Transmission Jacks

[ThreePointFive]

I'm planning ahead for the removal (and hopefully refit) of my transmission at some point.

If possible, I'd prefer to do this without removing the transmission tunnel and sticking the engine crane in through the doors due to the potential for damage and removing the tunnel is soon to be slightly more difficult.

I've seen these Draper scissor lift jack things but I'm not sure if they're up to the job. They're also expensive for something I'll use twice and I'm not convinced by holding the awkwardly shaped transfer box with a strap.

Does anyone have experience of these, or any better alternatives? I have seen ones that bolt to a standard trolley jack but they look rickety at best.

[Bowie69]

No direct experience of those jacks but by removing the transfer box first, and then the gearbox it makes it all a lot more manageable.

Easily doable with a good trolley jack then.

[steve200TDi]

I had this same issue when my Dad and I wanted to remove his Borg warner transfer box and autobox as due to the location it wasn't practical to go in through the door to drop it down.

We looked at the exact unit in your link and thought: 'How is an autobox going to sit on that?!' After much thought, we decided on purchasing one as it's got to help more than nothing at all.

What we did to try and make it fit the autobox better was to bolt a flat plate to the top. I think my Dad must of drilled some holes. We happened to have some 6mm ali plate to use. Then we made two stands for the autobox to sit on and then use the supplied strap which still worked. We did however have to lift it onto and off the stand once it was between the chassis rails as it would be too high otherwise.

The main reason for the two stands was not to sit in on the thin steel sump, so an R380 or LT77 could sit straight onto the board.

The transfer box was supported on the bottom by the transmission jack and then flopped down once fully removed by some rope holding it up. It was then lifted onto a steel tray so that it could be slide out from under the vehicle.

Hope this helps.

Steve

[Stellaghost]

13 minutes ago, Bowie69 said:

No direct experience of those jacks but by removing the transfer box first, and then the gearbox it makes it all a lot more manageable.

Easily doable with a good trolley jack then.

This......Regards Stephen

[L19MUD]

 

 

27 minutes ago, Bowie69 said:

No direct experience of those jacks but by removing the transfer box first, and then the gearbox it makes it all a lot more manageable.

Easily doable with a good trolley jack then.

Totally this. The transfer box on the gearbox wants to twist to the side when all one lump and is too heavy to easily deal with. When split it is possible with a trolley jack and some Weetabix in the morning

[Peaklander]

I recently removed the Transfer Box using a trolley jack but needed a crane to lift it back. I just couldn't do it from the floor and I think it was because the vehicle was too low and I was in a bad position. Next time I will get the wheels up on stilts. I'm sure a proper jack / scissor would be better.

I also had some long shank bolts screwed in - that certainly helped with the sliding.

[muddy]

Unless you have the vehicle raised a good 2' or so you won't get the transmission under the chassis rails anyway as has been said.

Trolley jack works pretty well or even a flat plate or larger cup/cross thingy in the end of one if you want to be posh. 

I'm not sure on the V8 but won't you need the tunnel and floor plates out to release the bell housing bolts anyway? Most clutch jobs are just hateful and often easier and quicker when you just get stuck in and rip anything in your way out!

For a one off job a mate and some weetabix are probably your best solution, and a decent clutch alignment tool!

[miketomcat]

I bought one of these,

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Heavy-Duty-500kg-Motorcycle-Motor-Bike-Stand-Scissor-Lift-Workshop-Garage-/324099780361?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&_trksid=p2349624.m2548.l6249&mkrid=710-127635-2958-0

I've used jack's in the past but the above worked really well I welded a stud on to pick up in a hole and used one of the rests under the gearbox itself.

Mike

 

[landroversforever]

I've got that exact one and it's brilliant. Bought originally for swapping a diff it's been used for various transmissions and diffs in a heap of different cars. I wouldn't be without it! 

Only thing I haven't done with it (yet - its on the horizon) is a transferbox. But for that its a huge benefit to knock up the bracket LR have which sits it at the correct angle. 

The merc auto I had out with it really helped as it has a totally flat sump.

[Ed Poore]

For the transfer box if you can knock up a quick plate (metal or wood would probably do) to match the angle of the sump on the transfer box it makes things a lot easier.

Borrowed a mates plate once which had four holes to pick up the bolts for the cover plate. Just undo four bolts, put a couple of washers to space it off and bolt the adapter in. Went into a trolley jack then and kept everything nice and level.

[cackshifter]

Or the finned sump extensions are more or less level.....

[Escape]

I remember we resorted to using a vorklift to put a transfer case back into a 130. That was before the Workshop was operational again, we were working outside on our backs on the concrete and just couldn't get it to line up. A lot easier with the vorklift taking the weight!

[ThreePointFive]

Thanks for all the replies. I will be splitting the transfer box off it first as I know how heavy that is on its own, so that's a given.

I can get to the bolts on the bellhousing so shouldn't need to take out the floor but I might be saving 30 minutes of work only to cause 2 hours in faffing and frustration by not doing it.

On 4/13/2022 at 8:19 AM, miketomcat said:

I bought one of these,

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Heavy-Duty-500kg-Motorcycle-Motor-Bike-Stand-Scissor-Lift-Workshop-Garage-/324099780361?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&_trksid=p2349624.m2548.l6249&mkrid=710-127635-2958-0

I've used jack's in the past but the above worked really well I welded a stud on to pick up in a hole and used one of the rests under the gearbox itself.

Mike

 

Does this one go high enough to reach a Defender gearbox? Also welding is pretty much a no-go for me so if it needs that, I'm better off looking at other options.

[miketomcat]

It was just high enough for my ibex one 33's but bear in mind the gearbox is tucked up higher on an ibex than a defender. I dropped gearbox and transfer box as one bit so the stud was just to stop the transfer box sliding side ways on me a strap would of done the job.

Mike

[geoffbeaumont]

On 4/13/2022 at 12:49 PM, landroversforever said:

I've got that exact one and it's brilliant. Bought originally for swapping a diff it's been used for various transmissions and diffs in a heap of different cars. I wouldn't be without it! 

Same here - can't remember what I paid for it, but it's been a surprisingly useful but of kit, and not just for it's intended use.

Sadly I'm up Lancashire, so borrowing mine isn't going to be practical.

On 4/13/2022 at 7:56 AM, muddy said:

Unless you have the vehicle raised a good 2' or so you won't get the transmission under the chassis rails anyway as has been said.

True - but you just need to put it up on axle stands to get the clearance. Gives you more room to work anyway.

The alternative is to use the scissor jack to lower it safely to near ground level, then slide it off onto a sheet of plywood and pull that off from under the vehicle. I've done both.

[ThreePointFive]

Just to close this one off, I bought the one in Mike's post:

On 4/13/2022 at 8:19 AM, miketomcat said:

I bought one of these,

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Heavy-Duty-500kg-Motorcycle-Motor-Bike-Stand-Scissor-Lift-Workshop-Garage-/324099780361?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&_trksid=p2349624.m2548.l6249&mkrid=710-127635-2958-0

I've used jack's in the past but the above worked really well I welded a stud on to pick up in a hole and used one of the rests under the gearbox itself.

Mike

I did find that it is a bit low for the main gearbox but perfect for the transfer case. It comes with some screw-adjustable seats that were very useful for taking up the asymetric shape of the transfer case.

Getting the boxes out would have been incredibly difficult without taking out the transmission tunnel, so wouldn't recommend trying. Especially as the gearboxes when split aren't all that heavy and can be lifted/manouvered around from the top side.

I'm not looking forward to trying to get the boxes back in with this lift as it will be about a half foot too low, but I have a block of wood I'm going to sit it on to assist.

Oh, and I couldn't see it mentioned anywhere but the engine needs to be supported, as you take the gearbox out it will try to fall out the rear. That also complicates things if you have the vehicle jacked up and don't have anything tall enough to support it, like an axle stand. Not sure why that's not mentioned more often as it would have been very tricky if I'd discovered that mid-lift.

Hope that helps someone.

 

[miketomcat]

I'm sorry to hear it was a bit low for you, I alway gearbox and transfer box out together. Perhaps some casters would give enough.

Re the back of the engine tiping I guess it's just one of those things people forget they do. I hang a ratchet strap off the pedal box down under the flywheel housing and up to the heater area, without looking I can't remember what I use heater side but I know I have taken it up over the wing and back down to the sill on occasion.

Mike

[ThreePointFive]

No need to apologise, we have different vehilcles and it was the best looking option of the lot!

I'll look at the strap around those points, or I might just get a sturdy piece of wood and put it across the wings.

[steve200TDi]

We put a strap across the chassis to stop the back of the engine dropping. I think we also jammed a piece of wood through the what I think are anti roll bar brackets on the chassis too to support the back of the engine.

Steve