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Pulling engine and transmission

drroy

Jr. Member
Joined
Apr 13, 2017
Messages
78
Simple question for those who may have done this. 77 with 302 and C4, it has 3.5 lift and 35" tires. Plan on purchasing harbor freight 2 ton engine hoist and would like to pull engine, tranny and transfer case together. Looks like should work, just wondering If others have tried and found it better to drop transmission and just pull engine alone.
 

Skiddy

Bronco Guru
Joined
Oct 8, 2003
Messages
11,557
yes many has done engine and tranny at the same time. you have the same lift and tires as me. you will probably have to remove the tires and sit it on jack stands. the engine hoists don't go up real high.
 

Whoaa

Bronco Guru
Joined
Sep 26, 2014
Messages
1,059
Your Bronco is too tall to take it out all at once, and most likely too heavy for your little engine hoist, and for sure too long and problematic to do it easily.

Its cumbersome to pull it all at once, and I realize some do it this way and may argue the point. But there is a lot of things to go wrong doing the engine/trans/T-case in one shot from the top.

One option you may consider is taking the transmission and T-case out first from the bottom. Use a floor jack w/ a piece of plywood and a 2 x 4 as a wedge. Remove the driveshafts, bell housing bolts, starter, exhaust, speedo cable, reverse light wire, shift linkage, ect.
The frame cross member under the trans/t-case holds most of the weight and is very forgiving because there are slotted holes. Using the jack w/ the plywood on it, and use a 2 x 4 or similar to balance trans & t-case, lift up on slightly, remove the cross member bolts, pull it back a little, and then slowly lower it down....much easier with 2 people and much easier using 2 floor jacks.

Then the engine of course comes out from the top by itself, easy-smeazy.
 
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drroy

Jr. Member
Joined
Apr 13, 2017
Messages
78
Ok, thanks. Included the lift tire size because thought may be a factor. Will probably pull off the axles and put them in storage and support frame on some stands. That should get it low enough. This is a restomod and just needs one of everything. Came with, frame, body axles, a short block and c4 tossed in the back with some other parts. Engine is now dressed and running, I rebuilt the c4, and lowered it a bit because it came with a ridiculous 6.5 inch lift that destroyed all the angles up front.
Regardless it's running and now drives straight down the road. Time for body work. Have pulled the tranny before and would prefer to separate from engine out of vehicle.
 

Crush

Contributor
Bronco Guru
Joined
May 30, 2007
Messages
3,463
Loc.
Greenbottom, WV
I did mine all at once on my 76. the only extra thing I would suggest is that you remove the tcase shifter. it was too tall and got wedged between the body and the floor when attached had to remove the bolts and let it fall off. when I put my 77 back together I put the engine and trans in together and then put the tcase on. that was very easy. in both cases I had to remove the front tires and drop the front end down on jack stands. it made everything easier doing this too because I didn't need a step stool to stand on to reach things in the engine compartment. it will work just take your time and be safe. you may also need a ratchet strap or come along to lift the tail end of the trans/tcase up over the core support. do this by attaching one end to top of the hoist and the other to the tailshaft
 

B RON CO

Contributor
Bronco Guru
Joined
Jun 29, 2016
Messages
2,412
Loc.
Statesville, NC
Hi, I've pulled my engine twice and tranny once. I work on a slab with an engine crane. I would not pull the engine and transmission and transfer case together.
That being said, if I had to, I would think about pulling the grill and radiator support. Good luck
 

Broncobowsher

Total hack
Joined
Jun 4, 2002
Messages
34,833
Pulled it all together. My preferred method. Done it before and would do it again. I will admit it was only on 33s.

Trick is a come-a-long or a ratchet strap from the transfer case to the cherry picker to lift the tail over the grill.
 
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drroy

Jr. Member
Joined
Apr 13, 2017
Messages
78
Appreciate the advice. If it can be pulled all together that is what I will do. I like the tip about the come along. Goal is to strip it down to just body and frame for sheet metal work. Will likely pull it from bronco and put it in back of my pickup to take to storage, so I can free up space in my garage.
 

DirtDonk

Contributor
Bronco Guru
Joined
Nov 3, 2003
Messages
47,345
Just wondering about your thought of putting it closer to the ground drroy. This would certainly make it easier from an overall height standpoint, but what about the ability to tilt it to clear the grille?
Just wondering out loud if it's that low whether or not you can tilt the entire assembly enough to clear the grille before the transfer case drags the ground.

I've never done it that way before, but it seems if it's that low you could run into that issue.
Hopefully that doesn't come up and it all comes out smoothly.

Good luck.

Paul
 

rguest3

Contributor
Bronco Guru
Joined
Dec 13, 2012
Messages
3,778
Easiest for me to pull the engine by itself, then drop the trans / transfer Case together.
 

Crush

Contributor
Bronco Guru
Joined
May 30, 2007
Messages
3,463
Loc.
Greenbottom, WV
Paul, I have done that several times letting the front down on the lowest jack stand setting still gives you room to remove all in one piece. As long as you take the tcase shifter off and leave the three speed shift rods connected to the column and not the transmission or take them off all together. once you get the engine hoist hooked up you can drop the transmission crossmember and the whole thing tilts. then just move it forward and up a little at a time. once the oil pan clears the core support then the tail end can be brought up to the core support and all out and done
 

73azbronco

Contributor
Bronco Guru
Joined
Nov 11, 2007
Messages
7,796
I used that same cherry picker, it's OK for price, basically a few uses and it's over,resell on craigslist. I dropped my axle down without tires to blocks of wood supporting front axle a few inches off ground. But that was just the motor, I had a height issue of not being able to lift to high. Plus, that cherry picker from HF does not lift that high fully extended. I dropped tranny/Tcase as a unit, just unbolt flexplate, unbolt bellhousing, unbolt tranny mount, wala.
 

Gatordog

New Member
Joined
Nov 17, 2017
Messages
46
Loc.
Rio Hondo, Texas
I disassembled the engine to a short block and then pulled it. In my opinion, it is easier to remove heads, exhaust manifolds with the engine in the Bronco. This way you can break torque on all those big bolts without trying to keep the engine from moving on the stand. FYI, I had to remove the oil pan, so the torque converter could come out with the motor since the motor was seized. Then I dropped the transmission and t-case together, FYI disconnected the t-case shifter first. I was also alone, and no biggy more than one way to do it
 

jrwyant

Contributor
Jr. Member
Joined
Jul 26, 2014
Messages
107
I pulled the stock 302/C4/D20 from my '77 as one unit. As others have said, it worked, but was at the limit of what my hoist could do: I had to air-down the front tires and jack up the rear in order to clear the front clip. And, once I had that assembly removed, I noticed that it was so incredibly top-heavy, that I almost tipped it over when trying to back out the hoist.

Definately some sketchy moments, from a safety standpoint.

(I had chosen this method as I thought it would be safer than trying to remove the D20 and/or C4 by themselves from under the vehicle, potentially dropping them off the side of a cobbled-together transmission jack.)

Having done it this way, I think the next time around, I would try to cobble together the transmission jack as described elsewhere in the thread, and remove the C4/D20 from under the vehicle first. (Or use straps across the frame as I've heard others describe.)
 
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drroy

Jr. Member
Joined
Apr 13, 2017
Messages
78
Just an update. Finaly did this using the harbor freight 2 ton hoist. Engine, tranny and transfer case came out without any issues. Did have to remove the long header on the left to clear the engine mount on the frame.
In my opinion much easier than dropping the tranny then pulling the engine. Thanks for those who suggested the come along to clear the radiator support, it was helpful as I was working alone. Probably wouldn't need it if I had two people as I only needed an extra 3 inches to clear the radiator support.
 
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