Here are the components that...
Here are the components that make up the hoist. It comes with everything you need to assemble it, minus the tools to tighten the hardware.
There will come a time in your gearhead life when you will need to pull the engine out of your truck. There is an essential tool you will need to do this and it's called an engine hoist or cherry picker. We recently went through a couple-day scavenger hunt looking for a cherry picker to borrow to pluck out a big-block we needed to work on. We eventually found a friend who had one, but the down time was enough for us to investigate getting our own tools instead. We were expecting something of that size to be pretty expensive, but we were happily surprised to find a really nice unit available from Summit Racing for only $189.95. You might be thinking a cherry picker that cheap would be cheaply made, but that is not the case. This sucker is stout, boasting a 2-ton capacity thanks in part to its thick steel construction. One added feature that really makes this a nice unit is the ability to fold it up so it will tuck away in the corner of the garage.
Since we were expecting to pay somewhere around 300 bucks for the hoist, we had some leftover money burning a hole in our pocket. Instead of saving it, we splurged and bought a few things to complement our hoist. We added a Summit engine lift plate and engine cradle to help us pull the motor and store it out of the way until we were ready to reinstall it. These two extra goodies brought our total to $234.85, leaving us a little over 65 bucks to spend on beer and pizza.
After we got it assembled,...
After we got it assembled, the hoist looked like others, but this one has a slimming secret. Pulling two pins allowed us to fold the lower legs up and out of the way. The upper lift arm collapsed all the way down by loosening the valve on the hydraulic jack. All folded up, this thing's footprint is about 2x3 feet, which should fit in just about any garage.
The roller engine cradle is...
The roller engine cradle is constructed from 14-gauge square steel tubing and has a black powdercoated finish. It can be disassembled for storage when not in use and includes Grade 5 fasteners. One really cool feature is the nuts welded along the front, which gives us a place to store the bolts so we won't need to search them out every time we need to store a motor.
Once it's on the intake manifold,...
Once it's on the intake manifold, the motor plate will give us a secure place to grab the motor and maneuver it safely. We can also use it as a manifold cover when storing the engine.