Types of Car Lifts

• There are many types of car lifts on the market today. Whether you want to be able to work on your car at home or have an automotive repair shop, there are several options for you. There are platform lifts, post lifts that come in two and four posts, and scissor lifts. You can purchase a heavy duty lift, a low rise lift or a storage lift. They are all car lifts which means they all get car off the ground making it easier for you to work on it, but they are different in that individually serve a different need.
  
  

How They Work

• Most lifts work on a hydraulic system. There will be an on and off switch that you will hit to make the lift go up or down. Hydraulics is a pressure system that requires pressure to go into one chamber and transferring it to another. The first chamber is much smaller and it must travel over a long distance to multiply and create a larger pressure in the second chamber. As the pressure builds in the second chamber it pushes the lift up. When you are finished working on the car, you hit another button that releases the pressure and allows the lift to slowly descend. Some lifts are portable coming with a battery power pack that pneumatically works the hydraulics. Lifts can be as simple as using a pulley system that when activated pulls cables that lifts the bars. The cable is wound up and when you are finished you reverse the system allowing the cable to unwind and bring the bars and car down.
  
  

Features of Car Lifts

• These lifts come in a variety of lifting capacities. They range from 7,000 lbs. to 12,000 lbs. Any more capacity than that and you are getting into the truck range. Most come with lock features so when the lift is up you can lock it in place and not have to worry about it accidentally coming down on you. You can purchase them with pull outs that extend for the platforms and equalization torsion bars. The two and four post lifts come with height adapter extensions and dual safety latches. Most lifts come in steel and aluminum too. Steel is a much stronger metal therefore much safer, but it is more expensive.