Lifting Body Off of Frame

[leakyfawcett]

I hadn't planned on pulling the body off to do the restoration on my sub, but I'm gonna have the front clip off this weekend, and the engine pulled, and the axles are already out, with the burb sitting on jack stands.

So I figure, what the heck... The body mounts are pretty worn out anyway.

But here's my question... does anyone here know the approximate center of mass on the body? E.g. where should I center the hoist? I was thinking of lifting from inside the truck, with the hoist inside the third door. Would that put me hear the center?

Any help is much appreciated!

[vectorit]

I found that the body was heavy toward the back for some reason.

It took the shop I had mine done by surprise as to the awkwardness of the body, and we ended up getting up to 8 helpers and two fork lifts! (mine had a lot of fused together body mounts).

I suppose if you had a large concrete work floor shop, you could use jacks at each corner with you and a buddy. Then gradually lift the body off the frame, then replace the jacks with stands with wheels.

It's kind of hard to tell in the picture of my burb body, but when I would push it around the tail end would always lift the front casters off the floor. Reminding me that the tail end was heavier.

This was an observation of mine, and I can't explain why it seemed more tippy towards the tail end. I suppose the rear gate framework, roof, and wood floor cause it to be heavier.

[leakyfawcett]

Interesting... so maybe a hoist with the boom going in from the back, and then chains bolted to the body mount holes in the rear might work. Maybe between the rear mounts, and then somewhere approaching the second row seats...

I guess it's easy enough to get the body mounts unbolted, a gently try it in a few different positions.

BTW, your Burb is consistently my inspiration

[vectorit]

Originally Posted by leakyfawcett

Interesting... so maybe a hoist with the boom going in from the back, and then chains bolted to the body mount holes in the rear might work. Maybe between the rear mounts, and then somewhere approaching the second row seats...

I guess it's easy enough to get the body mounts unbolted, a gently try it in a few different positions.

BTW, your Burb is consistently my inspiration

Thank you, just like so many others here I am inspired as well.

[steelhorse]

I would just jack up the front and put it on stands then do the rear and then roll the frame out.It might be a little bit of a pain but then you dont have to worry about dropping and bending stuff.

[Grimpala]

I used an engine hoist in the rear with some eye bolts drilled through the floor (my floor is shot so I could drill it without fear) Then used a front end loader to lift the front and made some giant saw horses out of some 4x4s and 2x8s. These guys aren't kidding when they say the rear is heavy. I set the body on a 2004 3/4t frame and it squatted the springs quite a bit.

[pritch]

This is how I did mine. I built this rack:



Then enlisted 10 friends to held set it on:

[CG]

We used six guys to remove my panel body and one guy to direct. We were really surprised how much more the rear weighed than the front.