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OT 2 post car lift

true temper

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Joined
Jun 19, 2006
Location
Kansas
I am in the market for a new 2 post car lift. I am thinking a 10K will be good, the largest thing I will be lifting is a crew cab one ton pickup. Pickup is not loaded heavy, use it to pull camper.
What should I be looking for, I haven’t been around them much. I have plenty of head room, so that’s not a problem.
I was looking at Bendpak but it looks like they are made in China.
I would like to stay around 4K are a little more budget
 
I am in the market for a new 2 post car lift. I am thinking a 10K will be good, the largest thing I will be lifting is a crew cab one ton pickup. Pickup is not loaded heavy, use it to pull camper.
What should I be looking for, I haven’t been around them much. I have plenty of head room, so that’s not a problem.
I was looking at Bendpak but it looks like they are made in China.
I would like to stay around 4K are a little more budget

I bought one of these 2 Post Lifts | CJT 10,000 OHA 10,000 LB. 2 Post Vehicle / Automotive / Truck / Car Garage Lift (Overhead / Clear Floor)
about 15 years ago and the only problem that I've had with it is the rubber mounts for the hydraulic pump were starting to break and I needed to replace them. It's most likely made in China but I'd be surprised if most of them aren't nowadays. I use it to lift my Duramax crew cab with all the 5th wheel towing goodies and other tools and stuff and it lifts it like it isn't there. I think it cost me about $250 to ship it from Indianapolis to West Michigan. My brother bought one just like it a year later and loves his too.
 
This question has been asked a million times before on this forum....

Mohawk makes the best lift. I'd get one that is not the Asymmetrical design.

Whatever they cost, it's worth it in terms of the security and performance.
 
This question has been asked a million times before on this forum....

Mohawk makes the best lift. I'd get one that is not the Asymmetrical design.

Whatever they cost, it's worth it in terms of the security and performance.

Rotary is way better IMO. Mohawk hasn't updated their designs in ever.
 
I’ll disagree with the post above… I just installed a 10k with symmetrical arms. They’re okay for a pickup truck… just okay. Problem is for any car you have to drive the car into the lift, get one set of arms under it and then move the car to get the other arms in place. Asymmetric arms don’t have that issue.

I’m seriously considering buying a set of asymmetric arms to just have on hand, depending on what I’m working on. Asymmetric arms are also probably smarter for a pickup truck, as most of the weight is from the cab forward.

Chances are the bulk of ANY lift you buy is gonna be made in China. Steel is steel, but if there’s any way to know where the hydraulics are built I would do my best to try and keep that part of the machine constructed stateside. The one I just put up in my shop definitely cheaped out with the hydraulic aspect. NPT and swivel pipe fittings throughout. I would much rather see SAE 37-degree stuff instead of swivel pipe fittings.

I’ve put up Atlas, BendPak, Rotary. I’m fairly certain the blue uprights with yellow arms are like Grizzly and Jet lathes… made in the same place, possibly spec’ed a little differently and then just badged as needed. None of those brands are drastically different in construction or operation… the Atlas I just put up was right at $2500, shipped, w/symmetric arms. I don’t remember the price being greatly different for the asymmetric package. Likely still the most affordable to buy the whole thing at one time and ship it only once.





Be safe.



Jeremy
 
Rotary is way better IMO. Mohawk hasn't updated their designs in ever.

Have you ever looked at a Mohawk????

You cannot possibly make a better lift than Mohawk.

They are nothing like any of the other stuff. The old, like way back in the day Rotary's were built like a cheapened up Mohawk, but not in the same league at all.

This thread is about budget lifts though. Mohawk is 5-10 times as much money as the other guys so they aren't in that category.

Lift brands don't mean what they used to. Like was mentioned- Blue frame, yellow arms and some stickers.

The cheap shit ones use plastic pads inside thin steel columns. These last about 10 years in a hobby/low use shop environment. They will last maybe a year in a real shop. The plastic guides fail and you throw it away.

The better units are usually sold as the "pro grade" lifts for a few grand more than the cheap ones. They use mast roller bearings instead of plastic guides. The metal's usually a bit thicker.

for $4000 you're not going to buy one of the better grade units new, but don't be duped into buying a "HD Pro Grade" lift for top dollar that is actually a piece of shit with plastic guides.

I would recommend shopping used. Best deals are buying from an auto shop that is shutting down. If anything, buy ALL their lifts for $4000 and resell them for $1500 each and make your money back plus some in a day of work.
 
i have a friend who sells automotive equipment-particularly lifts. first lift i bought from him was a 24k drive on back in 1990. still have it. when i moved in 2017 he recommended a FORWARD 2 post for my new shop. made in china. he claims it is the best of all from china. i'm happy with it. i got the post extensions that raise the top bar up for high cube vans and such
 
Mohawk hasn't changed their design in years...is a good thing. Heavy-ass steel throughout. Rotary is junk compared to Mohawk.

My 'endorsement' of Mowhawk is an honest one....having used many lifts over the years, and the fact that the guys who runs Mohawk is a pretty jerky guy.
 
Rotary is way better IMO. Mohawk hasn't updated their designs in ever.

Are you crazy?! :eek: There is no better lift than a Mohawk.

I just put up a 10k Bendpack here. Made in china for sure.
I was not comfortable with my 4x4 Diesel truck up on it. It would move and sway way to much.
I ended up tying the top of the lift to the surrounding structure. Now it is rock-solid.
Was a lot of extra work/cost (about $1k in steel) but I'm very glad I did it.
 
Do some test drill holes in your concrete to make sure it is thick enough to meet the lifts minimum requirements to anchor the posts.

Personally I prefer a drive on four post with a bridge jack. You can park another car under the lifted one, you don't need an extra heavy slab, and you can roll the whole lift outside or across the garage when ever it is unloaded.
 
Our old bendpac is blue with yellow arms, made in Japan I think, been too long to remember for sure.

Rated 9k pounds and has an "H" frame of 2 inch solid steel that bolts to floor then columns bolt to that.

Has large cylinder on one side with chain across bottom to other side.

All steel real heavy and it was a bugger to install.

Our floor is over a foot thick at this point but the frame would allow it to go anywhere almost.

Your floor will matter more than the brand of equipment as it will determine what can be installed without redoing the floor.

Look for shops upgrading or shutting down.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk
 
Are you crazy?! :eek: There is no better lift than a Mohawk.

I just put up a 10k Bendpack here. Made in china for sure.
I was not comfortable with my 4x4 Diesel truck up on it. It would move and sway way to much.
I ended up tying the top of the lift to the surrounding structure. Now it is rock-solid.
Was a lot of extra work/cost (about $1k in steel) but I'm very glad I did it.

I would rather have a 15k Rotary if I was doing trucks than a Mohawk. Are Mohawks the most brick shit house, yes. That wasn't the question here. I have been a full time mechanic for over a decade, wtf do I know.
 
You can park a car under another car that's on a two post lift. In fact, I park a car this way every night.
 
I am in the market for a new 2 post car lift. I am thinking a 10K will be good, the largest thing I will be lifting is a crew cab one ton pickup. Pickup is not loaded heavy, use it to pull camper.
What should I be looking for, I haven’t been around them much. I have plenty of head room, so that’s not a problem.
I was looking at Bendpak but it looks like they are made in China.
I would like to stay around 4K are a little more budget


For a 1 ton, I would recommend at least a 12K hoist as you are only supposed to load it to 75% as per manufacturers recommendations for the case that its loaded back heavy and can overload the arms and cause them to fail.
Bendpak is my choice, there is atlas, rotary that are still decent. even snap on has a few that they have bought out other companies over the years.


Don't cheap out on Chinese ones, all they do is bend and sway. also +1 on the concrete thickness check before you buy it. they say min 4" but recommended is 6"+ and if you have to rip it out and pour deeper, its a 3 ft cube to pour to get the mass and rigidity to hold them properly.
 
Concrete is not a problem I have 8” very limited use, maybe a couple times a month.
Looks like there is no easy answer to get an US made lift without breaking the bank.
Thanks for the input so far.
 
I would rather have a 15k Rotary if I was doing trucks than a Mohawk. Are Mohawks the most brick shit house, yes. That wasn't the question here. I have been a full time mechanic for over a decade, wtf do I know.

Your argument would hold more weight if you list the pros/cons of each.
 
Your argument would hold more weight if you list the pros/cons of each.

The ergonomics and accessibility on Mohawks suck, the arms are way too big for cars. If you are only working on trucks my opinion would be very different. Then again it would be very different if you are talking 1/2 ton or 3/4 ton up. If I had to pick a hoist it would be 100% dictated by what I was putting on it, like for example Porsche's and BMW's don't even work on a lot of lifts or are a nightmare, they have similarly positioned narrow lift points.

Overall bang for the buck hoist is a 10k challenger, its a Chinese made hoist for an American company and you can actually get parts. I actually really like their footpad design. My favorite hoist no budget is the Rotary with the modern lift pads, not the old school cast flip up pads. If I was doing 1/2 and up trucks only I would get a 15k Challenger or Rotary, you can put SOME cars on a 15k but its always a pita. I work on high end euro stuff and Nussbaum hoists work the best for that, but they designed them for BMW's and the lift pad spacing.
 








 
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