A good tranny jack ,and decent jack stands makes all the difference.
(BTW dont forget to use an engine crane or floor jack to support the engine while working on transmission removal)
I recently helped a friend swap torque converters on his car, he doesn,t have a lift, but neither did I for almost 30 years so decent jack stands, a level concrete floor and a decent set of four 12 ton rated jack stands made things go fairly smoothly,another option, is using jack stands under the frame AND ADDITIONAL home made wood stands under the tires as a extra support or even in place of jack stands if they are properly designed, ...wood GLUED AND BOLTED TOGETHER
I still use the 12 ton jack stands but put those under the tires for an extra safety support
and 8 ft long 2x4" boards can be easily cut into 6, 16" lengths and you can cheaply make these really solid safety type supports,youll generally want to use 14 boards cut into 16" sections that makes 4 supports, to make 11"-15" tall safety supports, the ones in the picture above are only using 17 short boards each increasing that to a stack with one more layer or use of 20 boards makes it much easier to get access for us older fat guys on a mechanics creeper, you get 6 (approximately) 16" boards from a 8" boards
most of the time you can find 2" x 4" boards on sale for between $2-$2.50 each making 4 safety stands cost about $50
now if your like most guys you don,t do enough trans work to make spending big bucks on a quality transmission jack worth while but having a cheap import jack is not a bad deal if its only used occasionally, and if you keep in mind its always got at least a marginal potential to allow the transmission to drop.
I am never really at easy with a 120lb-230 lb transmission up in the air under a car but the jack stands allow access with a mechanics creeper and the jack makes lowering and raising the transmission far easier than having two guys just try to muscle it up into place while getting the bolts lined up
http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/sto ... reNum=6320
http://www.harborfreight.com/2000-lb-low-profile-transmission-jack-60240.html
http://www.harborfreight.com/12-ton-jac ... 34924.html
http://www.harborfreight.com/800-lb-cap ... -3185.html
heres some better trans jacks
http://www.tooldiscounter.com/ItemDispl ... kw=AFF3171
http://www.globalindustrial.com/p/tools ... 2godnFaOsw
http://www.google.com/products/catalog? ... CHQQ8wIwAA
READ THESE THREADS
related thread
viewtopic.php?f=71&t=3553&p=9431&hilit=clutch+tool#p9431
viewtopic.php?f=27&t=26
mounting the trans jack on casters helps also
I have found that having the car up on jack stands at about 22"-24" the use of a rolling tranny jack rather that trying to muscle the trans up into place while you bench press the trans is usually the best route
viewtopic.php?f=71&t=2400&p=6338&hilit=converter+alignment#p6338
viewtopic.php?f=27&t=26
viewtopic.php?f=27&t=98
viewtopic.php?f=27&t=969
viewtopic.php?f=27&t=1404
viewtopic.php?f=59&t=3178&p=11972&hilit=creeper#p11972
viewtopic.php?f=27&t=1404
viewtopic.php?f=27&t=132
viewtopic.php?f=28&t=418&p=512&hilit=drop+light#p512
viewtopic.php?f=27&t=672
(BTW dont forget to use an engine crane or floor jack to support the engine while working on transmission removal)
I recently helped a friend swap torque converters on his car, he doesn,t have a lift, but neither did I for almost 30 years so decent jack stands, a level concrete floor and a decent set of four 12 ton rated jack stands made things go fairly smoothly,another option, is using jack stands under the frame AND ADDITIONAL home made wood stands under the tires as a extra support or even in place of jack stands if they are properly designed, ...wood GLUED AND BOLTED TOGETHER
I still use the 12 ton jack stands but put those under the tires for an extra safety support
and 8 ft long 2x4" boards can be easily cut into 6, 16" lengths and you can cheaply make these really solid safety type supports,youll generally want to use 14 boards cut into 16" sections that makes 4 supports, to make 11"-15" tall safety supports, the ones in the picture above are only using 17 short boards each increasing that to a stack with one more layer or use of 20 boards makes it much easier to get access for us older fat guys on a mechanics creeper, you get 6 (approximately) 16" boards from a 8" boards
most of the time you can find 2" x 4" boards on sale for between $2-$2.50 each making 4 safety stands cost about $50
now if your like most guys you don,t do enough trans work to make spending big bucks on a quality transmission jack worth while but having a cheap import jack is not a bad deal if its only used occasionally, and if you keep in mind its always got at least a marginal potential to allow the transmission to drop.
I am never really at easy with a 120lb-230 lb transmission up in the air under a car but the jack stands allow access with a mechanics creeper and the jack makes lowering and raising the transmission far easier than having two guys just try to muscle it up into place while getting the bolts lined up
http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/sto ... reNum=6320
http://www.harborfreight.com/2000-lb-low-profile-transmission-jack-60240.html
http://www.harborfreight.com/12-ton-jac ... 34924.html
http://www.harborfreight.com/800-lb-cap ... -3185.html
heres some better trans jacks
http://www.tooldiscounter.com/ItemDispl ... kw=AFF3171
http://www.globalindustrial.com/p/tools ... 2godnFaOsw
http://www.google.com/products/catalog? ... CHQQ8wIwAA
READ THESE THREADS
related thread
viewtopic.php?f=71&t=3553&p=9431&hilit=clutch+tool#p9431
viewtopic.php?f=27&t=26
mounting the trans jack on casters helps also
I have found that having the car up on jack stands at about 22"-24" the use of a rolling tranny jack rather that trying to muscle the trans up into place while you bench press the trans is usually the best route
viewtopic.php?f=71&t=2400&p=6338&hilit=converter+alignment#p6338
viewtopic.php?f=27&t=26
viewtopic.php?f=27&t=98
viewtopic.php?f=27&t=969
viewtopic.php?f=27&t=1404
viewtopic.php?f=59&t=3178&p=11972&hilit=creeper#p11972
viewtopic.php?f=27&t=1404
viewtopic.php?f=27&t=132
viewtopic.php?f=28&t=418&p=512&hilit=drop+light#p512
viewtopic.php?f=27&t=672
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