Hot Rods 4 Post vs 2 Post

Used a single post lift down at the gas station; kinda like a 4 post with the channels the tires rode in; can't remember what we did to jack up the car for tire or brake work; been too long. Never knew how pushing the air valve on the wall turned into a big shiny ram coming out of the floor; but it always worked good. The owner, John used to say he wished he had a "modern" 2 post like in @41 GMC K-18 's post.

 

Those are the only ones I’ve used in service stations. Large cylinder and 4 arms you could position and slide in/out some.
The ones I used and a little latch on the floor you’d flip over and lock the cylinder from coming down.
Thinking back on it, not sure how safe that was…

 

I worked under those old in ground two post lifts at an old Midas shop in Kansas City when going to school. That thing had more trick than a monkey on 60 foot of g**** vine.
We also had a jack they called a bay lift, you would lift the rear of the car by the rear end axle tubs till it was 4 plus feet off the ground then set some jack stands under the frame up front. When you let it down it would pivot on the jack stands and set it on a lock on the jack. With that one action you would have all four wheels off the ground. Wouldn't mine having one of those.

 

Looked like this.

 

Getting both at work

 

I want to be 60 years younger so I could take shop cl***es in the new building.

 

For those of you running a 4 post how much space have you got either side of the lift? Any thoughts on a minimum? Thanks!

 

3 foot minimum.

 

^^^ 3 feet. You need to have enough space to fall down

 

You only need enough room to be able to squeeze past on one side and walk past with your elbows out on the other side. Remember to allow for growth as you get older. I have a 2 post and a 4 post. Work on the 2 post and store on the 4 post.

 

I would want it that you could leave the doors open on the car and still room to walk around without having to close the door if I was using for working on cars.

 

Open the door of the widest thing you plan to lift enough to get in and out. Measure how much it is open away from the widest part of the body. Check where the thing sits on the hoist. Figure half the width and the extra so you don't have to climb in and out. That is your bare minimum. Also, if it's up close to the wall but the garage door isn't aligned there, you do not want to have to angle onto it. Your width and ceiling height may enter into the placement, too.

 

Three feet between the rail and the wall Is comfortable if you are going to work on the car with the wheels off doing brake jobs or service work. My stall in a dealership I worked in for several years was against the end wall with the front end pit between it and the next stall over with five total stalls and a double overhead door on that side of the shop.I had an air over hydraulic single post hoist but had plenty of room to work on the right hand front suspension on big Pontiacs.

 

At least enough room to slide out an axle

 

Thanks fellas much appreciated, thats kind of what I was thinking, just great to get it confirmed.