HF vehicle dollies

I'm trying to squeeze another car into our garage (MR2 spyder). To do so, it will need to be perpendicular to the others. It seems that the best options are either putting it on vehicle dollies or using wheel jacks/positioning dollies. The former are much cheaper. Any advice on pros/cons? And is there any real difference between the 2 styles of vehicle dollies that HF sells?

I have the set in the middle, work great for my needs, pushing around a 2,000 pound sports car easily. The jacking kind would be convenient, but not worth the cost to save me a few minutes.

I have bought many of the black, steel versions.  For the most part, they're fine as long as your floor is fairly smooth.  Grease the axles of the casters so they roll a bit better.

The last kind add width to the parked vehicle as the levers have to be clear of the body.  And you really can't push them up against a wall and remove them.  I also think they would be harder on tires for them to be sitting on the relatively small diameter rollers for extended periods.  They are reasonably easy to use, though.

I have a bunch of the black steel ones and they're fine. As Ian mentioned, grease them.

Real Go Jacks are awesome and roll very easily. No experience with the HF copies.

I have had the HF hydraulic versions for years now and have used them for a variety of cars up to about 3800 lbs    Very easy to use and don’t require jack to elevate car which can be handy.   Placement next to walls is an issue at times when you need that last couple of inches.  No experience with the standard dollies.

I'll add that combining cribbing with either dollies or the Go Jack type adds versatility.

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I have the black steel ones and they haven't let me down yet. 

I have used $7 movers' dollies with some success.  The local HFs are always sold out of vehicle dollies.

("some success" meaning they worked once, and one of them broke after hitting a crack, but at that point I could still pivot the car to where I wanted it to go.   Definitely would work with more reinforcement)

I have the set in the middle as well.  Got them on sale for the same price (or maybe less) than the top set.  I think they work well, but only once you have all the wheels pointing in the right direction.  They don't have a whole lot of "extra" built in to them, either.  I went a few hundred pounds over what they're rated for and they started to bend pretty bad.  That said, for the money, they're worth it if you have a smooth floor.  I've considered the ones that have the built-in jack, but that seems like a lot of extra cash for the only benefit being that I don't have to jack the vehicle up with the floor jack first.

The top black ones are only good for maybe 1000 lbs a side if you want to be able to move them with any ease.  I had a 64 Corvair on them for a while, the front was easy to move, but the rear pretty much required you turn the wheels in the right direction to get it to move.  The middle ones "should" have better casters to handle more weight and still be able to move.

I have both the top black set and middle grey set. I don't know what it is but the black ones move the car so much easier. Hell, the black ones move my trans am easier that the grey ones move my e30.

I've had a set of the black ones for years, moved many cars with them. A couple of years ago I managed to bend a corner on one of them. I straightened it out, but it never rolled as well. So last year I got a set of the gray ones, and they seem to be of higher quality to me, and they roll more easily.

I've used the wood furniture dollies for an MGB before. They do fine for a light car. Saves a few bucks.

I've used the  moving dollies, but they break most of the time..  I try to use them outside on non-smooth asphalt.  

So I tried the real car ones, the silver ones, and they worked once moving the dumbass firebird parked right in front of my shop door,

the second time i tried to move dumbass's big heavy bmw he parked right where the firebird was, one broke a wheel off, so I was not impressed. 

I did manage to scoot one end to block HIS shop access, so it was sucessful enough. :)   BTW, just so you know, I asked to move these cars repeatedly, and was told everytime 'tomorrow'.

I haven't tried to lifting ones.

I have a set from Summit Racing. I think they are all about the same no matter who sells them. The dollies serve my purpose which is to push a Lotus Seven Type car closer to the wall to allow more space for working on other projects. It pushes rather easily but the car is rather light and the floor pretty smooth. Every set that I've looked at could benefit from better casters. 

Thanks all. I'm going to get a set of the dollies - either the black or silver ones. So much cheaper!

Cheap tools are cheap.  The ones that jack up are MUCH easier to use.  Got a set and love them.

I also have four of the silver variety, work great for the fairly lightweight car they're under.

Don't forget your coupins, only a sucker pays full price at Harbor Freight.

https://go.harborfreight.com/coupons/2020/02/67338-98967454/

I welded together a set of wheel dollies from unistrut and they've been some of the handiest tools ever. If you don't have a welder and a source for good cheap casters that might not be a good option.

We triend the "1000 lbs" rated wood moving dollies. Would not recommend. Broke 2 with an engineless miata.

dculberson said:

I welded together a set of wheel dollies from unistrut and they've been some of the handiest tools ever. If you don't have a welder and a source for good cheap casters that might not be a good option.

$7 furniture dollies mean you can get casters for $1.75 each.  And then you get free wood with the deal.

I have the top ones. I sprayed the bearings with PB, followed by a few squirts of 5w30 and they've been great.

In reply to AngryCorvair :

The double-shot!  Light oil to break the surface tension and get into the nooks and crannies, real oil to follow that in.

Knurled. said:

dculberson said:

I welded together a set of wheel dollies from unistrut and they've been some of the handiest tools ever. If you don't have a welder and a source for good cheap casters that might not be a good option.

$7 furniture dollies mean you can get casters for $1.75 each.  And then you get free wood with the deal.

For certain definitions of "casters." I paid more than $1.75 for my casters but they're really nice and strong. I've moved a 5000lb car on them no problem. Even moved an Accord on them when on very rough asphalt.