Safe to lift engine / gearbox using rear bracket only?

Webley1991 · Oct 26, 2014

Is it safe to lift a 2.25 Diesel engine / gearbox combination using the rear cylinder head bracket only?

This is at about the right point to balance the two, but is it up to supporting the full 370kg weight of both parts?

Thanks for any info.

ben waine · Oct 26, 2014

I don't know what it's called but there is a device you can buy for the engine crane, where you secure it to the engine at both ends, and hook it upto the crane, it's got a screw that you can turn to tilt the engine, which will spread the load.

I belive the back lifting point is only 2 bolts, which personally I doubt will like been put under the full 370kg

Blackburn · Oct 26, 2014

Put a sling around the gearbox and lift with that and front lifting eye.

martin1512 · Oct 26, 2014

I wouldn't trust that bracket alone for lifting engine and gear box together, and I hope this isn't a stupid question, but why are you trying to lift both together?

Edit, Forgot to add, check max lifting capacity for the engine lift. The rated capacity of the crane is with the arm at minimum extension. Extend the arm and you may find that the max capacity is reduced by 50% and 75%. So a crane rated at 1000kg is only safe to lift 250kg with the arm fully extended.

trax · Oct 26, 2014

i reckon you'd get away with it as it's 2 m8's on 6mm isn't it?

but just stick a sling around it

Webley1991 · Oct 26, 2014

The story here is that I had the engine delivered to someone I know who has a workshop with a bridge crane. They also have a forklift at the workshop.

This was to be sure that the engine could be unloaded from the courier's van quickly using the forklift. Obviously the courier would want to be away as soon as they could.

I also thought it would be much easier to attach the gearbox to the engine using the bridge crane to support the box. This part was fairly straightforward.

The same person also has a transit with a 500kg hydraulic crane by the back door. The plan was to lift the engine / gearbox combination into this van using the crane. Then we could simply pull up, crane both engine and box straight onto the chassis and bolt up all the mounts.

Problem number 1 was that the crane didn't reach far enough. Number 2 was the cross member gusset problem as in the other thread.

We ended up having to put the engine / box combination down onto the ground first. Then we hooked everything up to a 1 ton sealey hydraulic free-standing crane. We had to manhandle everything into place using this.

It was at this point I found out about the cross member problem after lowering the engine down. The only option was to place the engine and box on the chassis as best we could and then push it back inside the garage for the night.

So, to cut a long story short I am asking this question as I will need to lift the engine and box up again as one piece. This is so that I can cut away the cross member gussets which are in the way. The 1 ton crane is more than capable of doing the lifting, but supporting the irregular load is a pain.

As for the bolt strength I found some charts online with the breaking strains. The bolts in the block are 5/16" UNF and the chart was for metric. However, as I understood this chart it would take 2000kg of force to break one M8x1.25 Grade 8.8 bolt. Of course the bracket has two bolts holding it in place.

I was more concerned about putting unecessary strain on the cylinder head and head bolts.

trax · Oct 26, 2014

Webley1991 said:
The story here is that I had the engine delivered to someone I know who has a workshop with a bridge crane. They also have a forklift at the workshop.

This was to be sure that the engine could be unloaded from the courier's van quickly using the forklift. Obviously the courier would want to be away as soon as they could.

I also thought it would be much easier to attach the gearbox to the engine using the bridge crane to support the box. This part was fairly straightforward.

The same person also has a transit with a 500kg hydraulic crane by the back door. The plan was to lift the engine / gearbox combination into this van using the crane. Then we could simply pull up, crane both engine and box straight onto the chassis and bolt up all the mounts.

Problem number 1 was that the crane didn't reach far enough. Number 2 was the cross member gusset problem as in the other thread.

We ended up having to put the engine / box combination down onto the ground first. Then we hooked everything up to a 1 ton sealey hydraulic free-standing crane. We had to manhandle everything into place using this.

It was at this point I found out about the cross member problem after lowering the engine down. The only option was to place the engine and box on the chassis as best we could and then push it back inside the garage for the night.

So, to cut a long story short I am asking this question as I will need to lift the engine and box up again as one piece. This is so that I can cut away the cross member gussets which are in the way. The 1 ton crane is more than capable of doing the lifting, but supporting the irregular load is a pain.

As for the bolt strength I found some charts online with the breaking strains. The bolts in the block are 5/16" UNF and the chart was for metric. However, as I understood this chart it would take 2000kg of force to break one M8x1.25 Grade 8.8 bolt. Of course the bracket has two bolts holding it in place.

I was more concerned about putting unecessary strain on the cylinder head and head bolts.

if it's what i think you mean, then that bracket and the front one are designed to lift the engine and gearbox.

but going with your logic, look at the amount of bolts the head has and work out the shear strength. it will be immense

divie · Oct 27, 2014

James May once did a television program where he picked up a Porsche with a 2BA bolt.
The bolts will take the weight in a straight steady pull, problems start if anything snatches and jolts. I prefer Blackburns idea of a sling or nylon rope on the gearbox and front eye, remember you are going to be working under the load.

dominicbeesley · Oct 27, 2014

I inadvertently lifted the whole front axle in the air and left it like that for half an hour with me crawling around in the engine bay held up only by the front lifting eye. No ill effects with to the eye, the crane which was beyond its capacitor or the cylinder head/gasket. I'd still be tempted to try and lift from two points for steadying but often lifting from a single well balanced point is safer than from two points. If something give it will drop straight down whereas if something give is a multi-point hoist it will swing out and hit you.

Rattlegun · Oct 28, 2014

Here's a pic of a series engine and transmission lifted in balance. As you can see the rear eye is taking 80% of the load with rest on the front eye.

Bump · Oct 29, 2014

ben waine said:
I don't know what it's called but there is a device you can buy for the engine crane, where you secure it to the engine at both ends, and hook it upto the crane, it's got a screw that you can turn to tilt the engine, which will spread the load.

I belive the back lifting point is only 2 bolts, which personally I doubt will like been put under the full 370kg

It's called a balance beam - a friend made us one when he borrowed our hoist - it is a very simple item (long length of threaded bar, etc. ) but very effective and you can very easily balace an engine perfectly for installation

steve2286w · Oct 29, 2014

From Westfield fasteners webpage 8.8 grade can take 660Mpa or about 66kg for every mm2
Which would take it to over 500kg per bolt but pulling it with bending might be different story , interesting test but I would use a sling too

Safe to lift engine / gearbox using rear bracket only?

Webley1991

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