car body dolly wheels ??

I am getting ready to take the suspension out from under my 69 RR
and I am looking for ideas on how to move it around in my stone driveway easily. I got some wheels from harbor freight and they are not heavy duty enough, 300 lbs cap each, and they are half flat with max air pressure with the car weight on them. I don't think small wheels would work well enough in the stones.
I have brackets made for both ends of the car that bolt to the bumper bracket locations. They have a 4" square flat steel plate welded to u channel steel and flat plates where the bumper bolts go thru. Not looking to spend 500. to buy the US car tool ones.

Any home made ideas for some or wheels that will hold the cars weight that I can attach to my already made brackets ???
Any Ideas or Help is Appreciated.
David

You may want to consider scaffold casters.

Scaffold Caster

The taller the wheel, the better. Any pneumatic caster shorter than 16" won't take any weight AND I've never seen one that holds air for more than a day!! Scaffold casters can be a problem to mount since they have a post instead of a plate. For the same money you can find a good 6" or 8" urethane caster with a cast hub rated around 800 pounds each.

Also, I wouldn't bolt to the bumper bracket at the rear - that's too far back (in my opinion) and can induce sagging. The rears should be mounted at the front spring hanger brackets.

This is how I know pneumatics are not a good choice ...

Here is what I am doing for a cart. I used some scaffold wheels and had some heavy wall pipe and came up with this design. You definitely want to have brakes on the wheels. I will install some pipe clamps to secure the frame to the cart which will make it easy to roll outside too. I ran a 2x6 and 2x8 on the frame, making it easy to shim the body if needed when metal install starts. This moves around real easy and is extremely solid. Still have the ability to use jack stands on the rails when needed.

good to know about the pneumatic tires.
i was about to buy some myself from northern tool.
the rigid casters do not work at all once you are off of concrete or asphalt.
hmm
i might have to figure a way to modify a small trailer tire
or something else now...

Just my 2 cents ... the wheelbase on your cart is too short and will be unstable - a real hazard if you're pushing the car and a wheel catches a piece of gravel or something. If you could lengthen the wheelbase and then secure the car to it you'd be a lot better off.

I bought mine from House of Wheels as I used to work next door to them many years ago. I ended up with some large diameter black urethane ones that are rated for like 1200 lbs ea. They roll around pretty easy over concrete joints etc. Big wheels are key if you want the car to travel any real distance over anything not level.

http://www.howi.com/store/casters/

Those look like nice ones! I ordered my set from Autotwirller.. money well spent. I am still moving mine around with engine and trans installed.. but its heavy. takes 2 to maneuver it..and just slightly...I am close

I made one for A bodies, 6" casters, the support pads with locating pins fit the transfer holes in the front & rear subframes.
It supports the car the same way ma mopar did when it was built.

Ed

I have looked at most of the caster wheels and wasn't sure they would work going thru my stone driveway. Now in the garage on concrete I am sure most casters would work fine.
I need to do more research as I don't want to spend anymore money on ones that don't work. The pneumatic tires definitely won't work. I may swap the rear supports to the spring hanger.

I am just using them to take the car to the blaster and then when I get it home they will be removed since the car doesn't need any floor repairs, just primed and painted.
It's Nice to have a southern car to work on for a change.

Anymore thoughts will be Appreciated.
Thanks David

one thought that MAY work, although i have never used it for a body dolly. i once used 4, short 14" doughnut spares with the matching rear hubs from a couple of minivans to roll around a big truck frame outside in the junk yard. to swivel the front pair, i cut the legs off a pair of big swivel casters and welded them to the legs that were fabbed from 2"x 1/4" angle iron and welded to the minivan hubs. it worked great rolling over rocks and ruts in the yard, plus it was built to get the frame at a comfortable working height. i wished i had pics, but at the time, it didn't seem necessary.

Its been the early 90's but I found urethane wheels at a local distributor for under $10 bucks each when they were selling at the local Fastener store for over $90 each..

Look around for a wholesaler..

Probably too small of a pic to see them on my rotisserie..

I'm glad i saw this thread as i was planning to
buy pneumatic tires myself as i have 2 garages and good size distance between them over gravel,dirt and a lawn.
its not going to happen with the rigid casters i do have.

Put down some plywood sheets, or 2x wood, and make tracks to and from for the car to roll on.

Move car.
Stop.
Reposition wood.
Move car again.
Repeat.....

that is how i do it now with plywood and it is a pita..

You can get a solid version of that pneumatic tire at Harbor Freight.

All the ones I seen at harbor Freight had a Low weight rating, like 300 lbs. A bare shell is a good amount more then 1200 lbs.
I think I need something around the 2000 lb range.
I would like something in the 500 to 600 lb each rating and that would make me feel better.

I will get more time to surf tomorrow night and see what I can find. Maybe I should just pour a concrete driveway ?? LOL
I wish I could or even blacktop would be good.
Thanks, David

These worked well for me.

The larger the tire the higher the weight rating. Those look to be about 10". The 8" are definitely too small and will barely handle a bare shell.

Those look exactly like the ones I have from harbor freight with the bent metal valve stems and all. They were half flat at max air when I set the car down on them. (the car is gutted except for the front and rear suspensions are on it yet)
I found a set of solid wheels my step father had and I installed them and set the car down and it rolled on the concrete garage floor. I need to move the rear supports off the rear bumper brackets yet but I may try a brace first to stiffen them up. Before I go to far I want to see how they roll in the stone driveway to make sure I can move it around when the suspension is out.
I will get a photo of the wheels and post it. It moves Good on the concrete.
David

This was your problem. Other than the engine/trans, these are the heaviest items on the car. Remove those and two people can damn near carry the shell - ok, I'm exaggerating a little but you get my drift!

I understand these items are heavy but I didn't want to tear them off without knowing the dollies would work. I can't hold up the bay till I find something that works if I take out the suspensions first and they don't work. Once it's tore apart it has to get moved out of the way.
I hope I have it figured out and by this weekend it's all taken apart.
Thanks for all the info and Help.
David

Well I took it out for it's maiden voyage and it worked good with the suspension still under it yet. Once I get those removed I think it will work Great for what I need. I pulled it around the driveway with the mower. These are what I have on it now.
I still may swap the rear brackets to the front spring mounts but I couldn't test it that way with the suspension in it so I used the bumper mounts. I made some braces for the rear mounts to keep it from moving but I took the photo before the braces were done.
THANKS for all the info and tips, I Appreciate it.
David

Just my 2 cents worth, but this car is your baby, why would you chance hokey wheels and pieced together parts to hold up a car you are putting this much work into it.

Now I am not saying go buy a $500.00 set of wheels because as I own a welding shop (23 years now) and I see the commercially built set ups are WAY over priced. But to skimp out on this piece is crazy.

Joe

We bought a whirley jig back in 1992, got the offroad tire kit and the tires still are good to this day and support a car on the jig with no problem. I think I put air in them twice in 25 years. With that said, the right tires will be fine. I know I used hard plastic casters and they aren't fun in soft dirt and gravel.

Sorry for the late reply, I was on vacation.
This setup is a temporary test to see what would work for what I need. This is the only car I will have to do this on and I don't want to spend big money on a set for a 1 time use. My neighbor is a welder and we are making a better set for it. The angle brace was just a scrap piece to hold them temporary and the u channel that is welded together is getting a 1 piece one made.

I only plan on using them to put it in the trailer, roll into the blasters shop, then back in the trailer and lastly back on the lift. Then off they come and never to be used again.
I had a rotisserie all lined up till the owner took me off the list and moved his buddy up to the top. I am now using another body guy but he has no rotisserie.

I understand what you are saying and I have tried to buy 2 used sets already but they sold really fast. There is another 1 but shipping would be crazy money. Just my luck lately.
Thanks for your input. David

I was reading through to find out if someone mentioned this. What I was going to say. One other way (I going to try myself) is use 2/12s attached like a 4 post lift, stretchers in between. Just bolt together. I need to roll mine outside on gravel to sand blast. Put 1/1 strips on edge to keep from rolling off.