Hey guys,

I'm in desperate need of some sort of stand that can hold my chassis and be stable, yet still roll around

Does anyone have dimensions of a chassis stand they've built? Or any ideas?

m tr4nch has one in his Signature, if someone knows him - give him a shout and let him know that I could use some advice.

Thanks a million!Justin

edit: scroll down for pics and measurements

whats up man, the first thing you want to do is take some measurements. for mine, i measured the distance between the outside of the frame rails in front where the crossmember bolts up, and again in the rear right before the rails angle up where the back seat is. i added on an inch or two just so i had some extra room to be safe with. you also want to measure how high you want it to be. i made mine just high enough so i could fit a jack stand underneath to make it easier when changing from the dolly to stands and vice versa (keep in mind the height of the wheel casters too).

my dad helped me with the building part. he's good when it comes to making stuff with wood, so he cut all the pieces and brought them over my house and we put it together in my driveway. for the casters, i just went to home depot and picked some up. i think they are the 500lb ones (so 2,000lbs total capacity is plenty for a bare chassis). my dad had a whole bunch of long bolts laying around that he wanted to get rid of so we used those to mount the casters.

as for what kind of wood.. we used some 2x6 pieces for the top pieces that go across where the frame rails sit, as well as the bottom pieces that go across where the casters mount. the vertical pieces in each corner is a combination of one 2x4 and one 2x6 (to make an L shape). the long piece connecting the front section with the back section is just a 2x4 on the bottom, and some smaller piece on the top.

we just screwed the whole thing together, bolted up the casters, and that was it! its been sitting with the car on it for the last 2 years ( ) and its been holding up great. i dont see any signs of flexing or anything like that.

if you would like pics i can take some tomorrow for you since i got the car back on jack stands right now.hope this helps out
Modified by m tr4nch at 8:51 PM 10/9/2007

Do I Predict A Write-Up?

wow that is kick-*** haha, dont need more support in the rear of the car?

Dittoz7 wrote:Do I Predict A Write-Up?

O yes man pleae write up and pics

also m tr4nch, i remeber you saying that you were going to clean up your underbody and undercoat it? Any news on that? im looking to do the same thing.

hey m tr4nch, do you have a email? I want some advice help, im restoring my s13 also, or what i mean, basically what your doing.


Modified by nwmrkt at 10:57 PM 10/6/2007

hmm i do have some ideas for a write up...

to answer some questions:

mutiny wrote:wow that is kick-*** haha, dont need more support in the rear of the car?

the way the car sits, its fine. but if you start to lean on the back it will start to tip a little.. i mean you do have to apply a bit of pressure for that to happen, but i guess its dependent on where the front sits (basically if you made the front of the dolly shorter, the car would be balanced better.. sort of).

nwmrkt wrote:also m tr4nch, i remeber you saying that you were going to clean up your underbody and undercoat it? Any news on that? im looking to do the same thing.

yeah im still working on that lol.. now since schools started again i havent had much time to get going on it, but im making progress still i still have to start my build thread soon also..my email is mtr4nch(at)gmail(dot)com

tomorrow (sunday) im working all day so i might not be able to get pics/measurements/info up, but monday i will go out and gather everything

Sounds great man!

I'm going to get started on it within the next few weeks, and I'll be sure to document everything I do. (Including Blueprints)

I think I will also add an extension to the rear (just for stability purposes)

I'll keep in touch and let everyone know how it goes

Thanks for all your help thus far m tr4nch!!!!

okay.. so i finally got pics and took measurements of everything. i've edited the pictures with the measurements in them to make everything easy, and i also made a little chart with what pieces of wood you will need, the length, and how many of each. these are EXACT measurements, so if you duplicate this perfectly, it should come out exactly the same and fit together nicely. i didn't include the small 2x6 blocks above the wheel casters simply because they were only used to soak up the extra length of the bolts my dad was trying to get rid of.

so basically all you do is make two squares out of the 2x6 pieces, one shorter in height for the rear, the other longer in height for the front. then just connect the two with the long 2x4 and 1x4's. all i did was screw everything together. no glue/bolts/etc.. it's pretty simple.

anyways, here's the pics (don't mind the dirtyness, lol):














hope all of this can help you guys out there who want to make one of these.

Awesome man!

One last question for you... How do you go about transferring it between the dolly and jack stands?

Justin VanWinkle wrote:Awesome man!

One last question for you... How do you go about transferring it between the dolly and jack stands?

going from the dolly to the jack stands: i'll jack the sides up in the rear, right in front of the wheel well on the sill seam (or whatever you want to call it) by using the scissor jack on top of my tool box (to make up for the height). then i set the jack stand on the highest setting and put a small piece of 2x4 in between that and the sill. this lifts the car up like a half inch or so, just enough to slide the dolly out. then i go to the front of the car and hold it up by the bottom radiator support, and slide the dolly out through the front, all while i'm holding the front of the car up. then i'll either flip the dolly around and rest the front of the car on the front section, or i'll grab something and put it under the radiator support to hold it up.

from the jack stands to the dolly: basically the reversed way of that ^

also, be aware that i'm not moving the thing the safest way in the world, so please be careful if you decide to do it that way, i'm not responsible blah blah.. just think about how to do it before you do something that you might regret.

here's what i'm talking about:
(don't mind the covered up wheel wells, it's a surprise for later when i make my build thread lol)




so yeah, that's the way i do it.. not the safest way i guess but oh well.

Nice, i have to do when I have free time.