Triumph NSS-8: the 8,000 lb four-post that ships with aluminum ramps

Four-post listings tend to stop at the capacity and the deck length, which tells you nothing about living with one. The detail worth knowing about the NSS-8 is what is on the pallet beside it: lightweight aluminum approach ramps rather than steel ones. That sounds like a footnote until you own the lift. Ramps are the part you pull off and put back every time you want a jack under the nose of a car or need to park something short, and a steel ramp on a four-post is a two-handed, bad-back item that ends up abandoned against a wall. Aluminum ones actually get lifted, moved and stored, which is the difference between a lift used the way it was designed and a lift you work around.

Underneath that it is a straightforward 8,000 lbs four-post: 165 inches of runway, 72 inches of lift height, 10 locking positions, a single-point lock release and a full raise in 40 seconds, all on ordinary 110V power. It gets bought for two jobs: servicing a car at a height where you are not lying on the floor, and stacking one vehicle above another to get a parking space back.

Included while supplies last: a Chicago Pneumatic CP WallAIR 1.5-HP wall-mount air compressor with hose reel and inflation kit. The option to add it appears at checkout.

Will It Fit?

A four-post arrives whether or not the building suits it, so measure first. Every figure below is yours to check against your own garage.

• Ceiling. The lift itself stands 84 inches at the top of the columns. If you are stacking, the number that decides it is not the lift height but the height of the vehicle going underneath plus the runway above it, so measure your own car and your own ceiling rather than working from the capacity.
• Floor length. 175 inches without the approach ramps and 195 inches with them fitted. Plan for the longer figure, because the ramps have to go somewhere even when they are off the lift.
• Floor width. 106 inches overall. Add door-opening room on at least one side or you will be climbing out of the car through the passenger seat for the life of the lift.
• Vehicle width and track. Runways are 18 inches wide with 37 inches between them, and the drive-through width is 7.75 ft. Narrow-track and very wide vehicles are both worth checking against those figures.
• Power. 110V, which is the point of it. There is no electrician to book and no dedicated circuit to run before delivery.
• Foundation. Triumph's own manual and spec sheet are the authority on the slab this lift is to sit on and on anchoring. Ask us for the current copies and read the foundation requirement before delivery, not after.

Five inches to the deck

Lowered height is 5 inches. On a drive-on lift that figure is the one that decides whether loading is a routine job or a scraped chin spoiler. Combined with the approach ramps it means a low car goes on without a run-up and without stacking timber under the ramps. The runways are 18 inches wide, wide enough to place a vehicle without steering by feel and narrow enough to leave a clear view of the underside.

Ten locks and one release

Each column carries 10 locking positions, so a raised vehicle rests on steel at whatever working height suits the job rather than on hydraulic pressure. Lowering is a single-point release: one control drops all four locks together instead of you walking the lift and freeing each column in turn. On a four-post carrying a stored vehicle for weeks, that matters, because a lift that is awkward to lower is a lift that gets lowered carelessly. A full raise takes 40 seconds, which is quick enough that the lift stops being something you avoid using for a five-minute job.

Casters, and the caveat that goes with them

The NSS-8 comes with a caster kit, so the lift can be rolled to a different wall, pushed aside for a project, or moved out of the way when the garage is needed for something else. Read the restriction that comes with it, because it is not optional advice: the casters are for moving the empty lift. A vehicle must never be on the lift while it is being moved. Base plates are 12 inches by 12 inches, and the lift is designed to work sitting on those plates.

Perfect For

• Home garages that need a parking space back, which is the single most common reason this lift is bought.
• Collectors and project owners storing a vehicle above a daily driver for months at a stretch.
• Professional shops wanting a service bay that runs on 110V and does not need a slab survey and an electrician before it earns anything.
• Detailing, fluid and exhaust work, where a drive-on deck and jack tray beat a two-post for speed.

What's in the Box

Unusually well specified for the class, and worth reading before you budget for extras:

• UL-listed power plug, ready to use out of the crate
• Steel oil tank power unit
• Lightweight aluminum approach ramps, easy to remove and store, instead of heavy steel ramps
• Caster kit for moving the lift, not for use with a vehicle on it
• Metal jack tray that takes a floor jack or bottle packs
• 3 plastic drip trays for catching fluid off the vehicle above

The jack tray and drip trays are the items buyers most often order separately on other four-posts, so factor that in when comparing.

Specifications

Certification, stated plainly

We do not list a third-party lift safety certification for this model, and we are not going to imply one. The power plug supplied with it is UL-listed, which is a statement about the plug and not about the lift. If your insurer, your local inspector or your employer requires a lift to carry a specific named certification, and some commercial policies, fleet operations and jurisdictions do, confirm that requirement before you order rather than after the crate is on your driveway. Call us and we will tell you what we know and what we do not.

Shipping and delivery

This lift moves by freight truck to addresses in the lower 48 states. Freight is quoted live at checkout for your address, so the figure you see is a current carrier rate rather than an estimate that has drifted. The crate is heavy and getting it onto the ground is the receiver's responsibility, so you need a forklift, a machine, or several people and a plan. If that is not realistic, collecting from the carrier's local terminal is usually easier, and the terminal has the equipment. Delivery to a residential address carries a residential fee, applied at checkout when you choose it.

Inspect the shipment before you sign for it. Look for crushed corners, gouges, shifted banding and oil, write anything you find onto the bill of lading while the driver is still standing there, and photograph it. Signing a clean bill of lading is the carrier's evidence that everything arrived intact, and reversing that afterwards is difficult.

Warranty

Triumph publishes a written warranty covering this lift. Ask us for the current copy before you order if the terms are part of your decision. One warning holds for every hydraulic lift whoever built it: if something fails, do not take the power unit, a cylinder or a lock mechanism apart before a claim has been opened. A disassembled part is generally treated as a modified part, and it is the quickest way to lose cover that would otherwise have been paid. Photograph the fault, note the serial number and call first.

Need more length and more height under the vehicle? The Triumph NSS-8XLT is the extended version of this lift.