lifting a unibody off the frame?

[jecsd1]

Has anyone ever tried this? Is this a do it yourself thing or don't even try? Just curious.

[slick4x4]

if you have the equipment you can do it
i lifted a wagoneer body (minus front clip) for frame resto
i would think a uni would weigh about the same
takes about 6 lifting spots with straps, front, middle,back.
i used my winch truck, but i suppose i REAL strong tree limb would work
lift it up high enough to roll out frame,then set on heavy duty sawhorses
take your time,and SAFETY number one!

[4wheelerbill]

i just removed the body from my uni , using 2 floor jacks and 4 jackstands and 1 4x6. if theres a will theres a way.

[jecsd1]

I was wondering if an engine hoist would do it. When I do it I plan to have the body completely stripped. (No doors, seat, tailgate, glass, steering column, even instrument cluster.) I mean stripped. Then set it on jack stands so I can roll the frame out and work under the body for cleaning/rust proofing/painting. I'm trying to decide if it's doable myself or if I should save up and have it professionally done and media blasted at the same time. Thoughts?

[Slick Fan]

Here we go, I knew I'd seen pics of someone's Uni on a rotisserie somewhere around this site.
These are 61Merc's pics.

I'll let him explain how he got it up there, but it looks good from here. Click the pics, to make them larger.

[albumimg]1754[/albumimg][albumimg]1755[/albumimg][albumimg]1756[/albumimg]
[albumimg]1757[/albumimg][albumimg]1758[/albumimg]

[61 Merc]

I actually removed the body in the garage, raised the rear till it was mountable to the rotisserie end then with a bar across the cab, I lifted it as high as I could go with a block and tackle. Then I lowered the rear frame and rolled the frame out.

I've seen an engine hoist being used to lift the front, I did not have one at my disposal at the time. You must have at least three points to keep it from flipping when you lift it from the frame.

For my setup it was a one man job, two people would have been nice though.

[oldtrucks]

jecsd1
When we pulled the uni body off the frame we used 2 engine lifts. In the front we used the hood hinge mount bolts through a nylon strap and used the tailgate latch for the rear. You can roll the body around on the lifts to clear the frame.

[Slick Fan]

I forgot I had these pics in my stash. This setup looks like it works pretty well & wouldn't be a ton of money to make. You'd definitely want to build it on the overkill side though, as opposed to skimping.




Looks plenty strong, too. I bet that rotisserie weighs a couple pounds itself!




Same thing in action with another car...

[The Big M]

I actually removed the body in the garage, raised the rear till it was mountable to the rotisserie end then with a bar across the cab, I lifted it as high as I could go with a block and tackle. Then I lowered the rear frame and rolled the frame out.

I've seen an engine hoist being used to lift the front, I did not have one at my disposal at the time. You must have at least three points to keep it from flipping when you lift it from the frame.

For my setup it was a one man job, two people would have been nice though.

Did you build that or buy it?

[61 Merc]

I bult it using the drawings from the autobody101 site and adapted it to fit my project. This way I free up the cab mounts and floor area.I also had someone else do the welding as my welder isn't big enough to handle this.