FWIW, couldn't the dollies be made as triangles instead of squares?
This would help reduced the number of casters from 16 to 12 (save $) as
well as leave more room under the car. The only downside I see is that 3
casters, not 4, must support each wheel.
______________________________ Reply Separator _________________________________
Subject: Re: moving a car in tight spaces....
Author: mmcewen@gpu.srv.ualberta.ca (John McEwen) at SMTP
Date: 1/1/98 11:38 AM
Hi Jon:
There are several ways to do this. The easiest is to use a floor jack
under the differential. Place the floor jack as near to perpendicular to
the side of the as you can, leaving the handle sticking out so that you can
control it. Raise the car until the wheels clear the floor and push. It
helps to have two people but one can do it easily with such a light car. I
have pushed Cadillacs this way. Don't try it with one of those cheap
light-weight Chinese floor jacks. Use something of at least 1.5 tons lift
capacity. Note that you must first place the front wheels about where you
want them before you start.
If you have to move both ends of the car with the jack, start with the
front wheels using the same system. If the floor is irregular or rough you
may have problems and should use method three.
Method Two.
Obtain two floor jacks. Put one under the center of the front cross member
and the other under the differential. Assuming that the floor is smooth,
you can simply push the car where you want it. Note that the angle of the
wheels on the jacks is important. To make this system really accurate, you
should remove the car wheels on the side where the jack handles are
located. Then you can move the jacks around to steer the car. Don't
forget to put the wheels back on before you lower the car.
Method 3.
Buy two boxes of beer. Phone all your friends or arrange for a garage tour
of your sports car club. At the appropriate moment simply have your
friends pick up the car and put it where you want it. If you only have
about four people you can use the "lift and slide" technique". This works
well if you sand the floor. This method is also very good when removing a
car body from the frame. Be sure to have jackstands or saw horses handy.
Method 4
Build two dollies from 2" x 4"s and 4 to 6 inch casters. The dollies only
have to be about 18" square. Make them by bolting parallel lengths of 18"
2x4 perpendicular to two lengths of 18" 2x4 until you have a square of
solid 2x4s with the two boards on each end holding it together and acting
as mounts for the casters. Make one of the dollies with two more 2x4s on
edge to act as supports for the differential. Jack up the car, remove the
wheels and place the rear dolly under the differential with the on-edge
2x4s under the axle housing. You may have to shim this to get the right
height. Place the other dolly under the front crossmember. Voila, the car
is on wheels and can be moved anywhere.
If you need more height than this will give you, you can build larger,
taller dollies with larger wheels - but this will be much more expensive.
Casters are expensive but for your purposes they don't have to be premium
quality. It's a simple matter to make the dolly higher by adding more
wood. Use lag screws or carriage bolts to hold the whole thing together.
Each dolly shouldn't cost more than $20 to build - primarily because of the
cost of the casters.
If you go with the dolly method you will be pleased because you will find
them very useful. A dolly such as I have described will easily hold an
engine and transmission, thus allowing you to move them around the shop if
you don't have them on a stand.
Let me know what you decide to do. I personally would go with the dollies
because once they are in place the whole car is easily moved and turned.
John
>One of my goals for '98 is to get my '71 stripped down to the frame. To
>do that, I have to fit it in my garage. I think I have space across the
>back of my garage.
>
>My question is: Is there a way to "wedge it in" so to speak across the
>back? I seem to remember someone describing moving the car using floor
>jacks, but this seems a little dangerous to me although cheaper than
>buying the car dolly things from Moss. Does anyone remember this
>procedure and have any comments? Thanks.
>
>--Jon Moody
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