Some time ago at a swap meet there was a fella selling a contraption to go on the end of your shop crane to lift the cab off a truck, I got a good look at it and how it worked with plans on building one someday. So sunday morning I got to the point of pulling the cab on my 53 and decided I needed one. The metal store isn't open on sunday and after looking through the s**** pile I decided I could build it out of some CCA 4X4's I had and some deck brakets. Here is the result. Mind you I wouldn't recommend it for repeated use, and I do plan on building a proper one out of metal but I was amazed at how well it worked for the 5 minutes or so I had invested. And my back doesn't even hurt today. ****O
now THAT is some awesome "simple" tech! seems this would work for picking up a full size car body as well with a slight difference. raise up the back with a "t" bar hanging from the cherry picker chain, brace the body up on a length of 4x4 and some jack stands, then move to the front and repeat, slide the ch***is out from under the car and presto! one man body removal!!! SWEET! thanks for the tech ****o!
YES! This is EXACTLY what I was needing to see. I have been wracking my brain trying to come up with a way to lift a cab...both cheaply and easily. I'm off to get a 4X4 right now. TINGLER
Yep, sometimes the best solutions are the simple ones! Think I'd add a loop of chain around the end of the 4x4 hooked to the crane, just in case it started to rock, or a wire wasn't loose, or something was stuck, or (insert favorite "Murphy's law" here) Thanks for the pix!
Man, you read my mind. This is just what I was looking for. Over the Thanksgiving holiday I'm doing my S10/AD chevy body swap and wasn't sure how I was going to lift and move the cabs by myself. I now know. This is much better than what I have envisioned. I was going to run a strap around the bottom of the cab, then connect a long 2x4 (front to rear) through the cab and have my wife guide it along as I moved it. Thanks for the tech post, it will come in very handy. Troy
I can see this with an adjuster screw to level the cab like on an engine tilter.That would really make it a one man deal putting the cab back on.
Wish I had thought of something like that when we took the cab off the wifes truck. I lifted my side OK but she could not lift hers
I couldn't get your site to view the lifter. I've used a standard, non-folding Harbor Freight engine hoist to lift the bodies on both roadsters off and on by myself. Motorcycle tiedowns work great, use four in the appropriate places adjusted to length and all four hooked to the hoist's hook and through the chain links. For roadsters make an angle brace that goes between door hinge and door latch plate. (As in the pic attached.) Cool part about the A roadster is that the holes in the stock floor hat channel reinforcement are in the right place. I pulled the body off a stock 39 Ford four door, complete with doors, but no seats. Did it mostly by myself cuz my helper had to stand on the outer end of the hoist to balance things, but it wasn't a big deal. Motorcycle tie down straps and a couple of long car tie down straps - the 20" wonders from Harbor Freight - were used. (A total of six.) The doors were opened, straps run through the front doors and the rear quarter windows. Doors were bungeed shut and the body lifted off. You have to get the body high enough to clear the rear wheels and that's a little spooky, but safe if you're careful. In retrospect, pulling the rear wheels and rolling the ch***is out on a floorjack may have been a better way to go.
Sorry, my sites down this morning for some reason. I'll attach a couple of the pics.. It worked fine all by myself this way, it was a lot more stable than I had expected and the fact that the Deck Brackets were a little bigger than they needed to be allowed it to angle about 20 degrees, with it in the center of the cab it allowed to get somewhat level. ****O
Not much of a selling pitch if the guy had to put jack stands under the cab. Plus that hoist seems a little ready to let loose. Your wood one seems stronger. -stick
Here's mine. I built it with a single 2X4 and some flatstock. I tied the rear to the top of the cherry picker.....and put in a stop so the cab wouldn't slide onto MY head. haha. Didn't work too bad.
Great thread, lotsa good info. I really lucked out, and got the pictured lift for the bargain price of................FREE!!! A shop in the same plaza as mine moved out, and left this and told me I could have it! It was 12' long and only 4' wide, but I cut it up and rewelded it shorter but wider. It is super strong, and rolls effortlessly. It had no winches on it, but I bought 2 harbor freight cheapies on sale for $49 a piece. For a $100 investment, this thing has already come in so handy. Wouldn't be without it
I welded one of these lifter bars up in 30 minutes with the old buzz box. Mine is made for the AD GM cab. Just love it! It has angled-upward claw ends that find home position. Just open both doors, run the lift bar (attached to the cherry picker) thought the open door window. Find home position while lifting, and the cab comes straight up, all level and SAFE. You can roll the cherry picker all around with the cab attached. Load the cab into the back of a LW pickup bed and off you go. I have lifted around 20 different AD Chevy/GM cabs. This is the only way to go.
How soon they forget ............. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=172723&highlight=TagMan
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