has anyone hung a car body from ceiling?

[75vette]

hello everyone, I ask the question because i have a corvette rear clip i'd like to get up out of the way. i have plenty of head room but am not sure of a safe method. if you have done this i'd appreciate some how to's on this. thanks,john

 

[Professur]

weight?

 

[75vette]

hmm, not exactly sure guess would be +/-500 lbs. takes 4 guys to move it around.

 

[Capt Chrysler]

They hang toppers, why not a rear clip.


Capt. Chrysler

 

[Old Moparz]

Get some chains, hooks & a forklift.......or lots & lots of friends.


I think if you can deviate from your plan you'd be better off with some industrial pallet racking to support it, but raising it will still be an issue. Build a platform/pallet the size you need & secure the car to it. The structure above a finished ceiling is usually designed to hold whatever the ceiling is only, like drywall.

 

[kbs2244]

Wow…
I don’t think I have seen “Multiple MoPars” in any roof framing strength formulas.

 

[ra42mario]

I know a guy with a shop who had an entire car lifted from the ceiling (minus drivetrain). The shop was large with metal trusses. Not sure how wood trusses would hold the weight. Just try it and see what happens. If it starts bowing remove the car, if its flat with little deflection, leave it in my opinion.

 

[fredybender]

I had my 520lbs bike hangning from a hook in one of my 2X10 rafters...
Not allt the weight was on it though...
I would rate the weight on the hook at about 150-lbs or so

 

[75vette]

cant try it and see as i have a finished 75 and a 72 that i am restomoding. my original thought was to lag an couple 2x6s to the ceiling then use some eye bolts and wratchet straps to hoist it up

 

[camarotoolman]

Maybe one of rigs they use to lift boats out of the water. Common here in Fl.

 

[Professur]

If you were to use a similar system to what they use to hang bicycles with pulleys, set it up in a diamond formation so that each of 4 pulleys would be from a separate joist, that would average out to about 100lbs each. Shouldn't be a problem unless you're already structurally compromised. I'd unbolt as much as I could from it tho .. 500lbs sounds excessive

 

[HeadsUp]

The body of my '65 roadster was suspended from a ceiling for years by the previous owner. It resulted in a bit of warping. Depending on what is it hanging from it is definitely possible. Keep in mind to support the fiberglass properly. The weight for just the rear clip is probably much less than 500lbs. You could ask the question over on the corvetteforum.com. To get some more opinions.

 

[mmhouse]

If you were to use a similar system to what they use to hang bicycles with pulleys, set it up in a diamond formation so that each of 4 pulleys would be from a separate joist, that would average out to about 100lbs each. Shouldn't be a problem unless you're already structurally compromised. I'd unbolt as much as I could from it tho .. 500lbs sounds excessive

A better approach would be to span a number of ceiling joists from above with a small beam(s) and then attach whatever you're hanging to the beam(s). This way you are spreading the weight across many joists rather than putting so much weight on single joists.

If you look you'll find that this is often the way that heaters are hung from rafters - not from the rafters themselves but from members spanning multiple rafters.

 

[ShadowRuleZ]

I lifted the body off my g-body with three come-a-longs to the rafters, but didn't leave it up there for more than an hour.

 

[ersatzs2]

Wow…
I don’t think I have seen “Multiple MoPars” in any roof framing strength formulas.

LOL, right, there is now officially no question so offbeat or specialized that someone on GJ won't have done it, with photos.

I'm going to start a photo thread of garages that are also missile silos. There will be 5 replies in an hour...

 

[WQ59B]

My brother has had the body shell of his '63 Tempest hung from the steel span of his shop for a good 4 years now.

 

[darkk]

One of my old bosses hung his 27 ft inboard boat from the center beam in a 30x40 steel building once. Scared the **** outta me because I had to paint the whole damned hull.

 

[75vette]

thanks for all the replies everyone. I think i'm gonna go with six eye bolts 3 on each side roughly 2 ft apart. then rathet strap it up. if one hook can hold that bike up surely my setup should be fine

 

[boilermanc]

Not sure what you ended up doing, but what you described is exactly what I did with the roof for my 69 Scout which is not exactly light. I put some 2x's under each end with eye bolts and then just ratcheted it up with ratchet straps. Worked like a charm!

 

[1967marti]

if possible i would wrap the straps around the beams rather than use screw-in hooks. When using hooks you are betting on the holding power of the crew and not so much the weight holding power from the beams. It can work with just the screw-hooks but if possible i'd use the straps on the beams.

 

[L5wolvesf]

We had a stripped VW body only (not the chassis) hung, from the rafters of a shop. We bolted chain to the rear bumper holes and around a couple 4x4s that were laid across the rafters to distribute the weight. It took about 4 of us (kinda like 5 with our Samoan buddy Manny) to lift it. It helped that it was going to be hung close to the back corner wall.

Good luck,
L

 

[mmhouse]

We had a stripped VW body only (not the chassis) hung, from the rafters of a shop. We bolted chain to the rear bumper holes and around a couple 4x4s that were laid across the rafters to distribute the weight. It took about 4 of us (kinda like 5 with our Samoan buddy Manny) to lift it. It helped that it was going to be hung close to the back corner wall.

Good luck,
L

This is definitely the best way to do it - lay a beam across multiple bottom chords to distribute the weight. It's also not a good idea to rely on the threads of a screw to support the weight and possibly compromise the strength of the truss bottom chord. If a hook is desired in the beam spanning the bottom chords use one that bolts through a drilled hole in the spreader beam and use a nice big flat washer on the top.

 

[countryroad82]

Get some chains, hooks & a forklift.......or lots & lots of friends.


I think if you can deviate from your plan you'd be better off with some industrial pallet racking to support it, but raising it will still be an issue. Build a platform/pallet the size you need & secure the car to it. The structure above a finished ceiling is usually designed to hold whatever the ceiling is only, like drywall.

Old Moparz you can't post pics like that and not have a story behind them!!! I gotta know about the wing car and the Charger, whats the story?!!!!

 

[carhunter]

Why, yes, I have

This is actually taken when the body was lifted off the trailer. Its now hanging from two 3" cargo straps in the back corner of the barn, close to the rafter ends. Straps are looped over the bottom 2x4 cords of separate trusses. No deflection noted, and it probably weighs 300 lbs.