TP9KF-TUX: the two-post for a bay with a low roof

Most 9,000 lb two-post lifts carry their equalisation overhead, which puts a beam somewhere near twelve feet in the air and rules them out of a great many buildings. The TP9KF-TUX is the other kind. It is a floor plate design: the crossover runs along the floor between the columns instead of over your head, and the whole structure stands 112″ tall. If your bay has a low roof, a garage door track, ductwork or a mezzanine edge that has already disqualified two lifts on your shortlist, this is the configuration to look at.

You pay for it in one place and are repaid in another. The trade is that there is a plate on the floor between the posts that vehicles drive across — small, but real, and worth knowing about before it arrives. The repayment is the widest drive-through clearance of any lift in this family: 101-11/16″, or 8.5 ft, because with nothing overhead the only limit is the gap between the carriages. Add symmetric arms reaching 31″ to 45″ at both ends, chain-drive cylinders, a dual-point lock release and an automatic arm restraint system, and it is a straightforward, serviceable general-purpose lift for cars, crossovers and light trucks.

Will It Fit?

The measurements below are the ones that decide this purchase. Take them off the building, not off a memory of the building:

• Structure height: 112″. That is the lift standing empty, and the reason this model exists. But be honest with the arithmetic: with a vehicle raised toward the 72″ maximum, the roof of the vehicle becomes the tallest thing in the bay, not the lift. Add the height of the tallest vehicle you plan to raise to the height you plan to raise it to, and check that instead. Plenty of low bays run a floor-plate lift happily by not taking a van to the top of its travel.
• Drive-through: 101-11/16″ (8.5 ft) between the columns at the carriages — the hard limit on how wide a vehicle can be driven in.
• Bay width: 141″ overall including the power unit, with 110-3/8″ between the columns.
• Working height under the vehicle: 68″ of maximum rise under the arms, with 72″ maximum at the pads (6 ft at the top of the arms). Compare that against your own height, honestly, because it is what you will stand under all day.
• Minimum pad height: 4″. That governs whether a low car can be driven over the arms in the first place.
• Electrical supply: 220V, 20 Amp, single phase. If the bay does not already have that circuit, get a price for it before you commit to the lift.
• The slab. Two columns concentrate the entire load and the whole overturning moment into two small anchor patterns, and a two-post is only as safe as the concrete it is bolted to. The required slab thickness and strength are specified in the installation manual, not on this page, and we will not print a figure we cannot source. Ask us in writing for the concrete specification before you drill or pour.

Verifying roof, slab, bay width and supply before ordering is the buyer's responsibility. A lift that will not fit the building is not a warranty matter, and this one arrives crated at 1,295 lbs.

Symmetric arms: what you are actually choosing

Symmetric means all four arms reach the same range — 31″ to 45″ front and rear — and the vehicle is centred between the columns rather than set back. The load sits evenly, each arm is rated at 2,250 lbs, and spotting a vehicle is more repeatable because there is no long-arm-forward convention to remember. It comes into its own on trucks, vans and older body-on-frame vehicles whose lift points genuinely are symmetrical. The counterpart to be aware of: with the vehicle centred, the doors open closer to the columns than on an asymmetric lift, which matters if your technicians are in and out of the cabin constantly.

What the mechanism is doing while the car is up

Chain-drive cylinders tie the two carriages together mechanically, so the vehicle rises level rather than depending on hydraulic balance. The dual-point lock release disengages the locks from a controlled action instead of somebody freeing each column by hand. The automatic arm restraint system locks each arm against swinging once weight is on it, which is what stops a pad creeping off a pinch weld. Low-profile drop-in lift pads are supplied so the arms get under low sills. A full raise takes about 50 seconds.

Perfect For

• Low-roofed bays — the reason to choose this model over an overhead lift, and a common situation in converted units, older buildings and residential garages.
• Shops running wide vehicles, where the 8.5 ft drive-through is the specification that decides what can come in the door.
• Truck, van and light-fleet work, where symmetric lift points are the norm rather than the exception.
• Home workshops with a sound anchored slab and 220V single-phase already available, where the roof was always going to be the constraint.

What's in the Box

Everything the current product data states is supplied: the lift with symmetric arms, chain-drive cylinders, the dual-point lock release, the automatic arm restraint system, low-profile drop-in lift pads, saddle pad adaptors (one pair) and stackable adapters, finished in black as standard. Where our data stops: it confirms stackable adapters are included but not how many, nor their heights — and those are the numbers that tell you whether an awkward vehicle can be spotted correctly. Ask us in writing for the adapter count and heights before you order.

Specifications

A note on the model designation

You will see this lift called two things. It is sold here as the TP9KF-TUX, while our stored specification fields call the same machine VP9KF-TUX. Ask us if anything about the identification does not agree when you are matching a spec sheet or ordering spares.

Certification, stated plainly

No third-party safety listing is claimed anywhere in the data we hold for this lift, and we are not going to suggest otherwise. The distinction is real and matters most on exactly this kind of product: a maker declaring that its own lift conforms to a standard is not the same as an independent testing organisation examining it and issuing a listing. Insurers, fleet operators, dealership programmes and some local authorities require the independent listing before a lift may be used commercially, and the day of an inspection is a bad day to find that out. If that could apply to you, resolve the requirement with them first and then ask us in writing what documentation ships with this lift.

Shipping and delivery

Sent as freight within the lower 48 states, with the cost calculated live at checkout for the address you enter — which is why no figure appears in this text. What arrives is a 1,295 lb crated two-post lift on a long pallet, and the driver is not equipped to unload it for you. You need a forklift, a dock, or an unload planned in advance. Cannot manage that? Say so before you order and we will send the shipment to a freight terminal for collection — usually the better answer at a home address. A residential delivery address carries a residential fee. Look the shipment over before you sign anything: damage must be written onto the bill of lading at the moment of delivery, because freight damage is a freight claim and a clean signature closes that door. Warehouse pickup is available and the locations appear below.

Warranty

Our warranty claims page carries the terms that apply. You will notice this description does not state a coverage period. That is a deliberate omission rather than an accident: no term appears in the product data we hold for this model, and printing an unsourced figure beside the word warranty on a lift is not something we are willing to do. On a two-post the structural and parts coverage periods are worth knowing before you buy, so ask us in writing and we will confirm the current terms. Whatever they are, one thing does not change: nothing gets taken apart before a claim is opened. A cylinder, power unit or lock assembly that has already been dismantled will normally end the claim. Photograph the fault, call us, and let us raise it first.