Bendpak car hoists

I am about to take delivery of a Bendpak four post car hoist and wondering if anyone else out there has installed this brand. The Bendpak unit incorporates locking pins as a safety feature that need to be disengaged prior to lowering the lift.  You would think the hydraulics would assist in disengaging these pins but apparently it needs an air supply (30PSI) to do the job.  I don't want a whopping air compressor hanging off the hoist, wondering if anyone has installed one and come up with a better workable solution?  The supplier told me the manufacturers concept is no good as it leaks At this point in time, I'm considering a very small air brush compressor that I'm hoping will do the job.

mate that is an odd set up for the safety pin release ,,,my two poster has electric solenoids to disengage the locking pins it does it automatically when you hit the down button ....can honesty say I have ever seen one that needs air ...? 30 psi is not much at all and a small compressor would do that no problems ,,,try and find one that is quiet and compact and with a decent size tank so it isnt going off constantly ....I Have a small cheap one I purchased from supercheap auto just for pumping up tires and small jobs ,,,,the tank is only small ,i think 10 liters and it never stops making a friggin racquet ,,,does my head in ..

For those considering a car hoist, I finally have my Bendpak HD9STX installed and happy with it's functionality. I chose the Bendpak mainly due to the fact it was one of the narrowest (2456mm wide) and still lifted to 2m so I didn't have to duck under it.  The pump is on the inside of the mast but it does stick out around 30mm, so I suppose you need a gap of around 2600mm. I want the hoist more for storage, so four post with wheels permanently on the ground rather than hanging is my preference.  This hoist is reasonably long, and I like the idea of being able to have the lower car in the middle and not having to step around any posts when passing through. I dug my drive down a little to assure I have 3m to my facia and an open ceiling.  I plan on modifying the ramps so that they stay up when lifted and will also extend the ramps on a hinge given the 911 is too low (using a packer for now), 944 OK. The air supply for safety locks does add another complexity, but I now have the benefit of air on hand and I like the fact the locks engage if I don't keep my hand on the air button.  There are also secondary locks that automatically engage in the unlikely event of a lifting cable breaking.  It's a shame Bendpak don't supply a small air compressor with the kit, I'm using a senco unit purchased from Bunnings.  You also need to have the motor wired up for 15amp and purchase your own hydraulic fluid. The overall construction is very solid in the posts, base plates, runways, pump and cross beams.  Everything looks and feels well engineered. There are two listed agents in Aust, one more focused on commercial and the other DIY.  You get a better price through the DIY contact ($1000 better!) but I suspect they are actually affiliated . If needing the drip trays, don't buy through them as they quoted me $150 for a pack of two .  I measured up and compared the gaps to Tuff Lift and they are the same product, but only $15 each through Tuff Lift (highway robbery through original agent!). Customer service through DIY contact is very poor, a few questions from me leading up to purchase as you would expect for a purchase like this and very lackadaisical approach to responding with minimal feedback. I didn't want the standard blue lift, originally told grey was available, upon ordering quoted 10 weeks for grey and got it 14 weeks later. These things are big heavy units, some damage to paint and stickers upon arrival. If width and height isn't an issue, I would also give Tuff Lift a good looking over.

Thanks @Stepo good review/feedback....

What did you need the 3m for?  Is that the garage opening?

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Any shorter than 3m to the facia meant I wouldn’t be able to get 2m to walk under the hoist without having to duck. The top of the car still needs to go up into the roof pitch with about 130mm clearance.

Thanks for the indepth review! I am also looking at a 4 post hoist at the moment. Trying to decide between the Bendpak and Tufflift. Bendpak looks like the better quality one, but I got a quote for 30% more over the Tufflift, so Im just curious if its worth it haha

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I've had one of my Tufflift hoists now for around 4 years (ish?), works for me. I've since had another installed, easy enough company to deal with as well. Well worth a look.

I got the HD9STX for around $4.5k plus delivery, QLD agent. If the Tufflift dimensions work for you I think there isn’t much difference in what both hoists do, but I do think Bendpak is more robust.

General update, I finally got around to sorting out an extension on my ramps to the hoist.  I needed longer given I have a slope into the garage and the 911 is low. I approached the local Bedpack agent to price their factory longer ramps, I think they were about 1200mm, nothing in stock and the price was a whopping $1500 .  I told the agent, I bet you don't sell many of those......more highway robbery! I ended up getting 6mm chequer plate ramps bent up that were 1000mm long, cost me $100.  I needed to weld a few lugs on to change the position of the end rollers and I also packed the levels with plastic blocks to assure my drive wasn't damaged by the steel and there was no bending in the longer ramp. I also made up some side plates and fitted them to the original shorter ramp so that they don't tilt down and interfere when walking through after raising the hoist. I had the new parts powder coated for $60, so total cost was around $200 plus my time. Picks added below: I used countersunk bolts to locate the plastic packers. Ramps folded, the curved plastic packer eliminates bending in the longer ramp given it has a tapered bent edge and was a bit weaker around that area. Hoist raised to 2m and ramps completely out of the way This is the air compressor I got from Bunnings and mounted on the wall well out of the way.  I can also use it to pump stuff up and blow things down via a valve gate.

I like the idea of getting the hoist high enough so you don't have to duck. I learned the hard way this week...

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Perfect stepo exactly what I need to do. Mate just put 3 double lifts in and we can’t get the cars up the 500mm ramps without dragging splitters and tailpipes. We did some dodgy Wooden ones on Sunday night to get the cars away, however not a long term option.  Did you use alloy plate and how heavy were they at 1m as I will need to do 1.5m? How hard was it to find a fabricator and does anyone know one in Sydney I could try?

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Wow Jeff, looks nasty, exactly the reason I went the way I did but it needs planning from the start and wont always work for everyone. These days, I end up knocking my head on everything that's in the way as I rush to get jobs done. I can see Mrs Jeff's face now...........what the heck have you done! Hey Tips, I was also relying on wood until I got the ramps done.  I had them in black for some time until I worked out all the little things that needed to be done to make it work. I used steel as I could weld to it easier and I expect it will be stronger than alloy.  As you can see, I still needed to add the plastic blocks in the middle of the longer ramp as the tapered bent edge isn't high enough to carry the load without deflecting a little at the start of the ramp.  It probably wasn't an issue but I prefer seeing it not flex.  The 1m isn't a problem re weight once you have them hinged.  Are you sure you need to extend by 1.5m as the ramp that comes with the hoists is around 0.6m long, so you're targeting 2.1m?  I have around 1.6m with both ramps, the two round blocks on the short ramps are there to make both ramps even/straight. You need to find a local fabricator that has a break press/plate bender.  They often don't like bending the steel chequer plate given it can damage their bending blocks.  The bend will have to be done in a wider V of their block to eliminate damage.  If they have concerns, you could suggest they use a scrap strip of sheetmetal between the block and chequer plate humps for each bend.  Given you want the bent edges to taper down, you need them to bend the same width edge right along, then cut the taper.  If you try and bend with a taper, you wont get a nice bend at the shallow end. For anyone that can raise their hoist above their head, the mod to keep the ramps horizontal is well worth while, just ask Jeff.