the out of the crates and Made in China WTF...

Not entirely happy with them, lots of little things not working like they should, locks not locking/unlocking, burrs that made slides not slide correctly. Took at least a day on each to get everything working the way the factory meant it to be. They are not terrible, I'm just extremely disappionted they were not made here. Never would have bought themhad I known.

There are others.

If you aren't in a rush find old ones on Craigs list. My impatience caused me to buy new.
 
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I didnt see any prices listed for the backyard buddy. They look good too.

Also though, keep in mind backyard buddy lifts are not certified. They are made strictly for the DIY home hobbiest. Walk in most any automotive shop in the country and you seen Bend Pak or another common certified brand. Just food for thought.
 
I have a Prokar 4 post(Chinese) that I bought in 08,they since have redisgned the lock system to a "lock ladder" type setup.I personaly don't care for it as the ladder is basically hung off the top plate on the column.My 2008 lift has lugs welded to the column and the lock levers sit on those.NTM,being a nervous nelly,the position I store a car at,I drilled 3/4" holes thru the columns directly below the crossbars and have 3/4" pins thru them as a just in case as one replied a lock broke.If one did,it can only stop on my pins.Otherwise the lift has been fine.A backyard buddy 4 post is $5k,I know American made,etc,etc,but that's a lot of cash,NTM,Mohawks.Do your homework,go see one in person to see if it meets your satisfaction of how it was built.Thats what I did with the Prokar,skeptical on the "Chinese" made product,once I saw it in person I was satisfied on how it was built,and how it locks on the columns.I also have a Bendpak 2 post,which is great,also as one said about being Chinese made,half correct.The columns and arms are made in their own factory in china that all that is made there IS Benpak.The chains,cylinders,pump and motor are made in USA.Then I also have a mid rise scissor lift from Rotary line called Revolution,that is their offshore model,but again,thats all that's made in that factory .They have to be sure and stand by that product as well as it is affiliated with the name Rotary.
 
Klaus, I bought an Atlas lift from Greg Smith, Delaware. Yeah it is Chinese, but I haven't had any issue with it and know others who have them as well. It isn't pro grade, but how many times a week are you going to cycle it up and down. If you go to Carlisle later this month they usually have a discount for orders taken there and a car trailer is all you need to pick it up in Dover. If you want to stop by and look at mine you are welcome to, just don't tell anyone about all the crap I'm hoarding!
 
Funny you mention that Bendpak makes the frames in China, but everything else here. I went out to the lift just now and on the motor, right where your eyes stare when raising the lift, there is a nice big "Made in USA" sticker, colorful, with a very nice American flag. So every time you are raising a car, you are reminded of just how patriotic your (and my) purchase was. The sticker was placed on a motor made in Mexico.

This is what drives me nuts. At least be a little honest and say assembled in USA, I'm OK with that.

Can't find anything on the pump and cylinders. So I have to assume by law they are made here. Not trying to start anything that will end up in the political forum, so please do take this in that direction guys, Just thought I'd add what I can on my somewhat regretful purchase. If anyone is still curious, I'd be happy to comb over the entire lift for more info.

Rich
 
I didnt see any prices listed for the backyard buddy. They look good too.

Also though, keep in mind backyard buddy lifts are not certified. They are made strictly for the DIY home hobbiest. Walk in most any automotive shop in the country and you seen Bend Pak or another common certified brand. Just food for thought.

Another thing I like about Back Yard Buddy is they use 100% USA Steel, there is a write up about it on their web site.
I don't know anything about citification. I wonder how the Chi-com companies got certified?
 
I don't know. That's a good question and one I was wondering myself. Maybe it has to do with quantity made instead of quality. As stupid as it sounds, that could be it. Yeah I read all the stuff on the backyard buddy too. American steel, American welds, American electrical components. The certification thing might havt to do with the size of the company. I get the feeling backyard buddy maybe wants to remain a small, independent, American made company, rather than outsource and sacrifice quality. Still though, I'd like to see some pricing information on them. I plan on putting as lift here one day.......even if it's when I'm too old to move.
 
I have a ALM 9000lb two post that I use for most car work.

I purchased a Auto Lift Car-Park-8-Plus Extra Tall 8K lb Car Storage Parking Lift For a work platform for finishing my ceiling in my pole barn and will use for car storage. I was looking for american as well but at 2 and a half to 3 times the cost this will serve my purpose. I paid a little under 2k with a jack tray, 3 drip trays and a caster kit to move it around. I am comfortable with the mechanical locks backed up by the hydraulics.

Good idea from ee2 avr on adding safety pins.
(are those the ones used for the castor kit)
I noticed the inside opening on the columns would also
accept 2x4 or 4x4's cut to length for a backup system
 
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You will see thousands more Bendpaks vs. BYB in hobbiests garages,and more than that in commercial applications.If you do as much research of Bendpak like I did when buying my 2 post lift,they put extreme engineering,research,testing,etc into their product compared to BYB.Bendpak is a very large corporation now and as I said about Rotary having their offshore brand now called "Revolution",also don't want to risk making an infearier product that could hurt them in the long run.When I was buying my midrise scissor lift,I physically drove to NH to Greg Smith to see with my own eyes the Atlas brand they carry,chinese.Then when I went to a Rotary dealer to see the Revolution scissor lift,bar none!!!!! The Revolution blows it away in cylinder size,lock system,and the structure was way more beefier.It cost me about $700 more to get the Revolution,but feel it was worth it.As far as Eagle lifts,from my research,they are exactly the same Chinese model as my Prokar,as dozens more are.They are the ones referred to as all being built in the same Chinese factory.If you look very close they are exactly the same,just dif colors,names,stickers.Heres a story for you,just this weekend I went to a guys shop that had the exact same 4 post as mine,and when I looked over at it,with a car on top and one underneath,the locks weren't engaged !!!!!!I asked him how the heck is that being held up?He said,he just raised it up and left it.You mean it's sitting up against the cylinder only being held up by the pressure in the line to the pump motor? YES.No that is nuts/crazy/and plain stupid.He said its been like that now for 3 years !!!!!That also means that kind of weight on the cables as well.Again,myself being nervous nelly,I drilled thru my columns and sent 3/4'' pins thru and that is what the runways/crossbars and weight of car is sitting on instead of the factory locks.Therefore,no way it can ever come down.I did this partially because of my ceiling height being only 10' and with the car on top,it just won't make it over the last lock point before the roof of car would hit the ceiling,so I raise it up past the holes,install all four pins and let it down on them.Also,on my 2 post Bend Pak,I put a switch box right above the pump as a failsafe if the switch ever went bad and the car kept going up,I can right there kill the power.

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The guy working on a lift with the weight being held only by pressure on the lines/ram..pure stupidity...this is the very cause of accidents that give all lifts no matter the brand a bad name for safety. I did plenty of research on these lift before making my purchase. Ultimately all the failures were human error..either in use, setup or failure to maintain and inspect periodically. Never but never enter the danger zone of a suspended lift without the safety locks engaged..never but never leave your lines and ram pressureized when load is stationary. Please use a bit of common sense and live to enjoy that ride you are building or repairing the family car so mums can go get the groceries. Another piece of advice..not all folks know the limits, use and operation of a lift...do not let just anyone use your toys...some do not know to ensure all locks are set before releasing pressure.
 
Well said !!!!And,again,you can see my extra precaution with the pins !!!!
 
The guy working on a lift with the weight being held only by pressure on the lines/ram..pure stupidity...this is the very cause of accidents that give all lifts no matter the brand a bad name for safety. I did plenty of research on these lift before making my purchase. Ultimately all the failures were human error..either in use, setup or failure to maintain and inspect periodically. Never but never enter the danger zone of a suspended lift without the safety locks engaged..never but never leave your lines and ram pressureized when load is stationary. Please use a bit of common sense and live to enjoy that ride you are building or repairing the family car so mums can go get the groceries. Another piece of advice..not all folks know the limits, use and operation of a lift...do not let just anyone use your toys...some do not know to ensure all locks are set before releasing pressure.

Few years back i was at Corvettes at Carlisle (my dad is a corvette guy). Some vendor (exhaust i think) had a couple of cheap 4 post lifts set up ON AN SLIGHT SLOPE at the base of the big hill at the very back of the grounds. The sliders on the lift platform were all jammed up on the posts and the whole lift was clearly canted. I actually stopped to tell the guys my concern. Their response, "they're only vettes, aint no weight to em".
 
Anyone have ant experience with the father company Dover Corporation Direct Lift Pro-Park 8 Plus PP8P 4 post ANSI certified car lifts

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under $2500 @ $2395
 
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