A&Q about Lotus
Q:
I am not sure if I am using the correct term, dolly. I want to place each corner of the car in a wheeled cart to rotate sideways. This would allow me to place the car at the front of the garage for winter storage. I'd also like them to help avoid flat spotting the tires.
A:
Those work great if your garage surface is perfectly flat. Mine has a few cracks in it (old house). With them it’s possible to move the Elise alone but make sure you don’t do it by anything other than the dollies themselves or the wheels. The body of the Elise isn't really structurally sound enought to push the car around by the clams.
There had been some debate about the affect of freezing temperature on the tire compound. This could be a concern although I’m not certain of its validity. Some believe that if the rubber freezes it’ll never have the same sticky quality again.
I’m not sure. I’m running on almost bald AD07s right now just to put off new tires until spring. The new rubber is in my basement, so I took the advice rather than ignored it.
A:
Dolly will not stop flat spotting! Have 2 set's and do make movement easy and precise. Will not hurt the glass on the Elise! Approx. 2 yrs ago purchased via mag.( it was either Porsche panarama or 356 reg.) a synthetic material that was designed to stop flat spotting and they have worked very well last 3 season's on the Viper. No flat spotting. In that the set was rather expensive, for the other vehicle's I insulated the the wheel's from cement and hyperinflated the tire's to 60# pressure and ck'd monthly. No noted problem's x 1 season.
A:
Originally Posted by dakotan50sw
Dolly will not stop flat spotting!
How can the tire get a flat spot if it is suspended in the air?
A:
Originally Posted by saudio
How can the tire get a flat spot if it is suspended in the air?
Wheel dollies usually look like this and actually hug the tire around more surface area than just leaving it on the floor/ground.
Last winter I put the car up on blocks and took the wheels off. No flat spots that way for sure.
A:
Originally Posted by Obsidian
Wheel dollies usually look like this and actually hug the tire around more surface area than just leaving it on the floor/ground.
There's also the ones that look like this and result in even less contact area with the tire than when it's on the floor.
Last winter I put the car up on blocks and took the wheels off. No flat spots that way for sure.
Some people around here strongly recommend against that because leaving the suspension hanging for extended periods can supposedly cause problems with the bushings/fittings. Unless by "up on blocks" you mean that you supported the car by the wheel hubs somehow instead of the jack points.
A:
Couldn't one just roll their car forwards and backwards to random spots within a three foot range? Just once a week or something? Wouldn't that prevent flat-spotting?
xtn
A:
Yes..........just a few rolls forward and back every weeks or so will do the trick. However, modern radials don't stay flat spotted after they go through a heat cycle.
A:
Originally Posted by foosh
Yes..........just a few rolls forward and back every weeks or so will do the trick. However, modern radials don't stay flat spotted after they go through a heat cycle.
Give the man a cigar.
For the most part, flat spotting was a by product of old bias ply tires - modern radials don't have the problem. Even if they do flat spot a bit, the first good drive of the spring to warm them up, and they should be back to normal.
I've always had cars that sit for the winter, and have never had flat spotting problems. I don't even bother inflating the tires to the maximum rating - I just park the car in the fall/winter and in the spring, I check the pressure and drive.
A:
I was looking at the dollies for the maneuverability. The flat spot prevention was just a secondary benefit. Which seems is unnecessary anyway now.
A:
Originally Posted by dododge
There's also the ones that look like this and result in even less contact area with the tire than when it's on the floor.
You deserved that.
Although the wheel dollies you linked to do totally rock and look all cool and such, there's no way that the tire is contacting less area when cradled between the two bars than when it's on the floor ... it would be at least equal, if not more surface area of the tire that would be in contact with those points.
Again, however, it would seem if the tires don't outright crack from sitting in the cold they will apparently be fine after you warm them back up during a drive in the spring.
I'm still leaving my new rubber in my basement for the winter.
A:
I bought a set of "movable car jacks" from Griot's Garage () which make relocating project cars an absolute piece of cake. They are expensive but very well made and easy to use. Essentially, each jack is a pair of parallel rollers which straddle a tire. The rollers are drawn together by a foot actuated ratchet mechanism. You draw them together and in doing "pinch" the bottom of the tire and lift the car wheel up off the garage floor. The rollers are in turn mounted on swivel casters. It is very easy to pick a car up by all four wheels, push/rotate it to where you want it and lower it back down onto the tires. I smile every time I use them.
(Oops, I didn't follow the link posted by Obsidian. My post is a little redundant but these jacks really are great. I would never leave a car on these jacks for any longer than it takes to move the car.)
A:
Technically speaking, the contact patch will always remain the same at a given PSI and vehicle weight. The SHAPE of that contact patch might change, depending on what you support the tire with, but the area won't change.
xtn
A:
Originally Posted by Series 2 Elite
I bought a set of "movable car jacks" from Griot's Garage ...
(Oops, I didn't follow the link posted by Obsidian. My post is a little redundant but these jacks really are great. I would never leave a car on these jacks for any longer than it takes to move the car.)
The Griots Garage units are certainly cool too. It seems all the ratchet-style Wheel Dollies are made by a company named GoJak ... They seem to be expensive no matter where you find them at.
A:
4 wheels 114.00 I have these for my Europa, and they're great !!
A:
Originally Posted by xtn
Technically speaking, the contact patch will always remain the same at a given PSI and vehicle weight. The SHAPE of that contact patch might change, depending on what you support the tire with, but the area won't change.
xtn
A:
Originally Posted by Obsidian
Although the wheel dollies you linked to do totally rock and look all cool and such, there's no way that the tire is contacting less area when cradled between the two bars than when it's on the floor ... it would be at least equal, if not more surface area of the tire that would be in contact with those points.
I fail to see why that would be the case. The contact points in this device are rollers. I'd think the tire would have to deform to being concave for it to have as much surface contact with those rollers as it might with a flat piece of flooring.
I will grant this is all guesswork. I have never used one of these wheel jacks so I haven't actually observed what happens when the tire is lifted.
A:
I have a set of GoJaks (got the 6200 lb capacity to accommodate wider tires). I find them quite handy.