2 Post Car Lift

[Too Late]

Hi all
I have a couple of cars i work on as well as store in the garage. For space and to help maintain them i am looking at a 2 post lift.

I have a classic mini and a Westfield so light weight cars, but both cars would be stored for a period on the lift.

I have read that its not ideal to store a car for a long period on a 2 post lift.

I have found these wheel lifting forks. What do people think on using these?




https://www.garageequipment.co.uk/Vehicle-Lifts/Li...

https://www.garageequipment.co.uk/Vehicle-Lifts/2-...

[Lotobear]

Crazy price for what they are, personally I wouldn't bother.

...I experienced no difficulties storing cars on my 2 post for extended periods - just make sure your Mini's sump plug isn't leaking (or worse still a hydraulic line)

[Dogwatch]

Don’t they have safety locks? Seems silly not to have (and use) some sort of protection against lifting mechanism failure whether there’s someone underneath or not.

[Lotobear]

Dogwatch said:

Don’t they have safety locks? Seems silly not to have (and use) some sort of protection against lifting mechanism failure whether there’s someone underneath or not.

...they have mechanical locks and parachute valves, so totally safe. Biggest risk is putting an unbalanced load on one, an Elise for example which I also have, is rear end heavy and are known to tip off 2 post lifts if you don't take care with the weight distribution

there is an auto locking mechanism on each post that you have to pull in turn before the lift will lower

[Too Late]

Thanks for the replies all.

[dhutch]

Too Late said:

I have found these wheel lifting forks. What do people think on using these?




https://www.garageequipment.co.uk/Vehicle-Lifts/Li...

https://www.garageequipment.co.uk/Vehicle-Lifts/2-...

Will they not 'egg' the tyres a right treat!!

[Baldchap]

Out of interest why not go four post if storage is the primary motivation?

[Mr Whippy]

Also more stable by far going 4 post.

And you can get slide jacks for lifting to do jobs on them still.

A good bump on a raised car on 2 post could see the lot topple over. The longer it’s up the higher the risk.

[Lotobear]

Whilst a 4 post is undoubtedly the optimum solution if storage is the primary aim, the 4 posts 'kill' a lot of circulation space in a garage especially if you are a bit tight on space in the first place (and if you aren't tight on space you won't need to 'stack' cars in the first place)

A 2 post is, IME, a more flexible option for working on a vehicle and also handily doubles up for storage. I'm not sure how the risk of a vehicle falling off a 2 posts increases with the length of time it's stored on there - if it's correctly loaded and locked in place the length of time stored should be immaterial

[The Three D Mucketeer]

I don't do major car maintenance from my 4 post lift , I pay my garage mechanic to do that .
But for simple tasks like chassis cleaning/painting, winter wheel changing etc in combination dropping the car onto axle stands , I find a 4 post flexible enough. It's ideal for storage and with drip trays , besides feeling secure it prevents the lower car from fluid drips.

[Mr Whippy]

Lotobear said:

A 2 post is, IME, a more flexible option for working on a vehicle and also handily doubles up for storage. I'm not sure how the risk of a vehicle falling off a 2 posts increases with the length of time it's stored on there - if it's correctly loaded and locked in place the length of time stored should be immaterial

The risk of the lift failing through whatever mode it might likely is static… but that’s not what I’m talking about.

The risk from knocking it accidentally goes up with time, obviously.
I’d be interested how insurers view storing cars on 2 post lifts.

[Dave.]

Too Late said:

Hi all
I have a couple of cars i work on as well as store in the garage. For space and to help maintain them i am looking at a 2 post lift.

I have a classic mini and a Westfield so light weight cars, but both cars would be stored for a period on the lift.

I have read that its not ideal to store a car for a long period on a 2 post lift.

I have found these wheel lifting forks. What do people think on using these?




https://www.garageequipment.co.uk/Vehicle-Lifts/Li...

https://www.garageequipment.co.uk/Vehicle-Lifts/2-...

Having seen these on Deboss Garage, I wouldn’t.

They look to sag quite considerably.

https://debossgarage.com/builds/extreme-overhaul

Granted that’s got the weight of a quad turbo, LS powered, awd Audi on it, but still.

Edited by Dave. on Tuesday 2nd April 18:19

[Lotobear]

Mr Whippy said:

Lotobear said:

A 2 post is, IME, a more flexible option for working on a vehicle and also handily doubles up for storage. I'm not sure how the risk of a vehicle falling off a 2 posts increases with the length of time it's stored on there - if it's correctly loaded and locked in place the length of time stored should be immaterial

The risk of the lift failing through whatever mode it might likely is static… but that’s not what I’m talking about.

The risk from knocking it accidentally goes up with time, obviously.
I’d be interested how insurers view storing cars on 2 post lifts.

How do you envisage the 'knocking it accidentally' scenario unfolding in practice, I'm struggling to see it as a significant risk and, as previously mentioned, if the lift is loaded correctly and properly installed it's just not going to happen?

Now you don't want to be removing the engine other major, heavy, component on the car when it's on the lift without considering imbalance but in a static situation nothing is going to change to increase the risk - 'storage' implies a situation where a car is left undisturbed, static, for a period of time

[Mr Whippy]

Lotobear said:

Mr Whippy said:

Lotobear said:

A 2 post is, IME, a more flexible option for working on a vehicle and also handily doubles up for storage. I'm not sure how the risk of a vehicle falling off a 2 posts increases with the length of time it's stored on there - if it's correctly loaded and locked in place the length of time stored should be immaterial

The risk of the lift failing through whatever mode it might likely is static… but that’s not what I’m talking about.

The risk from knocking it accidentally goes up with time, obviously.
I’d be interested how insurers view storing cars on 2 post lifts.

How do you envisage the 'knocking it accidentally' scenario unfolding in practice, I'm struggling to see it as a significant risk and, as previously mentioned, if the lift is loaded correctly and properly installed it's just not going to happen?

Now you don't want to be removing the engine other major, heavy, component on the car when it's on the lift without considering imbalance but in a static situation nothing is going to change to increase the risk - 'storage' implies a situation where a car is left undisturbed, static, for a period of time

How does any accident happen?

Car underneath driving in/out and clipping the frame? An arm left out when driving in/out?
Trying to squash another car down the side?
Or a 25 gallon drum being pushed around on sack wheels?
Forklift putting something in/out of your shed?

The list is utterly endless. It’s in an unstable position.

It’s the equivalent of having a box sat on the floor, or a box sat on top of another smaller box.

[Gompo]

I think if I was particularly concerned with stability long term I'd use some guy ropes/ratchets and straps to tether each corner (or wheel) down; not particularly tight but enough. Ground anchors or perhaps back to the base of the lift assuming it was nicely secured to the ground. Of course you may end up walking into these, but at least it shouldn't disturb the car too much.

[Lotobear]

Lots of folk over thinking 'risk' here