4 Post Lifts: 4 Questions, 4 Answers

When it comes to badass four post lifts, our dealers get asked a lot of questions about the right kind of lift for specific jobs. Their answers are the info that could make your hunt for the right lift a lot easier.

And if you don’t find the answer you’re looking for here, just pick up the phone and punch in the number to your nearest Forward Lift dealer.

Should I purchase a four post lift for my shop?

Does your shop see a lot of oversized vehicles or vehicles with uneven weight distribution? That means something that uses arms or pads won’t work.

Meet the 4-post lift.

But that’s not the end—because four posts are also the right call when it comes to general servicing, routine maintenance and inspections. Plus, they’re so simple to use, pretty much anyone who can drive a vehicle can pull it onto a 4-post.

What are the installation requirements?

This depends a lot on the lift, so talk to your Forward Lift dealer. No matter what’s required, though, these are the important things to keep in mind before you find the perfect lift only to find out that it won’t fit:

• Position of the lift for most productive workflow
• Bay size (both the minimum size and your ideal size)
• Height requirements
• Concrete thickness

What are the most important specs?

How much do you need to lift? We get as much as 14,000 pounds into the air when it comes to regular lifts. But we have heavy-duty four posts that can handle up to 60,000 pounds.

The other thing to figure out: Do you want an open-front or closed-front design? Open-front lifts don’t have a bar between the front two posts, so you can move under the lift a lot easier. But if you’re raising a lot of weight, a closed-front makes things more stable.

Is wheels-free work possible?

Hell, yes. Most lifts have accessories that come as a package. You can buy more, too. Most people get a set of rolling jacks—the awesome contraptions that move along the inside of the runways that make wheel repairs easily.

But you don’t need to stop there. With most of our lifts, you can add a ton of killer accessories, including:

• Alignment kits
• Turntables
• Slip plates
• Drive on ramps
• Light kits
• Oil drain pans