The Lift Installation Checklist We Run Before Anchors Go In

Every install we do starts with the same thing: a lift installation checklist we run top to bottom before a single anchor bolt goes into the floor. We’re based in Ames, Iowa, and we’ve set lifts in everything from brand-new dealership service bays in Des Moines to 1940s block garages in small towns where the slab was poured before anyone imagined a 10,000 lb two-post sitting on it. The pattern we’ve learned in all those buildings is simple — almost every install that goes sideways went sideways because somebody skipped a verification step that takes ten minutes to do and a full day to undo. So we wrote the steps down, and we don’t deviate from them.

Step One: Verify the Concrete Before You Verify Anything Else

The slab is the foundation of the entire job, and it is the item on our list that most often stops an install cold. For a standard 10,000 lb two-post, most manufacturers want a minimum of four inches of 3,000 PSI concrete with the anchors set at least six inches from any edge, seam, or expansion joint. Heavier equipment — 12,000 lb and up, four-posts carrying trucks, or anything asymmetric that loads the columns hard — climbs from there, often to six inches or more. We core drill or hammer-test to confirm actual thickness rather than trusting whatever the building owner remembers about the pour.

Age matters as much as thickness. Fresh concrete needs a full 28-day cure before it sees anchor torque, and we’ve told more than one shop in central Iowa that their brand-new addition needed another three weeks before we came back. Old slabs get inspected for cracking, spalling, and the tell-tale hollow sound of a section that has lost contact with the base underneath. If the floor doesn’t pass, the fix is a saw-cut footing pad poured to spec — an extra step, but far cheaper than pulling anchors out of a failing slab later. Our lift installation prep checklist walks through the coring and measuring process in more detail if you want to evaluate your own floor before we arrive.

Step Two: Measure Ceiling Height and Overhead Obstructions

Clear ceiling height decides which lifts you can actually own, and it is measured to the lowest obstruction — not to the peak of the truss. We look for the bottom of light fixtures, sprinkler heads, gas lines, unit heaters, garage door tracks, and the open door itself when it’s rolled up. A clearfloor two-post with an overhead beam typically wants around 12 feet, and a baseplate model with the crossover at the floor gets that number down closer to ten. Four-posts and mid-rise scissors ask for even less.

Then we add the vehicle. A dually pickup on a two-post at full rise eats several feet of air, and if the customer plans to service anything with a rack, a light bar, or a raised roof, we plan for the tallest thing that will ever come through the door — not the average. On low-ceiling jobs we frequently reroute a door track or relocate a heater before install day rather than discovering the conflict with the columns already anchored. We also confirm the lift can rise fully with the overhead assembly clearing every beam, because a lift that stops six inches short of full travel is a lift you’ll resent for twenty years. Getting this measurement right is the single cheapest item on the whole checklist.

Step Three: Power, Conduit, and Disconnects

Electrical is where the schedule usually slips, because it involves a second trade. Most single-phase power units run 208-230V and want a dedicated 30-amp circuit; three-phase units vary by motor. We confirm the voltage and phase at the panel — not the label on the box the lift shipped in — and verify there’s panel capacity left before anybody quotes wire. A disconnect within sight of the power unit is required in most jurisdictions, and inspectors in Iowa municipalities are consistent about it.

We also plan conduit routing before the columns land. Running power down a wall and across the floor to a column that’s already bolted down means either a surface-mounted raceway that gets kicked all winter or a saw-cut trench through fresh anchors. Deciding the route while it’s still lines on the floor in chalk costs nothing. If the shop is adding air for lock releases, we route that at the same time. Our lift installation electrical checklist covers the specifics we hand to electricians so nothing gets guessed. Every lift installation checklist should treat power as a scheduled task with a named responsible party, not an afterthought discovered at 3 p.m. on install day.

Step Four: Bay Layout and Working Clearances

A lift that fits doesn’t automatically work. We lay out the full bay footprint in tape or chalk and walk it — columns, arm swing at full extension, the door a tech opens to get out of a car, the toolbox, the drain, the walkway behind. Manufacturers publish minimum bay widths, but real shops need working room, and the difference between a 12-foot bay and a 14-foot bay is the difference between a productive stall and a stall techs avoid.

Column orientation is the other decision people regret. Which side does the power unit go on? Which direction do the arms swing when a car is nose-in versus backed in? Where does the technician stand to reach the controls while watching the vehicle? On a two-bay building we usually put both power units on the same wall so cords, air, and lighting share a run. We also confirm the columns aren’t blocking a service door, a window, or the electrical panel — codes require clear working space in front of a panel, and we’ve been asked to relocate a lift for exactly that reason. On multi-lift installs, we map the whole floor at once. Our shop lift installation checklist gets into commercial multi-bay planning.

Step Five: Anchoring, Shimming, and Plumb

Anchoring is the part that looks the simplest and forgives the least. We drill to the depth the manufacturer specifies, clean the hole thoroughly — dust left in a hole cuts holding power dramatically — set the anchors, and torque to spec with a calibrated wrench rather than by feel. If an anchor spins or won’t take torque, it comes out and we relocate or repair, never split the difference.

Then we plumb the columns. Almost no shop floor is truly level; most are pitched toward a drain by design. Shims go under the base plate at the anchor points, stacked no higher than the manufacturer allows, until each column reads plumb in both directions. Getting this wrong shows up later as uneven lifting, carriage binding, premature slider block wear, and locks that won’t engage evenly on both sides. We re-check plumb after final torque because torquing anchors can pull a column slightly. On two-posts we also confirm the equalizer cables are routed and tensioned so both carriages sit at the same height — a lift that runs a half inch off side to side will chew through cables and annoy every tech who uses it. Any thorough lift installation checklist ends this step with a torque log.

Step Six: Function Testing Before the First Real Vehicle

We never hand over a lift that hasn’t been cycled empty and then loaded. Empty first: full rise, full descent, listen for the locks clicking evenly through each notch, watch the cables and hoses through the travel, check for hydraulic weep at every fitting. Then we bleed the system properly, because trapped air is the number one cause of a brand-new lift that jerks or drifts.

Loaded testing comes next with a real vehicle. We raise it a foot, stop, and confirm the safeties hold on both sides. Then partial rise, then full rise, then a hold at height to watch for settle. Arm restraints get checked for engagement, and we verify the lift lowers smoothly with the manual release working as designed. On four-posts we check runway level and slack cable switch function; on scissors we verify the flow divider is keeping both platforms even. Anything that behaves oddly gets sorted before we leave — a nuisance on day one becomes a habit the shop works around for years. Scissor and mid-rise installs have their own quirks, and our scissor lift installation checklist covers those specifically.

Step Seven: Documentation, Training, and the First Inspection Date

The last item on our lift installation checklist is paperwork and people. We leave the manual with the lift, record the model and serial number, log anchor torque values, and note voltage and phase — because two years from now when a part is needed, that serial tag is the difference between one phone call and three. We register the equipment for warranty where the brand requires it, and we tell the shop which wear items to expect first: cables, arm restraint gears, lock linkages, hose fittings.

Then we walk the crew through it. Where the locks engage and why you always lower onto them. How to spot a frayed cable strand before it becomes a failure. Correct arm placement on unibody versus frame vehicles. Where the manual lowering release is and how to use it safely. We also set the first annual inspection expectation on the spot — ANSI/ALI guidance calls for annual inspection by a qualified inspector, and we’d rather put it on the calendar than have someone remember it after a problem. Whether you’re installing one lift in a home garage or a lift installation checklist for eight bays, the job isn’t finished until the people using the equipment know it as well as the crew that bolted it down. Call us at 800-674-9302 and we’ll walk your building with you.