Moving Auto Chassis

[simple man]

I need some help in building something to use to move a Mazda Miata vehicle in and out of the garage.

First, the vehicle is partially stripped, rear subframe, differential and front suspension are removed, so using a standard set of tire dollies won't work.

My thought is to make two sets of supports by mounting a set of two 8 inch or larger swivel casters to a 4x4 and place the 4x4s under the body at the front and rear jackpoints. Then use a 2x4 on each side to tie the 4x4s together to keep the 4x4s from shifting.

The other idea was to place 4x4s resting on heavy duty furniture dollies under the front and rear jacking points.

My concern with the second option is that I think larger swivel casters will be easier to maneuver.

Does anybody have any suggestion as to whether or not above options would work?

Any other suggestions?

Thanks

Rick

 

[Jagmandave]

That car is not that heavy, anything made out of 4X4's or a welded up frame on casters will work fine. One point tho - in general the larger the casters the easier it is to roll, especially if you're going to roll it outside and back in for cleaning and such.

At school we have a couple of very simple square or rectangular shapes made out of angle iron with casters bolted onto the bottom, they work fine for pretty much anything.

 

[phill u7c]

Try there they work really well, and not too hard to make

 

[pmason0]

I've seen a 2 inch tube frame that has 4 uprights to connect to the car and 4 castors to allow you to move it around. When I stripped my wreck race car, at the end I just put it on two furniture rollers.

 

[PCO6]

simple man - This may not suit your needs but I've used a "trailer" like method on a few of the cars I have restored. In this case, with the engine and transmission removed, I made made a "tongue" that I bolted to the transmission mounting holes. The front was connected to a simple bracket I made to match the front suspension mounts. It could be easily moved around my garage or hooked up to my Jeep if I needed to take it somewhere (sandblasting for example).

 

[racingtadpole]

My thought is to make two sets of supports by mounting a set of two 8 inch or larger swivel casters to a 4x4 and place the 4x4s under the body at the front and rear jackpoints. Then use a 2x4 on each side to tie the 4x4s together to keep the 4x4s from shifting.

That is exactly how I went about it with the last couple of mini's I did, except I used 75mm tube for the two mains and 50mm tube to tie them together and 75mm castors. That was how it started out. Once I had painted the underside of the floors, I added a couple of strips of timber to the top sides of the main tubes, and somewhere in there I welded some plates with holes in them to the end of the main tubes so I could pass ratchet straps though the body and hold it down and transport the whole lot on a trailer. The 8" wheels will make it easier to move the 75mm castors I used whilst good for weight rating, were a bit of a pain, especially trying to negotiate the trailer ramps. I used 4 castors so I could push the cars right out of the way into a corner if need be. I am planning to do a similar thing for my open wheeler when I get a moment, but with 8" pneumatic tyres.

 

[racingtadpole]

simple man - This may not suit your needs but I've used a "trailer" like method on a few of the cars I have restored. In this case, with the engine and transmission removed, I made made a "tongue" that I bolted to the transmission mounting holes. The front was connected to a simple bracket I made to match the front suspension mounts. It could be easily moved around my garage or hooked up to my Jeep if I needed to take it somewhere (sandblasting for example).

Excellent idea, Id use that idea if it wasnt illegal on the road here.

 

[96snma]

Ive done the same thing that you're describing. made a large rectangle that would fit my need with castors and had tubes coming up as risers from that. 8-12 in as needed so the car wasn't sitting on the frame. Then just bolted the risers to solid points that the rear subframe and what not would bolt to.

 

[smschriefer]

I use the cheap Harbor Freight 1000lb rated furniture dollies to roll my Miata around and they are more than sufficient. My only issue is the 1" lip to get into the garage, but even that is easy to manage (scrap of 1/2" plywood). I don't have any pics of mine, but here is a link to someone on another forum that I know. His worked well and might suit your needs.

http://mazdaroadster.net/showthread.php?2685-building-the-quot-WAR-MACHINE-quot/page4

 

[rsanter]

look up body dolly
they are easy to make and really usefull

bob

 

[tpwalsh]

I use the cheap Harbor Freight 1000lb rated furniture dollies to roll my Miata around and they are more than sufficient. My only issue is the 1" lip to get into the garage, but even that is easy to manage (scrap of 1/2" plywood). I don't have any pics of mine, but here is a link to someone on another forum that I know. His worked well and might suit your needs.

http://mazdaroadster.net/showthread.php?2685-building-the-quot-WAR-MACHINE-quot/page4

^ This. BTDT with a miata that didn't have any rear suspension. All I had around was the furniture dolly. Worked great.

 

[PeteMoore]

wooden furniture removal dollies work great

 

[Keyblazer]

Made one a few years back as part of my modular rotisserie setup...

Thats it on left, in short form..

In use..

 

[kbs2244]

I have to think to OP has his problem solved himself.
8 inch casters and 4x4 should handle a Miata just fine.

I really like the “trailer tongue” idea.
Consider it filed away in case of any future need.