cheap engine support beam - any good?

[CoolHands]

I need to change the clutch in mini cooper. You need an engine support beam / bar to do so to hold the engine up. They seem pretty cheap at 50 quid delivered! Are they good enough to get the job done? I suppose they must be... they'e sold a lot

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/223548948031?hash=item3...

[Oldandslow]

I've never seen one of those. My greatest concern wouldn't be the beam itself. Do modern cars have strong enough wing body work to take that load? Maybe on the strut towers but on the outer edges?

[gazza285]

The engine needs supporting only, you are not removing all the engine mounts. Looks like a handy piece of kit to be honest.

[Fastpedeller]

just use a bit of fence post and a couple of seat belts!

[CoolHands]

Fastpedeller said:

just use a bit of fence post and a couple of seat belts!

I’d rather make life easy these days! But paying a garage is around £500 quid in labour as so much stuff has to come off before you can get the gearbox out. I don’t fancy that so might have to put some graft in

[Pastie Bloater]

Oldandslow said:

I've never seen one of those. My greatest concern wouldn't be the beam itself. Do modern cars have strong enough wing body work to take that load? Maybe on the strut towers but on the outer edges?

Depends on the car, for some this is how the manufacturer's procedures do it, others have more specialised kit. For me I'd be looking at a proper branded one, heard horror stories of the cheapo ones twisting about (very flimsy C channel). Also depends on if it's taking the whole weight or just being a steady. I recently did something like this using 2 ratchet straps on an E46 with BMW strut brace (which is steel and quite hefty), to drop the subframe and sump, taking the weight of the engine.

CoolHands said:

I need to change the clutch in mini cooper. You need an engine support beam / bar to do so to hold the engine up. They seem pretty cheap at 50 quid delivered! Are they good enough to get the job done? I suppose they must be... they'e sold a lot

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/223548948031?hash=item3...

BMW mini cooper? I've got TIS so can have a look how it's done if you like?

[CoolHands]

Yes an R56, 2009 Cooper S. Nah it’s ok thanks. Basically st loads has to come off. That’s ok but the main worry is if removing the steering rack from the column (as it has to come down with the subframe) when putting it back might have problems with the angle sensor needing recalibrating / SZL error code

[Pastie Bloater]

It shouldn't be a problem as the rack connection has flats so easy to put back on the right orientation. With DSC it always says to do steering angle sensor adjustment as its finicky about being dead ahead (I forget the angle tolerance) but if you're not unbolting the rack from subframe again you should be ok.

[NuvolAscaRina]

I have one , bought from Machine Mart , they do the job fine .

[sliks]

Like with everything else, there is always the next one up. The linked item is a straight bar whereas you can get the one with the additional support leg which gives the bar extra stability and increases the weight limit