Vehicle Lift - Mohawk Brand

[Dan_Shade]

Do any of you have any experience with a Mohawk A-7 vehicle lift?  Will a full size pickup "easily" fit on it?

[rusticretreater]

The lift may be too light for your stated use.

According to the documentation, you are not limited in how wide you can set the posts apart.  The real question is how heavy will the max vehicle you will put on the lift weigh?  And its not just overall weight, but also axle weight.  Also, the documentation also says it will lift a vehicle 6 feet, so if you are taller you might have a problem working under it.  For a truck there are riser blocks, but you still have to pay attention to the height.

7,000 pounds is light duty in the car lift world.  What this rating means is that each arm can support 1750 pounds.

Some info I found online:

The 2020 Ram 1500 has a gross axle weight rating (GVWR) of 3,700 lbs for the front axle and 4,100 lbs for the rear axle. The curb weight of the front axle is 2,774 lbs, while the curb weight of the rear axle is 2,280 lbs. The curb weight of the Ram 1500 can range from 4,765 lbs to 6,440 lbs depending on the configuration.

1750 per arm x 2 = 3500 pounds.  This is less than the GVWR of the front axle and way less than the GVWR for the rear axle.   While the actual weight of the truck does not exceed the weight rating of the lift, the truck axle ratings exceed the lift rating. This is deemed unsafe as a vehicle that is fully loaded could be placed on the lift.

When considering capacity, don't just look at the total weight of the vehicle. Per the Automotive Lift Institute (ALI), – the safety organization of lift companies in the U.S. and Canada – a two-post lift with a 12,000-lb capacity rating has a maximum per arm capacity of 3,000 lbs. If a service truck has a rear axle capacity of 8,400 lbs. and front axle capacity of just 3,000 lbs., be aware that the 12,000 lb lift would be overloaded by 1,200 lbs on each of its rear arms. Even though the total weight of the truck is under 12,000 lbs., the lift is still being pushed past its capacity.

I have a 2000 Dodge Dakota with extended cab, 4.7L engine, 4x4, winch hitch on front, trailer hitch on back, loaded tool box and extra wiring for the winches.  When I drive that onto the scale at the landfill, I am over 5,000 pounds.  I bought an Atlas Lift and I opted for 9,000 pounds in case because I want to be safe if I ever have to work on larger vehicles.

[Dan_Shade]

Thanks for the info, it's helpful.  How do you like your atlas model?  Is it assymetric?

The weight rating is of a little bit of concern; my current pickup is like 5800 lbs.  I have a mustang that I would like to mess with again someday (it's been sitting for a long time), I don't see a 4 door dually in my future, but I do tend to plan infrastructure that way.

The assymetric would give me easier access to the doors; I take up more space than I used to.

Apparently mohawk is the heavy duty brand of lifts and I gather that they're in a lot of pro shops.  They definitely look robust from the info that I've reviewed. They come with a 25 year warranty.

I'm hoping some folks that have worked around these can hop on with real world experience.

[rusticretreater]

I have the Atlas 9KOHX 9,000 lb Overhead 2-Post Lift.  It has symmetric columns, but the arms can be either symmetric or asymmetric.  Its a tall lift and it works really well.  I have had zero problems with it.

I went through all the lifts checking things.  Usually, I will select the highest quality and find some way to pay for it.  But after going through it all, the Atlas met my requirements for working height under the vehicle, was the best value and it is well thought of in the industry.  I also ended up getting two free tall jack stands to go with it.

Would I buy it again? Absolutely.