Engine stand

[laserjock]

Okay guys, been starting to think about pulling the motor out of the parts truck and it occurs to me I have a problem. That sucker is heavy! (It's a 7.3). I've read here that its probably in the neighborhood of 1300 lbs fully dressed. Thats going to require a substantial engine stand. I bought what seemed like a good one rated for 1200 lbs a few years ago for a bbc and ended up reinforcing it because I didn't like the droop in it. What do you guys use to pull the engines (hoist, crane, etc.) and an engine stand?

Thanks!

 

[OLDBULL8]

The HF 2000 lbis a good one. Search engin e stands for more info, lots of it. 7.3 is 960 lbs fully dressed.

 

[junk]

I just bought a 2,000lb engine stand from harbor freight to hold a 7.3. To pull the engine from the truck I have either a 1.5 ton or 2 ton engine puller. I've been able to pull the engines up and out of a pickup with out removing the front clip.

 

[RLDSL]

Ive been in on one of someone elses engine stuffing jobs where the front end was still intact... and I will NEVER do that again.
take the time and pull the radiator support out and to make things a real joy to work on, take a few extra minutes before hands and pop the cab mount bolts and jack the cab up and set it on about 6 in blocks for extra clearance and it makes the whole process downright pleasant

 

[Greg5OH]

RL-does anythign have to be done with the steering linkage when propping the cab up?

 

[icanfixall]

Robert has really posted whats working easy is all about. I have removed my engine without even removing the hood. That was a tuff pick too. I had to make the chains almost straight from side to hook to side. Thats a tremendous strain on the chains too. I was able to lift up over the core support too. When I installed that engine I had trouble that caused me to install and remove it 5 times in one day to resolve the problem. When that new engine melted down because of a faulty freeze plug I did the removel differantl. I released the hood springs and allowed the hood to lean back almost to the windshield. Needed to make up a 2x4 to hold open the hood. Cut it to fit in the battery tray. Never needed to remove the hood... I work alone.. Just useless window licker short bus riders in my hood...

 

[towcat]

there was a time ( in the not so far distant past) where a weight rating meant there was an honest 3:1 ratio in reality vs. stated capacity. there's a reason why the older american made stuff looked and acted like a brick *********. I wouldn't put my life or livelihood on HF's rated capacity. even at 2:1 you are pushing your luck. at 1:1, you minus well go play russian roulette with a auto pistol. Seriously guys, don't be cheap today. get a stand rated at least twice of what you are going to hang off of it. if nothing else, you won't wind up with a pile of scrap if the stand comes apart at the 1:1 rating.

 

[towcat]

RL-does anythign have to be done with the steering linkage when propping the cab up?

i will drop the steering coupling as well as seperating the brake master from the booster.

 

[riotwarrior]

Robert is right removing the rad support does make it simpler and I've done it without a rad support,

But for slightly more work and WAY more clearance and ease...remove the ENTIRE front clip and hood. 12 bolts for clip 4 for hood, leave rad and all wiring intact...just unplug the harness from cab and engine...

For me...this is the only way to go!

JM2CW

Al

 

[junk]

I may have been lucky, but when I pulled the engine with the clip on I didn't think it was that bad. It was tight, but it wasn't impossible. And I always work alone. I pulled a 360 from a 96 dodge pickup and thought that was a real pain compared to a 7.3 from a pickup. I have an engine swap underway and am considering pulling the clip though as they do come a part pretty easy. Biggest concern for me is rust and how the radiator support bolts come out....if they come out.

 

[DesertBen44]

I bought the 1 ton stand you can find on oreillys website, its made by acdelco i think. i try to avoid harbor freight like the plague.

This being said, all the hardware include in the stand were EXTREMELY low quality I broke the rotation lock bolt installing it with a TINY adjustable wrench... and it wasnt very tight.

Held my fully dressed turbo 7.3 for a few months though, unfortunately had to sell it before I moved out of Arizona

 

[Knuckledragger]

Robert is right removing the rad support does make it simpler and I've done it without a rad support,

But for slightly more work and WAY more clearance and ease...remove the ENTIRE front clip and hood. 12 bolts for clip 4 for hood, leave rad and all wiring intact...just unplug the harness from cab and engine...

For me...this is the only way to go!

JM2CW

Al

Sounds good, but what about the bowden (hood latch) cable? Does that come out of the cab, or do you disconnect it from the latch and snake it out of the clip?

 

[stumiister]

When I pulled my engine several times I removed the hood, all of the belt driven accessories, disconnected the wire harness for the engine, left the front clip on and the radiator support, removed the radiator.
I had a 2 ton engine hoist I used several times, then one time I used a 5000lb fork lift, I was given a cheap engine stand that I used several times but I had to use a bar and a 15in crescent wrench to turn it that a PITA.

 

[laserjock]

Thanks for the thoughts guys. I guess you are talking about the cherry picker type shop hoists? They scare me a little. I was actually thinking about either building a gantry crane or trying to catch a HF model on sale. On the Chebbies I've done, I usually just pull the radiator and it's snug but a BB will drop in without too much trouble except the headers... always a problem with the headers.

I hadn't seen the 2000lb stands. Not sure how I missed them. I'm with you that I won't buy anything from HF that my life may depend on and I generally go for at least a 2:1 weight rating regardless.

For the engine swap, I am planning to do it with the D60 conversion all at once so I will in all likelihood, blow the front clip off and replace the core support at the same time. I like having room. The only thing about taking the entire clip off is dealing with all the wiring on the sides of the inner fenders. If I don't have to dismantle all of it, I'd prefer not to although by the time the transplant actually happens into the truck, it may end up being a bare cab and frame. Projects have a funny way of *********** like that when I get involved... Don't really understand how that happens.

 

[PwrSmoke]

Ive been in on one of someone elses engine stuffing jobs where the front end was still intact... and I will NEVER do that again.
take the time and pull the radiator support out and to make things a real joy to work on, take a few extra minutes before hands and pop the cab mount bolts and jack the cab up and set it on about 6 in blocks for extra clearance and it makes the whole process downright pleasant

Having recently done it the other way, I agree. It's a VERY tight fit. It's a PITA to get out but an unbelievable PITA to get stabbed. The time spent doing both would easily have equalled the extra effort of pulling the radiator support. I bought a no-name "1200#" engine stand from a local equivalent to Harbor Freight. POS of the worst sort. Expected it to collapse at any moment. It's getting a rebuild before it gets used again. Wish I'd have spent more money and gotten a better one. I didn't like the looks of the Harbor Freight piece either. KInd of a rock & a hard place expense because you don't often need an engine stand, so you don't need a "Rolls Royce" tool. But the bottom priced units are so bad, you could easily have regrets going that way.

One last tip... don't use a tractor loader for pulling an engine. At least not MY loader. They all seem to creep a little and mine would always wait until I had everything line up perfectly to drop about an eighth inch. By the time I got the engine setting in there, I was a raging lunatic. I wrenched for 20 years for a living and my patience is usually pretty hard to break.