An automotive lift. Every car guys dream, and mine was no different. Ever since I really started working on cars, by changing the oil, brakes, air filters, I could not wait to get off the jack stands and have my own personal lift. Something about having a full car 6 feet in the air and being able to walk under it, inspecting every nook and cranny just gets me excited. You are finally able to scrutinize the underpinnings or bones of your car. Of course at 16 years old, I barely had money to buy harbor freight jackstands nonetheless a big automotive lift. Like all of us, I decided I would set some goals. After college, I lived in apartments, houses, and a garage was always a must. In fact, when searching for places to live, “garage” was my first requirement. It didn’t matter how extravagant or how good of a deal another living space was, if it didn’t have a garage I wasn’t going to even look at it. I told myself by 30 years old, I would make this dream come true.
About two years ago I started building a home with a detached shop. I planned everything inch by inch and knew exactly where I would put the lift. I had the builder pour two 16” footers where the posts would be anchored to.
My next step was to decide what lift to buy. In all honesty, I had no idea how much they cost, how they worked, what it would take to install, or how to use them. My journey started, like most people, and hopped on YouTube. With most items you purchase, there are very cheap options and very expensive options. This lift would be going in at my home, and I am by no means a professional auto shop. I stumbled across a company called TwinBusch. They are a German company founded in 1997 in Hemsbach. That year they designed their first two post lift, and 7 years later they opened their first USA branch in Rancho Cucamonga, California. Two years later they moved to a bigger US warehouse in Las Vegas Nevada.
I quickly found out the US presence for Twin Busch lifts were not that abundant. For the last couple years they have made an appearance at the SEMA auto show and had started to get people’s attention. In 2017, the well known Youtuber AdamLZ purchased a Twin Busch lift and with another Youtuber, Obsessed Garage, continued to install it. Here I could get a first person review of the quality of the lift, see it in the USA, and have them walk through the installation steps. They seemed to be very impressed with all of the above and after looking at the price, I felt it was a great deal compared to the competitors. Another deciding factor was, the lift uses 110V outlet instead of 220V like most. I must be honest, this confused me a little as I know the hydraulic motors for these can draw some big current. I called up Twin Busch and they assured me that, the lift will run just fine on 110V.
The time came to finally make my dreams come true. In summer of 2017, I made the phone call to Twin Busch and ordered the TW242A two post lift for $1,249. This is a hydraulic lift with a weight capacity of 9200 lbs. These are ISO 9001 certified and have a mechanical safety locking mechanism. Of course with freight this large, it could not be shipped to my home and it would need a fork lift to load it on the trailer. The cost to ship to my local freight pickup was another $300. The shipping took about a week and a half, and two weeks later I had my brand new lift laying in my garage
Now to installation. I have a background in aircraft maintenance and have been working on cars for years now, but I have never installed an automotive lift. This worried me a little, so I called up Twin Busch again, and they stated that professional installation could be another $500, but if I had any mechanical knowledge of building things, the job wouldn’t be that bad for myself. After convincing my brother to help with a pack of beer (we enjoyed this after installation of course…), we set to install the lift ourselves. Since I planned for this a year in advance, I knew exactly where I was going to place the posts. The manufacturer recommends at least 4” thick 3000psi concrete, but I had 16” footers poured just to be safe.
All in all, the installation took us about 6 hours and we were up and running. First I have to say that the Twin Busch customer service is outstanding. In a world where it doesn’t seem like I can get anyone to do as they say, Twin Busch bent over backwards to make their customer happy. A hydraulic fitting came damaged on one of the cylinders because of shipping, so I called them up immediately. They told me that the part was out of stock, but since the damage was not my fault, they went into the warehouse and took the part off of another complete unit. They shipped it in 2 days. I haven’t experienced this kind of service in a very long time.
My initial thoughts of the lift were very good. Everything seemed very robust, thick steel, with a nice powder coating on it. The lift arms are heavy duty, with adjustable lifting points, which works out great for my lowered cars. The posts even come with a rubber pad to prevent door dings when you get in and out of the car. Finally, the lift has a great auto stop feature, to prevent you from lifting the car too high.
After using the lift for six months, I am still completely satisfied with my purchase. The lift has worked flawlessly with absolutely zero issues. I am confident that I will never be able to work on jackstands ever again. From rotating your tires, changing oil, or doing bigger projects like removing a transmission, the lift just makes it a breeze. I have also saved considerable amounts of money by not needing a chiropractor.
If owning a lift is something you always wanted, keep working for it. Save as much as you can and make your own dreams come true. Lifts aren’t just for professional auto shops anymore.