Some time back, there was some posts on engine stands. I think the 1000# Sunnex geared head unit was mentioned. They are now available from tooltopia for a good price with free shipping. Before I take the plunge, does anybody have any real world experience with this particular unit? Northern Tool has a 1250 pound unit, cheaper to buy, more expensive to ship. Bigger is almost better except for price, then smaller is better. The other choice is an OTC 1250# unit not geared head, 2012A. Thanks for your thoughts

The Sunnex gives up 250lb capacity to the 1250lb unit. But the 1250lb unit only locks in 8 positions, the Sunnex stays put where every you stop in the 360 deg rotation.

The 1250lb unit takes up a smaller footprint when stored because the legs fold up like many engine cranes. The Sunnex rotating head folds down so it still takes up the same footprint but it could be stored under a bench or shelf.

The 1250lb units folding legs are splayed out like many engine cranes where the Sunnex's front wheels are in a T arrangment and are closer together. In my opinion it will be easier to get an engine on/off of the Sunnex stand from an engine crane because it fits between the cranes leg's. The 1250lb units splayed front legs would be interfering with the legs of the crane.

So far I have had an FE with aluminum heads and no intake on it and it does droup. But it was a breeze to get the engine on/off of the crane and easily mounted to the stand. You will need to supply the bolts and flat washers, they do not come with the stand. The engine rotates freely and makes assembly/disassembly much easier.

If the droup bothers you a little fabrication will cure that especially if you don't plan to fold it up since it's the slack in fold down mechanism thats responsible for the droup.

I am very please with the build quality and the operation. Be sure to grease the rotation head and run in the grease before you mount an engine. Here are some pics. Good Luck! ww


















1965 Galaxie 500XL 445ci Stroker (soon) C-6
1965 Galaxie 500XL 390ci P-Code, 4-Speed
1965 Galaxie 500XL 289ci Cruse-O-Matic
2001 Ford F-150 SuperCrew 5.4L
2006 John Deer X320 Garden Tractor

But it hasn't arrived here yet, so I don't have any review for you. I decided to order it as opposed to the other stand because the shipping for the other stand made it more expensive than the Sunex stand. That, and the reccomendation of a forum member who had a Sunex stand and liked it.

His only problem with it was that it drooped some. But he also said that he believed he could modify the bracing to eliminate the problem. The Sunex unit will fold down to be able to slide under a work bench etc. and the bracing that allows this needs to be beefed up as I understand it.

Kerry