Is my deuce a crane truck now?

[Kaiserjeeps]

Well it's been 7 months down now due to a clutch, interior strip and repaint. I drove it 2 miles and discovered I had a blown head gasket. I have a new style set waiting to go. I bought a harbor freight pick up crane and modified it a little. I made a taller mast at 3 feet. I also installed a jeep wheel bearing in the top so it spins with a slight wind.

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I put a hand winch and 25 feet of 3/16 cable in addition to the existing fixed hook.

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It goes on the front bumper with mounts I made. Most everything was made from existing brackets I had laying around.

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It will be kept in the back where it can be used. It fits with the troop seats up or down.

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If I pull the rear bow I can get a tall load in.

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So I can see what I am aiming for.

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Now to do the cylinder heads....

 

[AceHigh]

I put the same crane in the back of my truck- after unloading 12 tires and wheels by hand. I like your mods to it!

 

[clinto]

That's awesome. Love it.

 

[toddm]

Looks great, I added mine for loading and unloading tires. I had to cut 4" out of it so it would fit under my cargo cover, then I added a few pulleys and hand crank winch. It's better than trying to lift those heavy suckers into the bed by yourself!

 

[ivbeenrokd]

How much weight can something like that hold?

 

[WillWagner]

Looks great, I added mine for loading and unloading tires. I had to cut 4" out of it so it would fit under my cargo cover, then I added a few pulleys and hand crank winch. It's better than trying to lift those heavy suckers into the bed by yourself!

That's funny. Your hoist is the exact one I have and you did the same thing I did...removing 4 inches from it. I use a 1000# chain hoist on mine instead of the wire rope and crank. I got mine from a military junk yard, where'd you bag yours?

 

[KsM715]

and where do you pick up the winch and pulley for the front?

 

[ALFA2]

Kaiserjeeps, that is a really unique, but useful fix for the harbor freight item, what type of jeep wheel bearing did you use, and what is the finished cranes weight capacity?

Thanks

ALFA2

 

[neilhendrix]

Very nice. I have the same thing but mounted on the tail gate , alse with wing nuts so I can move it to the M109 trailer tongue to pick/load the gen set. Acehigh is correct, it works great on tires too.

 

[robr]

nice work

 

[toddm]

The lift came in a package deal with a bandsaw, engine lift and some other stuff. Some guy came into the place that I work and sold my boss all of this stuff pretty cheap about 8 years ago. This lift sat in the corner all of that time and I gave him $50 for it. I bought small snatch blocks from Harbor Freight to use for the pulleys for the cable and bought the winch from them also. When I want to put the troop seats down I can pull the crane out of it's base and the seat fits perfectly over the base. So for less than $100 I had a useful thing for my truck.

 

[Kaiserjeeps]

Thanks guys. I am not sure what it will hold. I have a couple buick 455's I have been trying to get rid of. I was going to hang one of those for the pictures but they are behind a customers rig. I have found that I need to stiffen the rear upper mount. Thats the one I need to be the strongest. When I swing the boom straight out the back and hang on it I can see flexing in the SS mounting plate on the bed. Some fine tuning I see. I got the pulley from ACE hardware from a closet door part. It does have bearings but I did not think to use one from a HF snatch block. If this one does not hold up I'll swap a new pulley in there.
I like the winch as it was free from a friend. The wheel bearing is a standard front bearing and race for a 60's or 70's CJ. I just welded a strip of sheet metal to hold the race in place. I did make the upper puck to hold the bearing in my lathe. So I did need to make several parts to make this work.
It really does spin in the wind. A clamp brake may be needed for really heavy stuff that is being loaded when it is not level.
Funny, I was touching up some of the paint and next thing you know I am redoing the truck bed. I also noticed if you look at the crane wrong it will chip the paint and HF orange paint wil glare out like a sore thumb. I'll have to carry a paint can in my spares.

 

[Kaiserjeeps]

I am going to make a 3/8 plate mount with a little wider footprint for the rear upper ring. The SS bracket I had was on the shelf and is only 1/4. It flexes a bit. I want it to lift a bit of weight before showing it. Fine tuning.

 

[JAYHAWK 1962]

nice job!!

 

[Grifter]

Looks good to me.

 

[markmontana]

I found a small crane, good only for light duty:

Seriously- I am working on a bed crane that would fit in several locations on the truck. Planning to pick up a lost cost unit and then modify/upgrade it. Lots of good ideas here.

-

 

[wsucougarx]

Nice touch!

 

[Kaiserjeeps]

I got a chance to use the crane. The upper mount was weak. It twisted with a load. I built another one and added a tie rod that works with the troop seats up or down. It worked like a charm. I just spent 4 days getting over 15,000 pounds of firewood. I was a little shocked to find I had stuffed 5500 pounds in a M105. I built the pintle to move the trailer. It did not like the tongue weight. The duece rear axle weight was 17150.
The duece handled it with one minor problem. My airpack malfunctioned yet again. It lightly applied the braked while I was driving. What a drag. I am done messing with it. I ordered a new one. I am taking the truck to the drag strip on saturday. It's truck day. I am hoping for slowest time.

 

[Kaiserjeeps]

These trucks are great work horses.

 

[gimpyrobb]

NICE AL! Looks like she is doing well for ya.