Transmission Jack

Rich Z · 01-12-2016, 07:18 PM

The transmission jack that I ordered from Home Depot came in yesterday, so after meeting the Estes truck at the Walmart parking lot and loading the pallet into Connie's truck bed, we brought it home and parking in the garage. Later that day I used the engine hoist to lift the jack in the wooden crate it came in from the pallet onto the garage floor so we could put it together.

Pretty nice wooden box that it came in....

Putting it together was very easy and it seems like an extremely sturdy jack. The transmission adapter head on it only tilts in one direction, with another knob that will move the head laterally. Seems to me that the lateral adjustment is kind of a waste, because if you wanted to move whatever is on the lift that way, you could just as easily just move the entire jack itself. But maybe I am just missing the idea here.

Anyway, snapped some pics of that transmission jack, which is going to be 1 of 2. The other one I want to have an adapter head on it that tilts in both planes instead of just one like this one does, however.

Rich Z · 01-12-2016, 07:19 PM

I got the Kent Moore J-42055 transmission adapter in that I found on Ebay. This is designed for GM products, but it may help with keeping a Jeep transmission stable as well. Being sold as "used", but it looks like it has hardly been used at all. Certainly don't see any signs that it was ever mounted on a transmission jack, and some of the threaded holes even still have paint in them, showing that bolts have never been threaded into them. The straps have NO wear on them at all, that I can see.

Now I just have to get the main transmission jack that I want and drill and tap some holes in it's own adapter plate in order to mount this adapter to the jack.

Rich Z · 01-12-2016, 07:20 PM

I looked all over the internet for something like this, as I just could not figure out how all the parts I saw in photographs were supposed to work together to hold a transmission. Well, come to find out that it is sort of a kit. Two pieces are used only with the automated transmission, and the other two pieces are only used with the manual transmission. The base and straps are used with both sets of adapter plates. So anyway, I'm posting images of that manual here just in case I lose the darn thing or perhaps someone else wants to take a look at it. This adapter isn't particularly cheap, so it's best to know what it does before buying it....

Rich Z · 01-12-2016, 07:21 PM

Was taking a closer look at the new transmission jack yesterday, and noticed that the adapter head (or I believe it is called a "saddle") had some play with the tilt adjustment as well as the lateral movement adjustment. There are adjustment nuts on both threaded portions of the saddle, so I ran them as tight as they would go, and there was still a noticeable gap between the locking nut and the washers. So I just added another washer or two to take up the slack and that seemed to remove just about all of the play.

Now I did notice that whereas the lateral adjuster had thrust bearings on both sides of the shaft that actually moves the platform, the tilt adjuster lacks a bearing on the top side. Not sure if that is intentional or not, as there really doesn't look like there is enough space to put another bearing there anyway. I put oil on the bearings and the sliding surfaces, and it seemed to work smooth enough.

Rich Z · 02-02-2016, 12:45 AM

Got the second transmission jack in a while back.

Honestly I wasn't all that thrilled with the head that came on it, as it had a lot more play than I was comfortable with. So I contacted BendPak and expressed as much. After passing emails back and forth with the senior VP of sales, the guy checked out what I was talking about, then went and BOUGHT me a new head after checking with his staff and also going to a few transmission places to check on what other models were doing. His shop staff had to cut the mount off of one of their heads and weld it onto the replacement they sent me. I have to tell you, I was blown away by how far BendPak went to keep me a happy customer.

So anyway, I got in the new head, and it is a LOT better than the original one. Today I drilled and tapped holes into the plate on the head so I could mount the GM transmission adapter I bought earlier. It looks like that adapter was designed with this transmission jack head in mind, as the holes went into places perfectly that did not impact anything else underneath the head. I only had to do a little bit of "minor fitment", and that was because one of the holes I drilled was a little off. Not sure how that happened, but no big deal, fortunately. I also added the grab ring around the jack body, as I liked that style better than what came stock with the TransJack. This will allow me to more easily move the jack no matter where I am in relation to it.

Anyway, ON to the pics!

Rich Z · 02-02-2016, 12:45 AM

Last group of pics:

01-12-2016, 07:18 PM	#1
Rich Z Administrator Join Date: Oct 2015 Location: Crawfordville, FL Posts: 193	Transmission Jack The transmission jack that I ordered from Home Depot came in yesterday, so after meeting the Estes truck at the Walmart parking lot and loading the pallet into Connie's truck bed, we brought it home and parking in the garage. Later that day I used the engine hoist to lift the jack in the wooden crate it came in from the pallet onto the garage floor so we could put it together. Pretty nice wooden box that it came in.... Putting it together was very easy and it seems like an extremely sturdy jack. The transmission adapter head on it only tilts in one direction, with another knob that will move the head laterally. Seems to me that the lateral adjustment is kind of a waste, because if you wanted to move whatever is on the lift that way, you could just as easily just move the entire jack itself. But maybe I am just missing the idea here. Anyway, snapped some pics of that transmission jack, which is going to be 1 of 2. The other one I want to have an adapter head on it that tilts in both planes instead of just one like this one does, however.

01-12-2016, 07:19 PM	#2
Rich Z Administrator Join Date: Oct 2015 Location: Crawfordville, FL Posts: 193	I got the Kent Moore J-42055 transmission adapter in that I found on Ebay. This is designed for GM products, but it may help with keeping a Jeep transmission stable as well. Being sold as "used", but it looks like it has hardly been used at all. Certainly don't see any signs that it was ever mounted on a transmission jack, and some of the threaded holes even still have paint in them, showing that bolts have never been threaded into them. The straps have NO wear on them at all, that I can see. Now I just have to get the main transmission jack that I want and drill and tap some holes in it's own adapter plate in order to mount this adapter to the jack.

01-12-2016, 07:20 PM	#3
Rich Z Administrator Join Date: Oct 2015 Location: Crawfordville, FL Posts: 193	I looked all over the internet for something like this, as I just could not figure out how all the parts I saw in photographs were supposed to work together to hold a transmission. Well, come to find out that it is sort of a kit. Two pieces are used only with the automated transmission, and the other two pieces are only used with the manual transmission. The base and straps are used with both sets of adapter plates. So anyway, I'm posting images of that manual here just in case I lose the darn thing or perhaps someone else wants to take a look at it. This adapter isn't particularly cheap, so it's best to know what it does before buying it....

01-12-2016, 07:21 PM	#4
Rich Z Administrator Join Date: Oct 2015 Location: Crawfordville, FL Posts: 193	Was taking a closer look at the new transmission jack yesterday, and noticed that the adapter head (or I believe it is called a "saddle") had some play with the tilt adjustment as well as the lateral movement adjustment. There are adjustment nuts on both threaded portions of the saddle, so I ran them as tight as they would go, and there was still a noticeable gap between the locking nut and the washers. So I just added another washer or two to take up the slack and that seemed to remove just about all of the play. Now I did notice that whereas the lateral adjuster had thrust bearings on both sides of the shaft that actually moves the platform, the tilt adjuster lacks a bearing on the top side. Not sure if that is intentional or not, as there really doesn't look like there is enough space to put another bearing there anyway. I put oil on the bearings and the sliding surfaces, and it seemed to work smooth enough.

02-02-2016, 12:45 AM	#5
Rich Z Administrator Join Date: Oct 2015 Location: Crawfordville, FL Posts: 193	Got the second transmission jack in a while back. Honestly I wasn't all that thrilled with the head that came on it, as it had a lot more play than I was comfortable with. So I contacted BendPak and expressed as much. After passing emails back and forth with the senior VP of sales, the guy checked out what I was talking about, then went and BOUGHT me a new head after checking with his staff and also going to a few transmission places to check on what other models were doing. His shop staff had to cut the mount off of one of their heads and weld it onto the replacement they sent me. I have to tell you, I was blown away by how far BendPak went to keep me a happy customer. So anyway, I got in the new head, and it is a LOT better than the original one. Today I drilled and tapped holes into the plate on the head so I could mount the GM transmission adapter I bought earlier. It looks like that adapter was designed with this transmission jack head in mind, as the holes went into places perfectly that did not impact anything else underneath the head. I only had to do a little bit of "minor fitment", and that was because one of the holes I drilled was a little off. Not sure how that happened, but no big deal, fortunately. I also added the grab ring around the jack body, as I liked that style better than what came stock with the TransJack. This will allow me to more easily move the jack no matter where I am in relation to it. Anyway, ON to the pics!