ideas for lifting the body off the frame?

slowly working on a 57 chevy pickup. i have the bed off and the front fenders and nose off. all thats left is the cab which is not bolted to the frame. has anyone taken off the cab by them selves or with one other person. im not working in a driveway or a garage on this project. in fact its behind the garage with limited space and a slight incline haha. reason for lifting the cab is so i can roll the frame out so i can pull the motor and trans before winter and clean up and paint where the cab sits. and roll the frame back under.

what im thinking is i use jacks and lift the cab enough to get two by fours under it and them on blocks just high and wide enough to roll the frame out.

or i use my engine hoist and rig it up to the cab to lift enough to make a small wooden frame on blocks and rest the cab back down on that.

give me ideas to make this easier, quicker, safer... pics would be helpful.

thanks.

ill post pics of my project area.

 

Sounds like youre on it. jack on each side, and or rig up your engine hoise. Or talk a couple buddies int helping lift

 

Put a 4x4 trhough the windows and use a come-a-long to lift it. Did it w/ my 50 C.O.E. fenders and all w/ No probs !! You can run a 4x4 trough your rafters, over at least 3-4 of (if you have a ceiling, cut a small hole for the cable ) them to spread the load.

 

kawboy, that would be a good idea, but this project is behind the garage not in it, and no trees around the garage. look for the pics later.

 

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=235784&page=47

 

A couple of GOOD FRIENDS makes the job easy.

In this photo, we were putting the 3W back on the frame ... but I would imagine that your truck cab ( minus the doors ) weighs less than my steel 32 3W body.

_______________________

A fellow HAMBER photoshoped the coupe with a CHOP

 

It doesn't get any easier for one person than this. I use camper jacks. If you notice the 3 pads and one is inboard, that's my F-up. The feet go 180 if your paying attention when setting it up. As for a slope, just use some blocks under the pads to get the post strait.
The Wizzard

 

I used double 2x4 uprights with threaded rod at the top and strapped in and X so they would not walk. I then took and nailed together two 2x4's with a space between to go on the threaded rod and p***ed two through the windows. Using nuts on the rods I was able to lift up the body far enought to roll out the frame Then I built a "dolly" for the body to roll it around. ALL BY MYSELF.....if you can't picture it I can post pics.

 

Jack the frame and body up together. Use an a-frame, ie. childs swing set, chain the body to that. lower the frame.

 

.
.
.
If you search this forum for camper jacks there will be several threads about one-man body off ideas, not just camper jacks.

 

What ever you do be careful of the incline. I have had bad experiances jacking up to just change a flat tire on an incline

 

I have used a Cherry picker. If it won't roll because of dirt or soft ground, do this;

 

We made an extension to the cherry picker. Might need some additional weight on the picker, but it worked great.

 

A couple of friends + beer = cab off frame

 

I did my 62 Impala with placing a 4x4 the width of the body between the frame,This piece was to spread the force of the jack so as not to dimple floor pans or warp the body. I used my floor jack to lift the body under the 4x4 untill I coule get a longer 4x4 betteeen the body and the frame. I used cinder blocks undet the full length 4x4 to suport the body, then went to the rear and did the same. I repeated the process untill I got the body seperated from the frame
I then took the rear wheels off and lused the floor jack under the rear axle, and pulled the frame from under the body. The floor jack will follow.
Your truck would be much easier.
My problem with help is they are not around when I find time to work.
They are night folks and I am an early riser.
Mind you, I had the front clip, the doors and deck lid off my car.The engine and transmission were out of the frame too.
Took me about an hour.

 

That might have worked, but I don't like the idea of picking a body up from one single point like that. There's alot of force/weight pulling in from all sides to that one lift point....I'd be worried that it would bend something.

Lifting a truck cab should be alot easier though. I'm with the idea of putting 2 separate pieces of 4x4 wood through the doors (spaced but strapped together) and rigging it up so that you're lifting force is going straight up.

It's not rocket science...just lift straight up and let it straight down. No twisting allowed!!!

 

Try, skyhook.com

You're Welcomb

 

I have lifted many truck cabs using a engine hoist inside the cab. Take a beefy wide plank and go in the doorways and towards the front as much as possible. Doors removed is best.

Then put the tip of the hoist under the center of the plank. Sounds scary but it works. All of these were 60-63 and 64-66 chevys and the balance was close, some needed 10 pounds or so on the rear floor to balance.

Depending on which way your incline is, this might not work.

 

Did my 49 Dodge truck the same way, all by myself. I borrowed another engine hoist (most people are glad to be rid of them to get them out of THEIR way for a while! I'm STILL trying to give one of them back to the owner a YEAR after I'm done with it!!!) and put a 2" x 12" through the window openings and placed the end of the engine hoist that the chain attaches to against the plank right under the window openings. I just went slowly and went back and forth lifting each hoist a few inches, went to the other side, lift a few inches, go back to the other side.... Once that it was clear, roll the frame out from underneath. You might have to adjust it a little fore & aft to get the balance right depending on how much stuff you left on the firewall, but you'll get it!

Some people recommend removing the doors, but I think that they made the cab a little stiffer. I just rolled the windows down and ratchet strapped the doors shut and it didn't bend or damage anything (as far as I can tell). The doors still open & close without binding. Just my opinion though and I am NOT a bodyman by any means, so... your actual mileage may vary.

 

See pic in avatar. I have a 4 post lift ,and jacked up the body to get my 3inch dia pipes under the body,used wood under steps with added blocks on each side of pipe to keep pipe straight.I made a dolly to hook to my lawn tractor to move it around.My neighbors think im nuts ,,,,,so whats new. BE CAREFULL sometimes things tend to move when you dont want them to so have a back up plan and room to RUN......YG

 

I did mine by myself a couple times, rolling dolly with frame work attached underside of body and outside of rockers. I padded the rocker side and lifted the opposite side of the truck and walked it off.

 

I made one of these.

 

I started out by asking friends.
Which still is a great way of getting it done.
Exept, it can be tricky to find a time when they all can come over to do it.
( and there is always one who will sit down right away demanding pizza and beer and after the party part is over return the favor by only making grunting noises instead of acctually doing any lifting...)



Next sollution I tried was this.



An old Towmotor Forklift I found for sale on the side of the road.
My wife was pissed when I brought it home.
" but honey... it looked so cute and small on the side of the road..."
She wasn't buying it...
It was also too complicated, there were problems with the hydraulics, engine, brakes, and steering.
And I got it completely stuck, the first time I drove it off the concrete.


I now do a lot of heavy lifting with this...
http://www.dogfightmag.com/forum/showthread.php?539-POWER!!!-Who-has-the-fastest-cherry-picker....
Its multy functional.
The Cherrypicker hooks into a tow hitch receiver, so I also use it to move my trailer around ( in tighter spaces than I can with my truck )

And I go play with it in the dirt...

 

975 My contribution

 

Gantry crane from Harbor Freight I hear is decent piece. Can rent it out after for cases of beer !!

 

i like the idea of the 4x4s under the body resting on cinder blocks. im about to lift a 40 ford sedan deluxe and put it on a 94 explorer fuel injected ch***is its 2wd and same wb so it wont look redneck lol, but wat about bracing the inside of the body so it dont twist or is that overkill im thinkn brace and lift so i dont have to spend time un- twisting. on the other hand if i 4x4 it and lift ez and down ez i should be gd

 

I made this A frame, it worked great.

 

I lifted the cab off my 55 chevy pu with an engine hoist and some straps. Worked like a champ and rolled frame out...I have also used the 2x4 and strong back method but that involves too much motrin the next morning.

 

Here's a lumber version of what Dman313 showed. Works great.

 

When I did my 55 chev truck cab I had made some real solid sawhorses, lifted the body on one side and slid some 2x6's under the cab and onto the sawhorses. I screwed the plank to the sawhorses so it would not slip off, then lifted the other side and slid it over, then removed the planks. Put the new cab back on the same way, all by myself.

My Stude cab I have a hook mounted in the header above the eight ft door in my garage, used two wide lifting straps thru the windows and a come-along, lifted it up rolled the ch***is out and lowered it onto an old solid core door with 6 big castors on it. The door works great because you can move it where ever you want.