Anyone have any good ideas on lifting a transaxle back in place using the bare minimum tools? I used rope tied accross boards and to some degree a floor jack to lower it. The ropes proved effective, the floor jacket not so helpful. To raise it, i don't think the rope idea will be so helpful and I am not sure how to get the proper balance to make the floor jack useful. Maybe two floor jacks with a piece of plywood?

 

I think that the floor jack will probably be the best solution to help lift up the transmission from the floor. I am not sure how you will balance it. How heavy is the automatic transmission?

Let us know what route you take, so another member can read your solution if they run into the same problem.

 

Its a manual trans and i can pick it up, so probably about 110-130 lbs. I will let all know how i end up raising it. Still working on removing a broken stud in the trans that is used for the motor mount.

 

I used a scissors jack with a piece of wood. It was a pain to balance it while aligning the shaft into the pilot bearing. But at the time I was in college & didn't have money for a proper transmission jack.

 

Not wanting to buy specialy equipment like a trans lift...Here is what i did. I placed dolly / wheel barrow tire with rim on my floor jack. The rim on the tire happened to just fit the round thingy on the jack. Bolting it on would have been better but..... The tire actually cradles the trans quite nicely. Once it was balanced, i used a one hand to keep the balance on the trans and the other used to crank it up. Works pretty good, after i raised the trans to where it was tight against some parts of the car, I tied it off from above with wood slats across the engine compartment. I then added another floor jack and used the two in unison to change the angle of the trans until I could get it fit into place. The process probably took 1.5 hours before I finally put the first bolt in. I would not recomend this procedure for any trans that is very heavy. This trans probably weighed less than 125lbs. Anyways, thats how I did it, cheap but a little time consuming.

 

I think there is a "transmission lift jack adapter" which mounts on a floor jack. They were < $20 when I looked some time ago. Now appear to cost $30-$50. I have no idea how well they work.

regards