I'm considering a MaxJax lift in my workshop, and the vehicle that has the most mass and probably the most extreme weight distribution is the '82 D350 crew cab short bed, with a light-weight stepside bed. Currently it has a 318 in it, but I'm considering the 12V swap.

Since the MaxJax is a two-post lift, getting the position of the lift right is very important. IIRC, the truck is about 18' long. The stall in the workshop is about 22' from the door to the toolbox, so in reality needing at least 3' from the toolbox to the front of the truck, I have to position the lift where the back of the truck is within a foot of the door.

So now I have to deal with weight distribution, accounting for both the current gas motor and the hopeful Cummins down the road. Anyone have suggestions for how far from the front of the truck the lift would need to be placed? It may be some time before I can experimentally determine the center of mass of the truck as it's shoehorned into the narrow side yard until I get my current project car done...

 

what is the load capacity of the maxjax you are thinking about? I just googled and saw a maxjax that had a capacity of 6k. that is not strong enough. you need a lift with a capacity of 9-10k.

 

How heavy is this truck? Five tons seems a bit extreme to me, and a discussion on the curb weights of the trucks from about five years ago has people talking about their dually Cummins trucks with the beefier frame weighing in at 6200lb. That's with a long double-wall bed. I would hope that my single-rear-wheel truck with a single-wall bed wouldn't be over three tons, though I guess I'll have to drag it out and get it running so that I can get it weighed at one of the local scrapyards.

 

that lift is for small to medium size cars and trucks. I would not attempt to put a full size truck on it. let alone a diesel of any kind. a diesel crewcab is pretty much out of the question. I bet if you contact danmar which I think is the mfr you will get pretty much the same answer. contact any lift dealer and inquire as to lift capacity in relation to diesel and /or crewcab trucks.

 

Well, I've e-mailed them. I'll post what Dannmar has to say.

For this truck in particular, I expect that my use of a lift like this would be to do tires, brakes, and suspension work most of the time, but to also to remove and install the cab or the bed. The low roof of the shop prohibits raising the Dodge up too high, and most of the lift's use would be for the cars, rather than the trucks that I own.

 

What I have is a Mohawk 12,000 pound hydraulic lift.
http://www.mohawklifts.com/wp/consum...s/model-lc-12/

I also have my in progress crew cab short bed W250 that uses that lift as it's parking space. My lift points are just ahead of the transmission crossmember and as far back as I can position the other arms with vertical extensions to the frame behind the cab and under the bed. I can get approximate measurements from the center line of the lift to the ends of the truck frame if you still need them tomorrow.

Also note - you may at some time require the truck to face in the opposite direction. Mine is parked backed in facing the door. This permits the removal of the cab [and/or bed] with the engine in place and lets you install the engine from the garage door side of the building instead of being crammed into a trapped death space between the truck and the wall in front.

 

your crewcab has the same frame as a dually its just longer. my w350 chassis cab with the short wheelbase(60" cab to axle) with a relatively light flatbed (wood deck) weighs just over 7k. when rolling across the scales as soon as the front wheels are on the scale the weight is just over 4k. I have to believe a d350 diesel crew would not be a whole lot lighter. lets say even if it was as light as 3500 which i doubt. even then you need a lift that is stong enough to support 2k at each arm just to have a small safety margin. so you can start to see that even a 7k lift would me marginal and likely not stout enough.

 

My Crewcab longbed cummin's swap
with no bumper's has a weight of 6200 lb's it also had no windshield and a very sparce interior

 

my reg cab long box automatic 4x4 SE. crank windows, manual locks, manual mirrors etc etc weighed roughly 5900lbs curb weight with a full tank of fuel. It was also really rusty and likely lost some weight there too.

Add power anything in those doors and the weight different is substantial. I've lifted power doors, and manual crank doors. The electronics no word of a lie must add at least 40-50 lbs a door.