The car dolly thread

[Ramblur]

Yuck! That sux. I wondered why everyone was complaining about the HF
dollies. I've had mine for 7-8 years and never a problem. EZ enough for one
guy to move a car around too. Now I wouldn't swear mine came from HF but
I'm pretty sure they did. They don't look like the ones pictured at all though.
Mine have larger cast iron wheels and don't have that stupid crease in the
middle either. Looks they they've cheapened them up over the years possibly.
BTW I had to assemble mine with the nuts facing up in order for the casters
to swivel.

 

[camarojoe]

What dollys have wheels that will not mess up a VHT tile floor? I'm thinking if i could put a car on a set of these i might be able to jam 3 cars into my 2 car garage for the winter, but I don't want to mess up my floor in the process.

 

[bmwpower]

Why in God's name would they put a darn crease there? That's just asking for it to bend under pressure.

 

[customperformance]

The HF ones never used to have the crease in them.

 

[bmwpower]

What dollys have wheels that will not mess up a VHT tile floor? I'm thinking if i could put a car on a set of these i might be able to jam 3 cars into my 2 car garage for the winter, but I don't want to mess up my floor in the process.

Any of the ones on the first page without metal caster should be fine.

 

[steve392]

Well, I finally got around to jacking up the Willys yesterday and trying out the "tire skates" that I bought. One reason it took so long was that I just got the rear wheels and tires put on the car on Friday....Anyway, no complaints about these dollies...Keep in mind that this is a streetrod in progress and that the weight I have on them is just the body/frame/chassis without motor, but I was able to effortlessly spin the car around in the shop. I have no reason to believe that they will be any different to use with the weight of the engine, or the finished car for that matter...If I remember correctly these things are rated for 1500# each. About the only thing that it should have and doesn't, is brakes.
So far, I'm a satisfied customer.

Steve

p.s. If I get a chance tonight, I'll take some pictures and post them tomorrow.

 

[steve392]

Well, I took a few pictures last night of the tire skates I bought. I have two different sizes, the 12" wide "regular" style for the front tires on my street rod, and the 12" wide "deep" style for the rear. The rear tires are 31 x 18.5 Hoosier's and with a tread width of over 14", they are even too wide for the skates by a couple of inches...so I just put a board down on the skate to support the full width of the tire.
If anyone is interested in buying this type, just make sure you get the ones that have the ball bearings on the axles. Hope this helps....

Steve

 

[cranker]

It looks like the hf ones with the crease are for a snowmobile to use. They go under the skis the crease is for the carbide. Just a thought.

 

[customperformance]

I am not sure the other post of creased ones are from HF. The ones pictured on their website and the ones in my local store do not have the crease.

 

[Charles (in GA)]

http://www.toolmonger.com/

Easy Roller: Move Cars Around the Shop With Ease
Posted August 2nd, 2006 7:29 pm by Chuck Cage
Filed under: Automotive, Hydraulic

If you don’t yet have the 10,000 sq. ft. shop of your dreams, you’re probably like us and sometimes have trouble moving the project car(s) around to get done what you need to get done. It’s even worse if one or more of them don’t run. The Stinger Easy Roller definitely improves things a bit by putting the car on casters, allowing you to roll it in any direction.

We’ve seen (and used) a number of such devices, but most of them require that you first jack the car up then drop it on the rollers. The Easy Roller shortcuts the whole process by integrating a spring-guided hydraulic jack; Just roll the Easy Roller around the wheel and step on the lever a few times to lift the car, placing it on the rollers.

With four of the units, Stinger says you can lift a 6,000 lb. vehicle — each unit supports up to 1,500 lbs. They work with tread widths up to 12″, and feature four heavy-duty casters.

The only real drawback is the price: Street pricing starts around $110 each, which puts you at around $500 for a set after tax and/or shipping.

Stinger 1,500 Lb. Easy Roller (Street Pricing) [Froogle]

http://toolmonger.com/wp-content/uploads/2006/08/post-easyroller.jpg

 

[MorpheusGPR]

not a bad idea.. will check that and see..


Dana

Did you find out? I have a 2001 but its at the shop so I can't measure right now

 

[dboat]

Did you find out? I have a 2001 but its at the shop so I can't measure right now

sorry, I havent done it yet.. actually slipped my mind. I was keeping up with the thread and after seeing other dollies, I was hoping that there would be an inexpensive one that would do my wheels without me having to do any further investigation...

Dana

 

[dboat]

Did you find out? I have a 2001 but its at the shop so I can't measure right now

as an aside, I did get some traction bars and a panhard bar installed last week.

Dana

 

[bmwpower]

real ole' bump

 

[Palf]

I got mine from Harbor freight. They are slightly different from the ones shown. Mine are all cast aluminum. The work OK and I can move my truck around by myself, but it does take some effort. This is my first time ever using something like this. It was great with just the chassis, but now with the drive train and most of the body on it go heavy.

 

[KCHOTBOAT]

I have a set of HF under the kids tiny CRX. Not sure how well they would work on a heavy car since some days it takes some work to get it moving.

 

[Vicegrip]

Go Jacks have plastic wheels with roller bearings in the centers. Roll easy and don't eat up coated or tile floors. They can also be installed on the car without having to jack it up first. They are also handy to lift low car up a bit to get lift arms under it. Jack each corner up swing the arms under and fly the car off the jacks. They are simple too. No fluids to leak or seals to fail 10 years down the road. Well worth the investment over a lifetime IMO. I just used mine tonight to cram a 3rd car in the shop sideways so I can work on it through the drivers side door hole.


I like the ones made for a set of old rims. Good Idea!

 

[ksp]

Got mine from Northern Tool. They are cheap but work ok as my floor is not real smooth and I can move my 72 charger by myself with some effort.

 

[fourfeathers]

We bought a pair of cheapies from the Farm & Fleet, and they worked great for moving a Jeep Scrambler, but not good for our 25' travel trailer camper. We had to manually turn the casters to turn. I believe the Tire Skates are what we got to replace them. MUCH better rolling, and turning! They have no brakes, but a piece of 1/2 plywood cut to fit between the casters solved that. It lets us move the trailer from the summer bay to storage bay easily.

 

[W-Cummins]

I have the OTC hydraulic models and I like them. The one down side I have with them, is that they have plastic rollers. If you leave a HEAVY truck up on them the rollers will deform. ( at least they did with my near 6k# 1 ton Chevy Cummins conversion project sitting on them) So I just let it down after moving it as it's easy to jack it up ( I use my hand on the foot pump all the time to pump it up).

William...

 

[gotmud13613]

I was browsing the backyard buddy site and found these, look nice and would be able to remove wheels for service, etc. But the price is kinda Outrageous !!!

https://www.backyardbuddy.com/store/proddetail.asp?prod=easyacc

 

[Photo]

I saw the Backyard Buddy "Easy Access" stands and thought that I could improve on them. I built 2 sets as shown in this picture: http://rides.webshots.com/photo/2528076980098190200TLbKMy

The caters are rated at 800 lbs each, or 3200 lbs per stand. My truck frame rolls really easily around my shop with them. they are expandable both sideways and up and down. I built 2 different saddles for the tops so I can use them for frames or axles.

Photo

 

[RAYJAY]

I saw the Backyard Buddy "Easy Access" stands and thought that I could improve on them. I built 2 sets as shown in this picture: http://rides.webshots.com/photo/2528076980098190200TLbKMy

The caters are rated at 800 lbs each, or 3200 lbs per stand. My truck frame rolls really easily around my shop with them. they are expandable both sideways and up and down. I built 2 different saddles for the tops so I can use them for frames or axles.

Photo

where did you get the casters at ?

this is what i built for my unibody ford SHO's the front wheels i had laying around the shop and I dont know what rating they are it kinda hard to move the front and i need about 2,300 lb so the wheels would work for me

Jeff

rear one

front

 

[milkovich]

The Go-Jaks aren't hydraulic?

Has anyone used the OTC 1580 vs the Go Jaks?

 

[Vicegrip]

The Go-Jaks aren't hydraulic?

Has anyone used the OTC 1580 vs the Go Jaks?

The go-jaks have a ratchet system kind of like an old style roadside tire jack. We use them at work to move DOA gearboxed Mercedes Benz's from time to time and the foot lever will easily jack even the ML's

 

[dboat]

If I had the time, I would do some kind of matrix of all these different units with their pricing.. this has been an ongoing thread for some time and it would be nice to get all the units, their features, and their lifting capability in one place to review.. I too would like to get a set, but which ones?

Dana

 

[The Hot Rod Grille]

I've got the Go-Jac 6200's and love them! I can spin my F-150 in a circle with one hand. A bit "overkill" for my '34 Ford Coupe and big-block Stingray, but I found my set on ebay for less than the smaller set sells for! They had been used twice by a photo studio doing promo shots for Land Rover. The ratchet style should never give problems, whereas the hydraulic jack style could start leaking a few years down the road. I only wish the Go-Jacs weren't painted that pink/purple color.....yuck!

Jim
The Hot Rod Grille Garage

www.wvpinball.com

 

[Photo]

Rayjay,

I picked them up from a local Castorland in Edmonton. I believe that they were about $ 10.00 to $ 15.00 each. I got 4 with locks for safety.

I also placed my casters in line with the uprights to transfer the load. If you look at the set from Backyard Buddy, the casters are outside the load, allowing the entire support to bend in the middle.

Photo

 

[kwb210]

I bought the Tire Skates http://www.tireskate.com/
I got the Tire Skate Deep and the Tire Skate Skate Top. Costly but boy so they roll nicely. The Skate Top is great when the wheels are off, the axle rests on the Top which is bolted to the skate. The height of the car is only slightly higher when on the skate.
kurt

 

[safetyfast]

The ones at asedeals.com look pretty nice for the $.

 

[cpederslie]

I've got the jacking version (similar to gojacks) from HF. They work great!

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=94682

 

[farrbar]

I have a set of 4 of the "Hydraulic Positioning Jacks" from Autosportcatalog.com - they have 2 sizes, and I got the 12 inch. Cost about $400 total, They work great for most cars - here is my review:

2002 Thunderbird, 1999 Porsche 911, 1959 Mercedes 190 SL, Beck Spyder and 1966 Mercedes S230 can all be moved by 1 person without much trouble. Easy to control direction, assuming ground is not very sloped.

Merecedes G500 and Dodge Ram 1500 are fine with with 2 people (can be done solo, but not as much control)

1949 Packard - tough even with 2 people, but can be done.

This company has a sale on shipping this week.

 

[ToolmanTom]

I also just purchased the HF jacking dollies, Very impressed for the price, and this comes from a Snap-On man. I only bought display pair, they were sold out.

 

[floyd]

I bough the Accessible Systems ones. Very nice and made in USA!

 

[PAToyota]

Earlier in this thread I mentioned that I picked up a set of NMW / Elgin dollies years ago but haven't seen them since. I really love the things - heavy duty, greasable axles on the casters, built like little tanks - and roll at fingertip pressure under fullsize American iron.

Out at Spring Carlisle today I saw these: RollGlide

Pretty much the same thing as the set I have.

 

[dboat]

Earlier in this thread I mentioned that I picked up a set of NMW / Elgin dollies years ago but haven't seen them since. I really love the things - heavy duty, greasable axles on the casters, built like little tanks - and roll at fingertip pressure under fullsize American iron.

Out at Spring Carlisle today I saw these: RollGlide

Pretty much the same thing as the set I have.

which set is like yours and what were the prices like at Carlisle? were they giving a discount?

 

[PAToyota]

When I bought mine, they were sold out of the mid-range and gave me a set of the heavy duty ones (the "ultimate" ones here) for the same price.

They have 12", 16", and 20" wide - "premium" series were $229, $289, and $369 a pair.

I paid $220 several years ago for four 12" wide ones - not surprising considering what the cost of steel has done since then.

Didn't have a show special or anything on them... I'm surprised that the shipping charges on their website aren't higher considering how much these things weigh.

 

[dboat]

When I bought mine, they were sold out of the mid-range and gave me a set of the heavy duty ones (the "ultimate" ones here) for the same price.

They have 12", 16", and 20" wide - "premium" series were $229, $289, and $369 a pair.

I paid $220 several years ago for four 12" wide ones - not surprising considering what the cost of steel has done since then.

Didn't have a show special or anything on them... I'm surprised that the shipping charges on their website aren't higher considering how much these things weigh.

thanks for the info.

 

[suicidepinto]

If you want to have a set of car dollies and a set of 6 ton jack stand and a combination of both take a look at these. Jack Stand Car Dollies. They have a lowered frame and include anti-twist bars so as you roll your vehicle around they stay put. They have the best caster assemblies available. Easily turn your project or show car around any way you want. These dollies can be turned in either direction and then you can insert the ant-twist bar to keep everything straight. The casters have 3" phenolic wheels with the best caged roller bearings available so you can easily roll your car or truck around your garage. They also have one brake included per dollie.Here are some pics of these dollies. If you are interested contact me thru [email protected]

Watch this Youtube video for dollies in action

Thanks, Jim

 

[Speargun]

The HF dollies I have are solid enough, but I can barely move a 1968 Firebird, with no engine or transmission, across a smooth floor with the help of an 8 & 10 year old.
Even then, it's everyone push until it gets too far out of line, then move to the side to push it back in the direction you want it to go.

I think it would take at least 3 - 4 adults to be able to easily push the car were you wanted to go.

I've got a set of Car-Dolly brand dollies on the way now & will comment on them when they arrive.