Chassis Dolly Dimension

[japollon]

Regarding the chassis dolly, what is the minimum height from the floor to the top of the pad where the frame rail rests?

Thanks,

[wareaglescott]

I wouldn't say there really is a minimum height. Nothing should really be lower than the bottom of the frame rails you have it sitting on. Some of the suspension components may be but they are generally forward and aft of the ends of the frame cart. For reference the typical ride height is 4-4.5" meaning the bottom of those frame rails when the car is complete sit that much above the ground. Just build it to a height you think it will be good to work on it.

One thing you need to consider is how you will get the chassis off the frame cart and onto the ground once you have the wheels on and are ready to do so. I used 4 jack stands and my jack to lift the chassis up, slide the dolly out and then lowered the car to the ground. My limiting factor on how tall I could make the dolly was how high my jack stands could extend and give me enough room that I would have clearance to get the dolly out once I had the chassis resting on the jack stands. Personally I wanted the chassis sitting as high as I could make it while I was working on it in that stage.

[japollon]

Thank you so much for the help!

[phileas_fogg]

One thing to consider as you extend the height upwards. If you stack 2"x4"s under the dolly wheels like this:

IMG_0871 by jhsitton, on Flickr

They will snap off when you roll over the lip between your garage and your driveway.

IMG_0872_2 by jhsitton, on Flickr

The solution is to brace the sides of the stack:

IMG_0874 by jhsitton, on Flickr

Cheers,


John

[289FIA_Cobra]

If you can afford it, I'd recommend QuickJacks. I just purchased a pair 10 years after completing mine, but had I known about them, I would have gotten them for the build. It raises the car a nice 18" off the ground but you could use some 4x4 to make it at least 21". Drilling some of those holes while on a stool would have been great in a few cases.

[CraigS]

Another thought is to make your dolly so the car is 12-14 inches off the floor. Less bending over to work on the top stuff and high enough to slide under. I would measure how high the pad on my floor jack goes, subtract 2 inches, and make the dolly so the frame is that height.