lifts, 4 post Options

[80cap]

anyone own one of these? wildfirelifts.com

[davehg]

I just did a fair amount of research on 2 and 4 post lifts before making my purchase. I didn't come across the above company as one of the top few rated companies, but there are a ton of lift providers out there - almost all of them are Chinese manufacturers.

My review demonstrated that the top rated units - rated by both performance, service, and price, were Rotary, BendPak, and Mohawk. Rotary and Mohawk were more expensive. BendPak seems to occupy a nice niche at the "prosumer" level - more expensive and arguably better made than most of the Chinese brands, but perhaps not the perfect solution for a working garage with heavy duty cycles and needs.

Based on research and feedback from a few pals who had been down this path, I ended up with a Bendpak 4 post 14XL lift, and added oil changing pan, 7000lb rolling jack, and a few other options. The lift capacity was huge - 14,000lbs and the extended wheel base because I wanted to be able to lift and service my RAM crew cab diesel - which weighs 8000lbs but has 4700 lbs over the front axle thanks to the heavy Cummins engine. It's not enough to examine just the overall capacity - you have to also know how much weight over the front and rear axles you are lifting to ensure your lift is safely within limits. This lift was overkill for any 914 - but necessary for the truck.

A two post lift might be ideal for the 914 - it is not as stable for long term storage but costs less and takes up less space. You should really have 6" concrete base to safely use a 9klb lift and more if you are lifting 14k lbs- the benefit of a 4 post lift is that you don't need as thick of a base. Plus, it makes an awesome storage platform.

My experience with Bendpak has been super positive - they've overnighted some parts out ASAP (I broke the Zerk fittings) and the quality of the lift is very high. Online reactions are similar - responsive and fast customer service. I paid to have mine installed - it wasn't cheap but watching the 2 guys sweat for 5+ hours made me glad I did. Total cost for the lift, install, and options was about $7.7k - a smaller lift or a 2 post unit would have been about $2k cheaper.

For both, you'll need to run a 220 line from your electric panel (they make a 120v line but it lifts slowly). Also need a small pancake style compressor to power the air locks. The unit lifts via hydraulic power, not air.


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