Ranger RST-500ES Engine Support Bar: 1,500 lbs, Held From Above
The RST-500ES is a support bar that straddles an engine bay, resting on the inner fender wells, and takes the weight of the engine from above so that everything underneath it can come apart. That is the specific job: unbolt the mounts, drop the subframe, pull the gearbox, and the engine stays exactly where the chains put it. It holds 1,500 lbs. (680 kg).
Before anything else, the number that decides whether it is any use to you is not the capacity — it is the width. The telescoping side foot pads take the bar from 40" (1,016 mm) to 63" (1,600 mm) between the pads. If your inner fender wells measure inside that band, it fits. If they do not, no amount of holding capacity helps. The manufacturer's own feature list says the bar "adjusts to fit all vehicles"; the published range is the honest version of that claim, and it is the number to check first.
Holding is a different job from lifting
An engine hoist lifts. A support bar holds. The distinction matters when you are reading a capacity figure, because the loads behave differently: a hoist deals with a mass that is moving, swinging and changing its leverage, while a support bar deals with a static mass that must not move at all, sometimes for days, while the assembly around it is taken apart and put back together. The 1,500 lbs. (680 kg) figure on this bar is a holding figure. Use it that way — bring the engine up on a hoist or leave it sitting on its mounts, take up the slack with the bar, and then remove what you are removing.
The threaded adjustable chain hooks are what make that workable. Rather than choosing a chain link and living with it, you thread the hook up or down to take the last fraction of slack out, which is the difference between an engine that is genuinely supported and one that drops half an inch the moment the last mount bolt comes out.
Positioning: 13" of screw travel
Removing the gearbox is rarely a matter of just holding the engine still. It usually means tilting it — nose up, tail down — so the bellhousing clears the tunnel and the input shaft lines up with the clutch. The bar carries 13" (330 mm) of screw travel to do that, and because it is a screw rather than a ratchet or a hydraulic ram it moves in whatever increment you turn it, and it stays there when you let go. That is what "precisely positions engine for easy gear box and transmission removal" means in practice, and it is why a support bar is worth having even on a job where the engine never leaves the car.
Feet, and the paint under them
Both ends of the bar sit on rubber foot pads. Two reasons that detail is on the spec sheet rather than being an afterthought. The obvious one is cosmetic: the inner fender lip is painted, sometimes visible with the hood up, and a bare steel foot under a 1,500 lbs.-rated load leaves a mark that is not coming out. The less obvious one is friction. A rubber pad grips a curved, greasy fender lip; a steel foot slides on it, and a support bar that creeps sideways while an engine hangs off it is a bad afternoon. Wipe the fender lip clean before the pads go down, and site them on the structural inner lip, not on a plastic liner or a wiring loom.
Will it fit?
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Measure the span across your engine bay, inner fender well to inner fender well, at the point where the pads will actually sit. It needs to fall between 40" (1,016 mm) and 63" (1,600 mm).
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Check what is in the way — strut towers, a brace bar, a cowl lip. The bar needs a flat-ish landing at each end, not a slope.
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Check the height clearance above the engine with the hood open, since the chains and hooks need somewhere to hang.
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The support points are yours to choose. Use lifting eyes or manufacturer-designated points on the engine, never a plastic manifold, a cast pulley or an accessory bracket.
The bar itself weighs 36 lbs. (16 kg) boxed and ships in a long, thin carton at 41" x 8" x 3" (1,041 mm x 203 mm x 76 mm), which is worth knowing if you are planning where it will live between jobs — it stores flat against a wall rather than taking up floor space.
Perfect for
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Transmission and clutch work in a general repair shop, where the engine has to stay put for a day or two.
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Subframe and engine-mount replacement, the job this tool exists for.
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Home restorations — front-wheel-drive and transverse layouts especially, where the drivetrain comes out downwards.
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Four- and six-cylinder engines, which is where the manufacturer's own feature list points it.
What is in the box
Ranger's published feature list for the RST-500ES names the support bar with its threaded adjustable chain hooks and its telescoping side foot pads. It does not publish a full packing list, so we are not going to state a chain length or a hook count as though it were confirmed. If your job depends on a particular chain arrangement, ask us before ordering and we will check it against the current factory documentation.
Specifications
| Holding capacity |
1,500 lbs. (680 kg) |
| Maximum width |
63" (1,600 mm) |
| Minimum width |
40" (1,016 mm) |
| Screw travel |
13" (330 mm) |
| Foot pads |
Rubber, telescoping side pads |
| Shipping weight |
36 lbs. (16 kg) |
| Shipping dimensions |
41" x 8" x 3" (1,041 mm x 203 mm x 76 mm) |
Certification, stated plainly
The data we hold for this support bar claims no independent third-party safety listing, and we will not imply one. The distinction is worth knowing before you assume: an independent North American test house issues a listing after testing the equipment itself, which is a different document from a manufacturer declaring that its own product meets a standard. Insurers, fleet policies and some local jurisdictions occasionally require the former by name. If that is your situation, confirm exactly what your paperwork demands before you buy, and ask us if you want help lining the requirement up against a product.
Shipping and delivery
Orders go to the contiguous United States, the lower 48. The shipping method and cost are calculated live at checkout against your own address, so nothing is promised here that your quote might contradict. If the bar arrives as a freight shipment rather than a parcel, inspect the carton in the driver's presence and record any damage on the bill of lading before signing — once a clean bill of lading is signed, a damage claim becomes very difficult. A residential address is a different delivery service from a commercial dock and attracts a residential fee where it applies. If collecting is easier, our pick-up locations are shown further down this page.
Warranty
Coverage runs under the warranty document Ranger publishes for its product line. We hold the document rather than a summary of its terms, so we are not going to state a period on this page — ask us for the current copy before you order if it bears on your decision. Independently of the terms: do not cut, drill, re-weld or otherwise modify the bar, and do not take it apart before a claim is assessed. Any of those changes a load-bearing structure into something nobody has tested, and it forfeits coverage besides.
