Ok guys my wife gave me the green light to get a lift in. Now on to shopping for one... The question is do I spend the extra money to have it professionally installed. Costco has this on sale, looks like it retails for $2,300 without shipping. Is one brand better than the other and what should I be looking for. Thanks in advance.
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How handy are you, Joe? What's the price for a professional installation?
A home installation depends on the skill and experience of the installer. If you are handy and follow instructions, you will likely be good to go. Of course, anyone giving you advice won't be at risk, as they won't be standing under the lift when it's in service.
You may want to check out any other home installations near you before you make a decision. The manufacturer may be able to provide that data.
Ron just put one up I believe
Thanks Jim, it is the sheer size and heft of the lift that causes my concern. In reading up on various mfg's sites the ramps could weigh 500lbs. And yes parking my speedster above my daily driver when I am the guy who assembled it with my trusty Craftsman tools makes me pause.
https://www.speedsterowners.com...a-long-time-for-this
Look at this install here on the list.
Sorry somebody installed a 4 post for sure ...
"Ok guys my wife gave me the green light to get a lift in."
And how much begging did that entail? 
If you (and another car) are going to be under it regularly, I'd be getting some professional help for sure, jmo
Bob: IM S6 posted:And how much begging did that entail?
It took me buying another vehicle and she wants all four cars to fit in a three car garage. Here is my latest addition to the household, who knows maybe I'll trailer my speedy to Carlisle 
Ed in MD installed a 4 post with help of his SO. He has a thread here on install. A 4 post is probably easier to install than a 2 post. The individual posts aren't as heavy and the bolts in concrete aren't a critical. Ed's is touted as portable.
Can't find Ed's thread but fount this one -
this one might be interesting
If you have all the tools (concrete drill, bits, level, tape measure, etc.), you can do the required wiring and have the tools for that, installing a four post is a snap. When I mean tools, I mean tools (hardware) and tools (knowledge).
Some counties require a building permit and inspections.
If your not confident in your own abilities, for peace of mind, farm it out. Even if you farm it out, you still may not have confidence in the installer.
I come from the side, give it a try and if doesn't work out, call someone in to save the day.
As mentioned, Edsnova installed his lift with a little help. He did a good write-up on here if you search under his username. I've helped to install 6 BendPak 4-post lifts and all of them required three or four people to move stuff around and get everything in position. All of the major parts weigh a lot - too much for one person but two rugged guys can erect the posts and move the ramps around - not easy, but do-able.
I only have assembly experience with BendPak, but have used a few by other makers and all of them were similar, although metal thickness varied. That may have been from different weight capacities, too. One of the six I helped with was rated for 10,000 lbs for small-mid trucks and such, while the others were all 8,000 lb caps. All of them have safety dogs tat engage at different levels - if you hear all four click in, it's pretty secure. Each corner is adjustable to make sure it lifts and holds level.
After the first two were assembled, we could knock one off in half a day (4 non-drinking guys) but for a newbie I would plan for at least a weekend. The only problem we had (on all of them) were the connectors for the air hoses - the connectors were junk. That was fixed by a trip to Car Quest and a bag of better quality hose connectors that actually sealed and we were good to go.
I have no experience with the brand from Costco, so do some research with other vendors and from folks on here. You can also look at this site.
I looked at four post lifts, but ended up going with a two poster. I have a fairly big shop, which can easily hold three vehicles, plus a 1.5 vehicle garage attached to our house.
If you want a lift and need the extra storage a 4 poster is the way to go. If you want to work on your vehicles a lot, like I do, then a 2 poster is better.
I paid to have mine installed, because that sucker is heavy. A 4 poster would be easier to install, but I'd still pay to get it done.
By the way, the Bendpak 4 poster comes with a caster option, which is really nice if you every want to move the lift.
Hey! I found my one and only shot of us assembling the 10K lb moose-lift. This was at the car club "Cave" in Beaufort, SC. Note the very ample room around us - that was a blessing. Trust me, even on the 8K lb version, those assembled ramps are HEAVY! Once everyting was assembled and the cables adjusted per instructions, it lifted smoothly and level. I remember a LOT of head scratching and re-doing stuff on the first two we built. The first one (below) took 2 days, the second a little over a single day and after that we could knock them out in 4-5 hours. Still, I would highly recommend a professional installer (if one is available in your area). Plan on $500+ to put it all together. BTW: Many places include shipping in their pricing - check them out because these things feel like over a ton each. We had 4 stacked on a car hauler trailer and there was a lot of weight back there.
Thanks Gordon, this is a big help.
Hey guys.
Here is my 4-post saga. My wife and I did this in about a day and a half. It was hard work and I'd have happily paid $300 for a crew if I knew the crew was not composed of lower primates. I would not have been able to do it without the engine crane to lift the right side ramp. That part was heavy. The rest was manageable.
We went with Derek Weaver. It has the necessary engineering certs. The price was about what you're quoting. I think it had 7.000 or 8,000 lb capacity. It is lighter than the Bend Pak but seems pretty sturdy enough for what I want it for.
It also is not bolted down. This is pretty normal, apparently, and I like to be able to move it. I rolled it into the driveway a few months after we got it set up, and leveled it out there and had people over. We put 3-4 other TDs up on it (not all at once!) for inspection. Good times.
It also plugs into the wall: 120 A/C. The hydraulic fittings work fine. No fuss and no muss.
And I do like it for working on the car. I considered a 2-post (they are cheaper) but could not find one that would fit under my 9 foot ceiling. Install's a bit tricky too. You need the correct slab and, as I did not pour it, I could not be 100 percent. I'm only like 95 percent on the slab.
Finally, the 4 post strikes me as safer, particularly for those of us with rear-engined, light-nosed cars. Many decades ago, when I worked at Urban Arco in Fairfield, my boss's brother put a Beetle on the lift and then removed the front axle beam. The car instantly did a back-flip and landed on its tail pipes. Luckily, no one as hurt, and Greg never did live that one down.
It's the sort of thing I'd do, so the ramps give me a margin of safety.
I've made a couple of scissor jack lifts that fit between the ramps for when i need to work wheels off. The ramps are a little bit of an obstacle, but compared to crawling around under jack stands, it's goddamn heaven.
I have a 4 post bend-pack HD-9 and absolutely love it. The professional install was cheap considering that I didn't have the heavy equipment to off-load or maneuver the pieces. It took the pros a fraction of the time that it would have taken me. My electrician wired up the 220 as well. I elected not to anchor it into my heated garage floor. My floor is slightly uneaten due to slot drains but it hasn't been a problem. My taller lift clears an SUV without any trouble.
When I studied the lifts I totally missed the fact I would need a compressor to disengage the locks. Had to pick one up last minute. Read carefully and get one that is strong enough.
The guidance SOCers gave me and a final pic of my lift here:
https://www.speedsterowners.com...ich-one-should-i-get
I don't know how I lived without it. I just need to get my car back from Mr. Hines and crew so I can enjoy both the car and the lift.
Big Ed wrote: "Many decades ago, when I worked at Urban Arco in Fairfield, my boss's brother put a Beetle on the lift and then removed the front axle beam. The car instantly did a back-flip and landed on its tail pipes. Luckily, no one as hurt, and Greg never did live that one down. "
I would have paid admission to see that one!
I googled cars falling off lift - it apparently is far more common with 2 posts than one would think.
VitMan (Jared) posted:
How did you locate an installer?
Did the lift manufacturer have some ideas?
I would not have the slightest idea where to begin, for a home installation.
Roy,
I believe that I researched the lifts on the web and found a local installer online. The manufacturer didn't help. I did a quick search near your town in Nevada and found these guys:
@VitMan (Jared) thans the picture helps tremendously. I am planning on putting it over on the single door side (3 car garage) vs the double door, curious if the installers dictated the location. Can you give me a ballpark on the jack shaft opener and rail extension for the door. Thanks
I need to move the overhead rack and figure out bike storage, 
Joe,
I love the Jeep and the clean garage.... The reworking of the jack shaft garage door opener was relatively expensive, $600? However I wish that I had done all 4 doors. If I ever build another place I will make it mandatory. I will say it is substantially slower than the other door openers.
So in my research some need compressors and some do not. Is one better i.e. safer than another... This is harder than I thought.
@VitMan (Jared) did you buy the longer ramps and do you keep your compressor hooked up or just when you loser your speedster.
I didn't get the longer ramps. I don't have the garage door clearance and didn't want to have to move them (they are kind of heavy). I didn't like the way the ramps hang so I fabbed a stop to keep them from sagging. I did get a drip pan. I didn't want my speedy making its territory on my SUV.
Oh, I pretty much leave the compressor hooked up. My electrician installed an outlet on the post that I plug it into. Keeps the air and power nice and handy near the lift.
Joe,
PM'd you with my phone number if you have any questions.
Air compressors are really handy gizmos to have in your shop. You can use them for blowing compressed air over all sorts of things - think cleaning off/under your lawn mower!
The compressor is used on the lift to retract the safety stops (one stop at each corner) when you're lowering the ramps. If they are not retracted, the ramps cannot go down. You raise the ramps an inch or so to relieve tension on the stops, you push a button, you hear a whoosh, the stops retract and you're free to lower the ramps. If you let the button off, the ramps stop at the next level down (about every foot or so).
You can put the compressor anywhere. If it's dedicated to the lift it can be mounted on the lift. You could even leave it there and just run a hose from it to where-ever else you might want air. The lift doesn't actually use much air for operation of the stop retractors, so one like this would be fine - even a cheaper one, if you can find it, but I like these guys:
Mine does not need a compressor. The safeties are actuated by a pushrod system so that all four corners are unlocked with the push of a lever next to the hydraulic pump. Took a little fettling to get it to work right, but only a little.
The lift came with four drip trays standard equipment, plus this crazy cast-iron "jack tray" that weighs about 60 pounds all by itself. You're supposed to set it between the ramps and then put your jack on it to lift the wheels, and I really wanted that thing but now I never use it because it's so heavy.
Instead I welded up a couple of dedicated cross-bars with 2 x 2 cold-rolled tubing and some bits I cut from the shipping steel that the kit came with. I welded scissor jacks to those and each of those whole units weighs less than just the tray does. Plus they're slimline, so I just leave them under the car mostly.
This is is my 2 car lift from bendpack, easy install took me. 1 day 2 guys
F
And THAT is how you get 20 lbs. into a 10 lb. garage.
Nice jack beams, Ed!
Wow. I didn't even know about the double lift!
Narrowed down to to http://www.bendpak.com/car-lif...st-lifts/hd-9st.aspx or http://www.bendpak.com/car-lif...post-lifts/hd-9.aspx Same model one just a smaller footprint. Had the garage guy out today and should have a quote tomorrow for the hi lift conversion.
@Gordon Nichols I have a Craftsman version of the HD model, was just curious if it had enough power to release the locks and it sounds like it does.
Here's a Bendpak story for you:
I had my 2 post lift in for about three weeks when one of the hydraulic rams developed a serious leak. Babco, the company the sells Bendpak in Canada, installed the lift, so I called them for some warranty work. They told me they would send me the new hydraulic ram and that it would be easy for me to replace it. I live on Vancouver Island and their business is on the mainland, so I guess they didn't want the expensive of having one of their installers come over on the ferry to install the new ram, which is about 8 feet long and weighs around 80 pounds.
Easy to install? Sure, if I did this sort of thing for a living. I don't, so it was far from easy.
Three hydraulic fluid floods later I had it installed. What a serious PAIN IN THE A$$.
My wife told me I was an idiot for not demanding that they come over and fix the lift.
Boy, was she right. 
Add the ferry charges and it would have cost them a fortune for their service call. You should of offered to hire someone local to xchange it and agreed with them on that feature. A Lot cheaper for them and easier for you.
