Installing a Garage Lift - ImageEvent



Installing a Garage Lift

There was a time in my life when pulling a four-speed out of my car was easy, actually kinda fun. I’d throw a few floor jacks under it, grab my trusty tools and within an hour or so, I’m crawling out with the transmission in hand.

But that my friends was a long time ago. I’m north of 60 now and the thought of pulling a four-speed under a car isn’t as appealing as it once was. The kids are grown and all of their college tuitions are paid off so I decided its time to treat myself to something I’ve always wanted, a lift for my garage.

A few years ago, I replaced a 1941 vintage slightly leaning one-car garage with a pretty decent three-car replacement. I designed it hoping that eventually I would get a lift. With that in mind, I had the two-car portion of the garage made with a fourteen-foot ceiling and the single car portion with storage space. And while it took a few years to order the lift, I had the electrician run a dedicated 220 line for a lift.

When I began looking for a lift, I found out that there’s a plethora of companies selling them so the big question became how do I choose the right company and right lift. I scanned the Internet and contacted quite a few places before making my choice. After due diligence, I chose the BendPak Corporation. This global, California based company has been in business for 45 years and today offers not only high quality lifts but many other types of garage equipment for use in both commercial applications as well as for back yard hobbyists. Since I still do some suspension work, my choice was their asymmetrical XPR-10AC two-post model. While a four-post lift is easy to drive on and is great for storing two vehicles in one spot, the two-post keeps the suspension pieces more accessible. With a 10,000 pound capacity, the XPR-10C is sturdy enough for anything including my full-size Chevy Silverado.

While price is certainly an important part of the equation, I’ll suggest this isn’t the time to be a cheapskate. Cheap and good are typically mutually exclusive. I’m sure you wouldn’t want your $50,000 vintage ride to come crashing down because you tried to save a few bucks on poor quality lift, would you? Yet with BendPak I found it wasn’t necessary to pay lots of money for a high quality unit.

Just to be safe, before ordering the lift, I went to to determine if the lift passed the rugged certification process of the American Lift Institute (ALI), and it did. It’s important to know that not all lifts are certified so you should go to website before making your final decision.

There’s a lot to like about this lift. One very unique feature is its 30-degree rotated column design that provides added door opening clearance and its overall width of 132 inches makes it perfect for smaller garages. They also have a wider version available. The variable arm position allows it to be used as either a symmetric or asymmetric lift for added versatility. Another important feature are the low profile contact pads (about four inches) that can get under exceptionally low vehicles. Unlike some other lifts, Bendpak lifts come with truck and van adapters at no extra charge. Finally, its durable powder-coating will last a long time.

Installing a lift is something to be left to professionals and finding a qualified installer wasn’t a problem. BendPak can set you up with one. Finally, on a snowy Friday morning, installers Joe Epifanio and Glen Austin arrived with the lift and within about four hours the lift was installed. It doesn’t get much better than that.

I’d like to mention a few cautionary notes. It is necessary to first make sure your garage floor is in good condition and free of cracks or other defects. And while a level floor is recommended, the lift can be installed on a floor with 3-degrees of slope or less. Concrete specifications vary with the type of lift, but for my 10,000-lb. model, my garage floor needed to be a minimum of 4” thick and have 3,000-PSI strength concrete. Fortunately when I built my garage, I prepared for having a lift by meeting those specifications.

Note: The article, while giving readers an idea of the necessary steps to install the lift, does not show every step and is to be used only as a guideline for installation.

For more information about BendPak lifts go to:

BendPak Corporation

1645 Lemonwood Dr.

Santa Paula, CA. 93060

800-253-2363

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