How to lift body off of frame?

[Dfreeman1969]

Ok, I'm ready to lift the body of and take to get media blasted and primed. What is the best way to lift it and protect from bending/twisting?

69 bronco

 

[C Saporito]

Did you weld supports across the opening where the doors were? I've seen some weld a support from driver to passenger side also.

 

[dave67fd]

You can also weld/mount in a crossmember and lift with a Cherry picker. Four friends are easier and more fun.

 

[Galt72]

I'm assuming you have all the undercoating off the body because media wont remove that stuff. Ask your media blaster how he's going to roll it over to blast the bottom. Maybe he just picks it up with a fork lift, if so you might be able to get by without a rotisserie. At the very least you need to build some kind of stand for the body to sit on to keep it elevated off the ground. This is what I built and had caster wheels to roll it around on. My blaster said my contraption was really easy to work with.

 

[hankjr]

You will get lots of opinions here. The key is to decide what works within your constraints. If you have flat surfaces to work with, radiused plywood might work. If you have gravel driveway and trussed garage, ratchet strap lifts and harbor freight casters might work better. If you have engine hoist, a center of mass system might work better. Regardless brace your door openings so the body doesn't taco on you and also the bed to keep everything in line.

Hank

 

[DuctTape]

Lots of ways to lift, all mentioned.

I cannot stress enough to brace the body at several places. Do some searching to get better advice than I got. After I pulled my body the doors have never fit right. I braced across doors, across tub behind doors, and across tub at tailgate but I still got some warping.

Personally to remove I did it with five guys. To put it back on I hoisted from a ceiling joist with a strap running underneath (probably a bad idea in retrospect). If I did it again I would go more bomber on bracing and incorporate a hoist point into the bracing (linked to body mount points maybe).

 

[c0astie31]

Quick question about this,

would keeping the 6 point roll bar attached keep the body from flexing? no one has mentioned keeping in on to help the body stay straight.

i am hoping once mine is all finished, i can keep the roll bar attached and put it on the side and wire wheel the underside before raptor lining it

 

[AZ73]

http://classicbroncos.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2246024&postcount=31

 

[Steve83]

To reduce bending, remove as much non-structural weight as possible.