Does anyone have one? I remember years back trying to remove an engine out of the 81 and the boom wasnt long enough to reach the motor.

Anyone expirience that?

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=93840

our cars are too low you need to jack them up to get the legs under the car. They are fine, I have used mine quite a bit

Ive had mine for about 15 years and half that time its been outside and works perfect never even had to replace the jack. Might leak a little oil but just add more if need be. I recomend when not in use dont release it all the way down thats when mine tends to leak fluid leave it about 4 inches up. Ive used it on camaros and lifted trucks. For the price buy it, it will last you years and years.

The boom was long enough to reach the engine?

I just bought one from them a few weeks ago,the one with the legs that will fold up,the boom is plenty long enough on mine.

If the lift's wheels won't go under the vehicle, put 2" X 6" planks under the front wheels till it does. Looks like a pretty good lift to me. Sure beats using a come-a-long and a tree branch to pull and engine and trans!

That one may still be on the short side.

I had an older one with a boom that went out to 49" and on my third gen, the ram would have to touch the nose of the bumper.

I then bought a harbor freight http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=7620
cherry picker with a boom that goes out to 79".. Works great!

Unless you just HAVE to have the foldable unit for storage space, I would get the one I linked too.

I have used that one for about 3 years now. Picked engines onto and off of my 5' high front porch, put engines in second and third gen F body cars, along with trucks and many others

I too agree that the HF ones are decent. I plan on buying one when I get to that point.

That one may still be on the short side.

I had an older one with a boom that went out to 49" and on my third gen, the ram would have to touch the nose of the bumper.

I then bought a harbor freight http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=7620
cherry picker with a boom that goes out to 79".. Works great!

Unless you just HAVE to have the foldable unit for storage space, I would get the one I linked too.

I have used that one for about 3 years now. Picked engines onto and off of my 5' high front porch, put engines in second and third gen F body cars, along with trucks and many others


This is the one I have used many times. I'd get this one over the collapsible one if I had the option.

I've had a few from Harbor Freight, all worked fine. I prefer the fold-up pieces, they're much easier to move and are plenty strong. I can only wish for enough floor space in a shop to store a non-foldable one:D

.

I then bought a harbor freight http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=7620
cherry picker with a boom that goes out to 79".. Works great!

Unless you just HAVE to have the foldable unit for storage space, I would get the one I linked too.



Thats the one i wanted to get,but my garage is a small one car garage,so with the car,air compressor,and car parts laying around the foldable was my only option,it extends out to just a hair over 50",it will lift a 1/4 ton at that length,what does a small block & tranny weigh roughly?Do they fall within that 1/4 ton?

I've got one of the HF 1 ton lifts. Worked fine for me, but I had the front end off the car when I removed the engine. I've used it for a lot of different things.

Only problem I had was that I tipped it over when moving it around with the extensions lifted. The ram started leaking afterward (the O rings splits), so I went to HF and bought an 8 ton ram for a replacement.

The boom is too short on mine. I had to lift the motor and scoot it forward then lift it again.

I borrowed a friends from Harbor Freight and I had to make an extention with a piece of square tubing. On 78-81 the nose is a few inches longer. You can make it work but if your car is already painted like mine was it is not worth taking the chance with out an extention of some kind. You will probably scratch the paint on the nose.

I have the non-folding one linked to before.

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=7620

I specifically bought it because of the longer boom to use on the 78-81 Camaros. Works great. Just be sure to extend the legs out if you're using the boom extended out. 1st time I used it I didn't realize I had the boom extended farther than the legs. Sure did scare the heck out of me when it started to tip forward! :o

I only have a 1 1/2 car garage to work out of, so I just take the lift apart after each use for storage. Only takes 10mins to take it apart and it's not like I use it all the time.

i bought the folding style it works fine, but i took the crappy wheels off and put on 6" swivel wheels and a swivel hook on the lifting chain, now its better then when i bought it. it can be moved in any direction in tight areas.

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=35915
Bought a different color one of these and its been very good, with an iron head BBC and trans, swung over a newly painted car, several times. 6 years old and gets used 3-4 times a year.
Nice to be able to fold it up and shove it in a corner.

I bought the one ton fold up lift for my '79 and the boom was too short to reach the motor. Instead of spending $225 for the 2 ton with the longer reach I decided to spend a few hours to take the front end off. If pulling motors gets to be a habit, I'm going to buy the 2 ton next time.

Does the one ton not have enough room/length to go in from the side? You'd need about 36" of clearance from the bottle to the hook, IIRC.

Does the one ton not have enough room/length to go in from the side? You'd need about 36" of clearance from the bottle to the hook, IIRC.

Now that's thinking outside the box! Great idea if you have plenty of room.

Yes you could snatch it from the side if you remove the wheel and have enough room. Just be careful it doesn't tip sideways. My garage floor is rough and I didn't want to chance it. I said the heck with it and tore my front end apart because I also like to see how things go together and am planning a fiberglass front end conversion next off season.

I have the fold up HF lift.
Not only has it worked great, but I've MISused the hell out of it as well.
I have had an issue with hitting the A-arms at times while pulling/pushing it in or out. I've gotten around that easily by merely repositioning it so the legs fit more under the middle of the frame.

Now... the MISusing part... I actually extended the boom all the way out and lifted the body shell of my 57 Chevy off the frame. I had some come alongs over a truss to keep it from falling. Good thing too, as I had to stand on the base of the picker cause it was tipping.. LOL.

Thinking of the clearance issue... if I found a set of much lower casters for the legs.. that would make things even better.

Does the one ton not have enough room/length to go in from the side? You'd need about 36" of clearance from the bottle to the hook, IIRC.

I too pull and install my engine from the side. Take a front tire off and you have all the room you need. When I attempted to go from the front the ram hit my bumper to just barely reach to the intake.

I typically run one leg under the middle of the subframe, and the other leg outside the tire/either side.

Just be careful it doesn't tip sideways.It took me a bit to figure out why this would be a concern, and then it hit me. However, I don't pull the trans with the engine, so no worries. The T56 is too long and too much of a PITA to get in and out that way anyway. Well, for me, at least, but I've only done mine twice.