garage lift

[spyder2114]

If I get an Atom or other "toy" I will have 3 cars and only a 2 car garage. I am contemplating installing a lift for the Atom so I can park my daily driver under it.

Do any of you guys have a lift installed to park an extra car? If yes; what brand and what model? Any recommendations?

I am leaning toward either a Backyard Buddy 4 post (http://www.backyardbuddy.com/) or the Harding Steel Car-lift (http://www.hardingsteel.com/carlifts.shtml).

[Bruce Fielding]

There's this option:

[wisp]

[quote="Bruce Fielding"]
There's this option:

[/quote]

http://forum.atomclub.com/https://atomc ... ic.php?t=1

[Monza]

i have imported one 4 post lift from here :

http://www.gregsmithequipment.com/

Made in china, but correctly made and very low price (compared to backyardbuddy)

Where are you located  ? US ? UK ?

[Bruce Fielding]

[quote="wisp"]
[quote="Bruce Fielding"]
There's this option:

[/quote]

http://forum.atomclub.com/https://atomc ... ic.php?t=1
[/quote]

Yes, but that is a single and it only has a beetle in it...

[FutureAtom]

Hey Spyder, I did lots of research into all the lifts about a year back when I was thinking of buying one. My best recommendation would be the bendpak line of lifts.

http://www.bendpak.com/car-lifts/four-p ... D-9ST.aspx

Don't get the standard width because it is way too wide unless you plan on parking SUV under it, or you have a very wide 2 car garage. Best would be to measure everything out where the lift footprint would be. You will be surprised about how large some of lifts are.
I think the bendpak lift is the best overall value and quality. I would not believe all the hype on the backyard buddy, its all marketing. One of the deal breakers for me on the backyard buddy is that the lift rides on the columns and they are exposed, if you rub into the columns you will get oil and grease on yourself.

I like the bendpak because it seems the most sturdy, the cables that it uses to raise the lift are hidden inside the columns.

There is a PDF about the backyard buddy vs the bend pak. You can google it or here is the link of the pdf that compares the claims of the back yard buddy. I would recommend you read this whole pdf. Backyard buddy is all marketing and tries to scare people with their marketing tactics, and may lack many features that you may want. Like adjustment for unlevel floors etc.

http://www.asedeals.com/backyardbuddy_bendpak.pdf

BTW. Why would you get that harding steel car lift? You can't work under the car or even take a look under the car. Even if you don't work on your own vechicies I would still want something that you can still have access under the car.

[spyder2114]

[quote="Monza"]
http://www.gregsmithequipment.com/
Made in china, but correctly made and very low price (compared to backyardbuddy)
Where are you located  ? US ? UK ?
[/quote]

I am in the US.
After reading about lifts for the past several days I was concerend about getting one of these "made in China" lifts. Glad to hear of an owner here making a recommendation. I will check this one out for sure as I don't recall seeing this company before.

[spyder2114]

[quote="FutureAtom"]
Hey Spyder, I did lots of research into all the lifts about a year back when I was thinking of buying one. My best recommendation would be the bendpak line of lifts.

http://www.bendpak.com/car-lifts/four-p ... D-9ST.aspx

BTW. Why would you get that harding steel car lift? You can't work under the car or even take a look under the car. Even if you don't work on your own vechicies I would still want something that you can still have access under the car.
[/quote]

I will take another look at the Bendpak and the BYB comparison with the marketing hype in mind. You bring up some good points I did not consider. 

I am not much of a mechanic but the ability to work on car if needed is a great option. One of my thoughts with the Harding is that I could park or store most anything on it since it has a platform, even a three  wheeler like my Spyder and the Jet-Ski.


Thanks a bunch for the info.

[Monza]

In fact my parklift is not at home ... but in Ariel UK factory where they use it since 3 years (easy and no problem), it's a free rental
For those at Atom X, it was the one on the local where we discuss maintenance of the Atom.
The V8 is often on it for development/work, it's usefull for this and maintenace..
I'll take it back home when i'll collect my V8, don't know when. I know that Gregsmith has made some small evolution on it since the time i bought it.

[Lane]

I currently have 3 cars in a 2-car garage for the winter and have recently been thinking about this as well.  For me, I don't want the intrusion into the garage space that all the posts on a 4-post would give and this looks like a great solution.



Links to several one-post lifts:
Bend-Pak
Atlas
Mid-Am
American Custom
Interstate
Gemini
Superlifts
Tec Mohawk

[atomathics]

Two that haven't been mentioned are Rotary and Revolution.  Both are part of the same parent company.

http://www.rotarylift.com
http://www.revolutionlift.com/

As I recall, in commercial shops, I often seen Bend-Pak and Rotary lifts.  Maybe worth popping by your local garage and asking what they use?

[Terry Kennedy]

[quote="spyder2114"]
After reading about lifts for the past several days I was concerend about getting one of these "made in China" lifts. Glad to hear of an owner here making a recommendation. I will check this one out for sure as I don't recall seeing this company before.
[/quote]

I have a number of Greg Smith items (though none is a lift). They have excellent service and overnighted parts to me for my install (one carton had ripped in shipping and some bolts had gone missing).

[FutureAtom]

Just to point out that you can park anything you want on a 4 post lift. The lifts are made to put in metal floor panels between the runways, you can buy this option with your lift.

Rotary lifts are nice but when you look at the price, it is way too high. When you look at the quality of the rotary it seems that it is very comparable to the bend pak lifts. But it depends on the money you have to spend.

Lane, I do like that kind of lift. It is surprising how much a 4 post lift will take up in your garage. However, I would  be scared to be under that thing.

[Lane]

[quote="FutureAtom"]
Lane, I do like that kind of lift. It is surprising how much a 4 post lift will take up in your garage. However, I would  be scared to be under that thing.
[/quote]

With a 6000 lb vehicle on it, I wouldn't want to be under it either.  But I wouldn't think twice if my Atom is on it.  Or even my 'portly' Exige.    It all comes down to a certainty that it's installed correctly and you're setting it on the spec of concrete that it needs.

[spyder2114]

[quote="Lane"]
I currently have 3 cars in a 2-car garage for the winter and have recently been thinking about this as well.  For me, I don't want the intrusion into the garage space that all the posts on a 4-post would give and this looks like a great solution.
[/quote]

I did consider a single post and it would probably be the best solution considering the limited space. The problem; my garage is only 9'6" and the shortest of these I've seen are right at 9'5".

[quote="FutureAtom"]
Just to point out that you can park anything you want on a 4 post lift. The lifts are made to put in metal floor panels between the runways, you can buy this option with your lift.
[/quote]

True true.
I also like that they can be moved with casters and don't need to be mounted to the floor.