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rotating platform for cars...

K

king nero

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Dec 27, 2010
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Belgium
Has anybody tried this before?

What I am talking about is a car rotator, like the rotating platform you see at car shows or the larger dealerships.

As I am currently building a garage, (and being into metal fabricating since I was young), I thought this could be a nice feature of my garage.

I've done lots of similar jobs before, albeit mostly much smaller (carts, benches, stands of all kinds, you name it), and a bridge crane at a friend's garage.

I have an idea about the general lay-out, but would just like to hear if a similar project has already been done (to find out the possible weak spots - if any in your design?)

as a new member, a short intro: I am from belgium, have just bought a house (my first), which is totally being renovated (only the outside walls will remain), will begin the foundations of my (1600 sq ft) garage after winter...
Have got quite some tools, and will be doing most of the work (if not all) myself. I found this forum searching for insulation tips, and got stuck browsing through this section. I am already a member of several car related fora, and an avid S&W enthousiast. I hope this is enough about myself, I prefer doing the work instead of talking...

As I am from Belgium, please forgive any spelling or grammatical mistakes, I will make up for them with pictures. Deal? :)
 
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R

rsanter

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visalia ca
they make them
dont see any reason you couldnt make your own if you have the fab skills

bob
 
C

Cantause

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Liège, Belgium
This really is a cool project! :bowdown:

I've never seen any except in shows and movies, however it shouldn't be too much complicated to build one. Many different ways of doing one seem possible, precision and money will define the results, as usual....
I'll keep the idea in mind for my next garage, thank you.

Good luck for your project
 
E

EdT

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Sep 21, 2010
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North Georgia
Building one would probably not be a big deal unlesss you're thinking of one that is flush with the floor and that would, I imagine, get quite involved. I guess a bigger question in my mind is would I realy like to have a big (5-6 meter) thing in the midle of my workspace; always. It wouldn't be the kind of device that's easy to stick over in the corner when it is not in use unless you are talking about a very large space. Also, what is the purpose of such a device? Is it a display for a perfectly restored AMI 6 sitting up there spinning for all to see? Is it a drive on device so you can drive into the garage and spin 180 and drive back out without ever having to use reverse? Is it a work station for working on cars that allows you to spin the car around to get to the other side? If it's either of the first two, go for it. If it's a work station kind of thing I would think roll around things that go under the tires might offer the same capability with a lot more flexibility of position and they CAN be stored over in the corner when not in use.
Just some thoughts.
 
B

bjf5051

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May 19, 2013
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Just finished mine up! It has a pivot point at the front left tire and two anchor points drilled in the floor. The car is on 16x castor wheels and uses an atv winch and on board battery to swing it around. I built it so I could fit three cars in my two car oversized garage. It is actually nice for working on the car that is on the platform because you don't have to bend over to work on the lower sections of the body panels and tire areas. Takes about 45 seconds to swing 90 degrees. I had individual dollies on each tire but the metal wheels were destroying my garage floor. The new system has nice large rubber wheels. Allows me to get mazda 3, nissan 370z, and my custom 300zx in the garage!
 
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Case IH

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Dec 31, 2010
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Green Bay WI
bjf5051 said:
Just finished mine up! It has a pivot point at the front left tire and two anchor points drilled in the floor. The car is on 16x castor wheels and uses an atv winch and on board battery to swing it around. I built it so I could fit three cars in my two car oversized garage. It is actually nice for working on the car that is on the platform because you don't have to bend over to work on the lower sections of the body panels and tire areas. Takes about 45 seconds to swing 90 degrees. I had individual dollies on each tire but the metal wheels were destroying my garage floor. The new system has nice large rubber wheels. Allows me to get mazda 3, nissan 370z, and my custom 300zx in the garage!
Click to expand...

Pics?
 
J

justanengineer

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Motor City
FrankLee said:
The only time I've seen this is in the garage at the Edsel Ford estate.
Click to expand...

Leno has one in his home garage as well. Honestly, this would be the last thing Id want taking up space in my garage and/or making yet another hole in the floor to drop things into. A buddy had a small one in his living room for his 40-something Indian motorcycle a few years ago, but then he decided having furniture was more important.
 
S

sberry

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I say there may be a time and place for it, maybe a version but its a complicated expense especially at start up. A 2 post hoist and a folding cherry picker would be the first rigging sequipment for general car work. Strict rebuilding would have specialized tools but get the generic bases covered first, then come up with schemes if and when you need to.
 
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racingtadpole

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The far side of crazy.. but sometimes Australia
Funny you should mention this...

I have a friend that works for a theatre company making props. A few months ago he showed me some very detailed pictures of a device very similar to the one you are thinking about making and explained some of the finer points of its construction to me. It was a turntable that was used for rotating a very heavy piece of theatre set in a short time without lot of man power. A bit bigger than what you intend to make, with a diameter of almost 9 metres.

He made the outside edge load bearing and steering (guiding) by putting castor wheels underneath and a few on the outside edge. Underneath to support the weight, on the side to make it run true in the circle. Essentially the platform was just that, a flat surface on which to rotate something with the supporting structure being made with trusses that were 300mm deep. In the centre it had a bevel gear arrangement, which looked suspisciously like a Borg Warner diff that had been cut down and used to turn the drive motion through 90 degrees. The drive was a 3ph electric motor with a reduction box on it that was coupled to the pinion of the bevel. He said using the castors was easier and a lot cheaper because the weight was evenly distributed and it meant the centre pole was only there to locate the drive, not support any weight.
I also remember him saying that it wasnt as difficult to make as he had first thought because all the diameters were so big he didnt even have to roll too much steel, most of it could be coaxed into place just by dragging it round and welding it as he went.

I hope that helps
 
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M

mtnwalton

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Apr 25, 2010
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racingtadpole said:
Funny you should mention this...

I have a friend that works for a theatre company making props. A few months ago he showed me some very detailed pictures of a device very similar to the one you are thinking about making and explained some of the finer points of its construction to me. It was a turntable that was used for rotating a very heavy piece of theatre set in a short time without lot of man power. A bit bigger than what you intend to make, with a diameter of almost 9 metres.

He made the outside edge load bearing and steering (guiding) by putting castor wheels underneath and a few on the outside edge. Underneath to support the weight, on the side to make it run true in the circle. Essentially the platform was just that, a flat surface on which to rotate something with the supporting structure being made with trusses that were 300mm deep. In the centre it had a bevel gear arrangement, which looked suspisciously like a Borg Warner diff that had been cut down and used to turn the drive motion through 90 degrees. The drive was a 3ph electric motor with a reduction box on it that was coupled to the pinion of the bevel. He said using the castors was easier and a lot cheaper because the weight was evenly distributed and it meant the centre pole was only there to locate the drive, not support any weight.
I also remember him saying that it wasnt as difficult to make as he had first thought because all the diameters were so big he didnt even have to roll too much steel, most of it could be coaxed into place just by dragging it round and welding it as he went.

I hope that helps
Click to expand...

The big issue will be mounting flush to the floor; we've used a couple turntables for productions, one was 32' diameter with pie sections and casters, center hole where wiring accessed the drive motor (motor, gearbox and tire). The second one we built was a doughnut style, the largest I know of - 56' OD and 42' ID. It used pie sections we built truss like from 1" sq tubing, thickness of section about 5". We made caster sections with wheels facing up; bottom of pie sections had plywood for the running surface. Power was a large motor/gearbox and chain drive; chain let into routed slot. We found we had to line slot with leather to reduce slipping.

Good luck
 
K

Kaasdief

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Pretoria, South Africa
I think it is a great plan. Some garage acses might be very limited and turning the car around as opposed to reversing it might be easier. Provided you have the space of course. I have always thought of this for when I might get a fat Harley.
 
M

Milton Shaw

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They use to use them all the time in Roundhouses for trains. I have seen one in an airplane hanger to turn plane around to taxi back out after rolling the plane into the hanger. This was a guy's private hanger and landing strip. On trains they used them on steam locomotives because they took so much repair time and time getting steam up. Some are still in use in some of the train repair shops around.
 
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S

Super Sport

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One day, if finances allow, I would like an addition off my garage to be set up like a showroom with a car on a turntable like that. Of course, I would need a car worthy first, and then enough cash left over for the addition and then the platform as well! One day...maybe...
 
V

Vegaman_Dan

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Pacific, WA
What you are asking to build is calleda turntable. And it wouldn't be that terribly hard to build, but it would be finicky.

First off, you need to have a perfectly cut and framed hole in your floor. Then you need to build a platform that is also around 1/2-3/4" gapped smaller than the hole in the floor. The platform itself could be welded up of steel framing with a deck on top. The top could be steel, wood, or whatever material you want. The whole thing could sit on rollers or casters, the larger diameter the better. You'll need to mount casters horizontally on the turntable to engage the walls of the pit to keep it centered so it doesn't bind up.

To keep stuff from falling into the gap, simple foam weather stripping or even strips of carpet will work fine.

The turntable would be heavy and may have to be built in place, then covered with the final surface because I don't think you can move it into place after the fact.

Is it worth it? Not for me.
 
K

kursplat

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Jun 7, 2010
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S.Cal
like the Bat Cave?

batcave_set.jpg
 
T

Thumper68

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May 16, 2013
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Duluth MN
There was a turntable capable of rotating a full size car in the carriage house when I first bought it. but since it was built in 1906 and made mostly of wood it had to come out.

It was designed for turning horse drawn carraiges. They could drive the horses in and un hitch them rotate the carriage and then when it was time to go again hitch up a team and roll straight out. I had thought of rebuilding it with steel and a electric drive but in the end just filled with sand and 6 inches of concrete. Over the years that I owned it many people asked why there was a perfect 18 foot dia circle in the middle of the floor.
 
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