An alignment rack, not a four-post with turnplate holes cut in it

What separates the Tuxedo FP14KA-C from an ordinary four-post is the hardware that lets a wheel move while the vehicle stays still. It has three turntable positions in the front runways rather than one, so a compact car and a dual-rear-wheel pickup can both be set up with their front wheels actually on the plates. At the back, the slip plates ride on ring roller bearings, which let the rear axle float sideways as the suspension settles instead of binding and feeding a false reading into your alignment machine. And the lock stops are fully adjustable, which is how you get the two runways dead level to each other — the precondition for every camber and caster number you take afterwards.

Those three details are the whole argument. A lift that raises a vehicle is a service lift; a lift that holds a vehicle level and lets its wheels settle honestly is an alignment lift. This one is a 14,000 lb cable-driven, closed-front alignment lift built on C-channel with 20″ wide non-skid diamond-plate runways.

Will it fit your building?

Take four measurements before you order, and take them yourself — fitment is the buyer's responsibility and it is the most common reason a lift installation stalls on delivery day.

• Ceiling. The columns stand 88-5/8″ tall. Your ceiling has to clear that plus the height of the vehicle sitting on the runways at full rise, and you have to check the lowest obstruction rather than the ridge — door tracks, unit heaters, light fittings and sprinkler heads all live below the deck.
• Length. Overall length with the ramps is 250-1/2″, and the approach ramps are 43″ on their own. You need the lift plus a vehicle's worth of run-up in front of it.
• Width. Overall width across the outside of the base plates is 136-3/4″. Add working room down both sides — alignment work is done from beside the wheel.
• Power. The power unit runs on 220V, single phase, on a 20 Amp supply. That is an electrician's job to confirm and provide; a lift is not something to run on an extension lead.

The lift is anchored into a slab that must meet the thickness and compressive-strength minimums in the installation manual. We deliberately print no concrete figure here: the number that matters is the one in the manual for this model, and an approximation is how a slab gets poured wrong. Read it before you break ground.

Cable drive and the single-point pneumatic release

The four carriages are equalised by cable — 7/16″ cable on this model — so the runways rise together whether the load is centred or sitting nose-heavy over the front axle. Cable drive is also how the lift is levelled: you adjust the cables rather than chase hydraulics at each corner.

Locks release from a single point, pneumatically. On a four-column lift that matters more than it sounds: the alternative is walking the lift releasing each lock by hand, which invites a technician to release three and forget the fourth. Locks engage automatically as the lift rises, so only descending requires a deliberate act.

Built to be driven on every day

The structure is C-channel and the runways are non-skid diamond plate 20″ across — which matters when a vehicle drives on with wet tyres and again when a technician walks the runway with a wrench in each hand. Hydraulic operation keeps the moving-part count low, which is the practical reason this style of lift needs little beyond cable tension checks and lubrication.

Rear slip plates are supplied as part of the lift. Front turntables are not: the runways carry the cut-outs for them, and the turntables themselves are an option you buy according to the alignment equipment you already own. We would rather state that here than let a photograph of a fully dressed rack imply that plates are in the crate.

Perfect for

• An alignment bay in a general repair shop — the lift that turns tyre and suspension work into a billable alignment service.
• Tyre and suspension specialists who need to set up everything from a hatchback to a heavy pickup on the same rack.
• Dealership service departments where post-repair alignment is routine and the rack runs all day.
• Fleet workshops — tracking and tyre wear on a working fleet is a recurring cost, and an in-house rack pays for itself in tyres.
• A serious home or restoration shop with the ceiling height, the slab and the single-phase supply to host it.

What comes with the lift

The four columns and carriages, the runways with turntable cut-outs, the cable drive, the power unit, the single-point pneumatic lock release, the rear slip plates on their ring roller bearings, the approach ramps and the adjustable lock stops. Turntables are optional. Anything else — rolling jacks, air lines, alignment equipment — is a separate purchase; if you need an accessory in the same shipment, tell us before you order.

Specifications

Two figures we will not quietly pick a side on

Crated weight. Tuxedo's own specification sheet for this lift states a ship weight of 3,780 lbs. Other published listings for the same model carry a lower crated weight, and the weight held in our store's own shipping record is different again and is being corrected. Because your freight quote is calculated live from that record, this is not a display detail. If you are arranging your own transport, booking a forklift by capacity, or costing a crane hire, ask us to confirm the crated weight in writing before you commit — we will get it from Tuxedo rather than average the numbers on offer.

Width between posts. The specification sheet gives 110″. A separate data field on this listing gives a wider figure expressed in feet, and the two do not reconcile. Bay planning is unforgiving of a few inches, so treat neither as final: ask us to confirm it in writing before you set out anchor positions or commit to a bay width.

One more thing to read with care: Tuxedo's sheet labels the 20″ runway dimension a length, but the feature list and the physical reality of a runway a vehicle drives along both make it a width. We have written it as a width.

About certification

Tuxedo does not claim any independent third-party safety listing for this model in the data supplied to us, and we are not going to imply one. The distinction is worth understanding: a manufacturer's own declaration that a lift meets a design standard is not the same document as an independent listing body's certificate, and some insurers, fleet policies, dealership programme requirements and local jurisdictions require the latter specifically. If that applies to you, get the requirement in writing from whoever imposes it and send it to us before you order — we would rather answer honestly in advance than have a lift arrive that your inspector will not sign off.

Shipping and delivery

This lift ships by freight to the lower 48, quoted live at checkout for your address so the figure reflects today's rates rather than a number baked into a page. You must be able to take a crated lift off the truck — a forklift with the capacity for it, or a loading dock — or you can arrange to collect it from the carrier's local terminal instead. Delivery to a residential address carries a residential fee, shown before you pay.

Inspect before you sign. Look for crushed corners, shifted banding, punctured packaging and bent steel, write what you find on the delivery receipt before signing, photograph everything, and tell us the same day. Freight damage is a carrier matter rather than a warranty matter, and a receipt signed clean is very hard to unwind afterwards.

Warranty

The lift carries the manufacturer's limited warranty, which treats structure and wearing parts differently. The current terms, the exclusions and the claim procedure are kept on our warranty claims page rather than paraphrased here, because they belong to Tuxedo and a summary goes stale quietly. On a purchase this size, if a warranty term is part of your decision, ask us to confirm it in writing before you order. If something does go wrong, photograph it as found and contact us before dismantling anything: a component already taken apart is usually outside the claim.