Ready to lift body off the frame - need design validation

[borna428]

Hello all,
I want to lift the body off my 66 VW. Since I already have a 450 lb capacity hoist, I decided to take an advantage of it and use it for lifting. This comes handy specially when try to put the body back on the frame.
Question I have if my design can handle the weight? I am only planning to suspend the body for a few mins, until I move the frame out and place the dolly under it to lower it down.
With that said, I have
2 – 2”x6” 5 feet long going across the front and rear windows opening. (inside I have some extra woods / padding so it not resting on the doors).
On top I have a 2”x8” which is also 5 feet long with a hook in the center of it.
The bottom woods are fastened to the top wood with 3/8” threaded rods and also all the bolts are 3/8” head.
As far as the body, I have removed everything that can come out including bumpers, glasses, fenders, hood, engine lid, except doors.

Assuming the weight of the body is 300 LB, can the woods handle the lift? My main concern is the top wood which is lifting 300 LB (~ 150 on each side). can 150 LB on each side bend the 2”x8” enough to break it?
All these woods were purchased from Home Depots. Not sure what kind of woods they are but used for constructions.

[TDCTDI]

Oh HELL NO!!!


That center hook is likely to open up unless the threads pull out of the board first. I sure as fuck wouldn't want to be anywhere near that thing, much less under it.


You are using the boards in their weakest direction, they need to be vertical to bear the load properly.


And what do you have the upper pulley tied in to? Ceiling joists are already bearing the weight of everything above them.
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GOFUNDYOURSELF, quit asking everyone to do it for you!


An air cooled VW will make you a hoarder.


Do something, anything, to your project every day, and you will eventually complete it.

[chrisflstf]

The weight would likely buckle or snap the board at the eye hook in the middle

[aa390392]

Your NOT an engineer are you. Thats crazy.
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[WADVR]

I’d at least double up the 2x6 that spans across and hold all the weight. Run several screws between the two boards to add strength and also double up the boards arhat the thread all connects to the boards through the windows.

For reference I use two 4x4s spanning the width to set saw horses beyond the wheels and they hold fine but do bow a little. I know this is a little more distance so more strength is required but the thought of doing what you have pictured with a single plain 2x is a little scary IMO..

Have you tested for center of weight distribution? If it is just of an inch it will cause issues trying to easily lift up and out of the way to remove the chassis. I appreciate the ingenuity using the hoist you already have but it is so easy to lift these bodies off with the proper tools or a partner in a much safer manner.
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[Chickensoup]

I would just bring your neighbor, yourself, and Jeff from church over and lift the body off and set sown on wheels.

[borna428]

Thanks all for the comments.
Since I had a hoist I decided to put something together to lift it, but it seems is not a good design therefore I’ll abort the lift using this design .
My initial though was 2x8 should be strong enough to handle max 150 LB at each side assuming the body is 300lb, but with everything out the body should not be more 200 LBs.
Again will not take the chance to lift the body, but as a curiosity I’ll try to test the 2x8 by placing a small piece of wood in the center where the hook is and have 2 persons stand on each side of it to see it bend enough to break it?
Also someone mentioned the hook will open up. I don’t think that is true. That hook is 0.5 inches thick and rated for over 1000 lb. And yes it is drilled through the wood and fastened with washer and nut on the other side.

[TDCTDI]

At least turn the boards on their ends, this is where their strength is. Look at the rafters in a roof or the joists in a floor, all of those boards are vertical. I would rather see that main 2x8 vertical with a couple of 2" ratchet straps or old seat belts holding the cradle under the window openings.
_________________
Everybody born before 1975 has a story, good, bad, or indifferent, about a VW.


GOFUNDYOURSELF, quit asking everyone to do it for you!


An air cooled VW will make you a hoarder.


Do something, anything, to your project every day, and you will eventually complete it.

[borna428]

[heimlich]

What's the rating on that wire? It looks a little thin. In instances like this it is better to over engineer than under engineer.
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[borna428]

[heimlich]

450 doesn't sound like much.

You'll want two hooks instead of one. Assume one hook will break.

You are putting a lot of weight on those two ends. If one of those bolts breaks everything will slide off the side. You will want safety wires on the sides along with better bolts. If the bolt breaks the safety wire gives you time to run when everything comes flying.

There's a lot more you need to do.

Why can't you ask 3 neighbors to come help? Have a BBQ.
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[borna428]

[chrisflstf]

If the body isnt free of the pan, the load is going to be a lot more than 200lb

[borna428]

[TDCTDI]

[Redlines]

I wouldn’t work under it let alone sleep under it! However, 2 x 8’s x5 long are strong enough and I don’t see a 2x4x2 as breaking anytime soon under that weight! As the lifting points are pretty spread out and the eye is 1/2 inch I’d bet that set up would lift and hold that weight longer than three musclemen could!

[borna428]

[calvinater]

You may have to adjust fore and/or aft to find the center of mass. Try to find a welded eye bolt to go through the wood.
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[viiking]

Breaking strain of wire should be fine. If it truly is rated to 450 lb, it will most likely lift three times that. Engineers have a rule of safety factor of 2 or 3 times to protect themselves in the design.

A short length of 6x2 is pretty strong. Take a piece and suspend it at two ends and get 2 200lb people to stand in the middle and watch the deflection. If the timber is really construction grade, it shouldn't break. If it starts to deflect a lot, then you'll know.

What I would do however for your experiment is to put the side 2x4's under the 2x6 with bolts not on top of it. All of the weight is being transferred to the bolt here, whereas if it were underneath, the bolt would only be there to keep the timber in its location.

If really concerned about the 2x6, I would use a ratchet strap underneath the 2x6 and have it come up to the hook in a very flat triangle. All of the weight would be then transferred to the door area and the ends of the 2x6 where the likelihood of failure is very low.

The biggest issue as someone else has pointed out is the attachment point of the hoist. The ceiling joist are not designed to hold a "point load" of that much. Unless it is a steel beam, you will need to put extra vertical supports under that ceiling joist and prevent it from twisting, especially when the body has finally come off the pan and is swinging madly in the breeze. The ceiling joists are not designed to combat the rotational or torsion "moment" that will be introduced.

I lifted the body off my pan single handed, with a block and tackle suspended on a 8x3 steel USB. Did it easily. But then the beam was substantial.

Nice idea, but get some friends over.
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