355 Engine Height

Let me know when you are in need. I might be able to get you better measurements by then. I think my stand 1 foot shorter would suit you fine

 

You don't want to be using your lift in order to get it on whatever you decide to use. You will be at the limits of your 4 post lift like that and it is dangerous to you and your car.

If you want to lift the rear of the car higher to get it on something that suits your needs then you need to procure jacks of the lifting capacity and height limit to accomplish such.

As said above, hanging your full car off the back and using your lift to raise it is foolish and dangerous

 

At 9920 pound capacity and a car that weighs 3000 pounds, you should not have an issue.

As a suggestion - contact the lift company and tell them you wish to pickup something on the back of the lift that is 4500 lbs and see what they say...

 

Not sure if I am missing something but when I do mine the car is never cantilevered. You roll in on the steel ramps that are blocked.

Slide the lifting table under undo the four bolts on each side of subf rame and lift car off.

The inner two bolts on each side I indid first cause they were hard to get at when lift is only 2 ft off ground.

 

Grant, he wants to use something higher than a dolly. That said, he would have to lift the car up to slide the cradle under it first. His other option would be to block the ramps up high.

 

I've only had my car up on a 2 post lift a few times but here's some advice from my experience with it. I should point out, this is when the lift points are at the 4 factory recommended points (2 just behind the front wheels at the slots and 2 just behind the doors at the slots). This was to give unobstructed access to the entire underside of the car.

When lifting my car this way ('96 355 Spider) with the engine et al in place, its very back heavy. It doesn't take much effort to pull down on the rear bumper and actually lift it off the front lift points, much too dangerous to ignore. I was extremely careful the first time I did this and checked the balance with it only a few inches off the floor. My "fix" for this condition was to open the trunk and add about 150 pounds of weight as far forward as I could. That made the balance much better and reasonably acceptable. Even so, after the car was fully up (carefully), I added a pair of tall jack stands to the rear as insurance.

Here's another point to keep in mind when lifting at these points. Since the rear locations of the factory lift points are near the 50 / 50 balance point of the car, nearly all the car's total weight will be at these 2 points alone, very close to 3000 pounds. Momentary dynamic impact loads from quick lift starts and stops will significantly increase the load as well. Depending on the lift, perhaps as much as 30% (verify with lift manufacturer). The lift needs to take all this into consideration including an adequate safety factor (suggest another 33%).

 

I understand then he should just block the ramps up high enough. I now inderstand and agree that you cannot cantileaver.

I should say you can do whatever you want but I would not .

 

It was advocated in this thread to hang the back of the car off a 4 post lift, jack it up at the most anterior lift point, which would be the the rear factory lift points, raise the now cantilivered full car assembly as high as desired, to then put an engine/subframe support under the assembly and then proceed with lowering the car onto the support and proceed .

The issues are: using the most forward lift point on the tread of the 4 post lift, that being the factory rear lift point, does this get the rear of the car cantilevered enough to allow the assembly clearance to be dropped? Secondly, having now arguably the full weight of the car over the most outward point of the lift, is this a safe relationship?

 

I have not read through the whole thing but I have done this many times.

1. I hang the car off the back
2. Disconnect the engine and place a wood platform I built with 1.5 inch plywood, 4 casters, and fit for underneath the engine and gear box.
3. Supporting the platform and the engine is 1 ATV jack, and one regular jack. Then lower the engine and subframe to the floor
4. Raise the car, now empty of 1000 lbs subframe, high enough to roll the engine out.
5. Push the car back over the lift.

Then, with the engine and subframe on that specially built platform dolly, I push it to the middle of the garage, jack it up high enough to slide my 4 jack stands underneath the subframe to a high enough working level, and work away

No lifting of the car on the lift while it is hanging off the back...

 

FWIW, I don't use the jack points on a lift. Much better places to pick the car up - especially in the rear where you can get very close to the subframe connection to the unibody frame structure. Whether or not those locations can be properly accessed on a 4 post lift would be case by case based on the lift make and model.

The load hanging off the back of the lift is a function of the lifts capacity.

The opinions from folks like Mitch and Grant are valued especially as they have done this job prior with a 4 post.

 

As I said above to the OP afew times, Cantileverimg the full assembled car off the back of a 4 post lift and lifting it using the lift is not prudent. Others who have done this have verified this is not what they have done.

In order to get the height off the floor you desire to work on the drive train, I think an adjustable lift would provide your needs. At its retracted level
It would allow you to extract the assembly safely using methods previously outlined and with its lift capacity, you can elevate it to your desired working height.

I have a similar set up and will be doing this and have fully researched it as well. This is how I will do it.

 

Erich,

Since you have not bought a lift yet, have you considered a 2 post instead of 4? There are low ceiling options on the market. If that is something that interests you, let me know and I can post some links.

 

So, from an engineering perspective let's discuss a cantilever:

Say for example that the cantileverd section of the car hanging off a 2 post lift or other is 1/3 the weight, that moment arm will be less than the moment of the front 2/3's of the car in the opposite direction. The resultant won't cause a tip. If it did, when lifting a 355 on a 2 post, it would fall off the back.

Now, I know the CG is a bit forward (toward front of car) than rear jack point. So, that is further evidence that the engine, gearbox and subframe subassembly is less than 1/2 the weight of the car.

That said, the resultant force of hanging the ass end of the car off anything, won't cause a tip. So, lifting the car will still be its total weight. Therefore, the lift capacity, 2 or 4 post can do the job if that capacity is sufficient.

Now, I'm all for taking precautions and being safe so adding weight to the front or strapping the front down will be added protection and wise.

Another example is lifting a load with a fork truck where the load is larger (longer) than the forks. As long as the resultant moment does not create a tip (more weight in front than the counter weight) lifting is no issue.

Doing this with a 4 post will be really no different than a 2 per this discussion.

 

Erich,

Understood. I also wish to add a 4 post in my garage for storage and simple oil changes. I have more cars than garage space so it would be nice but I don't love the idea of tripping over the 4 posts but everything is a trade off.

Stay on course - you will be fine.

 

That's hilarious but at least those guys get it

 

Make it shorter.

 

Dave rocks. Mate your photo of engine out in your garage shows how i do jobs. Absolutely immaculate working environment. Credit to you on your standards of workmanship. I will be sending my dash vents to you in the near future. The pristine way you have that engine out is proof of quality work.