disco 2 on a 2 post lift - risky ?

I bought a 2 post lift about 2 years ago when I had a 300 Tdi and was very pleased with the set up and carried out a lot of work on the Disco with no problems and always felt the vehicle was reasonably stable .
A few months ago I bought an 01 Td5 and last night was my first time to put it on the lift - and I was not too happy about the stability of the vehicle .
On the D1 I always put the pads under the chassis rails and it worked fine . But in the case of the D2 I found that due to the shape of the chassis and various attachments to it the pads were not as far forward and back as I would have liked . The front ones in particular seemed to be a long way back from the front of the vehicle.
Has anyone here come across this 'problem' - or am I being over cautious ?

better safe than sorry when yer got 2 tonnes over your head, anything more than a 5 series then i use the 4 poster.

ah up mate.
might be of some use to you look on tooled-up.com
they got some 3 1/2 foot 4 ton high lift stands
not cheep but its better than havin a landy on top of ya

Thanks for your opinions - looked up the tooled-up site and the only stand they have which would fit the bill are £255 . And I would still be a bit wary of getting the Disco up and down . Last night I only put it about 3 ft up and was in under it on my knees having a look around . Putting it up to full height and working under it I feel I would be 'walking on eggs' asit were - afraid to apply much pressure etc . When the lift stops on the upward travel the body rocks back and forward more than I would like .
Maybe I'll win the Lotto and buy a 4 poster - or sell the Disco .

i'd but a four poster if i were you
don't sell your disco ffs

nickh75 said:

i'd but a four poster if i were you
don't sell your disco ffs

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DON'T LISTEN TO HIM!!!!

Buy the four poster and sell me the Disco for £500.

CharlesY

i bid 525!!!!!!

i'll bid £530

I have been doing all my own repairs for years and had 2 Disco 300 Tdi's before the present one and I have to admit that though the D1 have a character all of their own the Td5 is for me the best of both worlds as it were - as comfy and quiet as a car but at the same time the ability to get you anywhere . It's a 7 str wirh rear air suspension and a big hit with all family members . The thought of selling it doesn't appeal - even allowing for the very generous offers made here .
I was just enjoying the luxury of the lift and wondering why I didn't get one years ago - but I would like to feel safe working under 2 tons plus of Disco.
I reckon I will have to start looking out for a 4 poster - they are very pricey over here ( as is everything) . And I suppose there are different types . The 2 poster I have has ahydraulic ram in each post with a heavy chain raising and lowering the arms and a mechanical lock about every 4ins or so . Would some of the 4 posters work on the same principle as this has worked very well so far ? Might try China - a friend brings containers of furniture from there and could fit in a lift easy enough maybe .

What about adapting the existing two poster with some arms to make it contact the chassis further forward and back?.Let it contact where it does already and get some i beam girder or similar that you use to adapt? Maybe there is even a pre made adpator out there?

What about those ratchet straps - one at each end to be fitted once car is raised and attached to well bolted plates into the floor. I saw a sat dish blow away from wall near here -the bolts were good and is they still had about 2ft sq of the wall attached!

Other suggestions? Are you insured?
Get really heavy person to sit in middle or landy or ..
get them to lie beside you!! They will absorb the weight first.

Seriously being a young idiot many years ago I had a car start to drop on me but managed to stop it slipping and get out intact! Better safe than sorry

Or you could just do this!

I've come to the conclusion that if I want to keep working on the Disco I'll have to get my hands on a 4 poster and sell my nice new hardly used 2 poster . I have checked out the underside of the D2 carefully and there is no way to get it on the 2 poster that I would feel happy with - there is too much of the Disco in front of the front arms of the lift and considering this means the engine and most of the gearbox I feel it would be asking for trouble .
Are all 4 posters more or less the same or are there important differences that should be considered . Any ideas/suggestions appreciated .

speak to a couple of garages - i am sure my local one uses 2 posters .

Are the extending legs not different front to rear? How about reversing it on, would it not make a difference?

Im getting a 3 tonne 2 poster in a few weeks, bloody well hope a S2 will go on that, might have to change the box at some time!

Slightly off topic but in the Aston V8 Vantage workshop manual it shows the car secured to the ramp (2 post) with a ratchet strap for when you remove the transaxle!

I had a 300 Tdi before the D2 and did a lot of work on it using the 2 poster .
However when I put up the D2 there were a few things I felt unhappy about :
* due to the attachments to the chassis rail the front pads of the lift were in line with the join between front door and wing - thus leaving the complete engine and most of the gearbox hanging in front of the lift pads ;
* due to the profile of the chassis rail I could only at best achieve a distance of about 47ins between the front and rear lift pads - leaving almost 72ins between rear pad and end of rear bumper .

I don't know where the centre of gravity between front and rear would be but the Disco just didn't seem very stable no matter how I went about putting it on the lift .
And considering it's weight I felt that in order to work and feel safe under it the 4 poster is the only answer. I've had Transit vans and other 4x4's on the 2 poster and they seemed OK - but not the D2.
I considered raising it a bit , using axle stands , removing wheels and then placing lift pads under axles - but this seemed a very long winded way of lifting it .

When i worked in a garage we would do basic servicing etc but any big jobs like gearbox etc would be done on a four poster. the big bits are way too heavy. i now need to make do with a trolley jack and axle stands! not fun! good idea you had, i need to start saving for a 4 poster!