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Originally Posted by Ron Earp  Any supporting info on that for us "never used a lift before and have crawled around with jacks and jack stands all our life" crowd? |
Ron, the four posters are great for storing two (not-so-tall) cars in one stall but aren't as handy for all round repair and maintenance work IMHO because the wheels/suspension are obviously still under compression so you're back to using jacks and such for brakes and suspension work.
The four posters tend to be more stable (four v. two posts) than the two posts - and, with the two post you have to guess a little about the CG of the car as well when elevating. The two posters require a decent slab as each post has to support twice the weight and there can be some torsional loads too, both laterally and longitudinally (where the car isn't exactly on its CG) - your cement bolts need to go into something really solid and thick. You can make a two post lift very stable if you tie the top of the posts into a roof ridge beam or something similarly structurally beefy. Finally, if the floor isn't exactly level then for the two post you'll need to raise the posts, square them up and then build a dam around the base and pour and appropriate leveling mixture.
In my new garage I'm planning on installing both a two post and a four post to gain the benefits of both as each has distinct advantages and disadvantages.