The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop Anybody build a dolly to roll their cab around on?

I was working on building a cab dolly today. I made a frame that bolted to the 4 cab mount locations. I was thinking of making it so I could tilt it towards the firewall and roll it around that way as well, so the back of the cab is up, making it easier to work on underneath. What I'm not sure of is how long to make the legs. If the cab is too low it will be hard to work on...too high might not be good either. Anybody have any experience with this?

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Here is a picture of mine. It was made of scrap lumber and used casters from Harbor Freight. When I needed to roll the cab I used an old mattress to cushion it. A stripped cab as shown weighs about 300 lbs. I used my engine hoist a great deal as well in moving and positioning the cab.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/advance-design_parts_co/8129079625/in/set-72157631867396207
http://www.flickr.com/photos/advance-design_parts_co/8129066005/in/set-72157631867396207

Doesn't the mattress catch fire if your welding??

John

Welding was all complete prior to mattress use. I welded the corners in while it was on the dolly and the floors while it was on the frame (recommended). It was just used for cleaning, stripping, body and paint.

Here is what i did. It not only rolls but it does tilt.
http://www.hotrodders.com/forum/jou...3&page=19&perpage=5&reverse=
http://www.hotrodders.com/forum/jou...3&page=16&perpage=5&reverse=
http://www.hotrodders.com/forum/jou...3&page=15&perpage=5&reverse=

Chief

I use a pallet with 4 casters under it. Yes it is low to the ground but it rolls off onto a piece of carpet very easily whenever I need to get it on stable ground.

My cab cart puts the bottom of the cab about 1 foot off the ground. Its perfect for painting. I am very interested in your idea of tilting it forward. Please keep us posted! You can see mine on my website. I use a lawnmower to move it around between outside (sandblasting) and inside to the paint booth or welding areas.

I used the Harbor Freight 8" (or 10"?) pneumatic full swivel wheels and mounted them to a 2x6 frame with plywood top. Next time, I will use just one pair of full swivel casters and one fixed set. It seems that with four swivel tires they compete against each other and it's hard to push around. The good thing is...with those tires I can roll it outside onto the gravel drive and do the grinding, sanding, and dirty dusty work; blow it off and then bring it back inside the shop.

I did the 10" pneumatic also, 2 swivels and 2 fixed.
They worked great but... 'When they went flat' the plastic rims broke! They are junk now.
I'm leaving the cab on the flatted tires until I'm ready to shove it out of the garage and lift the cab off.
This said, I would (if I had it to do over again) use rigid casters. At least when I finished with the dolly, I could disassemble it and still have some good casters for another day. I also made a 2x6 box frame but it doesn't have a plywood top like Tom's.
To get more clearance under the dolly, I would add some 4x4 legs (brace them if needed).
Just my 2 cents.
Jerry

I just did mine the old fashioned way. Bought some 2x4's and some caster wheels from Harbor Freight, and it worked great. When I needed to tip my cab back to work on the underside, I put it back on the frame, wrapped the back with an old padded comforter I "stole" from my wife and rested in on the back of the cab! Worked great, made grinding the rust off and applying a healthy coat of POR 15 and made welding on my new rocker panels a breeze...even for this amateur.

I bought the 2 large furniture dollies from Harbor freight and that's what I have my cab on. Its great to move it around the old garage. I also have the bed stand on the end and have 2 other furniture dollies so I can roll it around too. Nothing fancy

I used a futon frame with appliance casters.

I don't dislike the one I built. It has a hitch on it so I can move it outside with my lawn tractor for sandblasting. But.. I envision a means to tilt it over on hinges or something so that a person can easily get to all sides. I don't have access to guys with muscle to pick up the cab and move it. With 4 titanium rods, 13 screws and 2 plates in my lower back, everything has to be REAL easy to reconfigure. I have several electric winches to help with that, but this cab cart could possibly be improved on.

Thanks for all of the ideas. I got mine finished... just used what ever scrap steel tubing I could find and made a frame off of the body mount locations. I decided not to make it very high off of the ground so I could tip it onto it's nose and work on the corners and bottom in that position. It's low enough and light enough I can tip it onto it's nose or back upright by myself

pictures...http://sdrv.ms/1cONF6m

AND...

I forgot to mention. I made the frame on the firewall separate from the bottom. So after I tip the cab onto it's nose I can take the bottom frame off, to get it out of the way for cleaning, repairing or whatever

I like it Goob. How do you tip it on the nose then back again?

Dennis

I just grab under the back of the cab and lift it. I put the front casters back a little bit so it's not much of an effort to tip it.

Dennis, is the A&W Drive Thru still there in Issaquah? used to go there quite often back in the day (77-81) went to school in Ellensburg.

Happy Thanksgiving everybody,

Greg

Hey Goob. Yes, the A&W is still there. They had to do away with the car hops though. They have some kind of an organized club show about every Sunday. Saturday is popular too but not an organized event. I'm spoiled since it is only about 2 miles away and can watch many coming into town from my living room. That's usually how I gage whether to go there or not. Or, if I'm going to Home Depot I usually drop by.

Good to hear you can tilt the cab by yourself. I may have to rework mine to see if I can do the same.

Where did you attach the supports on the firewall?

Dennis

That's pretty cool it's still there after all of these years, 32 of 'em, and it's still a Hot Rod hangout. Back then, in the summer, on the weekends it was like a scene right out of American Graffiti. You could chow down on a burger and talk the talk and if you wanted to back it up, go right out on I90, which is right there, and walk the walk. Those were the days.


Back on topic...

On a cabover there are four threaded holes for the core support brackets which I used.

On a conventional cab there are six threaded holes, three on each side, out towards the edge, in a vertical pattern. I would use those holes with a piece of angle iron and connect them with a piece of square tubing right where the firewall goes from vertical to angling back.

I don't have a decent picture of mine but I can get one if my splain'n isn't very clear


Greg

Yeah, please do some splainin... pics that really show how you did it. I am very interested. With back problems, I need a way to do this easily. Sound like you have it figured out. Thanks!