Top 5 Best Vehicle Lifts For Home Garages In 2022 Review

At one time, the Vehicle lift was only ever seen at a repair shop. Quite often with a rather large pit underneath it. In 1925 a man by the name of Peter Lunati invented the first fully hydraulic lift for cars. This brought a new industry into being and made life a whole lot easier for car mechanics.

But perhaps more to the point, people at home who like to service and repair their own cars. It is interesting how there were not any regulations regarding safety procedures, though, until much later, presumably, after it was recognized that these were needed.

Eventually, of course, Vehicle Lifts for Home Garages found their way into the consumer market. Now it is not that uncommon to find a garage at someone’s house with a Vehicle lift. It’s going to be interesting to see how they have developed, so let’s take a look for the Best Vehicle Lifts for Home Garages and find the perfect one for you…

Top 5 Best Vehicle Lifts For Home Garages On The Market Review

1 APlusLift HW-10KBP 10,000LB Two Post Floor Plate Auto Hoist Car Lift – Best Mid Priced Vehicle Lift for Home Garages

This lift is a chain drive operation with dual hydraulic cylinders and is fitted with a double point release as a safety feature. It has symmetrical and asymmetrical arm assemblies, and it has screw-in pads.

It is built of steel, of course, with a Double’S; design for the columns. This gives the structure some added strength. It has a long-lasting powder-coated finish for durability and is a completely robot-welded structure.

Everything you need…

It should be installed, preferably at a depth of 6 inches in solid concrete. But an absolute minimum of 4 inches is required at a minimum of 3000 but preferably 3500psi. All the anchor bolts and fittings are included with the purchase. It also comes with a set of truck adapters and rubber protection door guards.

It should be noted that this lift is for internal use only as it is not waterproof. There is a three horsepower motor that gives a full rise to maximum operating height in fifty seconds.

The operation could not be much easier…

The lift commences when depressing the ‘up button on the motor. To lower, there is a lever. It has a maximum lift height of six foot nine inches when the truck adapters are used. It is a CE certified Lift System.

Manufactured in China, it is well-made, and the welds especially are impressive. It has a reasonable price point and a functional and strong lifting mechanism.

2 BendPak QuickJack BL-5000SLX Portable Lift – Best Portable Vehicle Lift for Home Garages

This lifting system could well be the answer to a lot of people’s problems. To start with, it is portable, so you can carry it around with you if you wish. It will fit either on the back seat or in the back of an average car.

It has a wide variety of uses. If you are involved in amateur motorsport, this could be an important piece of an instant maintenance kit. Just take it down to the track and set it up. Or it will suffice at home and won’t take up the whole of your garage in doing so. You might also be able to take it down and help a friend who has a motoring problem.

Easy to use…

Just put the jack frame under the car or truck. On the remote control, just simply use the push button, and up it will go. It takes about one minute to get the car two feet off the ground. Not very high, of course, but plenty of room to do routine maintenance or wheel changes. Obviously not enough to walk or crawl under it.

It is made with a reinforced steel box frame with substantial supporting and protective features. There are two safety locks that you use when you raise the vehicle.

Safety first…

A point we should mention about these is not to use the lift without engaging one of the two choices for the position. This is a portable system, and as such, the hydraulics will not support the vehicle safely unless they are locked on. You can disengage them when you bring the vehicle back to planet earth.

It has a powerful motor and can lift vehicles up to 5000 pounds in weight. Not the heaviest weight we will see, but quite good for a portable lift. For carrying purposes, it weighs two hundred pounds in total. But it has two main sections, and each weighs just over 70 pounds making transport a little easier. When being transported, it folds down flat.

Basic but fully featured…

This may not have the ability to lift what a two or four-post system can achieve. But it has certainly got some benefits. It is a basic system but could be considered as one of the Best Vehicle Lifts for Home Garages. Not a particularly cheap option considering it is portable but certainly one to consider.

3 TRIUMPH NSS-8 8000Lbs 4 Post Storage Service Car Auto Lift Truck Hoist – Best Outdoor Vehicle Lift for Home Garages

From a portable lift to a more serious piece of machinery. This lift from Triumph is a Vehicle Lift that is only going to be suitable for those with the room to accommodate it.

Let us deal with the space needed first. It has an overall length of 14 foot six inches and a drive-through width of 7 feet seven inches. It has a total height of seven feet. You will need about 14 feet to allow for the runway distance.

Whatever the weather…

It has some attributes that other lifts do not possess. One is that it can be used outside as it is able to withstand weather conditions. In that case, you will have to ensure any moving parts are kept well lubricated.

Also, it looks like it should be bolted to the floor, but that is not the case. It actually has castors that will allow you to move it around. However, it could be bolted down, but that would remove the option of being able to adjust its position if necessary.

Safe and secure…

It will rise from between 12 inches to six feet. As you raise the lift, it has automatic locking with ten separate positions you can engage. Ensure those engagements are securely made. It has an 8000 lift capacity. It is a four-poster lift with the height of each post from the floor 7 feet.

This Vehicle lift comes with the casters, a jack tray, and three trays for catching lubricant or other fluid drips. There are also two removable loading ramps and two stopping plates. This is a very good design for a Vehicle Lift, which easily makes it a contender for one of the Best External Vehicle Lifts for Home Garages.

Quality comes at a cost…

It is big and powerful and will carry a decent weight. And the casters supplied do allow you to move this around if needed. We wouldn’t exactly call this portable. You are not going to fit it in the back of your car. But the moveable aspect could be important and might have an advantage over a lift anchored in one place.

Understandably, considering the quality and maneuverability, it does come in a little more expensive than most lifts we are looking at.

4 Auto Lift Car-Park-8 4 Post Parking Storage Car Lift – Best Lift for Home Garages for Vehicle Storage

This is another four-post lift. This unit not only serves as a lift for maintenance and work on vehicles; it is also ideal for vehicle storage. It is a powerful and stable lift with many great features and build qualities. But it comes with a price tag as things often do.

This will lift 8,000 pounds, which covers a wide range of vehicles and sizes. The movement is handled by a powerful hydraulic system that uses cables with aircraft quality ratings to ensure the strength and security of the lifting process. If there is a cable failure, there is a locking bar that automatically engages.

Very well designed…

The lifting process has ten locking positions so you can get the exact height accurately set. The runways are a generous 18 inches in width and are made from a 3/16 inch plate. There are also decent size slider blocks.

It is an impressive looking lift, but it is more than just good looks. Included are a jack tray and three drip trays. This is to prevent any leaks of lubricants from one car on to another if being used as storage. There is also a set of casters. These allow you to be able to move the lift around to different positions.

Needs some room…

You will need quite an area of space to be able to use this lift. Including the ramp, it is just over seventeen feet long and eight and a half feet wide. The width between the support posts is about seven and a half feet. The overall lifting height is just over six feet. The lift speed is not as quick as some, but it will achieve its maximum user height in about ninety seconds.

As we said, this is not the cheapest model we have looked at, but it has some significant design features. It is able to be used in a variety of circumstances.

5 BendPak Dual-Width 2-Post Asymmetric Car Lift – Best Heavy Vehicle Lift for Home Garages

This is another quality Vehicle lift from Bendpak. This lift though, has a feature that is almost unique among vehicle lifts.

More on this later…

It has an interesting design feature in that the support columns are rotated at a thirty-degree angle. This will give you a little more room for opening doors and access to the vehicle while in the lift position, if required.

The design of the arms allows it to be used either symmetrically, using the center line of the vehicle. Or asymmetrically with the vehicle center line behind the column. And there is a top beam that can be expanded to take either narrow or wide configurations for driving into. Plus, above, a padded height safety shutoff bar.

Massive weight capacity…

We mentioned earlier about there being a unique feature to this lift. It is that it has a maximum lift capacity of 10,000 pounds. That is heavier than the four-post systems we have looked at here.

Being a two post system that makes this a very powerful lift. You don’t often find a two post system able to lift more than a four-post system. If you happen to have a heavy vehicle but only want a two post system, then this is certainly worth a look.

It is a good lift with a lot of very good features, but it is not cheap.

Best Vehicle Lifts for Home Garages Buyers Guide

What is there to consider?

Quite a few things would be the answer to that question. Not the least of which would be safety. There are some people that think they are untouchable. But these lifts won’t forgive you if you get it wrong, untouchable, or not.

A few safety considerations

• Always make sure the vehicle is stable and secure before operating the lift.
• Make sure the lift is placed on a level and secure floor standing.
• Make sure the floor standing is sufficient to hold the lift and won’t incur sudden sinkage.
• Just because you have operated one lift don’t automatically think you can work a new one. They are all different. Take some time to read the instructions — both for set up and use.
• And finally, don’t try to lift a vehicle that exceeds the maximum limit set by the manufacturer. That number is there for a reason.

What sort of lift do you want?

There are portable lifts, some that we call semi-portable and fixed.

Portable Lifts

These can be carried with you or used in small spaces in your garage. You won’t get the height that you will get from other lifts, but they do have their advantages. For instance, you can pack them away if you don’t need them. Or if you engage in amateur motorsport, you can take it with you.

Semi Portable Lifts

These are more conventional two or four posts designs but fitted with casters. They can be fixed but are made to be able to be moved around if necessary – a good design feature in our view. However, they tend to be quite expensive.

Fixed Lifts

And finally, there are the fixed type. Bolted to a suitably prepared and strong enough concrete floor, you will need a little more space. And once they are there, that’s it.

The four posters are usually the most powerful and able to lift the most. We say usually because we looked at a two post lift that lifted more than the four posters.

It will depend on how much space you have, and whether you want your lift to be fixed, moveable, or completely portable.

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So, what are the Best Vehicle Lifts for Home Garages?

Most of our readers are looking for vehicle lifts that can be used for small to medium home repairs and maintenance. Therefore the smaller portable options we’ve covered might not be the best option unless you need one for auto-track days? If so, they are a great option for quick and simple jobs.

But for a versatile, quality lift for your home garage, we would suggest the…

Auto Lift Car-Park-8 4 Post Parking Storage Car Lift

It has a good build quality with some excellent safety features. Plus, being a multiple-use Vehicle lift, if you need some additional storage for your vehicles, you always have the option. All this makes it our choice as one of the very best home garage vehicle lift.

Happy vehicle maintenance.