Ideal Mobile Single Column Automotive Lift- 6000lb Capacity Blue/Gray MSC-6KLP

Product turned out to be excellent heavy use it to store my boat up above the car

These lifts have been out for a few years, I’m surprised there aren’t any reviews already. I’m going to do this in a couple parts, one on the lift and another on the service I got from the US supplier, Tuxedo Industries when I had an issue.This lift is really built! I see no problems for anyone using this within its intended 6,000 lb. capacity on any decent, relatively level concrete floor. I have 2 vehicles I primarily intend to use on this (plus whatever comes along), an ’04 Jaguar XKR convertible that weighs in at 4,100 lbs. (I have no idea where they put all that weight in this thing but that’s about what the book says) and an ’06 Chevy Avalanche that I know for a fact weighs exactly 6,000 lbs. with a 1/2 tank of fuel and me in it - so about 5,700 lbs. My ceilings are 10’ 8”, when I position it under some clear ceiling (away from lights or fans) it lifts the Jag all the way without a hitch. The truck is a lot taller, my max headroom only allows me to pick it about 5’, but it picks it right up with no problems at all. One observation, run the 20A circuit (120 V) it requires. It will function on a 15A service but in the case of the truck if you stop it will not re-start, which will fry your motor in short order. So, run that wire!Assembly can be a job, the manual says to have 3 or 4 friends to help you assemble it. That’s probably not a bad idea but I didn’t have that luxury, but with a cherry picker shop crane and a little ingenuity (and a ladder, 8’ 2x6, several large clamps, some nerves, lots of bad words, etc.) I did manage to assemble it all by my lonesome in about 6 hours, so if you’re a loner it CAN be done! Standing the tower on the pallet jack frame is the worst part, they say it weighs about 320 lbs and that seems about right. Also the lift frame is heavy and cumbersome since you have to find the balance point. Actually, just getting it off my trailer with the cherry picker was the worst part.This unit is the next best thing to a common twin post lift. The only issue is where the lift frame goes under the center of the vehicle it may limit a little of your accessibility, but not bad. And you can get around a lot of that by using the pad extensions that come with it. The - the big thing this has over the twin post - portability!! Just like a pallet jack, you grab the handle, jack it up and it rolls very easily around your shop - all 1800 lbs of it - and you can turn it around fairly tight and locate it anywhere you want, even out on your driveway … but DO NOT use this on ANYTHING but concrete!!! (You’ve been warned!) This makes it easy to pull a vehicle up and just run the lift right up to and under it, or, they supply you with ramps in which you can just drive right on if that’s easier. Which brings up another point, even my low-slung Jag can drive over it with no problem, I imagine a Corvette likely can too.Once up it is stable even though, admittedly, it looks creepy being cantilevered from one side the way it is. Yes, you can grab the vehicle and make it rock and roll, I’m not sure if you could tip it if you tried - no, I’m not going to try - though I’m sure this is the primary issue people would have with this style lift. So what you do is you go down to your local harbor where the freight comes in and with your 20% coupon you’ll spend about $60 for a very nice, solid 2T tripod lift stand that is infinitely variable in height from 49” to 92” and if you put it under the unsupported end and bring the lift down to it, you’ve now basically made it a twin post lift! (After you buy it go back in again with your coupon and get another one - good things come in pairs, right?) Anyway, by doing this both vehicles were very solid, I really had to work to make them move at all. I’m also likely going to use this for storage during the winter, pick the car up and put the bikes underneath so this will probably add some floor space in my garage too, like a storage lift.When I did get this all set up I did have an issue, trying it out with no load it went right up … but it didn’t like to come down! With my truck on it it was better but it still came down slow. This prompted a call to Tuxedo Industries - I actually purchased this from an eBay seller but Tuxedo is the supplier - where I expected to get some big run around. 3 grand invested, it wasn’t usable, I was expecting the worst! Well, a nice surprise. When I talked to the rep he assured me “Whatever it takes, we’re going to make that thing work! If we have to send a whole new lift, that’s what we’ll do!” (Gawd, don’t send me another one to assemble!!) I never would’ve bet money on this but he wanted to send me a new hose (that goes from the power unit to the cylinder … I’m thinking “no way!”) and they overnighted it to me (TX to NY) along with a new valve too. Well, that did it! In addition they sent me a $120 jack stand, selling me a 2nd one at cost and free shipping. (Unfortunately it wasn’t the style stand I was hoping for but, whatever.)So there’s no doubt that the company will stand behind it with any issues, the machine really is a bear - not bad looking either FWIW - it doesn’t take up a ton of space, moves easily, runs on 120V and it really does seem nicely built. Yes, they’re all made overseas but even most of the other name brands are too. Pretty satisfied with this machine. I was going to get a 4 post and at the last minute I found these and I’m glad I did.