[1931 steve]

Whats the best way to store a crank shaft? Is it better to sit it on its butt or lay it across the throws?

Thanks

Steve

[stepside454]

the best way is to hang it...the second best & most common is to stand it on end...the worst way is to lay it down

[35WINDOW]

I was always taught (right or wrong) to store it on end -Flywheel side down-

[sha_ba_do_bang]

y shouldn't store it on its side?

Brendan

[machine shop tom]

It really doesn't matter. If it's on it side, it can't get knocked over......

tom

[poncho62]

Like Tom says...if it falls over, that will hurt it more than it laying on it's side. Hang it. Build a slotted shelf so it can hang by the back end.

[curtis73]

I store mine on end in a way that they can't fall. In my situation I have mine behind my air compressor. I have one crank right now that doesn't fit behind it, so I just wrapped it in an old blanket and set it on end. If it does fall, at least it won't damage it.

[curtis73]

I have seen guys use the snout bolt and drill a few holes in a shelf. They just hold the crank up to the shelf and thread the bolt through the hole. I did that once and dropped a cast Caddy crank from chest height on a cement floor. I gave up on that idea.

[mechanicodell]

If you want to have it rebalanced, lay it on the side, pay the machine shop again. They will love the extra business. Mind you it is now down season, so good luck on getting it back by spring time.
Or, store it upright, hanging, is probably safest though watch your head. Bolt the flex pate on and use tha as a stand, or last but not least, make sure it is upright. Best to worse of the three.

[onovakind67]

Why would you have to rebalance the crank if you lay it on its side?

[mechanicodell]

It is not a rod, it has weights plural. Eack weight wants to go its own way. Gravity is still an issue even though it is metal. Not only from a crank getting thrust around inside an engine block, but it gets heated and cooled and heated and cooled, etc... The more true a crank is to being balanced, means less friction, less resistance. I want my crank to not slap up and down or side to side or twist. I want it to be as balanced as the guys at the machine shop can get it. And when a master engine builder tells me that I need to store it upright and not on its side and explains what I explained, as well as my going to the machine shops enough times and seeing and talking to a few machinists, I am not asking again. His name is Tom Varrenti. He is in Penn Hills, PA. Credentials to my knowledge. Hotrodding since the 50s, back and forths with Jack McDunah or however his name is spelled, 1977 Nationals from all over the country in PA, was only person left standing from Keystone on Sunday and red lighted. Did it all on his own money and was the only white camaro without an endorsement. B&R represented the other 11 guys. Ask CraneCams if they know of him?
He puts an engine together and he does it right. His crank assembly let alone his engine assembly is tops. Smooth as silk is spins.
That's why, don't store it on its side.
Dang, sorry for the long windedness, but didn't know on how else to explain my knowledge of that.

[onovakind67]

You want me to believe that a crank that will withstand 500#ft of torque is going to bend if I lay it on the floor? I'll bet you can't measure the deflection. This question came up in a different forum and here's one of the replies, from a well respected engine builder in Northern California:

"You know,, this has been around forever & I used to subscribe to it too at one time because it has been repeated so many times. Never thought to question it.

Well, one of the best performance crank grinder in the business had a crank sitting on his counter on a set of V blocks at each end with a big old lead weight attached to the center main,,
Now this would be the worst case scenario for laying a crank on its side being as it has no support from end to end.
I assumed it was for display.
The real reason was for uninformed folks like me who thought you had to stand a crank up for storage.
This crank had been in this position for probably 10 years & was as straight as the day he put it there.

The very simple reason that you see cranks hanging up in most grinding shops is because they take up less room, it has nothing to do with any preconceived notion that they will magically bend if laid on it's side.

Upon using a bit if common sense ( I do this every once in a while when all else fails),,, consider that the crank on its side is supported by the counterweights & journals about every 3 or 4 inches,,, highly doubtful it is going to damage itself in this condition"

[poncho62]

OK...now that that's settled, let's dicuss laying camshafts on their side.........................

[redlightning]

If it made that much of a difference,by the time you got one shipped to you it would be junk.

[1982 SS]

I would think that anything with that much metal would be plenty strong due to what it is. It takes a lot of stress that would be a little hard to duplicate outside of an engine. I would imagine that it could be laid on its side without any trouble.