Wheel Dollies

From Tony and Michele Hamer, former About.com Guide

Wheel Dollies; vendors sell them at car shows, auctions and in car publications. Their manufacturers claim that these units will make moving a vehicle around the shop quick and simple. “Forwards, backwards, side to side and diagonal – move your car in any direction with ease”.

That sounds like a pretty good idea; to easily roll your restoration project into a better angle when working in the garage. Or better yet, move it out to the driveway if it’s a great day to be outside.

We purchased a set of four wheel dollies to use in the complete restoration of a 1951 MGTD. Because of the car’s small size, we figured that if we pushed it up against the wall when we weren’t working on it, our other two cars could be kept in the garage during this lengthy process.

Following the manufacturers instructions, we:

• Purchased the appropriate load capacity wheel dollies for the MGTD. Each of the 4 dollies had the capacity to hold 1000 pounds for a total of 4000 pounds; the MGTD weighs 1500.
• Put the car on a flat, level surface that was capable of supporting the weight of the vehicle and dollies.
• Verified that all of the bolts and nuts on the dollies were secure.
• Blocked each of the back wheels to make sure the vehicle would not roll while the front wheels were being raised.
• Lifted the front end of the vehicle so that the tires were approximately five inches off the floor before positioning dollies under the tires.
• Lowered the MGTD slowly and carefully onto the front two dollies.
• Blocked the front dollies to make sure the vehicle would not roll while the back wheels were being raised.
• Lifted the back of the vehicle in the same manner as the front and positioned the rear wheels on the dollies.
• Inspected all the tires and dollies before removing the wheel blocks.

The wheel dollies were fairly simple to assembly and position under all four tires of the car. But when we attempted to move the MGTD, we noticed that the wheels on the dollies were all pointing in different directions. That made the car hard to push until the wheels began to line up. As long as we pushed the car in a continuous direction, moving it took moderate force. But when we needed to swing the front end around, it took extreme force to get the wheels on the dollies to change direction. We could not move our car in any direction with ease.

Having said that, we could not have gotten the MGTD that close to the garage wall with out using these dollies. And when you look at the price, about $160.00 for four, compared to hydraulic dollies that cost about $89.00 each – they did the job at a reasonable price. We would suggest spending the extra money for hydraulic dollies if you intend to move a vehicle that is 2000 pounds or over.

Re-posted by https://www.allcollectorcars.com/