Dolly / Auto Body (not transport)

[Vbigdog]

Hi,
I'm new to welding, and this forum - apologies in advance for basic questions.

I would like to build a dolly for a car shell body (not a road/highway dolly) - but basically a jig with 4 castors that can roll a unibody shell around the garage.

Ideally, I would like to make the dolly's length and width adjustable, by having tube steel of 3"x 3" x 1/4" slide *over* 2 1/2" x 2 1/2" x 1/4" . On paper, a 2 1/2" square tube (1/4" wall) might slide inside a 3" square tube (1/4" wall). I just tried to place a steel order, and asked if "...a 2 1/2" tube would slide inside a 3 " tube ? - and was told it wouldn't.

Is there a good source for accurate steel dimensions? Or other adjustability suggestions? Open to someone else's plans as well. Any / all comments welcome.
Thanks,
Tom

[uhohjim]

You might want to try 2"x1/4" wall tubing and use 2 1/2"reciever tubing....thats the tubing used to make a hitch reciever....it's expensive but it does not have the flash on the inside from the weld joint and I beleive the inside corners of the tubing are a little tighter to afford sliding a hitch into...Jim

[willy]

Hi,
I'm new to welding, and this forum - apologies in advance for basic questions.

I would like to build a dolly for a car shell body (not a road/highway dolly) - but basically a jig with 4 castors that can roll a unibody shell around the garage.

Ideally, I would like to make the dolly's length and width adjustable, by having tube steel of 3"x 3" x 1/4" slide *over* 2 1/2" x 2 1/2" x 1/4" . On paper, a 2 1/2" square tube (1/4" wall) might slide inside a 3" square tube (1/4" wall). I just tried to place a steel order, and asked if "...a 2 1/2" tube would slide inside a 3 " tube ? - and was told it wouldn't.

Is there a good source for accurate steel dimensions? Or other adjustability suggestions? Open to someone else's plans as well. Any / all comments welcome.
Thanks,
Tom

I made a similar dolly for truck cabs and beds. I used 2 1/2 X 2 1/2 X 3/16 wall tubing and 2" tubing to slide inside. It was a little sloppy so I drilled a hole in the 2 1/2" tubing, welded a nut to it, and used a bolt to tighten it down to take the slop out - seemed to work good for me....

[MMW]

For the outer tube use a 3/16" wall as this will give you a little slop. The inside of the tube has a ridge which is why you can't use size on size od/id. A nut welded to the outer tube will let you insert a bolt to tighten it once you have it set.

[Vbigdog]

MMW, Willy, and Uhohjim,
Thank you - perfect. This is just the information I was looking for.

1/4 inch wall maybe overkill for the dolly jig, but I now understand (the seem bead) being the reason my math wouldn't work.

I appreciate the responses. Thank you. Tom

[Kamikaze]

You may want to google for auto body rotisseries.
I have seen some plans online for these even though many people sell them for a fortune!

I got mine from a guy who built his own from a set of plans he found online

[Leons2003]

I used 3/16" wall exclusive on the rotisserie I built, due to the weld in the I.D. it will allow a small amount of slop, worked well.
Good luck
L*S

[uhohjim]

I got in an accident a while ago and I've been asking a few people I know if they know of any good auto body shops. Unfortunately, all my friends are drawing a blank. Basically one of my rear panels got a bit banged up and will either wind up being bent back to shape and painted or replaced and obviously painted. Anyone have any ideas?

auto body

Where are you located?........would be alot easier recommending someone if everyone knew your location. Jim

[H80N]

Rottisserie/Dolly

Hi,
I'm new to welding, and this forum - apologies in advance for basic questions.

I would like to build a dolly for a car shell body (not a road/highway dolly) - but basically a jig with 4 castors that can roll a unibody shell around the garage.

Ideally, I would like to make the dolly's length and width adjustable, by having tube steel of 3"x 3" x 1/4" slide *over* 2 1/2" x 2 1/2" x 1/4" . On paper, a 2 1/2" square tube (1/4" wall) might slide inside a 3" square tube (1/4" wall). I just tried to place a steel order, and asked if "...a 2 1/2" tube would slide inside a 3 " tube ? - and was told it wouldn't.

Is there a good source for accurate steel dimensions? Or other adjustability suggestions? Open to someone else's plans as well. Any / all comments welcome.
Thanks,
Tom

Tom
here are a couple of pics I found of a body fixture that I thought incorporated a lot of desireable features... The guy that built this one, integrated a lot of featues and details into it that will make it a lot easier and safer for use in a one man shop....