I do a fair amount of work on my vehicles and some restoration work. I tired of jacks, stands and rolling around on the floor to work on stuff.

This will be going in a garage with a 16 ft ceiling. Just trying to decide what I want. What are the suggestions, what should I stay away from?

This will be used on anything from a 1 ton truck to an old Honda Civic.

Spend some time on garagejournal.com

Lots of threads and information on 2 post lifts

A friend has a four post Bend-Pak in his garage; its nice for easy on/off and storing a car on the lift but not ideal for suspension, changing wheels and tires, etc.

It would be a hard choice which to get for me because they both have their merits. My buddy has had good experience with his lift...he's had it over a decade now.

Bend-Pak and Rotary are two of the biggest names in lifts. For the one-ton truck, get one with at least a 10,000 lb. weight rating, and 12,000 lbs. is better. The little Civic will still fit just fine on it. I also suggest an asymmetrical (short front arms, long rear arms) setup. Don't get one with a cable and pulley that runs between the posts along the floor. That is exactly where you need to put a transmission jack if you want to work on a RWD transmission.

Get a Rotary and forget about the rest. A lift is one of the things where trying to save a buck bites you in the ass, or lands on your head.

I second getting at least a 10,000 lb lift and would also buy a quality US made unit.
I bought one years ago from a large dealer near me. They get trade in's and repo's all the time and it looked like new.
They assembled and installed it and all I had to do was get an electrician to hook it up.
Be sure the slab will work for what you want first.
Once you have one you won't believe how much easier things are.

Second the asymmetrical comment. My father has one (Challenger) and I use it for all oil changes and everything else. I don’t even have a catch pan at my house anymore.

Do yourself a favor and get an upright oil drain, you can do an oil change in about 15 mins and without any mess. Positioning the vehicle is the hardest part.

For everything else the lift is awesome. Installed transmissions, suspension work, oil pans, etc. You’ll wonder how you ever lived without it.

They are called "BUMP"s here...

In my shop there are two places in the concrete slab where the surface is broken out. the craters are directly across from each other at about the width of a two post lift and tapered from the edges to 3" deep in the center. I haven't repaired them because I never think about it until I step on one. Anyway, that is where the previous owner, now deceased, had his lift anchored into the slab. With his truck up high, the lift toppled and totaled his vehicle.

My advice is to cut your slab, dig deep and create anchor posts. Do not just bolt into the slab with a two post.

Treat it like you would debating between 2 firearms - why choose just buy both.

In Alaska, I swapped my winter and summer wheels on jack stands, floor hack, and a breaker bar for several years. My last year, my buddy bought a house with a high ceiling garage with a 2 post lift. I made the 50 mike trek to his place and used his 2 point lift and impact wrench powered by a large 2-stage compressor. I felt like I had died and went to heaven.

I grew up with a Dad in autobody and had night & weekend access to the shop. The mechanics shop had a pit, a 4 post lift, and a 2 post lift. The pit was awesome for changing oil since there was no moving parts. The stability of a 4 post lift was nice when you really had to reef on a stuck bolt. 2 post lift provided the best access and was most versatile of the 3 options.

If you have a summer only car and a winter beater the 4 post is nice for storing the off-season car at height and parking the in season car under it.

When I built the garage I did an area of 10” thick concrete in anticipation of getting a lift. We also used 3400psi concrete. I am planning on a 10,000 lb unit. Right now comparing specs and pretty sure I want to stay with a certified lift.

When I had a repair shop I used Mohawk lifts. They are made in the USA and use a hydraulic line to equalize the sides instead of cables. Work great and the hydraulic line can be run along the ceiling. This means that you can lift tall vehicles.

Rotary or Bendpak would be my choices. Some of the Chinese models will not hold their weight rating. Your life may depend on this product, don't cheap out IMO. I have been using a Rotary 2 post 12000lb lift. I went with 12K because I have some company trucks that weigh 10Klbs. I have used it for 10 years with zero problems. I also installed it myself at my business with some help. Wish I had one most of my life but at least at 50yo I can enjoy it now. Doing brakes while standing up is almost a pleasure

I installed an asymmetric Rotary SPOA10 with the trio arms nearly 2 years ago. It has been flawless! I regularly lift: Ram 1500 crew cab, BMW 550, BMW 440, Bullitt Mustang, Jeep Wrangler Unlimited, '62 Vette, and a Polaris Ranger. If you have a lot of cars to lift, suggest you get the truck frame adaptors as well as the round rubber puck adaptors.