Home 
Can anyone venture a guess on how long it might take to park 2 trucks next to each other and swap engines? Seems pretty straightforward but I always miss something...
Can the engine/transmission be pulled with the PTO still attached?
Thanks
Rick
Engine swap
Moderators: Cal_Gary, T. Highway, Monkey Man, robi
Rick - if you're thinking of pulling up next to someone at a stop light, and acquiring their engine, might not be enough time...
The biggest issue for time is getting all the bolts loose. If you are doing a direct swap, you could have all the front end sheetmetal off both, disconnect the driveshaft, park/tc/shift handles, gas line, gas/brake vent lines, break loose the front and rear motor mounts, exhaust downpipe, and the 2 radiator bolts to the cross member. The rad/engine/trans can be lifted by dropping the rear trans end, and rotate the whole thing up at the front, while pulling the hoist forward as you go. The only drips we had were at the fuel pump. Its pretty impressive seeing the whole assembly hanging from a chain. We had ours out the second time this way in about 2 hours. Going in was tougher because you have to steer the trans end down and in. Lots of bumping into sheetmetal.
The biggest issue for time is getting all the bolts loose. If you are doing a direct swap, you could have all the front end sheetmetal off both, disconnect the driveshaft, park/tc/shift handles, gas line, gas/brake vent lines, break loose the front and rear motor mounts, exhaust downpipe, and the 2 radiator bolts to the cross member. The rad/engine/trans can be lifted by dropping the rear trans end, and rotate the whole thing up at the front, while pulling the hoist forward as you go. The only drips we had were at the fuel pump. Its pretty impressive seeing the whole assembly hanging from a chain. We had ours out the second time this way in about 2 hours. Going in was tougher because you have to steer the trans end down and in. Lots of bumping into sheetmetal.