6v-92 Dolly

[Jriddle]

I have two maintenance manuals for my 1984 MC-9. Both have illustrations for a engine dolly for a 8v-71. Will this dolly work for 6v-92? If not does anyone have drawing for a dolly that will work?

Thanks John

[luvrbus]

They work John but a new 5500 lb pallet jack for 350 bucks is far better and will probably be cheaper than building the dolly 

[wg4t50]

Agree on the pallet jack, I was lucky, had a Clark fork lift, so slide out the track on to the forks, worked great for both the 8V & 12V engines.

[Dave5Cs]

Will my 5500 lb Pallet Jack move the motor with the tranny attached?Ummmm

Dave5Cs

[luvrbus]

Sure will Dave without any problems

[Dave5Cs]

Great now all I need is about 10 yards of Concrete and to put down a pad. We have a lot of gravel and I will now have to replace o ring in cylinder on My pallet Jack.

Dave5Cs

[Jriddle]

Clifford

Thanks for the reply. Will pallet Jack go high enough or do I need to make some modifications? Jack sound better to me it would have other uses.

Thanks Again
John

[Dave5Cs]

I don t know about yours but ours goes up about 6-1/2 inches which with a few blocks would be good.you only need to raise the motor up1/4" according to the book.

Dave5Cs from Galaxy S III

[TexasBorderDude]

About 3" to 4" of lift

[luvrbus]

I just build a cradle that sets on the pallet jack from 2 in angle iron or square tubing for different buses,with the dolly it probably won't be a issue for you but for me I need to remove the oil pan and the dolly is useless for me with the engine setting on the oil pan bolts plus I don't need a floor crane to remove the engine from the dolly 1 2 ton floor or engine lift will not pickup the engine and transmission together 

[bevans6]

What I would do is make a frame to fit onto the pallet jack so the jack could stay low.  Basically just four posts that stick up and ride against the oil pan rail.  The dressed engine is going to be around 2600 lbs more or less, the transmission is probably around 800.  If your rear-most pair of posts pick up the engine pan rail right back at the bell-housing the balance point is going to keep the whole thing stable.  On an MC-9 you can pick up the engine a fair bit, on a MC-5 you have about 1/2" clearance over the compressor so you can't pick it up much at all.  You need to pay a lot of attention to keeping the bus cradle level so when you pick up the engine and start to pull it out it comes out straight and doesn't hang up.  Also, plan to have a come-along to help pull.  3500 lbs on a dolly is not trivial if the surface is even slightly tilted or rough.

Here is a picture of the dolly I made, my suggestion is to basically use something like that but with the pallet jack under it instead of wheels.  It is a ton easier to pick up the engine slightly with a pump-jack than it is to drop the bus slightly with multiple jacks and blocking, believe me!

Edit:  note in the bottom picture my rack is not back to the bell-housing - my MCI had a cross-member in the way.  I had a strap at the front to hold the front down so the engine didn't rock on the dolly.  That picture is fully dressed with the Spicer gearbox still attached to the back of the engine.

Brian

[Jriddle]

Thanks
That's how I envisioned it. The pallet jack with some sort modified cradle looks a lot easier than the one in the book. I will be working on getting something made when I get my next days off. I will document what I do for others.

Thanks John

[Geoff]

I use the bottom part of a 4k cherry picker and just make brackets to hold the engine at the front, flywheel housing sides, and transmission.  Lower the bus to clear thr rails, and roll it out.