Can I set my hubs/drums on wheel dollies?

[Bryan L.]

If I take off the rims and set my trailer brake drums on to wheel dollies to get it in to my garage am I doing any damage? I think if I can take off the wheels and set it on the dollies that I might be able to fit my Scamp in to my garage. I can put the tires on after it's in the garage but is that really necessary?

I'm thinking something like these:
http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/pro...e=wheel%2Bdolly

It might be easier just to get rims without tires too.

[Mike Price]

I wouldn't recommend it. The brake drums are presumably cast iron, which would be brittle. Acting as a brake drum, the drum is put into uniform tension all around when the brake is applied. When the drum is set down upon the wheel dolly, a single point of the drum is put in compression, which it was not built for. It is likely to crack or even shatter.

When the dolly is used on a "tired" wheel, the weight of the trailer is transferred directly to the axle shaft, and the drum takes none of the load.

If you need to remove the tires and wheels for garage door clearance, I suggest you devise some sort of a dolly that can pick up the trailer weight directly on the trailer frame. (Something like a pair of large wheeled garage jacks, one on each side.) That would also mean you would need a solid (concrete) level garage apron to allow the wheel-less trailer to be pushed into the garage safely.

If you can devise one, you could leave the trailer on the jacks, taking the entire load off of the axle for the winter, and also prevent "flatting" the tires, as they also would not be under any load at all.

Good luck,

Mike

[Len Cater]

Tried a few scenarios, including these. They did not work. First off, your spring hangers may hang lower than the bottom of the rim. I fouind that the tiny wheels are too difficult to get rolling and the amount of pressure required to get the trailer moving caused the rim to cam out of the dolly.
The use of a floor trolley is a very good idea. The wheels are designed to move easily with large amounts of weight on them. BUT you need at least one on each side. I tried it with one and of course the trailer tipped. My trailer is now in the garage and on jacks and I was debating making some mini-plywood wheels or buying another floor trolley. I may in fact buy 2 floor trolleys which are capable of handling the weight but as well have handles on them for easier moving.
Good luck.

[Bruce Thomas]

Try empty wheels.....with no tires

[Bryan L.]

Well, it's in my garage but it didn't quite go as planned! I did this first.





I put them under the very back as I let the jack down veeeeery slowly after taking the wheel off. The entrance to my garage is a big lip so I need to build a better "platform for that last little bit of the trailer to roll over.





After I started to back in, the castor wheels just tipped over when it got stuck on the crack. No biggie, I'll just set them on to the cement and try it again.

[Bryan L.]

That worked for a bit and then it just buckled over again. I then made new ones that are longer than these so that when it wants to buckle over, the long part just presses against the frame and it doesn't go anywhere. Whoa, close!













Things were looking pretty good until the drums started to touch a bit as the driveway sloped up toward the driveway lip.

Eventually, the wheels just fell off the back of the frame as it lifted off of the ground. At this point I was just about in the garage so I moved the rolly wheels out of the way and just backed it in on the drums. As soon as it was in the garage I put the wheels back on.

[Bryan L.]

I think that I can make this work now that I know what really needs to be done. I probably need to have two sets of the dolly wheels. This one to get most of it in to the garage and then another pair that is "taller" so that the drums can clear the lip of the garage floor. It puts a lot of weight on the hitch of the van but it's only temporary. Ideally, I'd like to get a set of those "storage" wheels that bolt on in place of the wheels that are barely bigger than the drum. After seeing how close this was I know that rims with no tires won't work. At least I figured out something. After I really get a system going, I'll make another post about it.

[Joe Z]

Bryan
I remember seeing two different posts that may help you but not sure where to find them....
The first one was a set of brake rotors that was reversed and set onto your existing lugs..... the second was a small wheel that was fabricated out of Hardwood and holes drilled to match the lugs.
Joe

[Daniel V.]

The first one was a set of brake rotors that was reversed and set onto your existing lugs

That's what I did here:
http://www.fiberglassrv.com/board/index.ph...st&p=299147

Older thread about reinventing the wheel here:
http://www.fiberglassrv.com/board/index.ph...opic=29146&

[Bruce Thomas]

That low garage door would be coming off if i needed the camper in there......it's too low anyway.........Bruce

[Bryan L.]

That's what I did here:
http://www.fiberglassrv.com/board/index.ph...st&p=299147

Older thread about reinventing the wheel here:
http://www.fiberglassrv.com/board/index.ph...opic=29146&

Thanks for the links. Now I just need to find brake drums with the same bolt pattern as that looks like the best option for me. I like the idea of the wood wheels too but I'm just wondering if 3/4 plywood would be strong enough for this type of application. I'm guessing that it would be ok for it. Hmm, now the wood wheels look better since they wouldn't be messing up the garage floor as much.

[Daniel V.]

Now I just need to find brake drums with the same bolt pattern as that looks like the best option for me.

Anything that is round and strong will do if you're able to drill the right holes into it, as you're not exactly driving around town with them. I didn't trust plywood myself, so I just walked around a junkyard for a couple hours until I lucked out and found these. Pieces of cardboard or carpet should take care of the garage floor concerns.

[Joe Z]

Hmm, now the wood wheels look better since they wouldn't be messing up the garage floor as much.

I remember that being discussed in the thread and if memory serves me well they slit open 3/4 rubber hose and ran it around the perimeter of the rotor so it wouldn't scrape the floor up...... One thing they said to look for was that the rotor was high enough so that the torsion bar on the axle would not hit the ground

Joe

[Loren G. Hedahl]

At our son's place in California where they don't allow RVs to be seen, we pulled the wheels and rolled our Scamp right into the garage. Originally we planned to roll it on some 1/2 inch plywood strips, but even that was too high to clear the garage door.

No damage occurred to the brake drums, but I might just have been lucky. It's a lot of trouble to go to also, so we'll likely never do that again. Also camping in a closed up garage leaves a lot to be desired!

It gets hot in there and dark. With no air flow the smell from the holding tank vents begins to build up. :>)

Turns out there are better options, such as a temporary permit for a couple of days and a campground about ten miles away.

[Len Cater]

Try empty wheels.....with no tires

So, after the dolly's made it very difficult to move around, I moved to using blank rims, and it is MUCH better. The trailer rolls very easy on the blank wheels, I still get the height I need using an 8" rim with the same bolt pattern. And I found the rims for $11 each so cheaper than any other solution I was working with. Be warned though, it will leave marks on asphalt.
Len

[Bill K]

Get some rubber hose and cut it length wise then put it on the edge of the rims.

Bill K

Be warned though, it will leave marks on asphalt.
Len