2 Wheel car dolly

[Brain75]

I figured to get me, my ranger, and my car back to where all my stuff is 900 miles away that I would just snag a cheap car dolly off facebook marketplace... locally it turns out all the listings are for LOCAL rental (and in spanish).. So there is some sort of business for people to scoop up old car dollies and then do a rental business with em.

Striking out on FBMP, I thought for a second about where I used to see em. Didn't Harbor Freight have a crappy assemble it yourself dolly kit (or Northern Tool or similar)... I checked those 2 and found nothing. Can't remember any other similar place off the top of my head.

In addition to any suggestions for other places to buy, if you guys have any suggestions on how to build, I have a cheap junkyard and when I am all done I will have a spare set of 4 14" ranger wheels with tires. Specifically thinking about how hard it would be to do a drop from the axle stubs down to a low riding height and not have to worry about the strength of the welds too much.

Driving one way and then flying back and driving again is possible but the cost of the flight (and parking and and) way outweighs what I thought I could scoop up a dolly for. And I really wouldn't mind having a dolly around to deal with the multiple vehicle problem again in the future (I am now up to 3... car, truck and classic).

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

Do you have room to park a car hauler trailer? Those are great for more than just cars. Or buy one, sell it after use.

 

[Brain75]

Not really.. .I even came up with a Northern Tool link for a car dolly, but trying to follow it. it redirects to home page so obviously they quit carrying em.

 

[Brain75]

(Not really enough room I meant to say)... like $5k new, more than I am lookin to spend for this little extra piece of hardware.. Rather not try to flat tow my 48 with my ranger - I think they weigh about the same ish...
I could also rent a dolly from uhaul but that kinda cost is about as much as I remember the kits being.

 

[pjtoledo]

I figured to get me, my ranger, and my car back to where all my stuff is 900 miles away that I would just snag a cheap car dolly off facebook marketplace... locally it turns out all the listings are for LOCAL rental (and in spanish).. So there is some sort of business for people to scoop up old car dollies and then do a rental business with em.

Striking out on FBMP, I thought for a second about where I used to see em. Didn't Harbor Freight have a crappy assemble it yourself dolly kit (or Northern Tool or similar)... I checked those 2 and found nothing. Can't remember any other similar place off the top of my head.

In addition to any suggestions for other places to buy, if you guys have any suggestions on how to build, I have a cheap junkyard and when I am all done I will have a spare set of 4 14" ranger wheels with tires. Specifically thinking about how hard it would be to do a drop from the axle stubs down to a low riding height and not have to worry about the strength of the welds too much.

Driving one way and then flying back and driving again is possible but the cost of the flight (and parking and and) way outweighs what I thought I could scoop up a dolly for. And I really wouldn't mind having a dolly around to deal with the multiple vehicle problem again in the future (I am now up to 3... car, truck and classic).

dollys don't have much if any suspension, they take a beating. don't scrimp on the welds.

try a local RV dealer, they may have a line on some because lots of people tow with RVs.

 

[Brain75]

hadn't thought about that... lots and lots of "trailer places" here but they are all horse trailer and 5th wheel and big giant stuff... plenty of RV stuff the closer you get to the mountains..

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

(Not really enough room I meant to say)... like $5k new, more than I am lookin to spend for this little extra piece of hardware.. Rather not try to flat tow my 48 with my ranger - I think they weigh about the same ish...
I could also rent a dolly from uhaul but that kinda cost is about as much as I remember the kits being.

Do dollies have brakes?

 

[Brain75]

u haul's have "surge brakes" meaning hidden inside the ball coupler is a heavy duty contact switch, you hit your truck brakes, the trailer pushes forward on the ball and the switch engages the trailer... so you can't back em up at all even a tiny bit (brakes lock up instantly), and if you brake even a little hard the trailer likes to rip you all over the place unless you outweigh it a bunch. they are junk... if I was gonna make my own or do a kit, I think I would put in real e-brakes with a battery, 6 pin wire - the regular big way..

uhaul does that so anyone with a 4 pin lights connector can rent from em, no special wiring, no installing a controller, and it's cheap.

 

[Brain75]

As far as fabbing my own, I was thinking of square tubing for the box, and using wheels/hubs/brakes from something in the junkyard with small wheels and no axle - like the rear wheels of a FWD mid/small car.. Taurus rear end or escort. and Yeah, no suspension at all, weld directly from the spindle to the box frame. I now have to wonder why Northern Tool and Harbor Freight quit carrying the kits, what big lawsuit ended the build it yourself.

 

[Brain75]

it took some serious digging, but I found where northern tool used to get their plans from (or at least their plans were for a "model 1000" that looked a heck of a lot similar from memory):

1000 - Heavy Duty Car Dolly Trailer Kit

FREE SHIPPING TO BUSINESS ADDRESS | This 1000 - Heavy Duty Car Dolly Trailer Kit has everything you need to get started on your new trailer. The axle comes fully assembled for easy installation, and you'll love how quickly your trailer comes together. | MATCHING Engineer Approved PLAN /...

trailerplans.com

which is like twice what they used to be... kind stings they want $100 for just a PDF file and $730 for a kit that used to be $375... guess that is the world we live in now.
I'm guessing harbor freight quit because their supplier quit (their kit was like $199 and was a bit too light duty - thinwall tubing), and all the rest of em like northern, grainger, etc dropped cause they sold too few to bother keeping it in the catalog.

 

[Brain75]

I wasn't happy with the price of that last one so I dug and dug and dug and I found some forum posts guys claiming they could buy trailers from princess auto for $300 (posts circa 2010).... went there, no dice.

Took another tack on facebook locally, I found one in Cheyenne WY for $900 and then after that they exceed $1k.

Also found something interesting, dodge caravan rear "axles" (it's a FWD transverse mounted, so it's just a dummy tube), are like super easy to cut in half, slide a 2 1/2 pipe inside of and extend to whatever width you want then weld on a deck frame. Wheels, hubs, brakes, axle tube all from 1 vehicle, replacement parts at the auto store instead of trailer supply. The caravan LE has 5 on 4.5 spacing even. Only concern is what kinda weight they could take being nothing more than hollow tubes - one guy claims 2,000#.

Looking at the link I posted above, if a guy built it himself and started with my dirt cheap junkyard $115 for an axle, I see a $40 piece here a $40 piece there... I don't think you could build it yourself for less than $400.

 

[sgtsandman]

U-Haul is pretty draconian on their rules as to who can use one of their trailers with what. I seem to remember Jim having a problem with TRS-3 towing TRS-2. I forget what the remedy was. Maybe he told them it would be towed with Eric's F-250?

I understand it's a liability concern and they don't want get sued because someone was stupid but wow!

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

Do dollies have brakes?

Some do, some don’t. Old U-haul style had no brakes. New style has a crappy surge brake system. Some aftermarket had no brakes, some surge brakes, and some electric brakes. I’d like to fit electric brakes to the one we have.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

it took some serious digging, but I found where northern tool used to get their plans from (or at least their plans were for a "model 1000" that looked a heck of a lot similar from memory):

1000 - Heavy Duty Car Dolly Trailer Kit

FREE SHIPPING TO BUSINESS ADDRESS | This 1000 - Heavy Duty Car Dolly Trailer Kit has everything you need to get started on your new trailer. The axle comes fully assembled for easy installation, and you'll love how quickly your trailer comes together. | MATCHING Engineer Approved PLAN /...

trailerplans.com

which is like twice what they used to be... kind stings they want $100 for just a PDF file and $730 for a kit that used to be $375... guess that is the world we live in now.
I'm guessing harbor freight quit because their supplier quit (their kit was like $199 and was a bit too light duty - thinwall tubing), and all the rest of em like northern, grainger, etc dropped cause they sold too few to bother keeping it in the catalog.

Unfortunately a lot of things have gotten a lot more expensive in recent years including steel. I’ve about choked on the cost of buying steel the past couple years. I need a sheet of 1/8” plate and it’s $200/sheet locally these days. I’ve been putting it off…

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

I wasn't happy with the price of that last one so I dug and dug and dug and I found some forum posts guys claiming they could buy trailers from princess auto for $300 (posts circa 2010).... went there, no dice.

Took another tack on facebook locally, I found one in Cheyenne WY for $900 and then after that they exceed $1k.

Also found something interesting, dodge caravan rear "axles" (it's a FWD transverse mounted, so it's just a dummy tube), are like super easy to cut in half, slide a 2 1/2 pipe inside of and extend to whatever width you want then weld on a deck frame. Wheels, hubs, brakes, axle tube all from 1 vehicle, replacement parts at the auto store instead of trailer supply. The caravan LE has 5 on 4.5 spacing even. Only concern is what kinda weight they could take being nothing more than hollow tubes - one guy claims 2,000#.

Looking at the link I posted above, if a guy built it himself and started with my dirt cheap junkyard $115 for an axle, I see a $40 piece here a $40 piece there... I don't think you could build it yourself for less than $400.

Now that is an interesting thought. I’d think the rear axle should be good for more than 2k lbs, probably more like 3k, which is the limit for a “light” trailer around here. My one buddy has a Grand Caravan so maybe I’ll see if the door sticker gives a weight rating…