Last spring an overlanding builder in eastern Nebraska drove to Ames looking at our vehicle storage lift inventory — he’d built two rigs (a 4Runner and a Tacoma) and had a third project frame that needed indoor floor space. What made his install interesting was the alignment work he wanted to do himself once the rigs were finished, which pushed the conversation into a corner most storage-lift buyers never enter: whether a four-post storage unit can also serve as an alignment platform, and if not, what arm configuration the companion two-post should carry. Here is how that install actually unfolded, in the order the decisions were made.
Overlanding-ready four-post units in 9,000 to 12,000-pound capacity. Extended runways available.
The buyer’s starting point: two rigs done, one to go
When we arrived at the site walk, the shop had two overlanding builds parked outside — a 4Runner on 35s and a Tacoma with a bed rack — plus a bare Cherokee XJ frame sitting on jack stands in the middle of the floor. The buyer’s ask was simple: I need a vehicle storage lift that will hold either finished rig at height indefinitely, and I need to be able to align all three when they’re back on the ground. That’s two separate lift decisions. The storage lift keeps the floor open. The alignment work happens on a different lift entirely, at ride height, with the wheels loaded — not on a raised storage platform.
Why a storage lift alone doesn’t do overlanding alignment
A vehicle storage lift is a four-post drive-on. It holds the vehicle by the tires on the runways. Alignment work needs the vehicle’s suspension loaded at ride height (wheels on the ground, weight settled through the springs) while you adjust toe, camber, and caster. Some four-post lifts can host alignment work with slip plates and turntables recessed into the runways, but only if the lift is spec’d for it from the factory — an alignment package with extended runways, wireless turntable pockets, and slip plates. Adding that package roughly doubles the price of a stock storage unit. For the Nebraska buyer, we ran the math and it made more sense to keep the storage lift stock and put alignment work on a dedicated two-post.
Site walk: the eastern Nebraska pole barn
The pole barn was 40 by 60 with 14-foot side walls, poured 5-inch slab at 4,000 PSI. Two bays’ worth of clear span. That gave us room for the vehicle storage lift in the back bay and a two-post in the front, with a walkway between. Power in the barn was already 220V single-phase with a 200-amp panel — plenty. The concrete age was over a year, well past cure. The one issue on the site walk was ceiling height: 14 feet nominal, but the trusses dropped clearance to about 12 feet 6 inches at the peak. That’s tight for storing a lifted 4Runner on 35s under a top vehicle, but it works if you set the safety lock at the third-from-top position rather than the top.
Selecting the vehicle storage lift capacity for lifted rigs
A stock Tacoma is around 4,400 pounds. Add a full overlanding build — rack, drawers, fridge, spare fuel, roof-top tent — and you’re at 5,200 to 5,500 pounds ready to camp. A lifted 4Runner on 35s with similar mods lands around 5,800. The buyer’s storage lift needed to hold either rig indefinitely, so we spec’d a 10,000-pound four-post rather than a 9,000. The extra headroom on capacity means the lift is nowhere near its rated limit, safety locks engage easily, and the hydraulic seals see less pressure over time. On a lift that’s going to sit locked with a heavy vehicle on it for weeks at a stretch, buying extra capacity is cheap insurance and roughly a 5 percent uplift in price.
Symmetric vs asymmetric arm configuration on the alignment two-post
The alignment two-post next to the vehicle storage lift needed symmetric arms, not asymmetric. Overlanding rigs have wide track widths, tall ride heights, and often front-mounted winches or bumpers that push the vehicle’s centerline pickup points farther forward than a stock passenger car. Asymmetric arms — which are optimized for door clearance on lower, narrower cars — put the front pickup point too close to the front post on a lifted 4Runner. Symmetric arms center the truck between the posts with equal reach front and back, which is what you want for an alignment where you’re moving between all four wheels. We spec’d a 10,000-pound symmetric two-post with heavy-duty pickup pads sized for the trucks he was building.
Install day in eastern Nebraska
We hauled the vehicle storage lift and the companion two-post out on the same trailer from Ames. Total drive was around three hours west. On site, the crew unloaded with our forklift, set the four posts of the storage lift first in the back bay, plumbed the hydraulics, and cycled the safety locks. The storage unit was operational by 11 a.m. The two-post took the rest of the day — posts anchored, arms hung, hydraulic hoses routed, safety-cam engagement verified on both columns. The buyer parked the Tacoma on the storage lift that afternoon and immediately reclaimed the front bay for the Cherokee build. He ran his first alignment on the two-post the following weekend.
Post-install: alignment turntables and slip plates
Alignment on a two-post lift needs a set of front turntables (which allow the front wheels to turn while you measure toe and camber) and rear slip plates (which let the rear wheels move sideways during the sweep). These are separate accessories, not included with either the vehicle storage lift or the base two-post. We shipped a set of manual mechanical turntables and slip plates with the lift order — they sit on the shop floor between the posts when you’re aligning and stow away otherwise. The buyer’s alignment gauge (a laser-based unit he already owned) mounts to the wheels once the vehicle is on the two-post at ride height. Ready for a similar setup in your barn? Call 800-674-9302 or email founder@autoliftserv.com with your ceiling height and rig weights.
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