This month’s tool is supremely elegant in its simplicity. Goodson Tools and Supplies’ new Professional Measuring and Inspection Stand (P/N: PMIS-30) for crankshafts is one of those tools that you look at and say, “Why didn’t I think of that?” Sure, you can usually just stand a crankshaft on its end to measure journals, but if you’re anything like this author, standing a crankshaft on its end while working on or around it is a recipe for a knocked-over and potentially damaged crankshaft.

Designed to securely hold almost any crankshaft you’ll come across in an automotive application (it’s doubtful that this would be at all useful with a Wartsila crankshaft), the design is adjustable for length between support plates — up to 23 inches. It is intended not only to hold the crankshaft in a much more stable position when inspecting it (compared to standing it on end, on a bench), but also to allow it to be easily rotated in order to easily access all of the crankshaft’s journals for measurement or inspection.

Here, you can see how easily the stand adjusts to different widths to support a huge variety of crankshafts and support configurations. Its low center of gravity and solid aluminum construction allows for an incredibly stable platform for the crankshaft, while you are taking critical measurements.

Beauty In Simplicity

The crankshaft stand is made proudly in the USA out of solid aluminum (both the rods and plates) for incredible strength and stability without a huge weight penalty (it tips the scales at just 4 pounds). The V-block design ensures that the journals are perfectly centered with each other, which makes for a stable configuration, with the crankshaft well-balanced to be easily rotated.

To protect the journals resting on the inspection stand, Goodson has installed a set of Delrin “pads” in the “V”. Delrin offers a chemical-resistant, self-lubricating surface which will not only protect the finish on the crankshaft’s main journals, but will hold up to extensive use without needing replacement. The radically adjustable design not only allows a wide range of crankshafts to work with the stand, but also lets you easily reconfigure and measure those last two support surfaces.

The Delrin pads offer a self-lubricating, chemical-resistant surface for the bearing surfaces of the crankshaft to both rest and rotate on. Besides being soft on the journals, the pads offer a long service life; they aren’t something you’ll be replacing often.

This simple, well-engineered tool does exactly what our favorite types of tools are supposed to do — make your life easier in this shop, while reducing the chances of messing something up. Taking the risk of a crank being knocked over while measuring journals is a big deal in our shop, and that alone is worth the tool’s modest price, in our humble opinion. The fact that it will last a lifetime and is made entirely in the USA are just the cherries on top.

Check out the video below to see Goodson’s Professional Measuring and Inspection Stand in action in the EngineLabs shop.