Tall Rolling Dolly

[richtersand]

Hi all! I trust you guys to keep me out of trouble so I wanted to post my plans for a tall rolling dolly. My motivations here are twofold. First, my garage is smaller than small (you should see the shelving/peg board setup I have for storage!!). When I'm not working on the car, I need to roll it flush against the side wall. When I work on it, I'll back out the other car to empty the garage and roll the chassis to the center of the garage for plenty of working room.

Second, my back already hurts too much with two little kids. I want to get the car as high off the ground as possible to try to save my back. I've seen a bunch of lifts to do this, but I've looked at my space and I don't think I can use a lift. The MaxJax is too wide unless I break it down every time. Working in the middle of the garage means I would have to setup the QuickJack and raise/lower the car every time. In an ideal world, I would roll the chassis and start working immediately.

So, after exploring the options, I want to build a tall dolly. As far as I can tell (which isn't far), this solves my problems. It gets the chassis 3-4 feet off the ground, and puts it on locking wheels so I can easily pull it out to work on it and put it back in the corner when I'm done. I can get pretty far in the build this way and it seems that it would be a very comfortable way to work.

So, before I present my badly sketched plans, let me pause and check assumptions. Anything I am missing here? Does this actually solve my problems?

I looked at quite a few designs. Assuming solid wood is strong in the Z and X axes, my design priority was to build something strong in the Y axis. For this, I am planning to use tension wires. Look forward to your thoughts or feedback. This is obviously very important and I don't want a car to fall on my head so any/all feedback is welcome!!

Thanks in advance!

133800

[PhilO]

You dont have dimensions on the length of the base, but as long as it is greater than the height it should be good. I would secure the frame to the dolly pieces somehow since they are two pieces there a chance of them moving in different directions or tipping. Securing the frame would tie them together.
My biggest concern is how you get the frame off of them? One or two guys could probably lift the frame onto the dolly, but suspension, spindles, brakes, wheels, aluminum panels, etc add up fast. I would think you would need a hoist of some type to get it down to the ground.

[Straversi]

I built mine on Jack stands. I remember late in the build, I wish I had a lift but I seem to remember sitting in the car standing over the frames, reaching down and through the frames a lot more than working under the car. Even though brake lines are under the car, since they were installed before the body aluminum it was easy to just reach down and through. I would think you would want to bring it down to a lower level pretty quickly in the build.
-Steve

[CraigS]

I think your design will work fine. But I would use one of these
https://www.harborfreight.com/search?q=moving%20dolly
After your build is done you have 4 of them for other uses

[RRussellTx]

My biggest concern is how you get the frame off of them

X2.

[richtersand]

Hey guys, great feedback and thanks for the suggestions/thoughts!

Great idea to lock the chassis to the dolly, I'll definitely add that.

My idea to get the chassis on/off the stands was to either use my ceiling hoist or, if it's uncomfortably heavy for the ceiling, to use the shop crane. Lift it a few inches, remove dolly, then lower it to the ground. Do you think that's workable?

Thanks again!

[rich grsc]

Once you start building out the frame, I think that could be dangerous and unstable. As others have said, going to be difficult to get it off the frame?

[richtersand]

Hey all, wanted to close the loop on this. AC Bill solved the mystery for me when he posted this: https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?37097-Getting-the-garage-ready&p=424651&viewfull=1#post424651

Saw Horses... what a brilliant and simple solution... I found a couple at home depot that I really like, certified for 2600 lbs as a pair so weight shouldn't be an issue.
https://www.homedepot.com/p/TOUGHBUILT-Adjustable-Height-25-32-in-and-Width-39-9-45-9-in-Steel-Sawhorse-and-Jobsite-Table-1300-lb-Capacity-TB-C700/205870356

I'm going to put the legs on 2x4s with lockable caster wheels below so I can roll the chassis as mentioned.

Thanks everyone for the thoughts/suggestions!

Cheers,
Matt

[initiator]

I'd be uncomfortable with that much weight being that high off the ground. I understand you're trying to save your back, but you don't want to introduce new problems. With your initial sketch, I would have tied the two supports together. That makes the two supports work together so one can't tip over, and extends your baseline for stability.

Think about rolling the chassis on the supports and running one of the supports into an obstacle. Can it rotate and drop the car?

Stay safe!

[BadAsp427]

Hey all, wanted to close the loop on this. AC Bill solved the mystery for me when he posted this: https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?37097-Getting-the-garage-ready&p=424651&viewfull=1#post424651

Saw Horses... what a brilliant and simple solution... I found a couple at home depot that I really like, certified for 2600 lbs as a pair so weight shouldn't be an issue.
https://www.homedepot.com/p/TOUGHBUILT-Adjustable-Height-25-32-in-and-Width-39-9-45-9-in-Steel-Sawhorse-and-Jobsite-Table-1300-lb-Capacity-TB-C700/205870356

I'm going to put the legs on 2x4s with lockable caster wheels below so I can roll the chassis as mentioned.

Thanks everyone for the thoughts/suggestions!

Cheers,
Matt

This really does not sound like a good way to do it. I would be very concerned that with the wheels, you would loose the "Friction" effect the legs have on the floor and possibly overwhelm the small center brace preventing the legs from separating. Also, when and if you try to roll that, unless you have the chassis firmly attached to the saw horse, you most like would have a problem with the chassis wanting to move off of the saw horse. This is how I built my rolling dolly (https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?29472-Carl-s-20th-Anniversary-8690-10-000-miles-With-Jeff-Kleiner&p=336983&viewfull=1#post336983) and I had the 4" frame tubes at 21" off the ground. I found it to be perfect height for working on 90% of the build. It was extremely stable and I pushed it all around my garage. I really do not like the saw horse idea. Be safe, you want to enjoy this when you are done.

Not sure if it is still available or where you are located, but here is my dolly for sale. (https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?35301-MKIV-Dolly-for-sale-near-Atlanta-30024&p=403042&viewfull=1#post403042)

[richtersand]

Thanks BadAsp, and sorry for the delay on getting back to you. I am having a lot of trouble with notifications on this forum for some reason. I completely agree with your concern and plan to address it by putting 2x4s in the foundation to connect all 4 feet and lock them into place. With the two by fours bolted through to the caster wheels I feel like this is a safe solution but I am open to feedback as always!