Did a search, saw the group buys before. Can anyone comment on how that particular lift is holding up and if you are happy with the quality of the lift. I am leaning towards a Revolution RFP7 but they are pricier than most. Just need more input from those who have experience with a residential 4 poster, good or bad. Other options are Backyard buddy, Cytech Double park, Superlift, and Bendpak. Most of the cheaper $1800 lifts look like they are made overseas and do not meet ALI/ANSI certification. Thanks
4 Post Lift suggestions
- Thread starter jdoc7
- Start date
NOTVETTE
Viper Owner
Here's a good experience: I bought a Backyard Buddy (extended model) at Fall Carlisle a year ago. Their were four or five other lifts there that I looked at, all basically very similar in design between them. Though the BYB was the most money, I liked the unique external slider design and solid square box beam approach at the four corners of the BYB which gives a very stable system even without bolting it to the floor. Even with my 6000 lb. Suburban 6 ft in the air, its rock solid and stable. I also figured since I'm going to spend alot of time beneath this thing with thousands of lbs. of steel dangling over my head, I don't want the cheapest, if you know what I mean. I also like keeping my money here in the good old USA as much as possible. (BYB is made in Ohio.) I'm sorry, I'm not familiar with the Revolution, so can't comment on it. Good Luck on your choice.
Mopar Steve
Enthusiast
Very bad experience with back yard buddy. More like back door buddy. I owned byb in the past and would always encourage to buy something else!
Jay Herbert
Enthusiast
I absolutely love my Revolution lift and have not had one single issue, it has worked flawlessly. It is definitely pricy, but the quality is top notch. I've said this before, when I looked at lifts, the shipping weight of the Revoltion was hundreds of pounds more than the other lifts (stout). Also it has double safety latches in the rare case a cable did fail while the lift was lowering, the spring loaded latch will catch the lift. preventing a dropped vehicle. One other feature I really like is the textured decking. If you pull onto the lift with wet tires, no worry about sliding off the end of the lift on a slippery wet deck. I ended up choosing the larger RFP7-XLT lift, I am glad I did as I use it for maintaining all my vehicles and it easily fits my fullsize Ram Diesel.. the longest and widest of my rides. Another nice feture of Revolution is you can choose from four colors.
BendPak lifts come in verying levels, the higher priced lifts are US made, while they offer lower priced overseas lifts. I believe the model that has VCA pricing is the US lift. It has many of the same features (anti-skid deck, secondary safety latches, wide ramps, etc.) as the Revolution lift, only big difference I could see is it requires an air supply for it's latches. It is a heavy duty commercial quality and design lift.
Whatever lift you choose.. one thing for sure, you'll wish you had bought it a long time ago!
Thanks for the feedback guys. Mopar Steve, could you elaborate on your bad experience with the Backyard Buddy? It seems to be very well rated by many and appears very well-built and sturdy. Did you have a problem with the actual mechanics/safety of the lift or was it a dealer/company with poor customer service problem? Thanks.
99 R/T 10
Enthusiast
www.completehydraulic.com Awesome product and a great price. ab set up the buy, you might want to PM him, he has all the pertinent info. 
I have (2) American Custom Lifts, they are great, made in Fort Worth, Texas.
They even customized the tracks and ramps on one of them for the Lambo and its extra wide stance.
www.aclifts.com
-J
They even customized the tracks and ramps on one of them for the Lambo and its extra wide stance.
www.aclifts.com
-J
I was not aware the group buy was for the Complete hydraulics unit. This is the one I see on Ebay all the time. $1699 for the 8000lb and $1999 for the 10,000lb both with casters, drip trays, and an oil pan. Are you sure these are good? The price is waaay too good to be true for an American, well built product. I have no idea if this is true or not so anyone with one, please chime in. I'll PM AB too.
99 R/T 10
Enthusiast
I have one from the group buy and I love it.
Fred(DrivingSchool)Kinder
Enthusiast
I have a BendPak HD9XW(extended lift). Pictures http://norcal.viperclub.org/gallery/04262005LiftEvent/index.html
Keep my Ram SRT10 QuadCab on the lift with Vipers under the Ram. The runway is adjustable 37" to 43" and safety stops are every 4".
BendPak and Rotary are the largest suppliers of commercial lifts.
FYI, I am BendPak dealer.
Keep my Ram SRT10 QuadCab on the lift with Vipers under the Ram. The runway is adjustable 37" to 43" and safety stops are every 4".
BendPak and Rotary are the largest suppliers of commercial lifts.
FYI, I am BendPak dealer.
Jay Herbert
Enthusiast
All of the group buy folks seemed pretty happy with them, I almost bought one too. When I talked to the owner of Complete Hydraulics, he said the lifts were made for him to his specifications in TX. Honestly, I do not see how he can sell them at this price, which is the same as Chinese made lifts... labor in TX must be free...... AB can fill you in completely. Here is a link to the original group buy... ignore all the bantering, sometimes we get a weeee bit emotional about our lifts
Complete Hydraulics (Original) Group Buy
In the end I chose a lift that cost about $1000 more because of all of the safety items I spoke of above, and the fact that all the mechanism is inside the columns, eliminating pinch points and thus lowering the safety risks even further. I also liked the extra width and length that the bigger Revolution lift offered over the Complete Hydraulics unit.
The Revolution lift also included extended ramps, two jack trays, and two drip trays. for what it's worth, I evaluated eight different lifts before I bought. If you have air in your shop, the Bend-Pak Lift is priced a little lower than the Revolution with otherwise similar features.
Here is a post to the original Revolution Lift Group Buy:
Revolution Lift (Original) Group Buy
Here is a post to the original BendPak Lift Group Buy:
BendPak Lift (Original) Group Buy
Thanks for all the input. I think I am more confused now then before I had any information. Basically, it boils down to whether I want to save $1000 by purchasing a lift made in China which many members here seem to be happy with. I know that Rotary(Revolution) is a great lift with a well-respected name but is it $1000 better? or safer? Every lift manufacturer says their lift is "The Best", and it's hard to know who to believe. I am not an engineer, and I claim to know NOTHING when it comes to lifts. I bet seeing them in person and testing them would help me tremendously. I'm still leaning towards the Revolution.
Well, I actually decided to go with a BENDPAK HD-9ST for a couple reasons. #1 it is made in America, #2 It is a 9000lb lift with nice safety features, #3 very well priced for the quality and features, #4 not one bad thing has been said about Bendpak in my research, #4 delivery time only 10 days vs Revolution I would have to wait 3 weeks. I ordered it today so when I get it all up and funtional, I'll report back. I did have my garage door converted to a high-lift system yesterday and it's amazing how much extra head-room I have now. To raise the tracks, install new torsion spring, new drums, and 4.5 hours of labor, it cost $400 which seems to be half of what other guys have been paying. Quality of work and time spent was second to none and I am more than pleased. Of course pics to follow.
RoadiJeff
Viper Owner
Do you happen to know what the ceiling height of your garage is? Also, is it a standard size overhead double wide garage door? Lastly, did you have to get a special automatic door opener for it?
The reason I ask is because the company I called to inquire about raising the door tracks wanted over $1,000 to install new tracks, raise the springs, drums, etc. They also said that my regular door opener would no longer work. They mentioned some special side mounted one that would probably work but all the little things were starting to add up to more than I'd planned to spend on the lift itself.
They said my current opener wouldn't work because it starts pulling back right away and if I wanted the tracks raised closer to the 10'-4" ceiling height I needed an opener that would pull up before it pulls back.
My celing height is about 9' 4" It is a standard 7' high 8' wide single stall door. I actually did not have the garage door opener re-installed because the unit would hang down lower than I wanted. I could have re-used it but the tracks would have to have come down lower by about 1.5-2 inches and I wanted that extra clearance so I left it off. Sounds funny that your company said your opener couldn't be re-installed. If you add an extra panel, they can get it to work right so it's not pulling out and ruining the door. The 'special' side mounted one is really a commercial garage door opener which is typically mounted on the wall next to one of the drums. It basically mechanically turns vs. pulling like a regular garage door opener. They are definitely more costly, I was quoted about $700 by my guy whom I trust. At this point, I am using this stall mainly for storage so I don't really need an automatic opener. A high lift spring system does feel different when manually opening the door. Initially, there is little tension when you lift up on the door so it feels very heavy. About midway up, the springs kick in and up and away it goes so you better hold on. He also installed some bump stops at the ends of the upper tracks to catch the door just in case you let go too soon. High lifts doors are so cool, not only for function but aesthetically, gives your garage a much more spacious feel.
Fred(DrivingSchool)Kinder
Enthusiast
Hi Earl H.
Here is the link for the P-6 http://www.bendpak.com/product_info.isg?products_id=764
Price is just under $1800 fro VCA members.
Here is the link for the P-6 http://www.bendpak.com/product_info.isg?products_id=764
Price is just under $1800 fro VCA members.
Just A Dream
Viper Owner
I have them at my shop they are awsome just make sure you get all dimensions before you order and dont buy cheap crap
Russ
Russ
scottgf
Viper Owner
Here is what I did
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Ceiling is 12ft, installed longer tracks and 2 extra panels to the door and put the spring higher. Also had the opener mounted as close to the ceiling as possible.
BTW Love my Revolution "Group Buy" lift
Cheers,
I want a two post lift that will fit into a 9' garage. I
don't need to be able to stand under the car to work, but
it would sure be nice not having to fight with jacks and
jackstands every single time you wanted to brake, oil,
transmission work. Let me know if anyone comes across a
lift like that - (depending on price) I'll be first in
line.
don't need to be able to stand under the car to work, but
it would sure be nice not having to fight with jacks and
jackstands every single time you wanted to brake, oil,
transmission work. Let me know if anyone comes across a
lift like that - (depending on price) I'll be first in
line.
Fred(DrivingSchool)Kinder
Enthusiast
malcoll
Enthusiast
How much for this lift?
Andrew2KRT10
Enthusiast
I went with:
http://www.e-autolifts.com/pf/pf.html
HD-9XW. I learned the hard way. The standard width is NO GOOD !!! I had to go with the extra width. The whole thing cost me about 3K. I do not suggest having someone install. DO it yourself, very easy with some help. Biggest problem is getting it to your home. You might have to get somone with a flatbed to take it off the dock at your local shipping place and bring to your house. I dealt with David at the above web site. Very good people to work with and same goes for Bendpak.
You'll need to run a 220 line, and you need a compressor to relese the locks to lower. No big deal, small compressor will do.
Best thing I ever did.
Andrew
http://www.e-autolifts.com/pf/pf.html
HD-9XW. I learned the hard way. The standard width is NO GOOD !!! I had to go with the extra width. The whole thing cost me about 3K. I do not suggest having someone install. DO it yourself, very easy with some help. Biggest problem is getting it to your home. You might have to get somone with a flatbed to take it off the dock at your local shipping place and bring to your house. I dealt with David at the above web site. Very good people to work with and same goes for Bendpak.
You'll need to run a 220 line, and you need a compressor to relese the locks to lower. No big deal, small compressor will do.
Best thing I ever did.
Andrew
Andrew2KRT10
Enthusiast
By the way. With the Viper up top, I can fit my 2003 1500 Ram underneath. That's why I went with the higher capacity lift.
Fred(DrivingSchool)Kinder
Enthusiast
I have my SRT10 Quad Cab over my GT2 and SRT10.
Jay Herbert
Enthusiast
Andrew is spot-on.... you really want to go with the extra width... I went with the wider and longer XLT Revolution, and the first time I drove onto it with my Ram Diesel with towing mirrors I KNEW I had mad ethe right choice.
Andrew2KRT10
Enthusiast
jdoc7, better re-think that. It's not so much the posts, rather the supports at each end of the cross tubes. With the standard width, I literally had about 1/4" clearance at each rear wheel. You'd be surprised what you can fit into a garage. I never thought I would have had the room, but my X-wide fit into what would be a standard with single car garage. If you have to do a little construction, do it, it's worth it!
Look very carefully at the picture of the end of each cross tube and you'll see where the space disappears. I had the standard width, installed and everything, and I took it apart, sent back the short tubes and switched it out for the longer cross tubes. The first time I was trying to put the car up on the lift, I had to have one guy at each side looking at the rear wheels to make sure I didn't tear apart my wheels, and then the truck didin't fit up the lift at all, so what was the sence? Oh, and my wheels didn't even sit fully on the runways ! They hung off each side! Nah, you have to go with X-wide. Bendpak was a gem to deal with. Didn't even charge me extra for the larger tubes, and did it on a 30 net credit. All I paid for was shipping.
I just assumed that when I went with the extra height, I would have extra width. No way. Ask Felix Unger what happens when you assume.
Look very carefully at the picture of the end of each cross tube and you'll see where the space disappears. I had the standard width, installed and everything, and I took it apart, sent back the short tubes and switched it out for the longer cross tubes. The first time I was trying to put the car up on the lift, I had to have one guy at each side looking at the rear wheels to make sure I didn't tear apart my wheels, and then the truck didin't fit up the lift at all, so what was the sence? Oh, and my wheels didn't even sit fully on the runways ! They hung off each side! Nah, you have to go with X-wide. Bendpak was a gem to deal with. Didn't even charge me extra for the larger tubes, and did it on a 30 net credit. All I paid for was shipping.
I just assumed that when I went with the extra height, I would have extra width. No way. Ask Felix Unger what happens when you assume.
Fred(DrivingSchool)Kinder
Enthusiast
The BendPak HD9-XW has an adjustable runway. Max out side runway is approx 81"(nice for a Ram at 80").
