PDA

View Full Version : BODY LIFT DEVICE



NickP
01-11-2014, 09:23 PM
A few years back, an A-Frame device was pictured on a website that was built to lift the body of a car from its frame. I have used several different methods in the past 4 decades to do this to include several guys and a case of beer. Many here use engine hoists, overhead cranes, Camper Lifts, forklifts or a combination of all of them. I decided that I needed to build my own device based upon what I could remember - did a design and asked a fellow member to review it for soundness. Based upon his thoughts, I ordered up some tubing and began following my drawings. Today, I managed to get the first of the two units complete. I made it from square tube and as one friend was quoted to say, "Looks like it could support a locomotive". The units may be a bit of overkill, my norm but I think it can be used for other lifting/extraction tasks. I had already built some lifting bars specific to the trifives and can be seen in the picture below.
My main three criteria were multifunctional, able to lift a complete body (Glass, Doors and Interior) and portable. The unit pictured will go down to five easy to move parts with just a few bolts.


http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL1600/2283636/19116630/408540228.jpg

MP&C
01-11-2014, 09:31 PM
Looks good Nick!

567chevys
01-11-2014, 10:27 PM
Hi Nick ,
Are you going to build to sell Also ??


Thanks Sid

NickP
01-12-2014, 07:48 AM
No Sid, way too much work involved - It would be something a Car Club might purchase or a person that in business but the individual and a one time thing - too expensive.

567chevys
01-13-2014, 06:50 AM
Hi Nick

Do you have drawings for one ?


Thanks Sid

NickP
01-13-2014, 07:30 AM
Enough to guide me, but not good for consumption just yet.Once I get them completed and get the floor and trunk pan/tubs done on this 57 2 DHT, then I'll spend some time on the drawings, parts list and other items specific to it. I need to test them too. I know the structure will work, I'm concerned about the hardware - winch and things.

JT56
01-13-2014, 08:01 AM
Very Nice, Wouldnt expect anything different!

Maddog
01-13-2014, 06:16 PM
I take it you are lifting fully assembled bodies? I've never lifted a fully assembled one, if I pull the body it's during a frame off resto so every thing is disassembled/removed and weight has never been much of an issue.

slowfinger
01-16-2014, 03:15 PM
Speaking of lifting chevys from there frames for building, Anyone know how much more "extra length" you could get out of the ave. cherry picker crane? We have 50" long mast, would a guy be able to make a mast that goes 80" or even 70" without tipping over the lift? How do you measure for lifts to make sure they are safe? Want to lift a 56 chevy from the rear of car, using a four point lift. Yes I like your crank lift, but don't have the room you do. We work in a narrow driveway, alley. Geo.

Maddog
01-16-2014, 04:14 PM
Speaking of lifting chevys from there frames for building, Anyone know how much more "extra length" you could get out of the ave. cherry picker crane? We have 50" long mast, would a guy be able to make a mast that goes 80" or even 70" without tipping over the lift? How do you measure for lifts to make sure they are safe? Want to lift a 56 chevy from the rear of car, using a four point lift. Yes I like your crank lift, but don't have the room you do. We work in a narrow driveway, alley. Geo.


You would need to extend the length of your front wheels also. Front wheels should be very close to the same extended length to be safe.

Rick_L
01-16-2014, 04:32 PM
Two things about extending the arm on a cherry picker lift.

As Maddog points out, you need to extend the front wheels to where they further forward than the lift hook. If the hook is forward of the front wheels, the rear wheels will lift. If the hook and front wheels are in the same spot fore/aft, there's no weight on the rear wheels except half the weight of the cherry picker itself. As you move them further forward, more weight will be on the rear wheels.

The other issue is when you extend the lift arm, you reduce the capacity of the jack to lift a load. Let's say the jack could pick up 1000 pounds with the arm that's on it. If you doubled the arm length, you could only pick up 500 pounds.

The way I pick mine up is to use the cherry picker on the rear of the body. I have a brace I put under the trunk floor where the rear gas tank bolts were, and screw two eyebolts through those bolt holes. Then use a chain between them and pick up on the chain with the cherry picker. No need for extensions or anything to the cherry picker. On the front I put a sling through the cowl braces and lift with a comealong from the ceiling. Obviously where you attach to the ceiling needs to be strong enough to accept the load.

There are lots of ways to adapt things using what you have and things that suit your shop's (or lack of it) layout. That's why Nick correctly points out that he probably can't sell too many of these because everyone's needs and idea of how to do it will vary.

Hotroddder
04-28-2014, 09:23 AM
I built these about 8 years ago. They work well. I did add casters to make them moveable. I also used a different style crank with a worm gear so it will not unwind and does not need a brake. The only drawback to my design is that if the body were to get tilted too much off level I think it would unload to one side and the result would not be good. I have not found a good remedy as of yet.

Simple to build and I made to come apart for storage. I did lift a body once with doors and tons of stuff crammed inside, I was pretty leery at the time. Would want it a bit stronger to lift a fully loaded body.

Hotroddder

chevynut
04-28-2014, 10:12 AM
Dick, I do think you risk tipping the body and there's nothing to stop it from doing so with the pulleys you used. I would consider a sling that went across the body, then connect the cable to the sling. You could use a pair of pulleys on the lifting cable to increase pulling power, similar to what Nick did. You'd really only have to do that on one end and I'd do it in the rear where you have more room for a sling.

What size tubing did you use and what wall thickness? I like the idea of a worm gear winch too.

NickP
04-28-2014, 11:10 AM
I considered the worm gear winch but had already purchased the std. boat winch. With it doubled (2400 Lbs) it is effortless to lift a complete body and reversing it only requires flipping the pawl changing the rotation. Mine may be a bit overkill tube size. Top tube is 2-1/2" as all other tubes but 3/16" wall and the remainder is 10 ga. It does assemble and takes about 5 minutes to take down. No casters but I use car dollys for that. My first lift with it the body had everything in it just to test the strength. It's gutted now, in fact it's about to go back on the new front floor, get welded up and sent down the road.

Hotroddder
04-29-2014, 05:44 PM
The tubing is 2 X 2 .125 wall mild steel. I had some receiver tube that I used at the top for a slip fit.

It really works well, you just have to be watchful that the body does not tip too far. It wants to tilt going up and down, but it is easy to control. I took off the cranks and shortened the shaft so that I can use my cordless drill. Works great. One other thing I would like to do is to have a spring plate controlling the cable on the reel. Once the cable goes slack, it tends to get out of line on the drum.

I really didn't think about casters at first, but I had a body hanging for a while and needed to move it out of the way. Casters work OK if you have help to move both at once.

Another thing i did at first was to have a length of flatbar that tied the bottom of the gantry together. I had a pin sticking up and it fit into a hole in the middle of each leg. I found it was not needed after a while.

Dick Olsen


Dick, I do think you risk tipping the body and there's nothing to stop it from doing so with the pulleys you used. I would consider a sling that went across the body, then connect the cable to the sling. You could use a pair of pulleys on the lifting cable to increase pulling power, similar to what Nick did. You'd really only have to do that on one end and I'd do it in the rear where you have more room for a sling.

What size tubing did you use and what wall thickness? I like the idea of a worm gear winch too.