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Harbor Freight Engine Hoist

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Old Aug 15, 2012 | 12:58 PM
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Default Harbor Freight Engine Hoist

Has anyone used theirs? Reading the reviews people were saying that the arm wouldnt reach over the front bumper to get to the motor. Any experience with theres?
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Old Aug 15, 2012 | 01:29 PM
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i have one and i was hitting the front bumper with it all the way extended. i got it on sale for $100 so for the price it wasnt bad.
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Old Aug 15, 2012 | 03:08 PM
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Can you make it work? I have the coupon as well to get it for $100 bucks
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Old Aug 15, 2012 | 03:18 PM
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I have one but I have not had to use it on an F body yet. We did pull a 6.1 out of an 08 Charger with no problem though.
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Old Aug 15, 2012 | 03:45 PM
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Originally Posted by USMC5811
Can you make it work? I have the coupon as well to get it for $100 bucks
yea you can get it to work. all i did was wrap a shirt around the part that was near the bumper so it wouldn't scratch it. then again the car was 3 feet in the air so maybe with it lower it might be better.
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Old Aug 15, 2012 | 05:48 PM
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I have lifted the whole front of an fbody with one when dropping the engine out the bottom. Also lifted the body of my 65 skylark with it. It gets used pretty hard and now needs a new hydraulic pump, won't hold any weight now. Got it about 5 years ago.
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Old Aug 15, 2012 | 05:51 PM
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I have one and have had it for a while now. They make two a smaller one and a larger one. get the larger one. I have used it quite a bit. On most cars it fits fine pulling motors from the front. On some cars it wont fit to pull the motor from the front (ex. corvette). If the nose of the car gets in the way then i just pull the motor from the side. over all it seems ok, the welds look like a little kid did them, I changed out the casters for better ones and i added a support brace to the main steel tube to keep it from twisting when rolling motor and hoist over rough surfaces. I would give it a 3.5 out of 5 starts. Could be better but for the price it definitely does the job
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Old Aug 15, 2012 | 06:18 PM
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yea i only plan on using it 1x for this 408 swap so hopefully it will work. found out my neighbor has one so i'm going to try his first, and if not pay for the HF one
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Old Aug 15, 2012 | 07:11 PM
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Originally Posted by USMC5811
yea i only plan on using it 1x for this 408 swap so hopefully it will work. found out my neighbor has one so i'm going to try his first, and if not pay for the HF one
If it makes you feel any better i have used it for an Iron LS with tranny and it did just fine
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Old Aug 16, 2012 | 12:12 PM
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i have one but i only use it to move heavy things around my shop. i haven't pulled a motor with it. i like that it is collapsible so i can move it out of the door without moving a vehicle. i use another old hoist i got from my grandfather for actually pulling a motor.
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Old Aug 16, 2012 | 08:09 PM
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Originally Posted by 3rdCoastPowerSports
If it makes you feel any better i have used it for an Iron LS with tranny and it did just fine
good because i'll be using it to put in an LSx 6.0 block lol
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Old Aug 16, 2012 | 09:38 PM
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Ive used it to put the LQ4 and 80e in my old truck, worked great. Where are yall finding the coupons to get them for $100?
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Old Aug 16, 2012 | 10:31 PM
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You won't have the length issue if you buy the 2 ton hoist. The one you are talking about is only a 1 ton which is why it is shorter. I'd spend a little more and get the 2 ton. Use one of their 20% off coupons on it.
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Old Aug 16, 2012 | 11:04 PM
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That coupon is in hot rod and car craft magazine a lot.
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Old Aug 17, 2012 | 10:35 AM
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I have a 1 Ton harbor freight unit that i have used for about 3 years and it has pulled around 20 motors and is still holding strong
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Old Aug 17, 2012 | 12:38 PM
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Originally Posted by btlegacy
I have a 1 Ton harbor freight unit that i have used for about 3 years and it has pulled around 20 motors and is still holding strong
on f-bodies too?
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Old Aug 18, 2012 | 09:52 AM
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I've pulled half a dozen f body engines with the 1 ton. I hook on near the bumper support and it still scuffs my damn bumper, and by the time the car is high enough to roll the engine out the feet (fold up type) are just about under the engine. Pain in the *** but do-able.
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Old Aug 19, 2012 | 04:02 AM
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The 1 ton is great for removing engines, however, it is not long enough to clear the the bumpers of most cars.

It's best to spend the extra money for the 2 ton. It has a much longer reach.
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Old Aug 19, 2012 | 07:57 AM
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I borrowed a 1 ton is why I used it. Just not enough reach over the nose. Definitely get the 2 ton version.
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Old Aug 19, 2012 | 06:38 PM
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Just get the 2-ton model. Many vendors have similar ones. I tried and tried to get one from HF earlier this year but they won't ship the 2-ton and the nearest store never got any in, though they expected them "...any time" for a couple weeks. I think I evenutally got one from Northern Tool, instead.

All the best and be careful with whatever you get.
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