If your looking for something a little less cost, this one is a popular choice on garage journal http://www.dannmar.com/dannmar-products.html

Main thing is to make sure he has the spread width figured right. My buddy screwed up; He has like I do, separate garage doors for each bay, the problem is that the bays are very close to each other (about 2' between each overhead door) In the garage interior the posts sit very close to the plane parallel of the next overhead door making it challenging for his wife to park a car if she does not drive straight in exactly. Since Im writing of his problem your probably know what she has done in the past.

Chamberlain Liftmaster makes a great side mount lift eliminating the center overhead track.

Not trying to be a smart ass here. I've worked on both extensively. 4 posts just get in the way. If it's storage only then I understand, otherwise it's not that much work to lift it from the frame and let the suspension hang. You walk through any auto shop and you will see 1, maybe 2.

Greg Smith
 

In the fall I bought a Pro Park 8 Plus mainly for storage use.

http://www.gregsmithequipment.com/Di...ppro-park8.htm

1.They have a great site with lots of info.
2. When I called they answered all my questions without being "you don't want to buy anything else, it'll kill you".
3. It arrived 2 days after the order.
4. It was packed well with no dammage/missing pieces.
5. Easy to assemble and set up
6. When I called with post sales questions they were helpful.
7. Great price and resonable freight costs.

I'm 6'2 and with the unit lifted all the way up I don't need to duck when I walk underneath it. But I also can't touch the floor pan so if I were working on the car I'd have to lower it.

--JMarsa

We have one of these in our shop used mainly for storage and street rods which are difficult to rack on our two posts. It is an ALI certified rack and we've been very happy with quality vs cost. A four post is also very useful when suspension needs to be loaded and exhaust work (rearend clearance).

I also like the fact that it's warehoused by the people selling it. The parent company is the Dover elevator co and it's engineered by them :) but built to their specs overseas :( .

--JMarsa

4 posts work great especially with the sliding jack I had posted the link to. When I want to steam clean under a car I roll the whole thing outside and have at it. When you are working under the car the rails it sits on also make great place to put all the nuts, bolts,parts etc as you are removing them. There is also less chance for error as opposed to a two post. In this forum we are mostly home users and alot of home users are novices when it comes to working on cars and you really need to pay attention when picking the lift points of a car when using a two post. A four post you are driving onto the rails and the main thing to watch for is the locking safety tabs on each corner. I see a two post in my future but I have plenty of room. If I only had room for one I would get a 4 post with casters.

Look at shipping weight. The better lifts tend to have more steel in them. Stay away from the "light" ones.

unless it just for storage or doing alignments, I wouldn't recommend a 4 post either. I've used a ton of different lifts over the years and I highly recommend getting a professional grade lift vs. some backyard type. Make sure the lift is ALI or ETL approved.

I got my Bend Pak 10,000 lb clear floor wide lift from this place a few years ago : http://www.e-autolifts.com/

good people to work with and there were no hassles at all.

I have a Direct Lift as well. It was cheep enough for someone like me to purchase, and I use it all the time. with no problems. I have had for 5+ years, and it great! I like it and would purchase another one if I had the room.

Scott,
Make sure you check with Kurt, I know he has one in his house garage.
Travis