Heavy duty transmission jack

Many years ago when I regularly worked on heavy equipment and trucks I owned a heavy duty transmission jack the other day a friend called me to ask if I could put a clutch and rear main seal in his Mack. I told him sure why not. So he said he would be passing through in a couple of weeks after I hung up the phone I remembered that I don't have a jack any more. No problem I'll Hire my neighbor who lives about a mile away to bring his over. Big problem his is busted he needs to have it repaired. I offered to rebuild the ram for him but he had already taken it to a shop where they have ordered the parts not sure when they will be in or when he will get his jack back. So I decided to just build one.
After looking around I pulled a couple of 4x4 1/4" sq tubes out of my usable scrap pile dug out 4 heavy duty casters 2 rigid and 2 swivel from my storage van then found an 8 ton engine hoist jack. Hauled a piece of 1/2" plate steel out of my scrap pile and 8 lengths of 1" pipe that at one time was a sprinkler system A few feet of 3/4" 1018 cold roll rod for the pivots shafts and a lenght of 1/14" chromed cylinder rod for the pivots and a few set collars that I made up previously and I was all set I had a heavy duty transmission jack the only thing left to do was cut drill and weld all of this together
Attachment 24157

Attachment 24158

Attachment 24159

Attachment 24160
After welding the 1 " pipes together to make the link arms I needed a weld jig to make sure the ends were parallel and matching lengths
so I already had 1 hole in the 1" thick table I used my mag drill to drill another turning the table into a welding fixture or jig
Attachment 24163
I mig welded the ends on by welding about an inch inside of the pipes filling with weld
Attachment 24165
After all the ends were welded on the link arms and cooled I reamed the bores using my #7 tap handle on the tang of the MT#3 shank of a 3/4"
Attachment 24166
Pre-assembled everything before welding
Attachment 24167
Just tacked together
Attachment 24168
Now a fully functional transmission jack
Attachment 24169
I used KBS rust blast to remove the surface rust and provide a pre paint primer surface
Attachment 24170
KBS rust blast leaves a zinc coating that can either be brushed off or left in place Since I was out of etching primer I opted to just rub off and loose residue and leave the rest to serve as a primer
Attachment 24171
Painted with KBS rust seal machinery gray
Attachment 24172

Looks like it will work to me


Doug

Looks good! Could have used one a few months ago helping my cousin pull the trany out of his 1989(?) Kenworth. Thank goodness his "boss" let him use an oldy but goody jack to reinstall. He took a school of hard knocks crash course in rebuilding it. A previous owner had engaged the pto with every thing spinning and took 2 teeth off the pto gear. They slept in the bottom of the housing till my cousin engaged the pto blower to work the motor up to temp after changing the coolant. Oil must have slung the teeth into the main trany housing where they happly raised havoc on his next run. Some of the gears were unrecognizable as gears, no teeth left at all. Talk about buyer beware.
Eric

Here is a picture that of a jack like the one I used to have
It was an OTC 2000 cap Jack which was a good jack but it had things about it that I found more or less useless for a jack of its size.
Attachment 24197
the adjustable tilt to the table was next to impossible to change positions on once the weight was on it also the table plate was too small for the larger 15 & 18sp transmissions of the time it did have a lower collapsed height than the one I built by 1 1/2". BIG DEAL I'm not crawling under a truck that is on the ground anyway I have a pair of 20 ton aluminum ramps 8 ft long by 20 inches wide that I will use to back the tandems up on to a pad of 8x8 blocks then I'll use my 15 ton air jack to lift the steer axle up till the oil pan on the engine is level and set that on a pair of my heavy duty jack stands and blocks under the steer tires as well
My jack will go down to 8 1/4" and raise to 38" the parallel link bars are 10" apart to give it tone more stability than any factory jack made plus they are wider and thicker in stature having a full 1 3/4" long pivot where as a factory jack is only 3/4" on little 1/2 by 2" bars By welding 2 pipes together this gives them more resistance to twist or side sway. Also I used a long ram 8 ton engine hoist jack this puts the lifting force applied directly to the plate which allows for a better lift transition angle over those of factory design which are really little more than elongated floor jacks
here is a picture of the cad drawing of the jack I built the 4 adjusting bolts will be added once I have a look at the bottom of his transmission then a lock down strap will be added as well to secure the transmission to the jack plate
Attachment 24198

The otc jack looks the same as the one my cousin borrowed. It had been widened in the front and as you say the tilt mechanism was useless, thread striped, and broken to boot. Like the idea of your way to adjust the attitude of the trany with adjusting bolts. Thanks for the post.
Eric

Eric I also have a 600 lb transmission jack it is so old I have no idea the make it has the standard adjusting screws to tilt the table left or right and up or down front to rear Other than the problems with adjusting angularity its plate was also small and wasn't very suitable for using when removing the flat bottomed automatic transmissions from cars additionally it was thin the bolt on adapter perches would bend the plate when trying to lift the weight of a 300 lb 5 sp pickup transmission I skimmed off everything from its top plate and welded on a 12 x 12 by 3/8 plate that seamed to work fine but as I have said about my larger OTC the link bar pivots were too close together. I have found in building other parallelogram equipment the stability is more than squared by the distance the links are spaced apart in both width, length. and thickness of the pivot points By using an 8 ton ram on my jack it can easily lift a calculated weight of about 4000 lbs

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Thanks Frank S! We've added your Heavy Duty Transmission Jack to our Transmission category,
as well as to your builder page: Frank S's Homemade Tools. Your receipt:

<div id="blocks"> <div class="block b1 pngfix"> <div class="bimg"> <div> <a href="http://www.homemadetools.net/homemade-heavy-duty-transmission-jack"> <img src="http://www.homemadetools.net/uploads/214857/homemade-heavy-duty-transmission-jack.jpeg"/> </a> </div> </div> <div class="head pngfix"></div> <div class="left pngfix"></div> <div class="right pngfix"></div> <div class="blockover b1 pngfix"> <div class="title"> <a href="http://www.homemadetools.net/homemade-heavy-duty-transmission-jack">Heavy Duty Transmission Jack</a> <span> by <a href="http://www.homemadetools.net/builder/Frank+S">Frank S</a></span> </div> <div class="tags">tags: <a href='http://www.homemadetools.net/tag/transmission'>transmission</a>, <a href='http://www.homemadetools.net/tag/jack'>jack</a> </div> </div> </div> </div>
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Finally put the jack to work
The truck came in that I built the transmission jack for.
the first thing I did set up my ramps to back the truck on.
A lot of guys pulling transmissions out of trucks will just raise the front end so they can have some room to work This is problematic as the engine and transmissions are mounted at a down slope angle if the front is higher than the rear the angle increases When pulling a transmission that weighs over 1000 lbs or any transmission for that matter the closer to having the engine and transmission parallel to the floor the better this makes for ease of removal and reassembly. since the jack only has to roll and not be adjusted for height as you are doing the job
Attachment 24438
It helps to have a lot of heavy duty large wood blocks
Attachment 24439
I have more if needed LOL
Attachment 24440
Back the truck up the ramps
Attachment 24441
Secure in place
Attachment 24442
Font is 10" off the ground and the rear is 18" the work floor under the truck is 2 4x8 sheets of 3/4 treated plywood
Attachment 24443
Transmission out on the jack. It works like a charm was able to raise the transmission and the rear of the engine with it to lift above the rear mounts and add a support under the engine to hold it in place was probably having to lift at least 4000 lbs
Attachment 24444
Attachment 24445
Due to there being a PTO mounted on the bottom of the transmission adjusting bolts were out of the question So I used my next favorite way of supporting things. Solid oak blocks then the transmission was strapped to the jack so it couldn't move

My mechanic neighbor stopped by for coffee this morning and to ask me if I was going to need his transmission jack because he hsd gotten his repaired.
We walked out to look under the Mack. Then he said if that jack ever comes up missing you will know where it is. He said he paid $1500.00 for his and it wasn't a 10th of what mine is.

Coments like that make one feel good, till the jack comes up missing. Lol. Looks great, bett there are many more applications than transmissions.
Eric

Quote:

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Originally Posted by suther51

Coments like that make one feel good, till the jack comes up missing. Lol. Looks great, bett there are many more applications than transmissions.
Eric

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Fortunately where I live our sheriff knows just about everything that goes on He stops by some mornings for coffee and to see what new fangled thing I have come up with.
As far as other uses the jack will be put to lots of uses 1 being that of a lift the wife's riding mower I plan to make a set up to hook under the front or rear to lift it for servicing the blades and such
Another use will be as an elevating work table
Once I finish working on the Mack I have a rear end to change out on a Masda pickup the jack is so strong it can be used to lift the pickup several feet off the ground then I'll put my jack stands under it and use the jack to remove the rear end. Also have to put a clutch in a pickup so it will get used as much as I was hoping to just have another piece of shop art to roll around out of the way.

Having faced the same riding mower ground hugging issue I put a hand crank winch with a pullie at the roof-line of our wood-shed to hoist up the front of the lawn tractor, can put er right back on er haunches. Saves so much time n trouble.
Eric

Eric I normally use my jib crane with the chine hoist but cannot always get it near the crane so the jack will serve as a good substitute

As the fellow who taught me some blacksmithing said. If it works, it's right.
Eric

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Frank S

It helps to have a lot of heavy duty large wood blocks
Attachment 24439
I have more if needed LOL
Attachment 24440

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No such thing as excess cribbing.
Riggers working in our shop today realized that very thing. At least one hadn't been stored dry; and then inspected before use.

I try to take the same care of my cribbing as I do my gun powder.
When I'm not using the cribbing blocks they are stacked out of the way out of the dun and when ever possible out of the rain large stacks of it stays banded up in a pallet sized cube. Any of it that starts to split or crush due to age and use gets cut up into fire wood My driver is forever dropping off more so I don't have to wory about running out anytime soon.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Frank S

Many years ago when I regularly worked on heavy equipment and trucks I owned a heavy duty transmission jack the other day a friend called me to ask if I could put a clutch and rear main seal in his Mack. I told him sure why not. So he said he would be passing through in a couple of weeks after I hung up the phone I remembered that I don't have a jack any more. No problem I'll Hire my neighbor who lives about a mile away to bring his over. Big problem his is busted he needs to have it repaired. I offered to rebuild the ram for him but he had already taken it to a shop where they have ordered the parts not sure when they will be in or when he will get his jack back. So I decided to just build one.
After looking around I pulled a couple of 4x4 1/4" sq tubes out of my usable scrap pile dug out 4 heavy duty casters 2 rigid and 2 swivel from my storage van then found an 8 ton engine hoist jack. Hauled a piece of 1/2" plate steel out of my scrap pile and 8 lengths of 1" pipe that at one time was a sprinkler system A few feet of 3/4" 1018 cold roll rod for the pivots shafts and a lenght of 1/14" chromed cylinder rod for the pivots and a few set collars that I made up previously and I was all set I had a heavy duty transmission jack the only thing left to do was cut drill and weld all of this together
Attachment 24157

Attachment 24158

Attachment 24159

Attachment 24160
After welding the 1 " pipes together to make the link arms I needed a weld jig to make sure the ends were parallel and matching lengths
so I already had 1 hole in the 1" thick table I used my mag drill to drill another turning the table into a welding fixture or jig
Attachment 24163
I mig welded the ends on by welding about an inch inside of the pipes filling with weld
Attachment 24165
After all the ends were welded on the link arms and cooled I reamed the bores using my #7 tap handle on the tang of the MT#3 shank of a 3/4"
Attachment 24166
Pre-assembled everything before welding
Attachment 24167
Just tacked together
Attachment 24168
Now a fully functional transmission jack
Attachment 24169
I used KBS rust blast to remove the surface rust and provide a pre paint primer surface
Attachment 24170
KBS rust blast leaves a zinc coating that can either be brushed off or left in place Since I was out of etching primer I opted to just rub off and loose residue and leave the rest to serve as a primer
Attachment 24171
Painted with KBS rust seal machinery gray
Attachment 24172

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Another Classic by Frank. Excellent.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Manitoba Man

Another Classic by Frank. Excellent.

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Since building that transmission jack 6 years ago I have used it to pull 4 or 5 transmissions and have rented it to my mechanic neighbor several times ``Every time he uses his he says something happens to the hyd jack in it. I have replaced the ram on mine once but the one I used to build the jack in the first place was old when I mounted it.