Car Dolly question

[HurstOlds]

I'm working on getting my garage set up for winter. I picked up a set of 4 car dollies from Menards. They were cheap and come with a 2 year warranty. I'm wondering if there is an tricks to using dollies. I've never tried them before.

Should I be able to move a full weight Cutlass (my guess 3800 pounds) by myself with dollies? These things won't even budge. I haven't even moved an inch, let alone tried to push my car over a crack line in the garage floor. The only thing I can think is that I need to line all the dolly wheels up the same way when I put them under the tires.

I didn't think of that when I first put them under the wheels and they're kind of all going different directions. I'm thinking that's owning me, but I don't know.

Does anyone have any experience with dollies? Even with 'good' dollies, would it still take two or more ppl to move a full weight car? These dollies have a 1000 pound capacity, same as all the other ones on the market i think. I don't know why I thought these things would be easier to use.

 

[waggin]

I've got a set of 4 of the Merrick Machine heavy duty dollies, and yes, it's a bear to move a vehicle by yourself. I ended up beating the casters with a 2x4 to get them facing the way I needed the dollies to roll. That's 16 individual casters to align! Even then, it's a major workout to move them on a smooth floor by yourself. If you can get a helper, I'd recommend it. I had to turn my 3,600# car 90 degrees inside my garage to make space for new garage door installation. Managed it by myself, but it definitely wasn't fun.

 

[Chevyman85]

I have always used the jack trick. If yo have two large floor jacks, you can place one under the rear axle, and the front crossmember. then you can swing the vehicle around inside of your shop/garage. I use this trick when I store my car for the winter. I have also used to for heavy trucks w/ poor turning radius inside of shops. It would work, but you need a good jack. I have used it to move my 5000 Lb. Truck.

 

[waggin]

I've got a set of 4 of the Merrick Machine heavy duty dollies, and yes, it's a bear to move a vehicle by yourself. I ended up beating the casters with a 2x4 to get them facing the way I needed the dollies to roll. That's 16 individual casters to align! Even then, it's a major workout to move them on a smooth floor by yourself. If you can get a helper, I'd recommend it. I had to turn my 3,600# car 90 degrees inside my garage to make space for new garage door installation. Managed it by myself, but it definitely wasn't fun.

Almost forgot: Later, I ended up using a 2x4 about 3' long to lever underneath the dolly to take the load off an individual caster so I could turn it the way it needed to be to allow rolling. With that, most of the time I could rotate the caster by hand. GL!

 

[Blake442]

I used to use the "nice" kind of ratcheting dollies on a daily basis at the resto shop I used to work at.
Moving cars by yourself is possible, but tough. It's always easier with and extra body there to help out.
If your garage floor has cracks or chunks missing, it can be a pain to get past them.

 

[HurstOlds]

ok, thanks guys. I'll get all the wheels going in the right direction and then get a buddy or two to try to move this thing.

Should I not move the car up against a corner and wall? it sounds like I'll need to get in there during spring to turn the wheels around again. I'm guessing I should try to leave a little room to get around the car so I can move wheels?

Oh, and do the dollies work over cracks in the floor? I have a hand made relief crack thing in my floor. Probably like a half inch wide. I'm kind of worried that once I hit a crack these things are going to be stuck....

Thanks again

 

[Phoenyx]

I have always used the jack trick. If yo have two large floor jacks, you can place one under the rear axle, and the front crossmember. then you can swing the vehicle around inside of your shop/garage. I use this trick when I store my car for the winter. I have also used to for heavy trucks w/ poor turning radius inside of shops. It would work, but you need a good jack. I have used it to move my 5000 Lb. Truck.

I have done this for years. Except I only had one jack, so I did one end of the car at a time. This can be easily done by one person.

 

[Blake442]

ok, thanks guys. I'll get all the wheels going in the right direction and then get a buddy or two to try to move this thing.

Should I not move the car up against a corner and wall? it sounds like I'll need to get in there during spring to turn the wheels around again. I'm guessing I should try to leave a little room to get around the car so I can move wheels?

Oh, and do the dollies work over cracks in the floor? I have a hand made relief crack thing in my floor. Probably like a half inch wide. I'm kind of worried that once I hit a crack these things are going to be stuck....

Thanks again

As far as cracks or putting it against the wall, if you have a friend or two to help, don't worry about it.