I just purchase and picked up a 2 post lift. It's an Atlas BP 8000 symmetrical lift. I have 27" on either side of the posts. I want to position as close to the front wall as possible, but still leave enough room to walk around the front of my 914. Any suggestions as to the distance from the post to the front wall ? My initial guestimate is 10 feet???

Dave

I think the 914 is about 14 foot

on my 2 post, the car is really just about centered with the post down the middle of the door when its up

so measure from the middle of your door to the front bumper is pretty close... I'd guess 7-8 foot?

The post of mine is about 12 inches aft of the front of the door. Ten feet should be plenty. The car is only twelve feet long.

From my experience installing ours, consider the center balancing point of the car to be loaded. As Brant states about the center if a 914. You would do yourself a disservice if you thought a 914 was all you might put on it.

Also. Our cars are so light you could pretty much hang them anywhere on one if those lifts.

Pick your longest car or truck and mount it for that....

My longest vehicle is a Vanagon, 180" or 15 feet. Divide that by 2 and that's 7 1/2 feet. If I add 1 1/2 feet, that comes to 9 feet away from the front wall. That should do it.

Dave

You WILL be under a vanagon....

Very good point.

Below copied/pasted from Greg Smith website --(I'm sure other manufacturers have similar)
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The Most Frequently Asked Question: How Far Should The Columns Be Set From The Front Wall?

If your lift has asymmetric arms, then we recommend the center of the columns should be set about 9-10 feet off the front wall. If your lift has symmetric arms, then we recommend that the center of your columns should be about 12 feet off the front wall.

If your lift has either the Atlas exclusive super symmetric arms or the versa-metric arms (found on the Atlas PV-10P), then we recommend to install the center of the lift columns about 10 feet off the front wall. The versatility of the above arms will allow the customer to "fudge" the position of the vehicle to allow the owner to walk around the front or back of the vehicle.

If a vehicle is to be asymmetrically positioned on the lift, then 30% of the vehicle will be in front of the columns and 70% of the vehicle will be positioned to the rear of the columns.

If your work bay is only 25 feet long, and the vehicle is 18 feet long, the front part of the vehicle will be about 4-5 feet in front of the columns. If your columns are about 9 feet from the front wall, you will have about 4 feet of space between the hood of the car and the front wall.

If the vehicle is to be symmetrically positioned on the lift, then 50% of the vehicle will be in front of the lift and 50% behind the column. If the vehicle is 18 feet long, then there will be about 3 feet between the front of the vehicle and the front wall.

Important Things To Consider:
•If you have a service bay that is 25 feet long and you are lifting a dually crew cab with an eight foot bed (total length of 23 feet)...you will have only one foot to spare from each end of the truck.

•If you weigh over 500 lbs., and your pant waist size is 67, then the three feet that you have allowed in front of the columns may not be adequate.

•If you have a $20,000.00 Snap-On ® tool box that is the size of a small home, you may need additional space between the front of the vehicle and the front wall.

•We would strongly recommend standing the columns up in your bay and then driving the longest vehicle that you think you would lift between the columns into a position that would allow the lift arms to reach the correct lifting points.

•If you can position this largest vehicle in a "safe" lifting position (and still have enough room to maneuver), then all smaller vehicles should be a piece of cake.

•When in doubt; let common sense prevail.

Dave please do a review on this when installed as I am looking at this lift & also the BP9000. Pics would be nice also.

Yeah but, you may not want to balance a Vanagon in the middle.

Amazingly, the Vanagon has almost 50/50 weight distribution.

It doesn't after you drop the drive train

I sold my last house and 4-post lift and know I will be doing a lift in the new (to me) house. I do not believe that I will use a 4 post lift this time. I expect to be driving the Six instead of storing it. I just have not figured out if I want a 2 post or one of the in-ground scissor lifts. If I do a scissor lift I will have the garage concrete floor cut and excavated and the lift set into the floor so it is flush when down and easy to drive/walk over. When I get ready for that, probably a year from now, then I will get serious about searching for options and opinions.

the greg smith site didn't open for me.

something to think about.

as i couldn't see the install requirements, what is recommended for the slab thickness? for an older floor that may have settled over time and has 'age' cracks there may be more work involved. like cutting out the slab where the posts will attach, excavating for NEW adequate thickness for the post anchors, cure time, possibly even the slope of the floor that most garages have. researching other 2 post lifts, the only ones i would consider, i found the 10' ceiling lifts more expensive than taller ones with the same lift capacity. i would not feel comfortable just drilling holes and using sleeved anchors for the posts either. threaded J-bots and some short pieces of of re-bar wire tied together, yes. not to mention the need for a stand alone 220v circuit.

The site opens fine for me. Here is the link.

http://www.gregsmithequipment.com/

I'm also looking at lifts for my 914 and Boxster - have any of you put a 986 Boxster on the BP8000 with no problem?

finally opened for me, just slow i guess. very attractive price on the under 10' ceiling 2 post. shipping will prob kill. not all that much more than a scissor from HF. there may be some concrete cutting in my future. thanks for the greg smith mention!!

Okay, after much measuring and thought I've decided to mount the columns 10 feet from the front wall. The longest vehicle being the Vanagon will leave me almost 2 feet in the front.

As far as a 2 post lift installation thread, I would happy to do it but, I'm not sure what category to put it in, and whether it's appropriate at all for the 914 world forum. I would like some input from the membership and the admins on this before I post.

Dave

Put it in the garage and he'll yes it's appropriate.

Post your pics now....we all love lift pictures

Okay, here we go. If you're a car guy this is "Lift Heaven", better known as the Greg Smith Equipment Sales, Inc. showroom in Delaware. This is where we picked up 2 BP 8000 lifts.
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Here we are loaded and ready to go. They are VERY heavy, about 1300 lbs. each. The workers at Greg Smith expertly and carefully loaded them on a car trailer with a fork lift. It was up to us to secure them for the 2 hour trip back home. My good buddy "Popeye" offered the use of his F 350 Ford pickup along with his trailering skills, and another car buddy Humberto let us use his trailer. This project would have been a lot more difficult (and more expensive) without there help. Thanks guys!
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My Corvette bud (Kohle) just got one of those installed in his shop. Nice lift



EDIT: Snapped a shot today (12/28)

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Here's my Atlas from GregSmith. Went up in less than a day. Very easy and works smoothly. I didn't need to go with a base plate model though because I have plenty of ceiling height, but I am sure they all have the same build quality. I had a friend help put the overhead beam in place, but I'll bet if I had the base plate model I could have done it all myself. The uprights are heavy but can be walked up by one person if determined (like I was). Once standing up they can easily be shifted into just the right position. I drilled the holes in the concrete once I had the posts in place and squared up.

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Austin Healey clock?

Yup, my last one was the original door of my 1953 Pre-A 356, but I let it go with the car when I sold it because I felt it should stay with the car. This is the original front fender from this car I finished last year.

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what was the minimum slab thickness for the model you purchased? sleeved anchors?

Mine was 4" minimum. The anchors were included with the lift. Such an easy install. I couldn't be happier.

Any updates?

The lift installation is done. My electrician wired it up this week and I lifted the first vehicle Thursday night. Other than a few minor adjustments, everything went pretty smooth. As I might have mentioned before, the directions aren't that complete which added some time to the project. We installed another lift yesterday and it took only 2 1/2 hours, not counting the unpacking. You will need a minimum of 2 people, preferably 3, to hoist the posts to a vertical position. Anyone contemplating installing one can contact me with any questions.
Dave
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You installed it in your spare bedroom?

Spare warehouse space. Will be painted and made "Car Guy Appropriate".

Dave

4 gallons of primer, 18 hours of wire brushing, vacuuming and application of primer. Now ready for finish coat.
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