Atlas 9KOHX: an overhead lift with two column heights, so it fits the garage you have

The problem with an overhead two-post lift in a private garage is almost never the capacity. It is the beam. A clear-floor design puts its crossbeam over the vehicle, which is exactly what you want underneath and exactly what runs into the ceiling. The 9KOHX is built with two column height settings rather than one, so the same lift can be assembled short or tall depending on what your roof allows — it is a decision made at installation, not a different part number.

Around that sits a light-duty 9,000 lbs lift with symmetric columns, arms that can be set symmetric or asymmetric, and a spring-loaded Secondary Lock System. It is aimed at the home owner with a real garage and at a small commercial shop working on cars, SUVs and light trucks.

Will It Fit?

Measure before you order. In this order:

• Ceiling. The lift assembles at one of two overall heights, listed in this page's own feature list and spec sheet as 138 inches or 142 inches. Those are the height of the structure itself. Your ceiling must clear the taller of the two if you intend to build it tall, and clear the shorter one plus anything mounted to the roof if you do not. Note carefully what these figures are not: they are not how high the lift raises a car. See the disclosure below.
• Floor width and drive-through. The columns sit 110 inches apart on the inside. Drive-through clearance between the carriages is 100 inches in the symmetric arm setting. In the asymmetric setting it narrows, and the factory sheet gives that narrower figure as 90 1/2 inches — which is the point most people discover after the concrete is drilled.
• Concrete. Atlas states a minimum of 4 inches of concrete rated at 3000 psi. This is not a formality. It is the specification the anchors are engineered against, and a slab that is thinner, cracked, or poured over fill does not become adequate because the lift is rated for it. If you do not know what your slab is, core it or ask a concrete contractor before you buy the lift.
• Power. 220 volt single phase, with a 30 amp breaker recommended. Get that circuit priced before you order, not after.
• Oil. 3 to 5 gallons of AW32 or AW46, not included.
• Column steel. 5mm, on a column section of 7 1/4 by 11 inches.

Confirming ceiling, slab and circuit against those numbers is the buyer's responsibility. Send us your ceiling height and slab thickness and we will check them in writing before you place the order.

A number on this listing that is wrong, and which one it is

We would rather correct this in public than let you find it. Some of the stored product data behind this listing describes 138 inches as a lifting height and 74 as a minimum pad height. Both descriptions are wrong, and our own specification sheet contradicts them. The correct reading, which the manufacturer also publishes:

Confirm these with us in writing before you order if any of them decides your purchase — particularly the minimum arm height, which governs whether the arms go under a low car at all, and the maximum lift height, which governs whether you can stand under it. We will get the current figures from Atlas rather than restate what is stored here.

The lock that matters is the one you never use

This is a chain-over-roller lift with dual hydraulic chain-drive cylinders, and it carries a spring-loaded Secondary Lock System that engages automatically if a chain goes slack or breaks. That is a component you should hope never to observe working. Its whole purpose is the failure case, and it is the difference between a broken chain being an expensive morning and being something worse. Above it sit the everyday safeties: automatic arm restraints that stop an arm swinging once the vehicle is up, dual-point lock release so lowering is deliberate, and rubber guards on the carriages.

Symmetric columns, arms that go either way

The columns are symmetric; the arms can be set symmetric or asymmetric. The asymmetric arrangement is what Atlas calls the EZ-metric configuration, and its practical benefit is a very low pad position. That is what lets the same lift get under a small car with awkward, low pickup points and under a pickup truck that sits high — and it is why a shop that sees a mixed intake buys arms that convert rather than a lift committed to one geometry. Choose your arm setting before you drill, because it changes your usable drive-through width, as noted above.

Perfect For

• A home garage with a real ceiling and the ability to build the columns to the height that fits.
• A small commercial shop on cars, SUVs and light-duty trucks.
• A mixed intake — low cars one day, a pickup the next — where the convertible arm setting earns its place.
• Not the right lift for heavy duallies or long-wheelbase commercial trucks.

What is in the box, and one step that comes after

Per this page's feature list: an 8-piece truck adapter set, a set of sliding arm adapters, and the mounting hardware. Not included: the hydraulic oil, the electrical work, and the concrete.

One thing to ask us for, because it is not on this page. Atlas publishes a cylinder bleeding procedure for this lift that is to be carried out immediately after installation, as a document separate from the manual. Air trapped in a cylinder at commissioning shows up later as uneven carriage travel, and installers who have not seen the document routinely skip it. Ask us for it with your order and we will send it.

Also on the feature list is a note reading "this part number freight prepaid". Freight terms are confirmed at checkout and by us in writing, not by that line, so if you are ordering on the strength of it, ask us first.

Certification, stated plainly

No third-party lift safety listing is claimed for the 9KOHX anywhere in our product data, and we are not going to imply one. This matters more on a two-post than on most equipment: some insurers, fleet operators and local jurisdictions require a lift used commercially to carry a specific independent listing, and an inspection is a bad moment to discover the question. If any of that applies to you, ask us in writing before ordering and we will put it to Atlas directly.

Shipping and delivery

This is a freight shipment inside the lower 48 states, quoted live at checkout rather than printed here, because freight rates move. Two things decide whether delivery day goes well. First, unloading is yours to arrange: a freight truck will not lift the crate off the trailer for you, so you need a forklift, a skid steer or a comparable machine at the delivery address, or you take the shipment at the carrier terminal instead. Tell us which before it ships. Second, inspect before you sign. Walk the crate, look for crushed corners, punctures, shifted banding and oil marks, and write anything you find on the delivery receipt before the driver leaves. A signed clean receipt is the carrier's proof that the freight arrived undamaged, and a concealed-damage claim raised afterwards is a far harder argument than three words written on the paperwork. Residential delivery is available and carries a residential fee. Warehouse pickup is available at our stocking locations if you would rather collect it.

Warranty

2 year structural, 1 year hydraulic, parts only, as published in this page's feature list. Do not disassemble a cylinder, a power unit or a carriage before contacting us — a unit that has already been taken apart is the most common reason a legitimate claim is refused.