TheSamba.com :: View topic

Thu Oct 31, 2019 5:24 am

Hi Folks
I'm thinking of getting a set of 4 wheel dollies, so I can move my van around in the shop to position it for various jobs. (concrete floor).
I think I will buy the non jacking type. (cheaper)
I noticed some have caster brakes on 1 or 2 of the dollie casters others have no caster brakes at all.
My question is:
Can you work on the van for example lifting one wheel to do brakes while the van is on dollies. if so how do you stop it from rolling ?
Or are the dollies used just for moving the van around and then when you need to do something you remove them?
Seems like a lot of jacking...
Txs

Thu Oct 31, 2019 6:52 am

You'd have to really trust some little wheel lock mechanism to jack up one wheel and trust your life to the dollies not rolling (or sliding). Do you feel lucky?

Thu Oct 31, 2019 7:06 am

Ok. so you just use them for moving around, and then you take them off.
OK figures.
txs

Thu Oct 31, 2019 7:21 am

jocoman wrote: Ok. so you just use them for moving around, and then you take them off.
OK figures.
txs

IMO it is OK to leave them on unless you are jacking the bus up. So they could be on most all the time if it is just sitting there.

Thu Oct 31, 2019 11:57 am

think of this.
you have to jack up the van to put the dollies under the wheels.
don't crawl under there and honk around.
you can also have the van on 3 dollies and 1 (HD) 6ton jackstand with a wheel off.

the jack you own/choose to use may very well be the sketchiest piece of the vanagon jenga puzzle. then comes the quality and levelness of the surface.
it'll sit quite well on it's wheels on dollies. and it can't fall any further than off of a dollie where the wheels are resting.
treat any vehicle with a wheel off as dangerous, commanding respect of physics.. she's a soulless bytch.

Thu Oct 31, 2019 1:30 pm

i had our westy on a set of the non jacking ones during early summer for some overhaul work. it helped a ton to push it in/out of the way at the shop

if youre not underneath it - doing brake work IMO doesnt require being underneat the van - i wouldnt sweat it. jack up one wheel and carry on.

there was enough resistance - this was on an epoxy coated level concrete floor - to not have the van roll away on its own. it required a decent bit of pushing to get the thing started rolling when you purposefully wanted to move it. its not going to slide away if you lift one wheel, which you need to do to get it into the dollies in the first place!

Thu Oct 31, 2019 1:47 pm

The only thing I can add is that I've seen the cheap sets break wheels easily and at the worst time usually, so, if you're pushing by yourself, get a better set that isn't a race to the bottom in price.

Thu Oct 31, 2019 4:14 pm

How smooth is your floor?

Thu Oct 31, 2019 4:14 pm

I've found that to remove Carbon Monoxide and water from garages, the floors slope to the doors, well guess what? A good dolly is pulled by gravity to the door!

Dave