Using a Floor Jack as a Transmission Jack?

[TF360]

Harbor freight makes a cheap one- not the best to work with, but I got the job done with it

 

[yellow rose]

I've done it for years on "just" the floor jack.

LOL...You are a mechanical animal though. Lesser men like me need something to hold them on the jack. When they slip off the jack it’s a real PITA. I bent the threads on the 3-4 shift shaft one time not that long ago and trashed a brand new 3-4 slider. And the best part was everything else was done and all I had to do was hook up the shifter.

It had to come back out. That’s when I made a platform so I could bolt the gearbox to so that couldn’t happen again.

And yes, I’m old.

 

[SLOPAR72]

HF sells a floor scissor jack. It's all I used before the lift including some work with Transfer cases hanging off the back. The bonus is they can serve other purposes in the shop. Best bang for the buck doing tranny work on the floor IMO...

JW

 

[Jim Lusk]

I have a trans adapter for my floor jack. It does require very tall jack stands. I bought tripod scaffolding footers from industrial surplus place and welded channel iron clips on their tops. The first 4 are a little shorter, painted brown and got 4X4 channel iron clips but the frame rails didn't sit down in it well. The next 4 got 5X5 inch channel, and painted yellow. So there are now 8 stands here.
Jack doesn't lift that far so I have to get er up on the short store bought stands first, add spacer, and go again. Too much labor for this old man today.

View attachment 1715629421

Floor jack too short...Hard to tell exactly, but that's the hook on my cherry picker with an axle strap...

 

[JDMopar]

All I ever used was a Sears 1 1/2 ton floor jack with a piece of plywood big enough for the pan to sit on laying on the jack pad. I'd set the 904 or 727 on that....roll it under the car and jack her up and in! Never dropped one. After I got a lift, I had to relearn how to work all over again! I bought a nice telescoping transmission jack from Northern Tool, and it works great....but I kinda feel like I'm cheating on my tried and true ol green Craftsman floor jack! LOL

 

[65 Cuda 340]

I pulled a big block out of a 64 Dodge a while back. Left the pushbutton Torqueflite sitting in place, rear of the trans still bolted to the trans crossmember, front resting on a floor jack. I didn't plan to leave it there long, but somehow bumped the car just a tiny bit and the tranny fell over, breaking the extension housing and bending the mainshaft. Right after that I bought a trans jack.

When I was a lot younger and stronger, I could pull an A-833 4-speed (heaviest 4 speed ever made) out with my hands and sit it on my chest. Then pull it off my chest and sit it on the floor (or ground, because I didn't always have a floor). And I could reverse the procedure to put it back in. Now that I'm older than dirt, I wouldn't think of doing it without a trans jack.

And yeah, if I had tied the trans to the jack somehow, my accident would not have happened, but with a trans jack you can adjust front/rear and side to side angle of the trans - which is especially helpful in putting the trans back in, whether automatic or 4 speed.

 

[volaredon]

back when I was about 20, I was putting a(nother) trans in my 75 Cordoba.... at that time it was about a monthly thing. That was the car that I learned to rebuild a trans on....
Laying on my back, in my parents driveway under the car which was up on stands. I grabbed the bellhousing of the 727 and tried to roll it forward. there was a very sharp edge on that bellhousing. I think the jack hit a rock or fell in a hole but I wound up sliding the trans off the jack, and we all know how much leverage we all have laying on our back with arms extended over head. I wound up with a NASTY gash in my right hand just below the base of the pinky and next finger, a trip to the ER, 20 stiches later and it cost me a few weeks off my job I had at the time..... I had a He11 of a time getting that trans off of my hand.

an yeah back then I could bench press a 3 speed manual or A833 OD off my chest and pop it into the bellhousing but not any more. I could almost do the same w/a 904. Not quite. Definitely couldnt now a days.

 

[dibbons]

I did the A833 off the chest a few times back in my 20's. Never got hurt installing. On the other hand, pulling it out one time, as it came down it crushed the little finger of my left hand between the concrete floor and the transmission tailshaft (which was the ball and trunnion type coupler). Cut a gash in my little finger almost to the bone.

This was probably two or three in the morning in the garage of a cattle ranch. It could have used a few stitches, but I just applied pressure for about half an hour to stop the bleeding, yelling obscenities the entire time. Still have the scar to prove it.

 

[volaredon]

another time using a floor jack doing a trans in a Dakota. My son was under truck helping me. This time jack slid out sideways, pinched my son's thumb and broke it just below the nail, he wound up having to have surgery to fix thumb.... I now have an old Lincoln trans jack for doing them off the floor and a (I'm embarassed to say this part) for now an HF trans jack for use under my 2 post lift that I didnt have back then...... looking for an old school Lincoln, Blackhawk, etc trans jack so I can rid myself of the HF one

 

[oliver]

There are other ways than a floor jack?

sometimes with lighter units ill just bench press them into place. i can do it with 727's up to the 46re. 47re and heavier no way.

 

[A Body 440 WHY NOT]

I've done it for years on "just" the floor jack.

yup

 

[SIX225]

First transmission me and my father ever swapped we slid the trans under on a long piece of plywood and then slowly worked its way up with wooden blocks supporting each end. Didn't even own a floor jack back then.

 

[67/6barracuda]

I bolted a old 727 pan to my jack added a couple 2x4 for height.

 

[JDMopar]

@67/6barracuda That was a great idea!

 

[sireland67]

Summit sell an adapter, for a trans jack, to use on a normal floor jack.
I bought one, and found it was kinda tall to put the 833 in my Duster.
My buddy has used it several times to put trans in various pickups, he sad it worked great for him.

 

[AndyF]

With the vehicle on jack stands it is a little tricky trying to balance a torqueflite on a floor jack by yourself. How do you secure it? Fabricate a base, rope it on, etc. Ideas? Thank you.

View attachment 1715628816

Just buy a transmission jack. Once you have one you'll find out that you can use it for lots of other things such as rear ends and K frames.

 

[dibbons]

We fabricated a pad that should accommodate the oil pan of the 904. I still have the option of installing motor/trans together (still up in the "air" thinking it over).

 

[Frodee]

I just put my tranny in my Scamp not long ago and I couldn't get the car up high enough to slide the tranny under the car on a jack. SO I slid the tranny under the car on cardboard and put some ratchet straps around the front and back of the tranny and hooked the ends to the frame and ratcheted the tranny up high enough to put the floor jack under it and put it in by myself.
Simple and cheap and no sore back. lol

 

[Tooljunkie]

My el cheapo transmission jack for use under my hoist jammed when i tried to lower it. It suddenly dropped and kicked out, leaving me holding up a caravan overdrive transmsmission half wedged in the engine bay. Got my shoulder under it so i had a free hand to reset the jack.
The next day i replaced the lower square tube with a 5,000 lb trailer tongue jack. So now i use a crank to get it near the working height, and use the hydraulic in the lower range of motion. It is no longer able to kill me. Added bonus, i get more height out of it.