Wheel dollies dont work!!

scgamecock · Oct 13, 2018

Maybe I just bought the wrong ones and from the wrong place (Harbor Freight) but the wheel dollies I bought I can barely move the car by myself. The back end moves around with very little effort but the front end where all the weight is will barely budge. I can move it if I put a jack under the front cross member and take some of the weight off but then I have to maneuver the jack and the dollies on the front and it really isnt that much easier to move that way. Is there a better set of dollies out there that would work better?

73pony · Oct 13, 2018

I have a couple set of the dollies from HF. No issues at all moving vehicles around with them. Maybe you got a bad set?

Don C · Oct 13, 2018

I'm able to move my car on HF dollies too. If you have open expansion joints in your floor that will be a problem.

Carolina_Mountain_Mustangs · Oct 13, 2018

Wade,

Did you not eat your wheaties, lol. I have couple sets also and can move by myself with bad back. My floor is very smooth also. Take them out and put a drop of oil on the casters and the balls on the bases and see if it helps. A little lube goes a long way..

Bentworker · Oct 13, 2018

A lot of Harbor Freight items are actually a kit.

You open the box and it is about 70% correct... You have to dial in the last 30% with tools blood and some cursing.

Don C · Oct 13, 2018

Yes, these have to be assembled and have the casters put on. If they aren't installed correctly, and tightened down, the casters won't swivel and make the car nearly impossible to move.

The quality of mine is farly good.

Hemikiller · Oct 13, 2018

When I first bought my car in 2001, I borrowed a set of work-made carts that had 4 American made casters from the 60's. You could practically move the car on them with one hand. After a couple months, I decided I should return them and bought a set of dollies from a tool vendor at a swap meet. After assembly, they took three people to move the car. Took them out one by one and lubed the caster and the wheels with synthetic grease. Much improved movement and only took medium effort by me to move the car.

SteveO_71 · Oct 14, 2018

A lot depends on the quality of the garage floor as well as having bearings in the casters.

I recently upgraded from the steel dollies with bearing wheels to the ones Eastwood sells with little hydraulic jacks in them. I was getting tired of having to get the floor jack out every time to lift the car in order to place or remove the dollies.

Unfortunately, my garage floor has a downward pitch and its a rough concrete. I'm sure things would roll around a lot better if the floor was flat and epoxy coated smooth.

scgamecock · Oct 14, 2018

Hmmm... I have a smooth garage floor and did take apart and lube the caster but the problem seems to be the weight is so heavy on them up front that they wont swivel. The back of the car I can almost push iwth one hand and it moves wherever I want.

jeff8877 · Oct 14, 2018

Hmmm... I have a smooth garage floor and did take apart and lube the caster but the problem seems to be the weight is so heavy on them up front that they won't swivel. The back of the car I can almost push iwth one hand and it moves wherever I want.

I had the exact same issue. I put some grease in and that did the trick.

Bentworker · Oct 14, 2018

Just curious, are the caster wheels flat or do they have some crown?

Also, are the wheels concentric with the axle?

scgamecock · Oct 16, 2018

Hmmm... I have a smooth garage floor and did take apart and lube the caster but the problem seems to be the weight is so heavy on them up front that they won't swivel. The back of the car I can almost push iwth one hand and it moves wherever I want.

Click to expand...

I had the exact same issue. I put some grease in and that did the trick.

I'll try grease again and see if that helps.

::thumb::

mach71351c · Oct 18, 2018

I'm using HF dollies. They seem to work fine so far. But the car is pretty light right now with no engine or trans.

rvrtrash · Oct 18, 2018

I have a set of HF dollies that are about 15 years old. I've moved cars as heavy as 4000 lbs with them with no problem. It's actually one of the few things from HF that actually work. Have you tried swapping front to back to see if it's just the one on the front that are bad?

Steve

SteveO_71 · Oct 18, 2018

Hmmm... I have a smooth garage floor and did take apart and lube the caster but the problem seems to be the weight is so heavy on them up front that they won't swivel. The back of the car I can almost push iwth one hand and it moves wherever I want.

Click to expand...

I had the exact same issue. I put some grease in and that did the trick.

Click to expand...

I'll try grease again and see if that helps.

::thumb::

Well surprisingly I greased the caster bearings on my Eastwood ones with Sil-glide and I could move around the front end somewhat easier, so it does seem to make a difference. Because of my garage floor, I couldnt do this previously with these dollies or the metal plate ones I had.

Wheel dollies dont work!!

Help Support 7173Mustangs.com:

scgamecock

Well-known member

73pony

Well-known member

Don C

Fords Forever

Carolina_Mountain_Mustangs

Well-known member

Bentworker

Well-known member

Don C

Fords Forever

Hemikiller

Well-known member

SteveO_71

Well-known member

scgamecock

Well-known member

jeff8877

Well-known member

Bentworker

Well-known member

scgamecock

Well-known member

mach71351c

Well-known member

rvrtrash

Well-known member

SteveO_71

Well-known member

Similar threads

Latest posts

Wheel dollies dont work!!

Help Support 7173Mustangs.com:

Well-known member

Well-known member

Fords Forever

Well-known member

Well-known member

Fords Forever

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Similar threads

Join the conversation!

Join today and get all the highlights of this community direct to your inbox. It's FREE!