Hi Guys,

My wife and I bought a new (to us) home on 2.8 acres (hopefully she is content to stay there until I am in the ground ). It has a large 3-car that is 6' wider than my current over-sized 3-car, has a 10' ceiling and is deeper too but I can't remember how much deeper. I am going back tomorrow morning to take measurements of all of the rooms so I can start thinking what we will do inside.

I am looking for lift recommendations for that garage. I have thus far had a 4-post and a scissor-lift and loved both. But I like to begin from scratch and research what is new and see if that is a better fit for for my today needs. And, yes, I am going to completely remodel that garage.

To be honest, I am kind of liking the 2-post BendPak GrandPrix GP-7LCS. https://www.bendpak.com/car-lifts/two-post-lifts/gp-7lcs/

It is only 106.5" tall (about 8'10") so that leaves me 14" of ceiling clearance which I like. What do you guys think or recommend?

It will of course be a lot of work, but in the end should be really nice.

Thanks,
Michael

You're not leaving the area I hope!

Let the answer to "how you will I use the lift most" inform your decision.

Is the 10 ft clearance inclusive of the door in its open position?

If the priority is for servicing the car only and not storing a car on it, then a 2 post or scissor type.

To service it and store a car on the lift over another car - 4 post - but with only 10 feet clear, you will be limited to another short car below...like another /6!

Bend Pack is a great lift maker.

PS I would worry about a 2 poster in our seismic zone unless its braced at the top, to the house.

PS...I have thought that a recessed pit with a floor level removable cover (steel plate?) and steps down into it would be an interesting solution for routine matenance. Not drivetrain removal.

We recently purchased a two post hoist and four post lift from Challenger.

https://challengerlifts.com

Hi Jeff,
That's a good point re the open garage door. I will do hi-lift doors like I have in my current garage regardless. I will measure tomorrow but the garage is deep enough, I believe that the 2 posts would be forward of the garage doors. But I will measure and figure that out. If the 2-post does not fit (I really think it will) then I would do another in-ground scissor lift. Mine is really easy to use and a really low-profile visibility lift. My wife thought it was a very good choice.

I had a home with a pit in the garage floor about 45 years ago (Wow! I am getting old) I did not like it. Especially now at my age it would be a pain in the rear to go up and down those stairs and even then the car is sitting on it's wheels.

Jett - I will check out their lifts- thanks.

Michael

There’s a reason pits are no longer used. They are dangerous.
You can’t just attach a lift to your ceiling. If the lift did fail, you could potentially bring down your ceiling or worse.
I’m excited to see what Michael builds. The last garage was beautiful.

2 post, heavy duty, don’t try to save money this time.

I’m looking at the moment as well and am considering a scissors lift. Curious as to why your leaning towards a 2 post. The scissors would allow you to lift higher because there is no overhead component. Also seems easier for working inside the car when it’s on the lift. Seems like a maintenance vs restore/modify question with the 2 post being the best for maintenance and the scissors better for restoring/modifying? Is this the case in your experience? Also would be great to hear how the 4 post compared.

Another- probably expensive but best if both worlds option would be in ground like this rotary.

Rotary

@r_towle I am curious what you mean by "don't try to save money this time".

@mepstein Hi Mark - Thanks so much. I promise to post pics of the remodel as we do it. Yeah, I know the cautions of bracing the lift to the ceiling for sure. I guarantee you that the slab will exceed the installation specs before we bolt that sucker down, if that is indeed the lift I go with.

This time I am not going to do a porcelain tile floor. As pretty and as easy as it was to care for, the grout lines were a small pain in the rear to keep looking good even though I sealed them. This time I am leaning towards a polished concrete floor- think Costco floors.

@peteinjp Sure. I loved my 4-post BendPak but at the time my need was mostly storage. The problem with a 4-post is if you want to work on your car you would often need a bridge jack to get the car off its wheels. Also the 4 posts do eat real estate in the garage so be prepared for that too. BTW, your link was bad.

My BendPak scissor lift is awesome. It does everything well. Its only draw back is the ramps under the car that get in the way sometimes. I installed mine into the floor so it is completely flush when down. I also ran all of the electrical and hydraulic lines in a chase also sunk in the floor so it is a very clean, no-trip job. In my mind, that is the way us older guys need to do it. I can't risk falling and breaking something any more.

I really do like the 2-post BendPak I linked in my 1st post on this topic. It seems to be the best solution for the next garage. But, I am still digging and have some time as I will not get to the garage for a while as I square some other things away first.

I am truly fortunate to be able to do another garage after doing the last one.

Sorry about the link:

Rotary

All good information here, thanks to all for sharing. Currently I am using a HF scissors lift and am somewhat shopping as the scissors has limits. My gut is thinking a decent two post, probably Bendpak or similar.

I have a 2 post bend pack

I love it
would never go to anything else
and have been using it for over 10 years

Shops mostly use 2 post for mechanical repairs and scissor lifts for bodywork. It just depends what you want to do in the garage.
The nice thing about a two post is that a car can be stored under another

Look in to the Liftmaster wall mounted opener. 3800PLD is what I had installed during the garage finish. The space eating ceiling mounted drive motor and chain/belt track is eliminated. My doors clear the surface mounted lights by 1/2". The legs of a 2 post will fit in between the door lift rails. Subtract the car height, when on the lift before it hits the ceiling, from the actual working height. Click to view attachment

What is not to like with this lift (but the $$)

I’ve had a Twin Bush for a few years and it was an easy diy. I like that it runs on 110. https://www.twinbusch.com/product_info.php?products_id=

Well, you said that “hopefully this is your last move/house”
Then, spare no expense…garage of your dreams should be what you get!

Enjoy it.

Rich

That Bendpak Grand-Prix is one sweet lift. I was considering it for my low ceiling garage and inquired about long term car storage and it's not recommended to use a two post lift even for overnight storage.

Do people do it, of course but there's always a risk involved.

The only manufacturer that will certify their 2 post lifts for car storage is Mohawk, they even have separate adapter that pick up the car under the tire to prevent suspension issues.

BTW if of any concern, the Grand-Prix is made in China as most 4 post lifts on the market, even Rotary.

HTH

@rhodyguy I agree that is a terrific opener- I have had them in my last two homes with hi-lift doors. Clean, quiet and very low profile. I like the lock too.

r_towle - OK. I understand now. I pretty much built the garage of my dreams in our current home. I will be just replicating about 80% of that build and making changes for the other 20%.

We went back out to the house yesterday and I walked the property with our realtor, my brother and the 90-year-old owner. Amazing guy. We identified the property corners and he showed me the Agriculture Water supply and lines to the property as well as all of the sprinkler systems to keep everything watered/dripped, etc. I must admit, as I have never had open land, to me 2.8 acres is a lot of land, I am a bit nervous about the upkeep.

I have never heard of "Ag water" before. Apparently, and this has been the case since these homes were built, you pay a flat fee per year, $1K, and you get a 1.5" water supply line to your property and you can run that 24/7 for your property water needs for landscape. The home has city water. So that was nice to learn as trying to keep all of the landscaping green on city water would be $1K a month I am sure.

Also, the ag water supplies water to the roof sprinkler system that covers 100% of the home and approximately 25' all around the home.

I am getting his John Deer D140 riding mower, (I need to order a service kit for it so I know it is all up to snuff ) trailer and spray cart with the home. I am also negotiating for the new Stihl chain saw that he said has about 20 minutes of use on it (it looks brand spanking new), his weed whacker, and some other incidentals to keep the grounds nice.

The plan is to build a 1200 sq. ft. ADU that sits on top of a large garage for my twin brother, on the east side of the property. That will get completely built and it will include landscaping, driveway, septic, and irrigation for that side of the property. So that should reduce some of my maintenance worries. But really the current owner bought the property when he was 69 and has maintained it mostly by himself. So maybe I will be able to manage mostly on my own too.

But I would be lying if I said I was not nervous about all of the potential work as I get old as F. Our realtor, Julie Juliano is absolutely the best- bar none. She lives relatively close and has large acreage, really large acreage. She is going to give us a list of all of the local people who do anything that might need doing. That will help a lot.

Another cool factor is the seller just 14 months ago had a brand new Generac generator installed and it is cool. It automatically turns on/off if we lose power to the home. That was very nice to see. Really clean install too.

PARTY AT MICHAEL'S!!!