Ball Joints?

[epanzella]

I've installed many a transfer case and transmission using just a dolly and a truck tube. Take a dolly & put a piece of plywood, then a truck tube, then another piece of plywood. On the top plywood add whatever blocks or shims you need to level the transmission. Roll it under the vehicle and just inflate the truck tube until the bolt holes line up.

 

[matthewsx]

I like it

 

[Bob S.]

Here we are.
I hope they don't turn out to be upside down again.

It looks like you could use a cherry picker through the door just set the unit on the ground or a wheeled dolly. I've done some front wheel drive transmissions this way too from under the hood.

 

[682bear]

That may Not be Necessarily so! For the most part there are ways to cap off the fluid storage tanks for maintenance purposes without spilling or draining them. However unless your vehicle is equipped with on of those drycell or gel type batteries that can be ran in any position it needs to be removed before tilting.

Fuel, maybe, (unless its equipped with a carburetor), but the engine oil, transmission, and axle(s) all have some sort of vent to prevent pressurizing... the older style master cylinders won't always seal well enough to prevent leakage, and I'm not sure a radiator cap would either... Maybe just my opinion, but I don't think I would try it.

-Bear

 

[stupoty]

Fuel, maybe, (unless its equipped with a carburetor), but the engine oil, transmission, and axle(s) all have some sort of vent to prevent pressurizing... the older style master cylinders won't always seal well enough to prevent leakage, and I'm not sure a radiator cap would either... Maybe just my opinion, but I don't think I would try it.

-Bear

You would definitely find out quite quickly once you had it upside down that's for sure

Stu

 

[RJSakowski]

The actual weight quoted depends on whether the handbrake drum and overdrive unit are fitted: around 70 to 75 kg seems to be an accepted figure, say 160 lb.

RJ: If you can lie down with one of these assemblies on your abdomen I shall buy you a beer and tell all of my friends!

Nick

That was back in the days when I was young and foolish. The transmission in question was an automatic with torque converter from a 1958 Buick Roadmaster 75. It was probably closer to 200lbs. than 100. I also carried a 364 V8 engine up from my basement to the garage, one step at a time. It's probably a main contributor to my lower back problems for the past forty years.

I have also used a 2 x 10 plank about 6 ft. long. I used a concrete block for a fulcrum on the far end of the plank so I was only lifting about 50 lbs and slid the transmission along the plank until it was positioned properly. When the transmission was lifted appropriately, I slid another block on the other side of the transmission. I could then add cribbing to lift the transmission to the desired height by alternating between class 1 and class 2 levers. In later year, I just used a floor jack.

 

[Nick Hacking]

Thanks, folks.

I do like the inner-tube idea.

My design is evolving in my head, and parts have started arriving from the internet. I think I'm going to end up building a frame under which I can slide my trolley jack (for the main lifting and lowering) but still keep the four little jacks, acting through ball-joints, to adjust the attitude of the gearbox. When it's finished I'll post some images and you can have a good chuckle at my welding.

RJ: you're amazing. I could never have attempted feats like that even when I was young and fit. Don't worry about what you might have done to your back, the published evidence tells us that there's no correlation between spinal trauma and reported pain. It might be wise to lift a little more cautiously from now on, however....

Kind wishes,

Nick