grumpyvette Posted September 21, 2007 Share Posted September 21, 2007 for many years Ive used an engine crane in the shop to pull engines, and it became very obvious that some mods to the system were darn near MANDATORY, adding an engine leveler and swivel to your engine crane makes things far easier adding a swivel like this between the leveler and crane GREATLY AIDS THE ENGINES REMOVAL, AS IT PREVENTS THE TENDENCY OF THE ENGINE HANGING ON A CHAIN TO CONSTANTLY WANT TO SWING BACK INTO A SINGLE LOCATION, BUT DON,T GET STUPID or CHEAP, GET THE 3400lb rated one not the 1200lb size (REMEMBER YOULL BE UNDER THAT ENGINE SOMETIMES) youll need two of these rated at similar load strength[/b] ever engine crane Ive ever seen came with crappy steel wheels about 2.5"-3"in dia. " the reasons are obvious they are cheap ,and theres clearance issues for the cranes legs if your pulling an engine when the cars NOT up on jack stands, now I can,t see how you can access all the necessary bolts without the car being up on serious,& sturdy jack stands or a lift, so with that in mind I got out the air/die grinder and removed the tack welded steel wheels and added (6) 8" solid rubber wheels on swivels, rated at 600 lbs each yeah, the crane will no longer slide under a car thats not up on jack stands, but then I can,t think of a single reason to use a crane to remove an engine when the cars NOT UP ON JACK STANDS because youll need access to all the bolts holding it in durring the process and youll need to support the trans " , YET,ANOTHER GOOD EXAMPLE OF WHY A WELDER IN THE SHOP COMES IN HANDY(welding on new wheels) this made it SO MUCH EASIER to use its amazing:thumbsup: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mom'sZ Posted September 21, 2007 Share Posted September 21, 2007 Grump: I just ordered a leveler from jegs a few days ago. Last time was a pain without it. Nifty idea for the swivel, where can I order one of those? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grumpyvette Posted September 21, 2007 Author Share Posted September 21, 2007 most larger BOAT/MARINE stores or ACE HARDWARE stores carry them Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grumpyvette Posted September 23, 2007 Author Share Posted September 23, 2007 BTW http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=41563 these are very similar to what I used (6) of on the engine crane Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pop N Wood Posted September 23, 2007 Share Posted September 23, 2007 I have that same harbor freight leveler. I allows me to swap the complete engine and trans in by myself, but the hand crank is a bit of a pain. I wish I had with a nut on one end so I could use air tools to turn the crank. The hand crank can get hard to turn near maximum tilt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grumpyvette Posted September 23, 2007 Author Share Posted September 23, 2007 "I wish I had with a nut on one end so I could use air tools to turn the crank" sounds like a few minutes with a welder , and some careful planning would cure/grant that wish! weld one of these where the handle was, after cutting it off, them weld a deep socket to the handle that slides over the nut,and drill a hole thru both the socket and nut,to drop a pin thru so you can use the tilter either with or without the handle attached http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=94460 making the crank handle easy to remove and an air ratchet wrench also an option Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony D Posted September 28, 2007 Share Posted September 28, 2007 Some people take the doubler plates, and instead of putting the wheels beneath the legs, they install them out in front of the legs. This makes for a clearance equal to whatever the diameter is of your wheel... At the expense of the front wheels being fixed now, instead of being on casters. I, too, now have hard rubber wheels on mine. The originals I got were flatspotted from when they towed it out of the shop and put it on a trailer to the impound yard (mine is from an impound sale from an LAPD ChopShop Bust!) Hey, for $15 who cares if I had to replace the wheels! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ktm Posted September 30, 2007 Share Posted September 30, 2007 I highly recommend buying a hoist that has caster wheels for both the front and back. I picked on up in June after using a conventional hoist (rental from Sunbelt Rentals) that only had casters in the rear. Casters on all four corners is a GODSEND. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grumpyvette Posted October 11, 2007 Author Share Posted October 11, 2007 now heres something you probably don,t want to spend a fortune on, but you better think it thru...if it tips or brakes you could be PERMENANTLY CRIPPLED http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=47304.... Ive got several of these in the shop and they support a bbc just fine! these also work ok http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_6970_200305217_200305217 the cheaper (T) design base on the cheaper stands are not NEARLY as stable, you might want to consider welding on a 4 foot section of 2" x 3" box steel and adding two casters to the end of the center leg but by that time youll quickly see buying the better 2000 lb stands less work/bother and reasonably priced :thumbsup: this design ought to come with a mercury switch and auto dialer for the emergency room as it will tip or flip with almost no effort , an excellent way to be seriously injured, no matter how strong you are your NEVER going to be able to prevent a V8 from falling once its starts falling unexpectedly when your tightening bolts or turning the block, so if you buy something similar to this expect to get hurt its only a matter of time http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=32915 as a few of you gentelmen know, I recently replaced the small steel wheels on my engine crane with much nicer swivel wheels of about 8" dia. http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=41563 these http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=41563 are very similar to what I used (6) of on the engine crane, having 6 large dia. CASTERS rather than 4 small casters and two wheels that don,t change direction is a HUGE IMPROVEMENT in how easily the engine crane moves once an engines suspended from it, well, it was an obvious improvement so I said to myself why stop there?? I put a set of 4 similar swivel casters on one of the shops engine stands and I just can,t believe it took so long for me to do that or how big of an improvement it was!! you get so used to having an engine stand thats a TOTAL P.I.T.A. to move around the shop (AND I sellected some of the easier to move stands) that once you do this mod your thinking how obviously stupid it is not to do it to all the engine stands in t6he shop.....so as finances and time allow Ill convert the other 4 engine stands not quite as good as good sex but its so much better than before I can,t imagine why I didn,t do this 35 years ago Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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