When a crew chief on a race team calls us about automotive two post lifts, the conversation almost never starts with brand names — it starts with a budget number and a driveline problem. Exhaust work and driveline swaps mean arms need to clear headers and axles without fighting the lift’s own geometry, and a lift that’s down for a warranty claim on race weekend is a lift that costs you track time. We’re Auto Lift Services, based in Ames, and we sell, install, and service automotive two post lifts for shops all over Iowa. This piece walks through the decision tree we actually use with customers — from budget to configuration to what happens when something under the arm breaks.
Compare capacities, arm configurations, and warranty terms before you buy. We’ll help you match the lift to your bay and your budget.
Start With the Budget, Not the Brand
Every decision tree for automotive two post lifts should start at the same place: what can you actually spend, including delivery and install, not just the sticker on the lift itself. We get calls where someone says “I’m pretty decent on two posts now for under three,” meaning they’ve got a number in mind and want to know what that buys. That’s the right instinct. A 9,000-10,000 lb capacity lift covers most passenger cars and light trucks and sits at the entry end of commercial-grade equipment. Step up to 12,000 lb or heavier duty 10K when you’re regularly loading trucks, vans, or anything with driveline work that puts uneven weight on one end.
Budget also has to account for what’s already in your bay. If you’re replacing an old lift, factor in whether the concrete, power drop, and floor anchors still work for the new unit or whether you’re starting from scratch. We quote both the lift and the delivery/install package together so there’s no surprise line item later. Once you know your ceiling, the rest of the decision tree — capacity, arm style, drive-through clearance for exhaust work — gets a lot easier to walk through with us on the phone or in person.
Configuration: Symmetric, Asymmetric, and Clearance for Driveline Work
Crews doing exhaust and driveline access care about one thing above capacity: can you get the car up and still swing a cart, a jack, or your body underneath without the arms in the way. Asymmetric arm lifts angle the front arms to clear doors while keeping the car’s weight centered over the columns, which is what most general-service bays want. Symmetric configurations put the car dead-center, which some race and performance shops prefer for consistent weight distribution when they’re pulling a full exhaust system or dropping a rear end.
Overhead versus floor-plate columns matter here too. Overhead models need ceiling height; floor-plate two-post units work in shops with lower clearance but slightly change how you route hoses and cabling for header work. We walk through arm reach and rise height with every customer because a lift that’s technically rated for the vehicle but too short on arm reach turns a 20-minute driveline job into an hour of repositioning. This is also where we talk about drive-on versus true two-post — automotive two post lifts give you full underside access that a drive-on four-post can’t match for exhaust and driveline work, which is exactly why crew chiefs default to two-post for this kind of job.
What’s Actually Covered Under Warranty
Warranty coverage on automotive two post lifts typically breaks into structural (columns, arms, carriage) and wear/hydraulic (cylinders, hoses, locks, cables, switches). Structural coverage tends to run longest — several years on the frame itself — while hydraulic components and control switches usually carry a shorter window because they’re wear items that depend on use and maintenance. We’ve had calls where a customer’s control switch — the one that runs the lift up and down — failed and they weren’t sure if it was covered or just a part they needed to order. The answer depends on age and how the lift’s been maintained, which is why we ask for the model number and rough install date before we quote anything.
Read your warranty paperwork for what voids it: modified electrical, non-OEM cylinders, or skipped annual inspections are the usual culprits. A lift installed 15-20 years ago is almost never still under any manufacturer warranty regardless of what condition it’s in — at that point you’re in repair-or-replace territory, which we cover below. Keep your original invoice and model number on file; it’s the first thing we ask for on any claim call.
The Claim Workflow: What We Ask For First
When a warranty issue comes in, our first questions are always the same: what’s the model number, roughly how old is the lift, and what exactly is failing. We had a case where a tenant had taken a lift apart and found what looked like a bad cylinder lying next to it — before we can quote a replacement cylinder or file anything under warranty, we need those model numbers so we’re not guessing. Photos help enormously here, especially of tags on the columns and any visible damage or leaking.
Once we have that information, we determine if it’s a manufacturer defect (covered), a wear item past its window (not covered, but we’ll quote the part), or physical damage from misuse (also not covered). For in-warranty claims, we coordinate directly with the manufacturer so you’re not stuck on hold with a parts department in another state. For anything out of warranty, we quote the repair against the cost of comparable new automotive two post lifts, because on a lift that’s two decades old, a fresh cylinder and a rebuild kit sometimes cost more sense to spend on a new unit than to keep patching the old one.
Repair or Replace: The Old-Lift Question
This comes up constantly with older shops and race teams running hand-me-down equipment. If a lift is pushing 20 years and the cylinder’s shot, the arms are showing play, or the locks aren’t engaging cleanly, we run the numbers both ways. A cylinder rebuild or reseal is often the cheaper immediate fix, but if the columns or carriage show wear too, you’re better off putting that money toward new automotive two post lifts with a full warranty instead of chasing parts on equipment that’s already past its useful service life.
We’ve seen this exact scenario — damaged gear locks that won’t engage, a cracked oil reservoir, a lift that’s never had a safety inspection in four or five years of service. None of that is unusual for equipment that age, and none of it means the lift is unsafe to keep running once it’s properly inspected and repaired. But it does mean you should get an annual inspection scheduled if you haven’t, because gear lock and hydraulic failures are exactly the kind of thing an inspection catches before it becomes a safety issue on race day.
Install Logistics: Concrete, Power, and Lead Time
Once you’ve picked capacity and configuration, the decision tree moves to logistics. We ask about concrete thickness and age before we schedule anchoring — thin or old slabs sometimes need a pour before a heavier-duty lift can go in safely. We also ask about site access: is there a forklift on-site, is there a dock or ground-level bay door, because that changes how we plan delivery for a two-post unit that arrives in several heavy pieces.
Lead time is the other piece crews ask about, especially teams working around a race season. Stock varies by model and capacity — some of our heavier-duty units stay in stock for exactly this reason, so a shop that needs a lift fast isn’t waiting on a factory build slot. We tell every customer upfront what’s in stock versus what’s a lead-time order, because “we need it before the next event” is a real constraint we plan around, not an afterthought.
Financing and Getting the Right Quote
Because automotive two post lifts represent real capital cost, we offer financing options that let shops check a rate in a couple minutes with no impact to credit and no obligation to borrow. That’s useful when a crew chief is comparing a heavier-duty 10K against a 12K unit and needs to see the monthly difference, not just the total. We also always send comparison quotes — a standard and a heavy-duty option side by side — so the decision isn’t made blind.
Whether you’re outfitting a new race shop bay or replacing a lift that’s finally given out after two decades of service, the process is the same: tell us your budget, tell us what work you’re doing under the car, and we’ll build the configuration and warranty picture around that. That’s the whole decision tree, and it’s a lot shorter in person than it looks on paper.
Our Clients Include: