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Two or Four post lift


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High, I am thinking to get a lift as scrabling about on the floor becomes harder with age, I like the fact that a two post can be used to remove a body complete but wonder if a four post is safer with the land rover six feet in the air, am I being silly?, as they will be designed to be safe. Both types have good and bad points.

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The only good thing about a 4 poster is it's quick and you have a handy shelf to put things on... for everything else a 2 poster is way better... with the possible exception that lifting a totally rotten car is to be avoided!! You don't have to use jacking beams to turn the wheels, dropping gearboxes is a lot easier as there is nothing in the way and unloading the suspension is automatic!!

The only time anything is really dodgy is when you start taking major weight off one end.. gearboxes and the like are safe as they are with in the arms! 

So dropping something like a rear axle could cause headaches, but you'd know as soon as you prop the axle! Likewise engine removal could cause the same effect... but you're not going to be underneath when that happens!! Then it's just a case of moving the car forward / backwards accordingly to compensate.. or sandbags!!

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I've used a 2 post with a number of landrover and not had any problems I've not used a 4 post but as I see it:-

A 2 post gives great access to the underside, easy to drop axles off etc

But the downside is that for some things have the suspension at full droop makes things difficult and for some things having a cross beam jack would be handy.

But a 2 post with a good selection of very large axle stands and hydraulic supports can negate the downsides of a 2 post.

If you have watched Wheeler Dealers then I believe that Edd has always used a 2 post with hydraulic supports (even when they have done Landrovers)

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I am in the process of changing a P38 diesel tank on the floor and that is no fun at all, I also have a gearbox to swap in a Discovery TD5, two jobs that would go a lot easier with the vehicle in the air. The two post does give better access, the only problem being the P38 does not like its axles hanging down, a strap to keep them  from droping would work.  I  think a two post is the way to go and will have a search for one.

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I've used both a 2 and 4 post on my Disco 3 and although it is a bit scarey dangling 3 tons up in the air, as long as it it positioned correctly (not just the jacking points but arm lengths as well) a 2 post is MUCH easier to work on the car!

In truth the 4 post was  a pain the arse (and head a couple of times) to use. The only time a 4 post was better was for setting the steering links.

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P38 axle should only be a problem if the shocks are removed.. they should hold the axle in place. For jobs like gearboxes and fuel tanks, for that matter, a hydraulic transmission jack is a very good investment... especially if it's a better quality one as they have both up and down foot pedals, allowing both hands free for guiding! 

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Well everything certanly points to a two post being easier to use for access etc, I put the floor down myself so I know its  6 inch thick , but I will go for one with the supports for extra safety. I might wait to replace gearbox once I have the lift, not even ordered gearbox yet so no rush.

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Any recomendations as to manufacturer of two post, been trawling net and you can go from £1100 to £5000, I will avoid the cheaper ones I think, but most seem to conform to CE regs. Makes such as Peak Dama and Werther seem to be ok, I supose its a case of speaking to a few suppliers to question them. I like the Peak A255 but suppose they are all very similar, are symetrical arms better than others.

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I'm gonna have to be Mr. Opposite here :D I'd choose a 4-post any day of the week! The 2- posts are a dangly mess to Work on, you have to line the car up just right, then you have to crawl on the floor to line those pesky arms up. And worst of all those 2 posts are always in the way of the doors! :D But most of all the safety aspect is what makes me prefer it the most, you can hammer, rip and tear all you wan't on your pride and joy without risking it suddently going to the floor. A buddy of mine just put the front of his 90" on his workbench, from a 2-post,  because he was fitting the rear axle and the Whole car slit forward and landed on the workbench :o 

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Without wishing to slate your buddy, but I'd be suspicious it wasn't loaded correctly if that was able to happen.

Even the proper tool used improperly can end in disaster...

All that said, a 4-post does always feel more secure to me, and aside from a body swap, you can get to everything pretty much as easily as on a 2-post, assuming you have a beam jack .

Only issue for home gamers is the lack of flat floor to get an engine hoist in... I think we have been down this road in another thread :)

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It is possible to have too much weight at one end... but, anyone with an ounce of common sense would either prop the opposite end or load the end to be lightened as far away from the posts as possible, or, add weight to the end that is going to be lightened to counteract the weight shift. That's like doing a Dyno test and tieing the car down with a few shoe laces.. and then acting surprised when the car shoots through the wall.

Talking of string snapping, reminds me of seeing the cable snap on a 4 poster ramp, send a new Volvo estate through an 18" brick wall :o needless to say I have been very wary of 4 posters ever since. At the time 2 posters were mainly screw operated, which are way safer in the event of failure... but it can take forever to get the car back on the ground! 

But I think that nowadays all are hydraulic / cable affairs.. but they do have a ratchet system to stop the sudden drop, but how you lower the car after that I know not.

The other point well raised is once you have a 4 poster all that floor area will be dead to anything that rolls on the floor.

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1 minute ago, miggit said:

. At the time 2 posters were mainly screw operated, which are way safer in the event of failure... but it can take forever to get the car back on the ground! 

 

Well we have a well known Danish manufacturer called 'Stenhøj' and like averybody else back then they used the screws as well. They ditched this due to safety though! The thing is there's basically two nuts on the screw. One for operating and a safety nut should the threads be stripped in the first one. Problem was that people didn't know that the first one had broken / worn through and then the safety nut was the last one to do the Work, and when that snapped/stripped, well you can imagine... Of course if you kept your yearly service on it, nothing will happen, but honestly how many of us garage-mechanics do that?

 

Sure my buddy could've done a lot of things to prevent it from happening, but bottomline is that it wouldn't have happened on a 4-post regardless of prep or lack thereof.

I may very well just be a puzzy, but I've tried loosening the big nuts on Radius Arms on a 2-post, with a big extension and boy did the thing rock back and forth :o 

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But dropping an axle on a 4 post ramp is a total mission as the ramp gets in the way!

Your point about the screws is also valid, I knew they ditched them because of ware issues, just didn't know it caused the arms to drop! Just shows that everything that moves needs to be serviced at the correct intervals.

And for losing big nuts the floor is best, the car can't fall off the floor and its not too far to fall if you slip off the breaker bar if you need to jump on it!!

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3 minutes ago, miggit said:

But dropping an axle on a 4 post ramp is a total mission as the ramp gets in the way!

Raise up, jack under the chassis, undo all bolts and roll it out with the wheels on, or am I missing something? Bolt access you mean?

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10 minutes ago, Bowie69 said:

Raise up, jack under the chassis, undo all bolts and roll it out with the wheels on, or am I missing something? Bolt access you mean?

This can be an issue with U-bolts on a leaf suspension as your impact wants to be right there where the ramp is, but of course you just Jack the axle up a bit :) 

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7 minutes ago, miggit said:

Either way it's a balancing act or an expensive jacking beam is needed... the 2 poster does away with this!!

Indeed, on the Price point nothing beats the 2-post! I choose a third option myself. a 'scissor' style, still two ramps and good stability but cheaper than a 4 post. Plus I don't have the headroom for either a 2 or 4 post

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Thanks for all the input, last night I was all set on a two post, after reading todays posts I am just not sure. I am lucky to have a loadall that I could lift a body off with, if it would work. It does concern me about the vehicle being up in the air mounted on a central point, then is my concrete up to it, I laid it and know its 6 inch thick but the 2 post does not have a big footprint on the floor.  They both have their own advantages, I will just have to make my mind up.

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4 post for me too , a 90 on a 2  post with the legs/pads under the radius arm brackets mean the pads are under a metre apart and a lot of mass overhanging over the front pads . My view on 2 posters is that they are great for servicing cars but not the right tool for 4x4's . I also feel the whole system is reliant on the structural integrity of the concrete and RAB's particularly when the centre of mass is well ahead of the legs and just how do you check that over the course of years of use?

Having said all of that I've never seen one fall over but I have had experience of vehicles moving on the pads which is somewhat unsettling....

Which ever you end up with once you have it you will wonder why you waited so long :)

cheers

 

Steve b

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I can see the benefits of a 2 post lift.. But I don't trust them at all! To many fails on UT, hahaha :-P

I used one for a RRC chassis swap and it worked fine. Good acces to everything and so on.. Only excess into the car is a nightmare! And still... I dont trust them!!

 

I have two 4 post lifts (FOG403 - 3500kg capcity) in my 12m x 5,5m hobby palace and they are fine too and much safer!!

Also used the 4 post for swapping chassis and engines: just suspended the body or engine to the ceiling and lower the chassis. Worked out fine :-)

 

Just for fun to mention about my sky scrapper lifts:

One I put on 55cm high extentions and is used as storage for my RRC project on top and Dodge WC62 6x6 beast underneath (still have to swap them for more space on the floor because it is 550cm long and 215cm wide :-D ). This lift can't go down to the floor... but that is not a problem: i can cross to the second one which is standing in front of it and this one is really extended by the same amount but can make the whole journey from 20cm to 235cm in two steps. :-) :-)

 

 

 

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