I was reinstalling my tank the other day & thought I'd share some tips for those of you how are gonna be removing/installing your tanks. I've read other posts where some guys placed jackstands or used jacks to lift the tank into place. I tried this & it was a pain in the butt...It gave me less room to work & still didn't get the tank as high as I needed it. So what I did was loop a rope around the tank and bring it up through the filler hole. I took a broom handle, got the rope nice and tight and secured the rope to the broom handle. I laid an old winter coat on the rear deck to keep the paint from getting scratched. This was much better than using the jack stands!
Also, when reinstalling the straps, do not tighten them all the way down just yet. Bolt them up, but then focus on installing the rear crossbar support. The loosely installed straps will allow you to position the crossbar much easier! I also used small vicegrips to hold the crossbar to the frame and gave me two free hands to bolt that up...
Once everything was bolted up, I cut the rope, and tightened everything up. Took me 2 hours by myself as I was learning & going through the process. I'd say I could probably do it again in about an hour now.
Good luck!
Also, when reinstalling the straps, do not tighten them all the way down just yet. Bolt them up, but then focus on installing the rear crossbar support. The loosely installed straps will allow you to position the crossbar much easier! I also used small vicegrips to hold the crossbar to the frame and gave me two free hands to bolt that up...
Once everything was bolted up, I cut the rope, and tightened everything up. Took me 2 hours by myself as I was learning & going through the process. I'd say I could probably do it again in about an hour now.
Good luck!
