Lifting safety what are you using

I have a M35 a2 and will be doing all my own work what lifting equiptment do you reccomend. I will need to remove wheels and eventually replace clutch.

I've got a 20 ton bottle jack for changing tires and such and a forklift for the bigger stuff.

I'd say you could get by with a little less than a forklift . I'm thinking about building a rolling gantry with a chain hoist myself which will make it a little easier to pull engines and trans by myself.

a 4x4 post across the cab and a chain fall work for trans/ tcase removal & install. I would reccomend a 12-20 ton bottle jack for tire changes, some cribbing, and several 6ton jackstands.

Anyone reccomend a bottle jack with a extended reach as the height of the vehicle will demand.

To do services on the wheel bearings a tire and wheel dolly is a great help.

You can pull engines with forklifts, overhead gantrys, backhoes or Bobcats.

I have some big industrial rollers to move heavy stuff with.

A big air compressor and large impact tools are a great help for removing stubborn lugnuts and other big fasteners.

Lifting mounted tires can be a chore unless you have some mechanical advantage.

bracebldr said:

Anyone reccomend a bottle jack with a extended reach as the height of the vehicle will demand.

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I just place a 6X6 block of wood under my bottle jack and may run the screw out a little. Don't forget to get some heavy jackstands also because it's not safe to work under a truck supported by the jack only .

Keith_J, Texrdnec, and I used an engine hoist and a socket extension bar (to go between the wheels) for the rears. Worked like a charm.

wreckerman893 said:

A big air compressor and large impact tools are a great help for removing stubborn lugnuts and other big fasteners.

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Amen WM. This is the most back and time saving tool you can own for working on big trucks. Sure, you can get by without it but the difference is like loading a dumptruck with a shovel versus a frontend loader.

m16ty said:

I just place a 6X6 block of wood under my bottle jack and may run the screw out a little. Don't forget to get some heavy jackstands also because it's not safe to work under a truck supported by the jack only .

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amen. it is a good way to get yourself killed. unfortunately it happens a lot more frequently than most people realize. we see at least a couple every year at the hospital.

m16ty said:

Amen WM. This is the most back and time saving tool you can own for working on big trucks. Sure, you can get by without it but the difference is like loading a dumptruck with a shovel versus a frontend loader.

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No joke.

I parted one out a few months ago and it took a long time to undo everything even with an air powered impact wrench.

my DTC 8606 forklift has a gizmo that slips over the forks and locks into the back of the carriage and has a pintle hitch, used for spotting the M198 howitzer. Makes an excellent lifting point with fore and aft tilt, shideshift, and fine lifting adjustment makes it an all terrain portable 4000 # hoist.

Now if the larger air tank will let me use my 3/4" impact I will be all set.

If you have the room, use wood blocks for cribbing under a hydraulic jack. 4X6s give a good footprint and don't wobble like 4x4s do. You can also level the jack with cribbing if you're on uneven terrain.
The shorter the jack extension is run out the better. I also like a thin piece of hardwood or plywood between the frame or axle and the nose of the jack. Steel on wood slides far less than steel on steel.
Good quality, US made, high capacity jack stands are going to cost more than imports but they're still cheaper than an emergency room visit.

NEVER assume time is your friend. The free-fall descent rate of a deuce is far shorter than the "only a second or two" you'll be under there to loosen that bolt.
NEVER assume fate is your friend. People are always finding out the hard way that bad stuff does happen to them too, not just the other guy.

If you're going to have your vehicle in the air for an extended period of time then a set of "car stands" (like a steel saw horse) is the only way to go. Once a rig has been suspended a week or two, one tends to get relaxed and careless around it.

The GI trans/t-case pullers are designed to fit across the cab and use a hand operated worm drive winch, not a "boat winch". That way you can safely lower as well as lift the load.
When we did Bjorn's rear main seal we used an engine hoist with the arm in through the open pass. side door. Worked out OK and we had plenty of control.
When using an engine hoist ALWAYS make sure the legs are extended out farther than the arm-- you'd be surprised how many people get tripped up by inattention to that little detail.

A low dolly with heavy duty casters is an invaluable tool for getting stuff into position or out of the way since most MV parts are close to the same approximate weight as that of a Geo Metro.

FM 5-125 "Army Riggers Handbook" is a good reference manual for rigging and lifting loads; Section 5 deals with jacking and cribbing.

Everyone gave great advice. I would like to add my two cents worth about jack stands.

Regular metal jack stands are designed to stand on concrete. If you are on asphalt or dirt I recommend putting something under the stand. At the race track we often set up on asphalt and the legs of a normal jack stand sink into the hot asphalt.

Two solutions:
Put the stand on a piece of plywood or metal.
Weld a metal plate to the bottom of the stand that will give it a solid base.

Use metal as thick or thicker than the metal in the stand.

IMHO - Gary

I haven't had to lift for anything more than tire changes so far...but I was able to get my hands on an awesome jack. My buddy's dad got a 50-ton locomotive jack that stows nicely in the tool compartment, made of cast aluminum. with a 6-foot bar, one person can jack up the front end of the duece. Only downside to the jack is the release. When it comes down off the jack, it falls down. Kinda scary the first couple of times. Makes you pay attention to where all of your fingers are at...

bracebldr said:

I have a M35 a2 and will be doing all my own work what lifting equiptment do you reccomend. I will need to remove wheels and eventually replace clutch.

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We use a large heavy duty engine hoist with the boom through the passenger side door and a 1/2 ton chain fall to drop things like the transmission and transfer case.

The military issues 8-ton bottle jacks for an M35A2 and it will do anything you need to do.

In the shop we use a mix of 6-ton and 12-ton jack stands. The 12-ton ones won't go any higher than the 6-ton ones but have a wider footprint so we use them when they won't be in the way. I keep a couple short hunks of 2x10 and 2x12 PT boards in the trucks to block the jack up or keep it from sinking on soft ground.

For field repairs that needed dropping the tranny or T-case we used to loosen the cab canvas, open the window and place a pair or the big prybars from the armored vehicle or wrecker tools accross the cab to hang a block and tackle from. We'd strap the bars to the center windshield post to keep them from moving. The M577 command post carriers had 750 pound tackle for loading and unloading their 4.2kW generators. I don't think I'd trust most 4x4s. They are usually from the center of a tiny yellow pine tree and riddled with knots. Another good support would be to take two 2x6s, sandwich a strip of 1/2 or 3/4" plywood between them, spike it all together and it will support a lot more that you'll need without breaking the bank.


Frankly, if you are on a hard surface even 11.00R20s go on and off easily. There is a fair amount of clearance between the stud diameter and the hole diameter. If you are careful with raising the jack you can center the studs in the holes without actually lifting the wheel and walk it on or off the studs with little effort. It takes more work to line the holes up to put it back on than the actual installation takes.


As far as handling dual tire and wheel assemblies on a hard surface, get a couple of big prybars (4-5' long) raise the axle so that the tire clears the ground by a small fraction of an inch and put the two bars up under the tire so that it extends a few inches past the inner tire. Now pick up on the ends of the two bars. If a helper reaches past you he can easily remove a single or dual tire/wheel assembly. It will slide or walk right out on the bars and due to the leverage you don't need to work too hard to hold them up. Without a helper you can pick the bars up one at a time and put a block under them and then slide the assembly. You only need to get past the treads and then you can roll them.

A while back I stopped at a buddy's shop and he and a helper were struggling with the dual wheel/tire/brake drum from a 5-ton bridge truck. They had put grease on the floor under the tires and were trying to crab the thing on. I grabbed two "tanker's" bars off his wrecker and had the assembly on in less than a minute. Big prybars can be had at industrial tool supply houses for about $20.

We never install or remove heavy parts without two or more people in the shop. It would really suck to have someone pinned down and no around to help.

For breaking bolts and nuts, you may want to get a Swench manual impact wrench. It never needs air or electricity, loosens things a torque multiplying wrench won't and is small enough to keep with the truck. (kind of like the first rule of gunfighting-"First- bring a gun!") A 3/4" Swench us about 20" long and will generate 800 pounds of torque. That's more than enough for anything on a deuce. A 1" Swench puts out !,500 pounds of torque. They pop up on Ebay and at MV shows.

Lance

Howdy All,

I'm have the good fortune to have some heavy lifting equipment, forklift, gantry crane, etc.

But here's what I put in my M35A2 toolbox. It's a 3 Ton All-In-One Bottle Jack/Jack Stand.

It has a large base, lifts 3 tons (should be enough to change a tire unless heavily loaded), fits under the axle when the tire is flat and lifts high enough to mount a 9.00x20 without using any wood blocks, etc. and best of all fits inside the trucks toolbox!

I got mine at tractor supply.

Mike W

Powerbuilt Model Detail

tanker bars, impacts, 25 ton pnuematic jacks make changing tires on MTVRs a pinch. MRAPs are harder because they have a "spacer" ring that goes between the drum and the tire, puts a square edge there that the tire doesnt like to slide onto.

I'm looking for lifting equipment right now. I want the capability of lifting the entire deuce off of the ground, possibly up to 1' after the wheels come off. Right now my best idea is to get four 3-6 ton jack stands and one or two hi-lift jacks. The hi-lift jacks will lift the required weight up pretty high, as the name implies. I figure lift 3-4" per corner and toss a stand under each corner after a 3-4" raise. Continue that process until all 4 jack stands are in place and keep working around the vehicle until I get all wheels about 12" off of the ground. This way, I could remove all of the wheels, or even all 3 axles without any problems. I figure a transmission jack would make a great compliment to a fully lifted deuce for working on stuff.

I would do 6x6 cribbing, but for the height required for suspending the entire deuce, that is a lot of wood and it would get in the way a lot of the time. It is cheaper, however

One day I'll have a BIG garage with a BIG 4 post lift that can lift a big rig. One day...

I'd steer clear of the high-lift jacks. While the do have their place, they get awfully "wobbly" up that high. You can do what you want with a bottle jack, some heavy duty jackstands, and a few pieces of cribbing to put under your jack.

There's really no reason to lift the tires 1' off the ground. There's quite a bit of room under there with the tires on the ground to do trans work and such. Also, you don't want to lift it up that high to change tires. To change tires you want to jack it up just enough for the tires to clear. The closer to the ground you are with tires that big, the better off you are .