Trying to re-start a long dormant car project, and would like to have the car up off the garage floor and be able to quickly move it out when I have time to work on it and roll it back out of the way when I am done for the day.
Ideally, I would get a set of Uni-dolly's, but those are ~$1000 delivered. I found a couple ~$500 options that are an adjustable rectangular frame on casters, but they are only rated to 2000 lbs, and the car with all parts on it will be about 2500.
Not really interested in a fabrication project - is there anything our there on the cheaper end of things that will hold 2500 lbs?
Also, am I crazy for considering mounting my quickjacks on top of a set of wheel dollies I have?
tr8todd
SuperDork
7/29/20 6:36 a.m.
Those roller skate wheels work, but they are not good. Very hard for one person to move the car. Once you get it rolling it seems to go where it wants to go and not where you want it to go. I have two project cars on home made rollers and they are easir to move than the MGB thats on the skates. One is on a rolling plywood deck with jack stands to hold the car up. It was originally used under one of my shop tables to store heavy items. My scales, my roll cage bender and dies, and a couple of engines were on it. Repurposed it to go under a car I was painting and it worked fantastic. Another car has rollers on drop down tubes attached to the bumper mounts. Those work, but would be better if I welded in some diagonal braces to tie the tubes together. It rolls, but it kind of looks like a new born calf trying to stand for the first time.
What size car ?
the moving dollies are cheap and the wheels sit in the center ,
check craigslist etc for some used ones ,
Search for triple casters. I have some like this at the theater, but mine have 4" wheels whereas these look like 2.5"
They aren't cheap, but cheaper than a specialized car/shop thing. I think mine (with high-durometer poly tires on aluminum wheels) are rated for 1200 lbs each.
Honestly, i looked at this HARD for the neon restoration.
For doing the dirty stuff outside, i bolted the suspension on finger tight with undersized hardware so it was easy to remove. Pulled it back inside off the gravel with an atv winch bolted to the floor.
Assuming level and smoothish concrete, not gravel, i LIKE to idea of quick jacks mounted to moving dollies. Add a doubled up layer of 3/4 ply as a table with the ply glued and screwed together, three dillies on each long side and the center, screw the quick jacks down to prevent sliding, and send it! Pretty close to the body dolly and drivetrain dolly we did for the miata
What's the car? What are the surfaces it has to roll on? For me those two really change what i think would work.
these are the type we use ,
the Harbor Freight ones are of course cheaper made , and less wood which you could add ,
You can buy huge inflatable casters at HF for not much money.
Car is a first gen RX7. It's currently sitting on wheel dollies. I want to get it lifted up by the body so the wheels are off the ground and it's high enough and safe enough to work under the car - need access to center of car to fab trans mounts, exhaust, etc.
Floor surface is standard smooth concrete - no plans to roll it out of the garage. Really just need to be able to move it about 6 feet to get better access when working on it. Or move it out of the way for other work/access in the garage.
Other than cost, these would be perfect. If it was rated at 2500-3000 lbs, this would be a good value option.
My low/no cost options are a) just throw it up on jackstands and deal with it being too close to the wall, or b) attach my quickjacks to the wheel dollies or furniture dollies. Though I'd rather not lose the use of my quickjacks for other things. I also considered mounting jack stands on the wheel dollies - I mean if I tied them together with a bar like the uni-dolly, it's basically the same thing, right?
dps214
HalfDork
7/29/20 7:55 p.m.
