Car Dollies

[Clark K.]

I bought a set of four "car dollies" so that I can move my Sting Ray over to the corner of the garage. Well, I put the car on these dollies and it is a b#*ch to move the car. It takes my wife, my daughter, and me to move the car by pushing on a fender or bumper! What am I doing wrong?

No, the dollies are not upside down
-Clark

[Brian M.]

Re: Car Dollies

That's all you can expect from that type of dolly. I have 4 movers style dollies with 4" neoprene wheels, the car can be moved with 1 finger and requires 2 people so it doesn't get away from you.

[Paul D.]

Re: Car Dollies

The casters are the problem. Some of the bargain priced units use softer wheels or inferior bearings (or worse, bushings) that just won't move under load. And if soft wheels is the problem, they won't move at all after sitting for a length of time. Good casters will fix your problem, but will probably cost more than you paid for the dollies. If you can return the ones you have, I would do so and start over with a better quality dolly. Chip.

[Mike M.]

Re: Car Dollies

Clark, casters with roller bearings in the wheels will make movement practically effortless.
HaND

[Jim L.]

Re: Car Dollies

Dollies with steel wheels are very difficult to move. The wheel can be stopped by a grain of sand. Dollies with hard rubber tires roll over floor debris much more easily. If yours have the steel wheels, you'd be well served by returning them.

Jim

[Mark J.]

Re: Car Dollies

If I had it to do over again I would certainly pay more and get decent dollies. What I did for several years was turn the wheels with a pipe wrench so they were facing in the direction I wanted to move the car. At that point I could shake and "walk" the vette in the desired direction. Problem solved when we moved to our new house with smaller garage. There is no place to roll the vette so no casters are needed.

[John H.]

Re: Car Dollies

I bought a set about 15 years ago from www.carskates.com, with large hard rubber wheels and ball bearings in the swivel portion of the casters, and they're like Brian stated - I can move a car all over the place with one hand.

[Dick W.]

Re: Car Dollies

I bought a set about 15 years ago from www.carskates.com, with large hard rubber wheels and ball bearings in the swivel portion of the casters, and they're like Brian stated - I can move a car all over the place with one hand.

John linkee no workee

[Michael M.]

Re: Car Dollies

These hydraulic dollies work great. They have a hydraulic pump to raise and lower car, no need for a jack, one person can move car. Think I paid $300 for a set of 4 at Corvettes of Carlisle.

[Alan D.]

Re: Car Dollies

I have the good wheels and no problem doing a one man operation however get a set with side guards. Mine had a habit of sliding off when you hit the crack joint in the concrete floor - one can do some damage, so spend a little more and get the good ones.

[John H.]

Re: Car Dollies

John linkee no workee

Not surprised - that was 15 years ago. They've probably been absorbed by one of the many outfits that advertise them in Hemmings.

[Jack H.]

Re: Car Dollies

I have the good wheels and no problem doing a one man operation however get a set with side guards. Mine had a habit of sliding off when you hit the crack joint in the concrete floor - one can do some damage, so spend a little more and get the good ones.

FYI, I ended up filling in the expansion joint cracks with a body filler of sorts that allowed for some flexibility. Worked great and still holds up a decade plus later.

[Paul J.]

Re: Car Dollies

FYI, I ended up filling in the expansion joint cracks with a body filler of sorts that allowed for some flexibility. Worked great and still holds up a decade plus later.

Jack, the reason why it's lasted is that expansion joints are unnecessary in a garage. The slab does'nt get full sun and expand like a driveway or road.

Some more appropriate (and much cheaper) solutions are any portland cement based (PCC) cement and mortar mixes, any concrete patch products which could be either PCC or plastic based, or any number of exterior caulks. Butyl rubber caulks are the stickiest and last longer. Yes, the caulks tend to give more under load but it would still help. You see the butyl caulks filling the expansion joints in very large industrial slabs, where they are usually under a lot of forklift and cart traffic.

Paul

[Wes S.]

Re: Car Dollies

Clark:
I bought a set of these a few years ago, got the unpainted ones they're a real piece of "s---". Should have spent a little more and got the good ones.

[Clark K.]

Re: Car Dollies

Clark:
I bought a set of these a few years ago, got the unpainted ones they're a real piece of "s---". Should have spent a little more and got the good ones.

Update.

I drove to an industrial supply warehouse and bought 16 larger, better casters for my Car Wheel Dollies. I haven't put them under the tires yet but I can tell that they roll MUCH easier. The expert told me that the casters that came on the dollies were Chinese-made "Pieces of S**t". Oh, by the way, the 16 new casters cost almost $90!

So, Wes, after adding $90 to the initial $200 for the dollies, I may have finally got the "good ones"!
-Clark