Best way to secure & transport an engine in the bed of a pickup truck?

This Saturday I'm planning on heading out to secure a 'new' engine for the 2000 Blazer I just picked up. As the Blazer itself is not currently mobile and can't be used for this task I'm borrowing a friend's beater Ford Ranger for the task of transporting the replacement engine.

The question is obviously: what's the best way to secure and transport it in the bed of the truck? We'll be pulling it as whole as possible (minus the accessories on the front since the ones on mine should be fine and they'll charge more for them anyway...) so will have to not crush or damage anything. The best I've come up with so far is to take a pallet and tire I have sitting around and put the engine on the tire on top of the pallet and ratchet-strap everything together. Hopefully there will be a way to secure the pallet in the bed- but at least that way it would be a lot more protected and have a lot more friction to overcome to slide around...

Tire and ratchet strap will be plenty. I've done it with less....

Ratchet straps around the engine going to the bed corners to keep it from falling over or shifting.

I found that two TH400s slide all over the damn place without doing this.

Skip the pallet. Tire and ratchet straps to the corners will be plenty. I just hauled a Hemi this way, in my S10. Take the cap off the truck, if it has one - it'll most definitely be in the way.

Yup. On a 4.3 id use a 15 or 16 tire. Two ratchet straps in an x pattern, and drive gently.

Don't put it further in the bed than your hoist at the house can reach. TThey're a bitch to drag to the tailgate.

Excellent- good to know I was on the right track.

+# on the tire and ratchet straps. Brought home a Spitfire engine in my Grand Caravan from MI to PA that way. According to my friend who drove it home (I was in the Spitfire), other stuff we packed shifted, but the engine never budged.

Dusterbd13 wrote: Don't put it further in the bed than your hoist at the house can reach. TThey're a bitch to drag to the tailgate.

Nah... One strap hook on the tire, the other on a post (or other heavy object - like a dead Blazer )... drive forward until the engine is at the tailgate.

If you are driving a fair distance, I'd want the engine as close to the front of the bed as possible so that in the unfortunate event of a front collision, the engine is less likely to become a hostile flying object trying to forcefully enter the truck cab. I speak from experience...

bring a few cut off ends of 2x4 as well. sometimes they are really helpful in getting an engine to sit 'straight up' while you tie it down.

I've used a heavy plastic bin before for 4 cylinders:

This must have been after the straps came off other wise that thing would have slid around a lot. It was nice for doing the 'lift' to the ground because of the lip gives two people something to hold on to.

I just wrapped a furniture blanket in a tarp to pad the oil pan and set the motor on that. While the engine was lowered into the bed but still on the hoist, I just used a couple ratchet straps to secure it. Don't over-think it - it's just a bit of cargo that leaks fluids and unless you do something epically crazy you're not going to hurt it.

In reply to RossD:

I'm surprised the lip holds up. I have a similar bin and it tore the handle out trying to deal with the weekly laundry, I can't imagine it's beefy enough to handle a Zetec.

You can make a quick engine cradle with 2X4's and the dimensions of the engine. I have one that I use for Subaru motors that the scrapyard made for me when I picked one up. Then ratchet straps to all 4 corners of the pick-up. Drove home 3 1/2 hours and it never budged.

Don't put it in the center of the bed. Put it all the way forward.

If you have an emergency stop, you don't want it sliding forward and/or stressing the straps. If you have a wreck, you don't want it gaining momentum before it comes through the cab.

Ranger50 wrote: Tire and ratchet strap will be plenty. I've done it with less....

^this

Hauled bunches of motors like this. Pallet is prolly overkill. X4 on the ratchet straps.

This was fortunate enough to have a cradle. Even then I put a couple straps on it. never budged and inch.

In reply to Grtechguy:

Am missing something, or did you strap it toward the FRONT?

The whole point is to resist emergency braking forces. Strap primarily toward the rear.

I've removed the straps in this photo, but I had it sitting just like this, strapped to the two rear corner hooks and another strap going over the tailgate down to the tow hitch.

+whatever on the tire and some straps.

I have hauled SBCs and rotaries this same way with never any issue.

In reply to SVreX:

More straps to the rear after that pic. Not that 750+ lbs was moving anywhere.

I always use a tire and straps. Take along a 1-foot piece of 2x4 to lay across the tire under the shallow part of the pan just in case.

I also like to use the heavy straps or heavy rope. A 1" ratchet strap is like dental floss in a frontal impact with a 600-lb chunk of iron. You don't want an engine slamming into your back at 60 mph.

Grtechguy wrote: In reply to SVreX: More straps to the rear after that pic. Not that 750+ lbs was moving anywhere.

Glad to hear it.

But do not underestimate it. That 750 lb chunk of iron will move with a force of about 20 tons in a front end collision.

Those 1" ratchet straps are completely inadequate. They are only rated for a couple hundred lbs. It would come right through you.

had 2 4" straps.

Put the tire on top of a Rubbermaid tote lid, that way you can get it up against the front of the bed and then easily slide it to the tailgate for unloading. Straps will hold it in place just fine, but tires don't slide on bedliner easily...unless it is leaking fluids all over, which it probably will be.

Might not be a bad idea to bring something to clean up your buddy's truck bed, too.

fasted58 wrote:

Ranger50 wrote: Tire and ratchet strap will be plenty. I've done it with less....

^this Hauled bunches of motors like this. Pallet is prolly overkill. X4 on the ratchet straps.

My preferred method as well.

Many years ago I was driving down the highway when a pickup pulled onto the road in front of me. He had a big block Chevy in the bed that wasn't strapped down; as he turned onto the highway and accelerated that thing rolled out and landed in the middle of the highway.

In reply to Grtechguy:

Good.

This thread is about the best way to secure a load. There is not a single picture posted that is acceptably secured, and an awful lot of the suggestions are questionable.

You won't hurt the engine. It can lay at an angle, sit on it's pan, whatever.

However, you need to be cautious in how it is secured for SAFETY. It's a lot of weight, that can easily become a battering ram in a fraction of a second.

Ease of unloading is completely insignificant. Move the load to the front of the truck, and bind it to the front wall. It is an odd shaped piece, and it is hard to strap securely if it is not against something solid.

Better would be to have a cradle to support it both fore and aft, as well as side to side.

It's not really a cradle, but the the tire is not a bad platform. 2x4's work too.

Please don't use 1" ratchet straps. Ever.