I am curious why a moveable car lift like this....

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https://www.toolpan.com/Triumph-C-7000--7000-lbs-Capacity-Portable-Two-Post-Lift--110V_p_47702.html?gad_source=1&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI0tLdnevnhQMVq1lvBB0-Ag1vEAQYAiABEgLcvPD_BwE

is so differnt from a standard lift like this



Seems like its just longer hoses, the pump is on a dolly. I don't see anything that's actually physically different. They both are stressed and mounted teh same way onto the floor.

I don't see why You couldn't mount the standard one like the portable one and just get  your own hoses made.

I don't see how that is portable but you were kind enough to include a link so we can see what we're looking at.

4 post for the win
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sure if you never have to drop a subframe and don't really do any real mechanic work

I'd have to demolish my garage to have one of those installed.

it also does me no good TBH

I don't see how the first is called "movable".  Even adding a remote reservoir and pump to the second one would be useless.

I don't like the cables and hoses running under the vehicle either.  It always gets in the way of transmission jacks.

Ive got buddies with shops and garages for that nonsense

+1  Its an expensive parking spot.

If you don't have a pit, a 4 post is perfect to have for oil changes. But, I'd' outfit it with jacks that roll along the inner frame to lift front and rear of the vehicle to do rotates, brake jobs, etc.

Cheaper than an addition!

The first one looks like a maxjack. You drill anchoring holes into concrete and then use bolts to hold the jack in place. When you don't need it anymore, you unbolt it and store it. It's for those who don't have space for a dedicated permanent lift.

They also don't have the lift height of a dedicated lift


Maxjack

I have a MaxJax, the linked lift looks to be a beefed up version of the MaxJax.  The Triumph lift does not include the wheels that allow a person to unbolt to the floor and move it around like a 2 wheel dolly.  The pump has a device that equalizes pressure, ensuring an even lift side-to-side.

the second lift, if I see things correctly, likely has a a few cables and a hydraulic line running across, under the floor plate, this makes it non-portable (if your definition of portable is moving it and reinstalling it in less than 6 hours with a fork lift, those columns are HEAVY).  The cables have to be adjusted (tension) so the arms are the same height, and the cables are what ensures the arms go up at the same rate.  Each pillar has its own hyd. cylinder and are a LOT heavier than the Triumph.

You run your shop and do not know this?

How does this lift keep each side at the same height if the hydraulic cylinders aren't connected to each other?

The first pic, is two completely separate lifts with two rams off one pump.  They won't necessarily lift or retract at the same speed which could be an issue.

Imagine if one ram failed and the other didn't?

The second pic, is ONE LIFT, one pump.  There are also two rams, but, the cables cross under that steel plate and the cable connects the two sides together to keep them level, going up and down at the same rate.

The two rams contribute lift capacity, but if one fails, the entire thing would go down level.

Drag and Drives.

The 2 lifts in the OP look to be the same other than the pump being un-mounted from the lift arm which I don't see why you would want that.

It doesn't take 6 hours to setup a 2 post lift, at least not in my experience but it is faster w/ a fork lift.   I used to move columns around by walking them slightly on the baseplate.  Dropped one once.  That was an earth shattering noise when it hit the concrete.

The only difference is picking up the floor plate and spinning the nuts off the two equalizer cables.  It looks like you would have the pump right in the way of where you need to be to work the majority of the time and you would run over the hoses.

@Rival14

Nice! How high is your garage ceiling? I had an 87 GT, now drive my avatar!

15' tall.
Had to raise my door tracks to pull this off.
Thankfully, when i bought the house 3 years ago the builder tossed in the Liftmaster 8500's for me as a gift.

The Foxbody is also an 1987. 66k Original miles and im the 2nd owner. its in amazing shape for 37 years old.

That's cool until you need to do suspension work or anything else that requires removing tires

My brother in Christ I have a two post currently and I want to add another

@bmarshall1

Can you give us some additional info on your MaxxJack?

I have more than one shop building and like the flexibility and portability aspect.

Somthing like this may also work too

I have the quickjack version of that. They don’t go as high.

That's what jack trays are for.    IMO if you have space and budget get both.  There are things each type of lift does better.

I met this guy. He gave me a demo. Pretty good idea but he is a small time manufacturer and I'm not sure his design has been reviewed by an engineer.

@BigFatDog
https://www.maxjax.com/compare/?gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjwir2xBhC_ARIsAMTXk87ReDH45OR7p-4aOsNsYTMw1UavHPf2az7ruDW1vrrOLRHkm10kub8aAsFAEALw_wcB
Certainly, I think they are on version 3 (more like 2.5), but mine is the OG V1, and I bought it used.  All the updates and changes (see link) are nothing that ever bothered me on mine, but I will say the safety lock and additional stopping points would be nice.  I'm not sure how many stopping points mine has, but my safety stop is simply a 5/8 rod that goes through a hole in the column.  The female portion of the anchor remains in the floor and the column is simply unbolted, tilted back on the wheels, balanced and rolled to where it will be stored.  The footprint on the floor is about 12x12, so they store in a pretty small place, less space than a set of shelves.  Put foam plugs in the hole so dirt doesn't get in there.  I see no problem taking it between buildings.  If you get good at it, I imagine it could be set up in less than 10 minutes easy.  My neighbor used one on his Corvette.

TIP: when you drill through the concrete, drill all the way through so if one of the anchors doesn't grab, you can pound it through and put another one in, also get a bristle brush and clean out the bolt hole very good, some folks even use epoxy as well for holding better.

I used it on our 2012 4Runner, 6,300 lbs., as I recall, it lifted it fine and the columns didn't have much bend or give.  Probably wouldn't want to load it that much every day.  Main use was on my Miata, and it lifted high enough I could double stack Miata, just barely.

TIP: I went to Goodwill and bought the lowest office chair I could find and if I slouched really low could work on the car while sitting.  Later, I went to Harbor Freight and bought on of the cheap creepers with the adjustable headrest, I modded it so the 'body' portion could raise up as well. The head rest is now a but rest and the place where my legs used to rest is not where my body goes.  This allows one to sort of sit up/be raised while working on a car that doesn't go very high.

I would certainly buy one again if needed, as I said before, none of the improvements would be a deal breaker for me so you may want to look for a used one.  Anything else you need just reach out.  I *think Costco and maybe Home Depot sells them (maybe Amazon and Northern Tools).

@midcap
Sorry, this came across much more snarky than intended, I should have re-worded.

This. A 4 post with rolling jacks can both do anything a two poster can do, and it can be moved on casters and it can be used to park/store cars on. I wouldn't trust a two poster that wasn't bolted down.

Didn't all lifts used to be 4 post?

Sounds like you need a bigger garage... but you probably already know that.

I'm doing scissor hi-rise in my garage.  They will be sunk into the floor, only downside I see is the pit will collect dirt and water if they aren't drained.

Geared hydraulic flow divider

Meh, rolling bridge jack can take care of a lot of that.  Granted it is one more thing to get but this type setup can also give you a work place to set your tools on....

Now to remove a subframe becomes more complicated depending on the vehicle.

The ad for the 'Portable' lift mentions a 'flush mount'.
The lift is portable in the sense that it can be removed and placed out of the way, not that it doesn't require fastening to the floor.
At least that's what it seems like to me.

I have a MaxJax as well, been using it for 5-7+ years now.  The first thing I did with mine was mount the hydraulic power pack on one of the columns and ran the hydraulic hoses overhead.  It's no longer "portable" in the sense it was designed, but I didn't really need it to be.  I've never needed more the 6k lb lift capacity, the only real other drawback is the width of the columns....you don't have a lot of room to open doors like you do on a bigger asymmetric lift.

Other than that, it's perfect for Jeeps, small trucks, and my car....haven't tried lifting the minivan yet, but it won't be long.

Except get smaller.  A 4 post lift will always takes up more space than the largest car it can hold, plus the ramps.
A 2 post lift, takes up less space when there's no car on it.  And if you want it take take up even less, you can raise the arms 12ft off the ground.  So it takes up only the footprint of the column.

Are you sure about the weight of that 4Runner? My '97 'Runner weighed 3900#'s with my 180# ass in it. Just checked: Edmunds shows 2012 4Runner curb weight at 4675#'s. GVW (total of curb weight and rated load capacity) is 6300#'s.

You can do 90% of jobs with a 4-post lift. But you need a lift jack and jack plates. And it doubles your parking space when not being used for service.

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And when the engine/trans has to come out the bottom, use the crane that's much, much less expensive than a 2-post lift.

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Maybe at one time. When I was a teenager, circa 1970, I worked in a shop that had an ancient cable-operated 4-post lift. It was a PITA for anything other than oil changes. Later lifts were center post with one large hydraulic ram in the floor. They were OK for most work, especially wheels and brakes. Not so much for transmissions. And ground contamination from hydraulic leaks was an issue. Side post lifts take up more floor space but are the most versatile.

Flush mount means the anchors are not protruding. No way in hell that lift is going to work without anchors.

Yep, I have rolling bridge jacks on my 4-post. Handles everything I need to do with the wheels off the ground. Just driving on the lift for an oil change is nice instead of rolling around on the floor trying to find lift points and jacking pucks. Can already have the vehicle in the air and the drain plug out by then. Managing the air for the RBJ's is my biggest pain point as I haven't taken the time to get a nice air setup plumbed so that I don't have to bounce some hoses around.

Surprised the crane will work with the hood in place. Might be better to remove the hood, just cuz. I keep an old moving quilt to put over the car roof, then set the hood on the quilt.

We've done a few front-drive engines/trans/subframe jobs by putting the car in the hoist bay backwards, getting everything loose, then setting the engine unit on a couple of stacked pallets and lifting the car away.

one these looks safer than that nonsense in the first pic......one sided portable lift

Definitely. Those look nice!

Both of our 4 posts have jacks, you can do anything but drop a subframe. They’re significantly quicker/easier/safer for 99.9% of work in a shop.

Do the portable lifts have locks?

I do like a big van on a 2 post

It's ok my friend