Atlas Platinum PVL12 — an overhead two-post that comes in two heights

The one thing that stops most shops buying an overhead-beam two-post is the ceiling. The beam has to clear the tallest vehicle you intend to lift, and once it is bolted up, that is the height you have. The PVL12 is built to be set at either 165" (13' 9") or 177" (14' 9"), decided at installation. A foot of ceiling either way decides the sale in a great many buildings, and most lifts give you no say in it. If your ceiling will not take the taller setting, you are not out of the running — you install it at the shorter one.

The second thing worth knowing before the capacity number is the steel. The columns are 7 1/2" by 14 1/2" in section with a 6mm wall. Column wall thickness is what a two-post is actually made of, and it is the specification most listings leave out entirely, because it is the one that costs money to get right.

Will It Fit Your Shop?

• Ceiling: 165" (13' 9") or 177" (14' 9") overall, your choice at install. Measure to the lowest obstruction — a duct, a door track or a light fitting counts, not just the deck.
• Floor width: 150 3/8" (12' 6 3/8") overall across the floor, with the columns 139 1/8" (11' 7 1/8") apart outside to outside. The bases measure 17 1/2" by 20 1/2".
• Bay width for the vehicle: 122 5/8" (10' 2 5/8") inside the columns and a drive-through of 109 5/8" (9' 1 5/8").
• Power: 220 volt single phase, with a 30 amp breaker recommended. Budget 3–5 gallons of AW32 or AW46 hydraulic oil, which is not supplied.

Confirming your ceiling height, your floor area and the condition of your slab before ordering is the customer’s responsibility. It takes a tape measure and ten minutes, and it is the difference between an installation day and a storage problem.

Three-stage arms, and why the shortest setting matters most

The PVL12 uses 3-stage symmetric arms with automatic restraints. The headline benefit of a three-stage arm is reach — it extends far enough to get under a long-wheelbase pickup at its designed lift points. The benefit nobody advertises is at the other end of the travel: a three-stage arm also retracts further, which is what lets the same lift take a small car without the pads fouling the sills. A shop that sees everything from a hatchback to a three-quarter-ton truck is really buying the range, not the maximum.

Minimum pad height is 4 1/2", so a low car can be driven over the arms rather than jacked onto them. Adapters are supplied four at a time in two heights, 4.5" and 8.5", on a 1.57" peg, and the full 8-piece truck adapter set is included with the lift rather than sold alongside it. Maximum lift without adapters is 73 5/8".

The details that protect the customer’s car

Two features on this lift exist purely to stop damage, and both are worth more than they sound. The overhead shut-off bar is padded, so a vehicle driven in slightly too far touches something soft and cuts the lift rather than meeting bare steel with a windscreen or a roof. And the carriages carry thick rubber door guards, which is the answer to the most common and most expensive complaint in any two-post bay: a door opened into a column.

Beyond that, the lift releases both locks from a single point, runs direct-drive cylinders and comes standard with the ALLY premium power unit — the same unit specified across the Platinum range, chosen because it holds torque steadily rather than fading as the motor warms.

Perfect For

• Commercial repair shops that need one two-post to cover the whole customer mix, from compacts to three-quarter-ton pickups.
• Buildings with an awkward ceiling — the two-height beam is exactly the reason this model exists.
• Dealerships and fleet workshops where a certified lift is a condition of the insurance, the franchise or the local inspection.
• Serious home shops with the ceiling height and the 220 volt supply already in place.

What’s in the Box

The 8-piece truck adapter set, mounting hardware and the ALLY power unit are all included. Hydraulic oil is not. Shipping weight is 2,425 lb.

Specifications

Certification

The PVL12 is ALI certified. That means an independent body has tested and listed the lift against the North American standard — it is not the manufacturer asserting its own compliance. The distinction is the whole point of the badge, and it is the one that matters when a commercial insurance policy, a franchise agreement or a local inspector asks for a listed lift by name. If you are lifting customer vehicles for money, this is a box you want ticked rather than argued about after an incident.

Shipping and delivery

Freight only, lower 48 states. The rate is calculated live at checkout for your address rather than printed here where it would drift out of date. Two columns and a beam make a heavy, awkward consignment: you need a forklift or a dock, or you arrange terminal pickup and collect it. A residential address carries a residential fee. Inspect the crates while the driver is present and note anything bent, torn or shifted on the bill of lading before signing — that note is the whole basis of a freight claim.

Warranty

5 years structural, 2 years hydraulic and 2 years on the power unit. If something fails, call before you take it apart. A power unit or cylinder that arrives back already stripped cannot be assessed, and that is the ordinary reason a valid claim turns into a long conversation.