An overlanding and off-road build shop in West Des Moines called us about an atlas 2 post car lift after they realized floor jacks and jack stands weren’t cutting it anymore for brake service and rotor swaps on lifted trucks with 35-inch tires. Getting a rig with a 6-inch lift kit and oversized tires safely up in the air, at the right height, with clear access underneath for caliper and rotor work, is a different job than servicing a stock sedan. This is the story of how that install actually went — the site survey, the surprises we found, and what it took to get the lift set up right for the kind of work this shop does every day.
See the same Atlas and Rotary two-post models we install for Iowa shops doing lifted-truck brake and suspension work.
The Initial Site Survey
Before we ever quote an install, we walk the bay and ask the questions that actually determine whether a lift will work in that space. For this West Des Moines shop, the building had decent ceiling height, but we still needed to measure clearance with a lifted truck in mind — a stock sedan up at full height is one thing, a truck on 35s with a lift kit is another few feet taller. We measured overhead clearance, bay width, and door height to make sure the truck could drive in with tires that size without scraping.
We also asked about the heaviest vehicle they’d realistically put on the lift, since overlanding builds often carry winches, bumpers, sliders, and extra fuel capacity that add real weight beyond stock curb weight. That conversation shaped which capacity tier of atlas 2 post car lift made sense — going a size up from what a shop doing only stock trucks would need, because guessing low on capacity is a mistake you don’t get to walk back easily once concrete anchors are set.
What the Floor Told Us
The concrete slab is where most installs live or die. This shop’s building was newer construction, which gave us more confidence going in, but we still tested slab thickness and looked for any signs of cracking, prior anchor holes, or rebar too close to the surface. Older Iowa shop buildings sometimes have thinner or aged slabs that can’t hold the anchor bolt embedment a heavy-duty two-post lift requires, and we’ve had to recommend a new pad more than once when a floor didn’t check out.
In this case the slab passed inspection, but we still ran through the same checklist we use everywhere: minimum thickness, no expansion joints running through the anchor pattern, and no significant cracking within a few feet of where the columns would sit. Getting this step right on an atlas 2 post car lift install matters more than people realize — a lift can be perfectly engineered and still fail if the floor underneath it can’t hold the anchor bolts under the load and torque of raising a lifted truck.
Choosing Arm Configuration for Lifted Trucks
Brake service and rotor swaps on trucks running aftermarket lift kits and larger tires require careful thought about arm reach and pad height. Standard arm configurations that work fine on a passenger car sometimes can’t get proper pad contact points on a truck with a lifted suspension and skid plates or aftermarket bumpers in the way. We walked the shop through arm length options and helped them pick a configuration that would clear their typical builds without needing extra adapters for every job.
We also talked through drive-through clearance, since this shop occasionally works on trucks with roof racks and awnings that add height beyond the cab. The two-post configuration they landed on gave them enough width and arm reach to comfortably position a lifted truck, get all four wheels off the ground evenly, and access rotors and calipers without fighting the lift’s own arms for space. Getting this decision right up front saves a shop from constantly wrestling with a lift that almost fits their vehicles but not quite.
The Install Day Itself
On install day, our crew handled anchoring the columns per the slab spacing we’d surveyed, running and testing hydraulic lines, and calibrating the safety locks that click in roughly two to two and a half inch increments so the shop could set the lift at whatever height suited a given job rather than only full up or full down. That granular height adjustment matters a lot for brake work, where techs often want the truck at a comfortable working height rather than maxed out overhead.
We also ran the full safety and function test before handing the lift over — cycling it up and down repeatedly, checking both cylinders for even lift, verifying the arm restraint pins locked properly, and confirming the overhead shutoff and cable tension were within spec. For a shop that was going to be doing rotor swaps daily, we wanted their first real job on the lift to go smoothly without any surprises. That kind of pressure-testing before handoff is standard on every atlas 2 post car lift we install, not just this one.
Adjustments the Shop Requested
A few weeks after install, the shop called with a question about arm positioning for a particularly wide truck they’d taken on, and we walked them through repositioning the arms for that job over the phone. This is common — a shop’s first few weeks with a new lift often surface small configuration tweaks that only become obvious once real jobs start coming through the bay. We’d rather get that call than have a shop struggle in silence with a setup that isn’t quite dialed in.
We also fielded a question about cylinder maintenance schedules, since this shop runs the lift hard doing multiple brake jobs most days. We gave them a simple visual inspection routine — checking for any fluid at the cylinder base and listening for uneven sound during lift and lower — so small issues get caught early rather than turning into a mid-job failure. Small follow-up support like this is part of what separates an install that works for years from one that quietly degrades.
What Other Iowa Shops Can Learn From This Install
The biggest takeaway from this project is that install prep isn’t a formality — it’s the difference between a lift that fits your actual work and one that technically works but fights you every day. For any shop considering an atlas 2 post car lift, especially one working on modified or lifted vehicles, the site survey should cover overhead clearance with your tallest vehicle in mind, real floor thickness testing, and an honest conversation about arm configuration for your specific fleet, not just a generic passenger car setup.
We’ve done similar installs for other build shops and dealerships across central Iowa, and the pattern holds every time: skipping the survey step to save a little time up front almost always costs more later in rework or underperforming equipment. If you’re planning an install and want to talk through your specific bay, vehicle mix, and floor before you buy anything, that conversation costs nothing and can save you from a lift that doesn’t quite match how your shop actually works. Check out our piece on choosing lift capacity for modified trucks for more on sizing this correctly the first time.
Our Clients Include: