Hi folks. I've done a search and found about 4 different ways to drop a cradle. Most involve a cherry picker and a wooden dolly. I've never dropped a cradle before so any advice would be appreciated.

I have a question, though. many sites mention using a cherry picker to support the engine and lower it onto a dolly. Wouldn't the legs of the cherry picker be in the way of a dolly? seems like it'd be simple to drop the cradle onto the legs of the cherry picker and pull it out? Would that be possible?

I havent rented a picker yet, so if anybody has some convenient ways to drop the cradle and replace the engine w/o a picker, I'd appreciate responses. hell, any responses would be beneficial!

Thanks!

I bought a 1 ton hoist at Harbor Freight for $39. Attached a 2 by 6 to 4 rafters to spread the weight and it works great. I have a ladder access to garage attic, lined the 2x6 up so the chain comes down through the hole for the latter. So far I have dropped 2 cradles this way.

When I dropped my cradle with a cherry picker the legs were in the way. So I did like you said and just lowered the engine onto the legs. Doing this means that you will have to roll the engine under the back and you need to really jack up the back of the car high to pull it out this way. If you could get in on a dolly it would be easier to go sideways out one of the wheel wells because you don't have to raise the car as much. Just make sure you are safe however you do it.

I used a 1.5 ton hoist as well. After lowering the cradle to the floor I used the same hoist to raise the car high enough to slide the whole thing under the car. After I got it out I attached casters to the bottom of the cradle. If I were to do it again I would have done that first. If you look in my sig you can see a couple of the casters

OK so you can't see them LOL, I thought you could but they are there
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LS1 project
http://ls1swap.tripod.com/

[This message has been edited by LS1swap (edited 05-13-2002).]

My budy and I used a truck jack and lower the back first the moved the jack the the front of the cradle and lower the front. We used the front bolts that go in sideways as a pivot.

Scott

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Fierokid's Web site:
http://www.angelfire.com/sports/sfiero
AIM: Fierokid87

I used a cherry picker and a base off of a heavy duty engine stand(u shaped) I had to put some 1/4" luan under the dolly so that ift would be higher than the hoist legs. I used the holes in the trunk cross beam and a towing strap to raise the car. I first lowered the cradle onto the dolly, took tension off by lifting the car slightly, removed the cradle bolts then jacked the body off with the hoist. Worked better than floor jacks.

Banzai !!!!!!

I dropped two engine cradles o.k. so that doesn't make me an expert but it was extremly easy. Jack the rear of the car with a heavy duty 2 ton floor jack from the engine cradle. Get the car off the ground as far as you can get it. Get 2 jack stands and a metal bar thats the width of the car (I used an old bed frame rail) and place it where the car jack notches are. You may need to weight the car down in the front to keep the front on the ground. lower the jack and make sure the car is secure. remove brake lines, brake cable, strut mount bolts and shift cables. place the jack under the front of the engine cradle and remove the front 2 cradle bolts. once removed lower the cradle slowly. then place the jack under the back of the cradle and remove the last 2 bolts.
Depending on how high you jacked the car up you may need to remove the plenum and engine heads. There is a way to take the engine out from the top but it requires a expensive hoist and is more of a hassle. good luck!!!

quote Originally posted by Fierokid87: My budy and I used a truck jack and lower the back first the moved the jack the the front of the cradle and lower the front. We used the front bolts that go in sideways as a pivot.

Hmm.. I though I was the only one who had discovered that trick.
I use two 87-88 Fiero jacks (along with some solid cinder blocks), to get the rear high enough. A chain hoist was also needed to manipulate the motor/cradle once I roll it out on the $20 furniture dolly, that just happens to be the perfect size for this job.

Though this isn't a preferred method of removing the cradle, I've never used an engine hoist for it. I have only used a hoist to actually remove the engine from the cradle, not the cradle assembly from the vehicle. I start jacking the rear up, then remove the two rear bolts, swing it down, and continue to raise the vehicle, and then remove the two fronts, then continue raising the vehicle until I can get it high enough to remove the whole assembly from underneath the vehicle. I end up using a couple of jacks and some cement blocks. Not exactly the safest, but it works if you don't have a hoist. I've probably done this around 6 times now, and still have all my body parts intact.

Want to thank you guys for all the great ideas. I'll be starting Sunday or Monday, (as soon as I get the interior aet out) but man... I gotta hand it to you guys for ingenuity.. Pretty swift ideas!

Thanks!

When I pulled the engine/cradle out of mine I used a buddy's forklift to lift the rear of the car high enough to slide everything out the rear. Makes it real easy. ;p

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GOLDSE
'86 Gold SE V6
'86 Red SE V6
Always looking for a black fastback.

I'm sure a crane would work just fine too, but the problem is that most of us don't have forklifts in our garages..

Here is another alternative.

Jack up the rear of the car.
Remove the wheels.
Put a dolly/pallet under the cradle.
Let the car down on to the cradle.
Remove the 4 Cradle bolts.
Jack up Body.

Sounds simple, bit it really is a huge PITA.
Doing it this way it is difficult to get the pressure off of the horizontal cradle bolts.
But, it will work when you forget to rent a Engine hoist and Just have to get it done Right Now!!

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