Thanks for not editing out the errors. The potential problems or complications are the biggest help in videos like this. Thanks for taking the time to film and upload.

4 years later and it's still a great video. Thanks!

Hi Chappy’s Garage, As an ALI Certified Lift Inspector, and Authorized Lift Installer for all the major& minor lift brands on the market, I want to thank you for this video. In this industry, I’m normally working with customers that are the DIY type of people. That being said, most of them, like yourself enjoy doing things for themselves. As do I, in my own life. A lot of times I will get a customer call and they ask for an install quote. I always give them the option to be as involved as they’d like to be (some of them are rich and want to go out of town and have me do it all 100%, they just want to stroke a check) but most of them are questioning my worth. Do they want to pick it up at the shipping hub, or do they have a trailer to do so or a way to receive it at their home? Forklift, Bobcat or tractor? Will the truck even go to their home? Do they want to source the Hydraulic Oil, or should I bring it? Remind them that they need a compressor, do they have one, are they purchasing through me or going out and buying it themself? And as with anything else, their level of involvement equates to my cost. Many times I will have people be upset with the quote they receive from me. Sticker shock. Like I’m supposed to spend my time to pick it up with my trailer, drive it to the customers location, sometimes several hours away. Unload it in the surroundings they have not cleaned up enough to have an adequate work environment, assemble it, anchor it (if desired), train them on the machine, and anwser a slew of bizarre questions, because most of these online message boards are filled with misinformation (so half the time they question my qualifications? I’ve been doing this for 10 years people lol). Then drive several hours home. And they’re offended that I’m quoting what I’m quoting. Like all of that work and expertise is only worth $150. Oh and we’ll have it installed in under 4 hours, in and out of your home before lunch. The biggest thing I tell people is this. You can do it, it’s not rocket science. But what’s your time worth? And wouldn’t you want a couple guys who’ve done a few hundred of these do your too? They’re times when things will come damaged or misaligned and the customer wouldn’t know until they’re half way through the install and now stuck. The instructions are not the best and or always up to date with manufacturing revisions. You’re not paying me for my time on your property, you’re paying me for my total time involved, and the education, and piece of mind in knowing the lift is sound and in safe working order and didn’t arrive damaged. So again, I thank you. Good video, good information, honest evaluation and you recognize the potential benefits and piece of mind that comes with having a trained professional install it as well. I hope all is well on your end and that your still enjoying your lift!

I love that you show your human and we all screw up from time to time.

I like the fact you’re real and stuff happens and even though you tried to put your best foot forward, it’s easy to make an honest mistake and then you move on! I’ve never heard an interesting story where things were always perfect, hell, honestly thought it was me with all of your challenges! I’ll buy you a beer the next time you’re in Dallas! Cheers!

Thank you very much for the video! Mine is sitting in the garage waiting for me - and your video removed my anxiety! Great job w/ the video!

Good video. I am also erecting my BendPak 4 post solo. I'm at the point of columns up, cross tubes installed and lighter runway slotted in. Tackling the piston side later today. I would have liked to see more on the cable routing and sheave removal and install, but I will muddle thru. Thanks for this vid.

Thanks so much for the video! I have a Bendpak 4 post lift coming soon. This will certainly help with my son and myself doing the install.

Thanks so much for doing this! I just got mine into the garage last night, and I’m planning to start putting it together today. I already had questions, and you have answered some of them, so it’s very helpful. It’s also funny to hear something like “I did this to save money, but also because I’m a control freak.“ I think I said almost the exact same thing.

Watched your video 40 times when I installed mine. Thanks for posting. Really helped me!

Hi Chappy, I just received my BendPak four post (HD-9) lift, and have begun setting it up. Your video was very helpful to me. I also want you to know, it seems several spots that tripped you up years ago have been corrected by BendPak in the installation manual - However, I still paid more attention to your video! Josh - from Vermont.

This is one of the best how to videos I've seen. Excellent job !! Thank you !!

So helpful....I'm just getting started with my one-person assembly of the 2-car, 4-post version. For your same reasons, I prefer to do my own work. Your video is extremely helpful and informative. Who knows how much time and frustration you have saved me. BendPak should pay you. You have my sincere appreciation for sharing. I couldn't wait to like and subscribe.

Thank you for taking the time to post this. You covered all the same questions I encountered and therefore did not finish the install today. 80% completed today, the rest hopefully this week. Thanks again!

I can’t thank you enough I just started putting mine together. And you save me from quite a few pitfalls. I’m glad you told me about the different size windows I did not notice it. Also the bolt they didn’t mention At the bottom of the uprights, and the zerk fittings........ And who knows what else I’m going to keep a close eye on your video as I do it.

Great video, thank you sir!

I am installing this exact same lift, you saved me so much time on the install! BRAVO!!! Great video!!!

Congrats on your new lift. Kudos to your willingness to do it all on your own.

Wanted to leave another Thank You comment! I’m in Danville NH, and after watching this it gave me the boost of confidence I needed to decide to install this myself with my buddy’s help. I was looking at $800 estimates, but you just saved me all that money and time, I’m sure, after learning from your personal process. Great job!

Great video. Saved me hours. I just installed my HD-7 and your video along with what BendPak calls ‘instructions’ made the process very simple. Still took a few days but I did it by myself as well. Best of luck with your lift.

Thanks for the video. I spent a few hours today installing the structure of an HD-9 with a buddy. As you mentioned, the instructions omitted a lot of important detail. You did a great job filling those in. I plan to tackle the cables, lines and power unit tomorrow. Again, thanks for the video

Thanks for this video. Bought 3 lifts back in 2017 ( 2 HD9's and one 14T) thinking that I could find someone local to install them but no go. One guy wanted $1000 per lift plus fuel and motel to come 180 miles but I'm not paying that. I worked overseas a lot and just now getting to the point of installing my first one. The part about the window size now makes sense and I see what you meant about the slack cable lock. I actually installed the ladder lock bar when the posts were laid down and it worked pretty slick. I had one engine hoist but recently bought a second one that folds and using both of them together worked well. I also used four 55 gallon metal drums and at first thought I'd put them under the runways but they worked better with 2 under each cross bar. Once I got the runways bolted to the crossbar then I used an engine hoist to lift one end at a time and removed one drum on each end and centered the remaining drum just as a safety. Got my lubricants and stuff today, greased all the sheaves and sprayed down the cables, then 90wt gear oil. After that I started cycling the lift. Actually I used the lubrication cycle as a means to purge air from the hydraulics. So far nothing major but as you mentioned, building these yourself gives you a better idea on how they work. I was concerned at first on installing the cables but it's actually easy. It took me longer than 3 days to build mine but then next one should go much faster. Big thing was not having more than 30 Amps in the shop so I reworked the shop breaker box. Builder ran #4 aluminum from the house to the shop (100 ft) underground in conduit and we calculated that the safe amps is 65 amps. Went with a 60 amp breaker in the house to supply the shop with more current and now I could (if I wanted to) run the air compressor and lift at the same time. I'll get 200 amps someday but for now just unplugging the compressor to power the lift will need to suffice. I better throttle back, this is becoming way too long. My first lift will be used as a mezzanine kinda thing to build a 8'x16' wooden deck area to put all of my wood working power tools on and other stuff scattered around the shop. Motorcycles, mower, UTV and a couple of engines will go underneath the mezz. Second lift will be used to store one car above the other. The 3rd lift probably won't get assembled this year ( I park my dually on the runways after I took that lift apart back in 2017) if I return to work overseas. My shop floor isn't as nice as yours and I'm concerned that I my need to level things. Sorry for the novel but wanted to say thanks and explain what I found. Actually came to just find out how the caster kit was built and great info there as well. Was gonna go back to the shop and work some more but considering it 0245, think I'll just go shut off the lights and work later today. Oh, I almost forgot. What did you do to get the locks to set at the same time? I'm now pretty close and adjusting cables but to get them all to set exactly at the same time is probably more than I want to mess with at this point. As long and I get closer and they all set when I lower back down then I'll call it a win. I wanted to run my hoses to the inside but have run them to the outside because of the mezzanine idea. I've already got the flex tube caught up on the tank and almost broke things. Once I get the wooden deck installed I might revisit putting the flex to the inside. Ziptied the flex to the tank for now but that's probably asking for trouble. Maybe a spring from the flex to the deck later on or a bungee cord. There's a newer manual available to download from Bendpak and they must have reviewed your video as they have corrected/updated several steps. Look for manual P/N 5900123 - Rev. M1 - March 2020. I bought my lifts so long ago that there isn't a warranty any more so I'm double checking everything. It takes some time to assemble these but pretty straight forward if a person doesn't keep getting sidetracked.

Great video. Thanks for taking the time to share with us!

Thanks for posting, this and a few other videos will come in handy when I put my BP HD-9XW together in the next week.

Great job, awesome video and very helpful for those whom are looking.

Really enjoyed watching this. Great job and thank you for taking the time to put the video together, i think I’m about ready to order mine now :)

I did this by myself also, but I used a cherry picker to lift the long ramps. The balance point is about 6 inches from the center for the one with the ram in it. Thanks for the video, definitely helped make my installation easier.

Great video! Im going to order mine this week, will be watching this several times!

Great video, thanks for sharing. Your discription of the project is about to save my son and I a lot of headache.

Nice job. Very informative and clearly delivered. Actually takes the fear out of the DIY, for those who are mechanically capable, like yourself. Best part was seeing how you handked those large parts and the undocumented steps you discovered. Thank you. Will make my build easier when i get my bendpak.

It wouldn't be first-time DIY without a mistake! And the fact that you made a msitake (um, "mistake") shows that you are human - and a helpful, industrious human, at that. Thank you for your efforts!

Thanks for making the video. I appreciate the honesty and details.

Great video, excellent details, especially helping us with tips and advise where the manual would fail. I appreciate the information as I am planning to get one in the near future. Cheers.

Thank you for making this video, i am trading some sign work to a company for one of these 4 post lifts and my lift is in service now so much of the assembly like locks and things are already done i just have to take it apart and then reassembe it at my shop when i get his signs finished . So anyhow thanks for making this video and good luck on all your projects . That sure is one nice lift : ). Love your dog too : )

Picking up one of these myself I a few days, and like you, I'm a loner. THANK YOU!!!

Thanks Chappy! I’ve been putting up a clone of the BendPak this weekend & I’ve gone back to refer to your video at least 4 times (and I’m not quite done). :)

I might be late to the comment party but I just wanted to add my appreciation for the effort you took to produce this video. Along with a couple of friends, I assembled a Bendpak 7w in my home garage in late October. I watched your video a couple of times in advance of taking delivery of the unit and with the manual (vague at times in some places) we had the lift up and running within 5hrs of unloading, the garage pretty much cleaned up and the car on the lift before bedtime the same day (LOL). Thanks Chappy!

I really appreciated this video! I’m looking at this very lift and your video definitely helped! Thanks again for taking the time.

Excellent video! Very helpful. I appreciate your safety tips. For constructive feedback, (@22:27) I would recommend avoiding sliding the cable collar bracket along the exposed piston for fear of scratching the piston leading to premature seal failure.

Excellent video. You have a great instructional voice and way you carry yourself. This is top notch compared to the bulk of the "How-To" style videos on KZfaq. Subscribed.

Thanks for taking the time! Great video.

Thanks for the great video. I was unsure where I wanted to put my Bendpak but now I know I can easily relocate it.

Great job. Used this video to guide me in my install this past weekend.

I have one of these lifts that I need to move to a different garage. I was going to spend $600 to have some guys do it for me but after watching your video I decided to do it myself. Thanks for the info. BTW, it's much easier with two people, only a few hours to complete the job.

I ordered an HD9-XW and except for off-loading I assembled it by myself . . .like you. My comments are: It is much easier and safer to use an engine lift and tow strap than a floor jack to maneuver the the runways into place. Followed your video otherwise. Until I "loaded" the lift cables. It is very unclear how to go about ensuring you aren't on the "slack" cable stops. I did it by lifting the cross members off the stops as I tensioned the cables. Routing the cables was much easier once I removed all pulleys and "keeper" rollers. No question, your video sure is better than any other help out there. It gave me the confidence I could attempt it. I wouldn't hesitate to help anyone do their's.

Great job. Thanks for posting your install. You saved people alot of frustration.

Thank you. The page with the hydraulic and air ports really confused me. They used hydraulic and airline interchangeably and it didn’t make sense and you solved that.

Excellent video. Very much appreciate the fact that you wear a mic for clean audio.

Thank YOU!!!! You helped me. The video was absolutely perfect. Great pointers and help understanding the included directions.

Awesome job on the video, thanks for posting, I'll be doing this probably this summer for one of my wife's cars.

Great job... I 100% agree with your "I'll do it myself" philosophy....... Thanx especially for showing the "learning opprotunities", especially where the instructions are unclear...

I just finished my four post install. I also found those 4 bolts and spacers left over and figured they went in the bottom of the safety ladder. I appreciate the video and confirming.

Thanks for making this video! Very helpful!

Wow Kudos in doing the whole build by yourself!!

Great job, my future project when I get my 2nd Porsche.

Thanks, if have this job to do and I know BendPak is weak on the documentation. Sharing what went wrong is soooo valuable!

Great video you are a super instructor , Harry

Thank for doing this video. We appreciate.

Very informative, thank you!

Helpful video. Thanks for posting.

I thought this was a comedy video the last time you had to redo it. I REALLY appreciate you leaving those moments in because it highlights how poor the directions are, how important those aspects are, and how human we all are. Your video saved me so much time. Thank you for all the effort you put in to creating it and spending time so others could save time.

Thx for making the video-very helpfull

Thumbs up for control freak. Yep hands off here too!

Benpak design it's own moveable wheels, that's so freaking slap ass perfect, plus your 4 posts has it's own drive way, and then if a car collectors were to leave in the lifted position all the up, no idiot can't even think about it, that's perfection,

Excellent video, great info.

A must have for working on any Subaru.

very useful! Thanks for sharing

This is an excellent video. I’m glad you didn’t edit out the mistakes at the start. I’m also looking at installing this hoist. I’m in Australia and the Molnar seems to be the one to go for if you’re wanting quality over price. After quite a bit of research, there are a lot of positives about the Bendpak which we can get here. I don’t know if you’ve seen or used the air jacks that go between the runway platforms? I saw one KZfaq video and when the vehicle was jacked up, the extension arms had quite a noticeable bend in them. The model one I was looking at is an RJ-45 which fits the HD-9 hoist. I feel they would be very handy but at $1700 aud each I would want them to be good. I guess you would expect it to bend a bit if it’s a larger heavy vehicle and the arms are extended a long way. I’d appreciate any comments from you or people that may have used them. Thanks again for taking the time to make and post this videoCheers, Pete

I just bought a "big brother" to this lift and finding this video gives me a comfortable feeling regarding DIY assembly. If it is of interest, mine is a BendPak HDS-14X.

Awesome video! It was instrumental in my assembly over the last couple of days. I bought mine gently used (about 2 years old) and it didn't come with the spacers for the ladders, but I'm sure I can get some nylon bushings/spacers from my local hardware superstore. Thanks again for taking the time to do this!

Hey man, this video saved my behind on multiple occasions. I’m case you were wondering, BendPak’s instructions still suck…

It's always fun putting adult toys together, sorry you made mistakes, but you hopefully helped us not make the same ones, great video. thanks for posting.

This was a really great video! Thank you sir!

Great informative video. thx for posting

Great video! I'm about to assemble a similar unit and your video should help a lot!

Very helpful, thanks.

Thanks for showing how it's done. I don't have a trailer or a forklift. Perhaps, I'll pay Bend-Pak to install mine. At least, your video shows what I will be paying for. Thanks again.

good job man im installing one as well

Just about to install mine, good tip on the crossbars!

Thanks for the video! Appreciated.

Well done!

super vidéo 10/10 from france

Great job. Thanks.

very useful! Thanks for sharing Just need to get my garage door modified for a 10' ceiling.

just put mine up me and wife and your video thanku good job

Great video. Full of info.

Great video

GREAT VIDEO

It’s cool that ya show mistakes along the way.

very useful video.

You know a man is tired when he grabs a beer

U are a life saver!!!!

Great video. Thx.

Fantastic

Thank you

This has me laughing so hard thank you I needed that😅😂😅😂

Bendpak needs to get their shit together on the instructions. Thanks for excellent video

I thank you for the video. I am definitely going to use the BendPac installation option. What is your connection to IHC? (your "T" shirt)

Great video. Half way through a 14k.

What size bolts, nuts and spacers are the ones that go on the bottom of the safety ladders. Mine didn’t come with those and I need to pick some up. The slotted holes at the bottom in each of the posts. The ones you mentioned you missed.