Most workshops in Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria end up running a mix of vehicles that never quite matches the brochure. A ute with a tray full of tools weighs more than the spec says. A European wagon has lift points that sit further inboard than the arm reach allows. Before you sign a quote, sit down with an actual list of what rolls into your bays on a normal Tuesday, not the idealised list you would like to see.
Start with the real weight, not the badge on the door
The plate on the door jamb tells you the kerb weight. Add a full tank, a tray load, a driver and whatever sits behind the seats and you are often 200 to 400 kilograms heavier than the number you started with. A hoist rated at 4 tonnes handles that fine. A 3.2 tonne unit in a shop that services loaded tradie vehicles is a warranty claim waiting to happen, and the repair bill lands on you, not the supplier.
- Check the heaviest vehicle you actually expect to lift, then add a 20 percent buffer.
- Confirm the arm reach covers the chassis points on your longest wheelbase ute.
- Ask what the delivery and installation weight allowance covers if the slab needs work.
Concrete, drainage and the things under the floor
Older sheds were poured to whatever the builder had on site that week. A baseplate hoist can work on a slab that would fail a clear-floor inspection, but it also costs you a driving lane and makes pushing trolleys around the workshop a chore. Clear-floor two-post hoists look tidy until you find out the trench for the cables has to cross a drain. Get a slab test done before delivery day, not after.
We have pulled at least a dozen hoists back out of sheds where the slab was never checked. It is always cheaper to test the concrete than to repair it.
Arm geometry and access to the underside
Symmetrical hoists are the default for a reason. They are cheaper, simpler to install and the load sits centred over the columns. Asymmetrical units give you more room to open doors and swing around the front of the vehicle, which matters if your techs are working on transmissions or exhaust systems most days.
The trade-off is where the arms sit when they are parked. In a bay that is five metres wide, an asymmetric hoist with arms that fold back tight frees up room you would otherwise lose. In a narrower bay, the difference is smaller and the extra money spent on asymmetry buys less than you would think.
Power supply and the lift cycle
Single phase vs three phase is not just an electrician conversation. A single phase hoist that takes 55 seconds to reach full height feels slow when a queue builds at the door. Three phase units in the same price bracket usually climb in 25 to 30 seconds, and that gap adds up over a week of tyre rotations.
If three phase is not available, ask whether a phase converter is included in the install quote or whether you are expected to arrange it yourself. That detail gets forgotten until the electrician arrives.
Maintenance, parts and the five-year picture
The sticker price is roughly half of what you will spend over five years. Locks, cables, hydraulic hoses and the annual inspection all add up. On a well-supported hoist these are cheap and easy to source. On a grey import, a single hydraulic cylinder can sit in a container for six weeks while the workshop loses a bay.
Ask for a parts list and the lead time on the three components that fail most often: the lock mechanism, the hydraulic hose and the lift cylinder seal kit. If the supplier cannot answer, that is your answer.
Quick checklist before you sign
- Measure your heaviest and longest vehicle, then add a safety margin.
- Get the slab tested by an engineer and keep the report.
- Confirm power supply, phase type and who pays for the electrical work.
- Ask for a written parts lead time and the warranty terms on hydraulics.
- Walk the bay with a tape measure before you finalise the column positions.
None of this is complicated, but it is easy to skip when a supplier is pushing a special. Slow down, measure twice, and the hoist will outlast the vehicle it lifts.