Weather is getting better here so I'm starting to go out and tear apart my sammi and tracker. Well I wanted to see if my cherry picker would lift the motor/trans high enough to clear the front end but not even close. If I take the front end off it would make my life easier doing the swap, new wiring, and etc.

So how hard is it to remove the whole front end in one piece? or you think i should just take the grill support off and take the wheels off and lay the axle on jack stands? 

Thanks alot guys

What if you first removed the front springs (assuming you mean the Tracker)? And aired down the tires?

like he said start with the easiest things first 1. air down tires then if still not low enough pull the tires and lower the front onto either the axle (sammy) or pinch welds or lift point on the track/kick. sorry dont know anything about track/kicks so i dont know where to prop the thing up on the front. when i lifted the engine out of my sammy i just had a freind help me lift it over the front while it was still attached to the lift.

I've done a Samurai engine/transmission extraction with an engine hoist and found that about all you need to do is to remove the radiator first to give yourself room.

You didn't say if the Tracker was 2wd or 4wd, so I would guess it's a 4wd and suggest that you remove the radiator and the front part of the clip so that you can pull the engine forward over the bumper in order to get the engine/transmission/t-case assembly out in one chunk. 

I have removed the entire front part of the clip on my Sidekick but that was just to get the engine out.  It was easier to do but a little more disassembly work... 

i should of gave more details but ur help is still good

the tracker is 4wd stock but its a salvage title so im bringing the torch to the core support and pulling engine/tranny/tcase together straight out.

my samurai is lifted 5 inchs and a 3 inch body lift.

i didn't think about the springs. That's a great idea! It will make it easier cleaning the engine bay and running wires and stuff.

im trying to avoid climbing up and down. i was in a car accident last year and still recovering from it and it left me with limited mobility in my right knee and ankle so i am unable to squat and climbing up and down kills me

i didn't think about the springs. That's a great idea! It will make it easier cleaning the engine bay and running wires and stuff.

Hope it works for you.  It definitely worked for me, but my cherry picker had a lot of extension available to begin with.

I also found that raising the rear of the truck as much as (safely) possible really helped in getting the motor and transmission as a unit to clear the firewall with minimal wrangling. 

yea we did that with a nissan 240sx engine swap it was to low to the ground to be able to tilt the motor so we jacked the rear end and it came right out.

i started playing with the tracker today. marked all the connectors  and took pictures so maybe ill be able to sell the engine harness and ecu to someone

the top intake tube the alumn part before the t.b. it was a B*t*h to get off. i had to use a map gas torch just aliitle bit to expand it to pop off

Hey Bob, take it easy on that leg! ya only got two you know!