5spdcab, both my engine stand and transmission lift are custom created from OTC (Over the counter) tools. The stand started life as a three wheeler and is now a four wheeler because having four wheels on the ground gave me greater stability during exercises like rotating engines and transmissions. The transmission lift is based on a standard floor jack to which a transmission adapter kit was attached. Initially it proved to be very clumsy and top heavy, plus which, with only the rear wheels able to swivel, maneuvering it became a miserable exercise. My solution to maneuvering was to remove the front, fixed wheels, box the side rails where the axle comes through with a section of 1/4" angle with one side facing out, and drill that to accept a length of 1/4" square tube to which two other short sections of angle were attached as mounting ears for a pair of swivels salvaged from a dead floor jack that I happened to come across. Think I posted pictures of it some time back but can upload a shot or two for this thread.
My point here is that I had to get creative to end up with what I needed. Should you take a drive and end up walking the aisles at Harbor Freight, it is just a thought but having an engine stand with those four wheels that I mentioned will provide you with better stabilily when pushing a loaded stand around; the three point stands will work but I found that caution has to be used when pushing them or trying to torque bolts on something attached to them or they would tip!! No warning either.
The same goes for the transmission lift. I have looked at them in the NAPA catalogue and thought how nice having one would be. Again, what drove my make a wish choice was stability with the transmission in the cradle, plus vertical lift height. You've probably seen my cribbing stacks that I created out of 2x4's. Each corner is six layers of cribbing high and I needed every inch of that to get my t-jack with the transmission loaded onto it to slip under the G-10 so I could twitch the whole business around to get it to line up. I could have lived with five layers but six gave me the personal room under the unit to move around without getting whacked repeatedly in the head by various contructs hanging off the frame and floor. What I did find was that the extra layer meant I had to add a pair of 2x8 spacers to the cradle and rest the t-mission pan on them; otherwise I would be short on lift height, which was my point about the vertical lift. You, as I did, could find yourself having to do a balancing act betrween access height to get under the vehicle versus the collapsed height of the jack with the transmission sitting in the cradle versus the max lift the jack will provide and will that be enough to get the case up to where it will align with the dowels on the back of the block?
For my self it all worked out to 30 inches.
Oh, yeah, along with what ever transmission jack you do acqure, get a good set of 1" wide ratchet straps, the ones with the heavy canvas or nylon straps. The t-jack may come with a light chain that the manufacturer may suggest be used to secure the t-case to the cradle. For myself i found that the heavy straps were easier to set in place in terms of location, sat closer and tighter to the case, and could be released more easily and readily if needed. I elected to use two for my exercise because having the pair in place allowed me to adjust the angle of the cradle during the alignment to the block without worrying if the case was going to skid or slip on me. Mine were a target of opportunity because they came from the local HD dealer and were originally used to secure the bikes on their metal skids during transport. I spotted them being used and did a deal with the parts manager for a pair. (Total sidebar this)
Anyway, even if it all turns out to be just a walk through the aisles to ogle all the neat new tools and dream a litlle have fun doing it.
Nick
