Saves them money to not have a guy testing them. What does it matter if the consumer wastes their time and gas to drive to the store, buy, assemble, test, drive back to store, return/swap, assemble again and final testing.
@@sixtyfiveford I've bought so many things at Harbor freight tools over the years, it's a hit or miss. When I lived in Las Vegas I was only a few miles away so it wasn't a huge deal to return something. Now that I have to drive a 70 mile round trip I'm not nearly as nice. I've stopped shopping there for the most part. I just buy what I need from Lowe's since it's right up the street.
I don't think they expect you to do it They're know for selling cheaper tools For the 1 time or ocassonal user , Actually some of their tools are pretty descent $$$ wise compared to other major brands You just have to know what you're expecting out of them usage Wise.
@@sixtyfiveford Can you make/modify something that can be used to lift heavy tires and to align against the lugs to install the tire on the lugs? It is a pain in the back trying to align a heavy tire to mount back up on the lugs. Thank you
I really enjoyed watching your review, and modifications performed. I have seen these advertised at HF, and it is great to see them in use, along with you honest reveiw and assessment. Thanks again.
They looked decent in person but didn't think I would spend so much time making them work correctly. If you just had a 3000lb car you would probably be happy and no issues. Though I think they would bend over time and use and give issues down the road.
Thank you for explaining why the bowed or off-plumb casters were hard to roll. I was scratching my head while you were welding gussets until you brought out the spirit level. I love that Ginger !!
I recently bought one. It worked great for removing and intalling my truck tires. I'm 62 with heart problems. It worked great and it's a back saver. 4/2024 paid $109.00 plus tax with coupon.
Love those old F100. At age 73, gimped up, I gave my 62 F100, shortbed unibody to my grandaughter. It has a 351M and an FMX. NICE LITTLE TRUCK. I just do not have the strength to steer it anymore. Got disabled in a carwreck.
I had forearms of steel when I first started driving my 65 at 16yrs old. I had a tiny 13" steering wheel and my father hated it. A few years later I converted it to power steering and power brakes(disc front). The braking really made little to no difference in stopping as properly tuned drums take virtually no force to apply them. I was a little disappointed as I was hoping for a dramatic difference. The steering though was wonderful though the added problems of replacing power steering pumps every few years got tiresome. I have a 352 FE motor in the 65 but have a 351M in my 78 Ford Truck. The 351M has been an extremely reliable, though low power engine.
@@sixtyfiveford yup my 351 started reliably. Not a hot rod but plenty of torque at the low end with 373 rear gears it could be a stump puller in low. Before I gave it to Morgan I looked into addIng CPP power steering unit, I figured it would be about 2 k to do it, as I can no longer do major wrench turning. Yeah on 16 being a bull. When i got out of the marines I was so hard, you could roller skate on me LOL. Not anymore, I am now a ustawuz, I usrawuz strong but not now... a 10 year old girl scout could whip me...LOL I enjoy your channel a lot, I can live vicariously in your projects.
Always using that big brain of yours to figure out how to make stuff work better. That's why I never miss a video. How's that at home alignment video coming along? Definitely waiting for that one
Front end tire alignment? I have a video on that: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-Dl0pCDpZYwQ.html I've been doing my own alignments for almost 20years now and change my own tires, so I know the method works.
@@sixtyfiveford I'm trying to find the recent video you did where you mentioned that you might do a video on how to do an alignment with a level n a few other things. I already know the front end alignment trick using jack stands n a string. I'm just curious what this other trick you know using a level is
That was a nice bit of re-engineering there. Thanks for doing the research and rebuild for us. And a thumbs up for the video. 👍👍 Also it looked like the brake was actually peeling the plastic wheel apart when you had it locked and turned the wheel.
You saved me $$ I was going to buy these but wasn't sure between these or the cheaper wheel dish dolleys with steel wheels ended up with the wheel dish dolleys more work using a garage jack but worth it after seeing this
I purchased a set of 4 of those skate type of dolly’s Harbor Freight sells and they were garbage. They are the type that you use after lifting all 4 corners of your vehicle using a floor jack and setting them down under each wheel. They were worthless when I tried them. Problem with them were the cheap Chinese wheels they used on each skate. They looked to not be made with ball bearings. Oiling them up didn’t make any difference either so I brought them back. Purchased others made in the USA where you could actually see the difference in the wheels they use and with one finger could move the car. This is going back probably close to better then 20 years ago already. Maybe harbor Freight might of improved on them but I doubt it. My USA ones will last longer then me.
There are multiple grades of wheel dollys at HF. The cheap set is pretty crappy, they are rated at 1000lbs per wheel. The next set up is rated at 1500lbs, they are a bit better. I've sat my town car on them and moved it around the garage pretty easily.
1D10CRACY As I mentioned it must of been 20 years ago or so and Harbor Freight only carried one type which were Black and looked like the cheaper set they sell 2 for $49.95 that suppose to handle 1000 pounds. Back then I purchased 4 of them to put under a 1970 Monte Carlo that was recently restored. I had a tough time moving the car in my Pole Barn on concrete with them. If they were 1000lbs each 4 of them should of handled the car without a problem but they didn’t. I purchased 4 USA made dollies for not much more money and it was night and day different. I was able to move that same 1970 Monte Carlo with one finger no lie. I believe the problem was in the Chinese Wheels they used back then. They were kind of crude looking compared to the American Made Car Dollys I purchased afterwards.
The issue lies with Harbor Freight having factories undercut each other in price to make a product. Corners are always cut to drop the price. Harbor Freight is just buying products for independent factories who bid the lowest. USA companies generally put their name right on the product and you know exactly who and what city it was built in. They know they'll be tracked down/called by customers if there is an issue.
Spinning the casters to the direction of travel before pushing on rough surfaces makes it a hell of a lot easier. Most of the force needed to push these is in the very beginning when the castors have to spin for direction of travel. You can make a little tool with a flat piece of metal with a square slot that slides on the caster wheel bracket to make turning the caster wheel easier. Turn them so the castor wheel side that is flush with the bracket is facing direction of travel.
Sounds fine, but in reality it is a paint to do this 16 times especially the ones under the car. If the main supports are bowed like the cheap HF ones it also won't push in a straight line and will start to wonder/self steer in a random direction.
I got mine many years ago. Took two tries on one pair as they wouldn't build hydraulic pressure but after that they worked just fine. (They were hydraulic powered then - so were the gojacks at the time). Nifty idea on the handle!
I've seen the hydraulic HF units and I like the idea. I'm sure like all jacks they will fail after a decade or two but everything is repairable. Mine, I'm sure the wheels will fail someday when I need them most.
I'm old! I have the style from the previous century. ALL steel cupped plates with STEEL casters. I've replaced 3 of the casters (16 total) as the ball bearing swivels break easily. One broke trying to go over a crack in asphalt. Everyone I know (3 people) who bought these threw them in the trash on first attempt to use!
When I used to tow cars, Harbor Freight had a different type of Kojak with a hydraulic on it. It was a lot quieter and a whole hell of a lot easier to lift the car up with. The only downside of it was a go Jacks were a lot heavier
Your Expedition is still looking good, new wheels I see. Mine has 210k on her now and still runs great. I'm keeping it until it suffers from a catastrophic failure. I've got my money out of this vehicle for sure.
It looked like the asphalt issue was it wasn't high enough and so the roller was hitting the ground on the side the casters were sagging on.. But great fixes
The rollers never move higher. They only move towards/away from each other. They were bending under the vehicle weight and nearly touching. That's the issue.
Thanks for a great review and describing what would be needed to be done to get them working properly. I've been thinking about buying a set of these but, now I think I'll save up and buy the Made in USA ones.
I think the USA GoJaks are the way to go. I'm more than disappointed at myself for thinking these were going to work right out of the box. If they were 1/4 the price of the USA made ones it may be worth it but not half.
Hey thanks. It seams to sit nice and level under weight. I'm not sure why they didn't put some positive camber in it from the factory to compensate for weight.
I got just one of them, to use to move around the wheel/tire when I pull it off my jag ( car show car) to clean behind the wheel and also take care of any problems I see. Saves the back big time. Just didn't feel the need to spend the big bucks on another brand and all my other harbor freight items work great. Just bought it yesterday, and haven't taken it out of the box yet. Watched all the other videos before buying it. So, I will see how it works, I don't expect any problems with what I want to use it for.
I'm planning on buying just one for the same reason, to make taking my wheels off and putting them on easier for doing maintenance. The tire and wheel combined on my truck is 100 lbs so getting them on and off is pretty strenuous for my close to 60 years of age.
It would be really cool to see you start fixed up that old Ford, I just pulled my 63 Ford F250 out of the weeds and it’s a blast to drive around just as she is.
Ya I guess for a couple bucks they could have made them stronger like yours and some actual bearings but man I did not think the cost was that high especially for that quality I was thinking a set was like $200
Great stuff, sometimes you can buy stuff like that to start off with and make mods but after you mention the price man I'm way too cheap I'd build my own, those jacks are a lot like the old school bumper jacks you can pick up for cheap at a wreckers, that flat bar the wheels are mounted on should be ½ angle iron and with a good set of rollers with bearings you'd have a nice set up, keep up the great content, love your dog !
I have a few plans in my head to build some but casters and other parts put me near the cost of these, so I figured they would be worth a shot. I had an idea with bumper jacks, screw scissor jacks, and even just a plan bolt that pulls the sides together. I had enough parts laying around for 1 or 2 but not a set of 4 without purchasing more stuff. I think I am going to build steel wheels with bearings for the existing casters. The math shows the coefficient of friction is significantly less for steel vs the hard plastic that is likely deforming under load. So it should make them roll and change direction easier.
@@sixtyfiveford Steel wheels should work great, I like those old industrial carts with steel wheels they would even look cool, scissor jacks also make a really great post vise, large capacity.
Great video and review! 👍😁 I do not know the brand, but I borrowed and used a different version. I experienced similar results. The car required two people to move in any defined direction. It would always move diagonally on flat concrete. Surely not what the great advantage I thought they would be.
I just want to speak to my experience on some old harbor Freight ones. I just got them on marketplace a few days ago and let me tell you the quality of the old hydraulic ones night and day compared to these newer ones. I have two of the go Jack brand ones but I wanted the full set of four and happened to run into a great deal for a set of four harbor Freight ones and let me tell you the old harbor Freight ones work competitively well compared to the gojak brand.
I've started to shy away from harbor freight lately. I'm getting tired of having to re-engineer their bigger items. That spring and the flex on those caster mounts were terrible! It's hard to pay the big money for the hood stuff too! This is why I have tons of metal stock, casters, springs, and everything I need to rebuild any harbor freight or other inferior tool sitting in the shop. I'm still too cheap to buy the good stuff!
I really don't spend any money at HF anymore and haven't for 10+ years. I first started shopping them in the early 1990s and stuff was ridiculously cheap and came with a lifetime warranty; unless it was air/electrically powered. But I always followed the rule of not buying anything you have to plug in from HF. Now with their mass expansion and 1000+ stores they are trying to pay the bills and nothing other than hand tools has a real warranty. They expect you to pay extra for that. I also think their prices have more than doubled and this dolly would have been around $40-50 with a lifetime warranty 15-20 years ago vs the $100+ it is now. I have virtually nothing from them small or big that hasn't either been replaced with a real tool or modified to work. I'm not proud of anything I have from them like other tools I own. Their premium stuff these days is 80%-100% the cost of real brand names without support, parts, performance, resale value etc.
Great video as usual!! Not that I'd do this of course, but it seems like with 3 of these and a counter balance, you might be able to beat a tire boot.......😉
13:25 Does any dog really know the meaning of "drop it"? 😆 Hey, excellent review and mods of the car dolly's. I figured there was a catch... If it were 1/4 the price of the USA made units, I'd think it might be worth it, but half? Nah.
They should be 1/4 the price for the lack of quality here. They come in a pretty box with fancy cars and externally look pretty good. But that's only skin deep. I was ready to return them after the first 5 minutes of owning them but kept telling myself I could improve them. I'm still on the fence about returning these and just buying the USA made ones.
Man, this is a great video! I'm happy to have found it...im strongly considering just going with the GoJaks now as much as I dont want to spent the money haha
The only way I would buy these again is if I never planned on putting anything other than a Geo Metro on them. I think the cheap dollies you slide under after you jack it up are better than these were.
Hi. Great tip, to stop the arm bending and causing 'bias' to the castor direction. I had noticed my loaded dollies would move easily if/when all castors aligned but so so difficult to change direction.
I called some caster companies and steel is the best but has it drawbacks. They tell me having zero give makes they roll effortless until you hit a grain of sand it dead stops them. A super hard plastic will momentarily dent and absorb that grain allowing it to roll over. They all want around $100 for a set of good casters. You can even buy the ones for the real GoJak for around $110 for set. If/when these break it'll probably just be the plastic and I'll likely weld up some steel ones from some old pipe. .
I bought the hydro version of the GoJaks from HF years ago, they leaked out all the fluid all over my shed. It's real hit-miss with HF. I have a pile of their air tools that I had to replace because of poor quality. At least they have new lines of tools now. Got a Baxter straight line sander and it's great, more than 2X the price of the old one, but the old one doesn't work.
It really is hit or miss. You need to buy the tool and use it right away. Problem is, so many people(me included) impulse buy a tool and it sits for months or longer before I need it on a job. By that time it's too late to return when you find out it's broken. I think it funny they have such a bad reputation with their brands they simply make up new names to remarket them. The Baxter, Beaman, etc are a fair bit nicer in build quality, but they're so close in price to established brands it's hard to justify. I eyeballed the Baxter straight line air sander I think for 80 bucks, but why when I can get a professional Ingersoll for $99? I'm sure the Baxter will work just fine but I'm out of luck if I need a new platen in 5 years where every part is available for the name brand Ingersoll Rand. You can't trust HF reviews either as they filter out virtually all negative ones. I wrote a review on these HF GoJaks and they never posted it.
@@sixtyfiveford Good point, I paid $75 for the Baxter and the IR is $119 reg price, didn't know they were that close in price. One thing about HF was that some things were so cheap that you could buy it for less than the rental price. I've used the heck out of the pressure feed sand blaster. I restored a 73 F250 4x4 HighBoy with it and it still works. Their stud welder works great, but several of their air tools failed. Is that an FE engine in that Ford? I built up my FE about 20 years ago, went all in with a 428 torque monster, dumped a pretty penny into that thing.
Harbor Freight has been great for me as I have been entering the woodworking and home mechanic arenas, but I am outgrowing the store. Too many of their tools and products just don't measure up to the competition. As my skills improve I want better quality tools.
Very well said. The stuff does function but if you ever have the opportunity to use a name brand you're just blown away with how much better it works and how much easier the task is. I've had Harbor Freights around me since the early-mid 90s and their stuff used to be dirt dirt cheap so you weren't too opposed if it broke after a few uses and generally it also came with a one year or lifetime warranty. This dolly is something they would have sold for sub $50 with a lifetime warranty. These days they sell this for over $100 each and expect you to pay them $20-30 for a 2-year warranty. They've been building too many new stores and growing too fast they're trying to cover all their expenses with extremely high prices compared to their past.
I don't understand why they didn't use a plain bearing (bushing) on the casters, it's a perfect situation for bushings. Bushings are good for lower speed but high force applications with axial loading. I guess steel is cheaper than bronze smh.
I’m wondering if moving the front casters forward and adding a left-right cross brace would help it pivot better? In fact, maybe relocating the outside casters more fore and aft than directly outside the wheels. Then you could tuck closer to the wall.
I.might get fired for saying this but eh the casters at hf are trash and assembly of products does take some loose bolting up before tightening down.... but for the price of some of the equipment and how much you use it depends on if its worth it. Like yes a set of stubby matco wrenches would be nice but $200 ones vs $30 ones with lifetimes warranty
That grease looks like cosmoline. Its a packing grease for long term storage. Usually used in surplus military firearms in foreign countries like China.
Interesting, I have some "off brand" gojacks, never used them much because you can barely move a car with them. They look similar but not exactly the same. Actually they work fine if only two wheels on the same axle are on the go jacks, but it kind of defeats the purpose of being able to move the car freely.
I think a small car would be fine. Sub 3000lbs. If I did it again I would either just buy the little dollies you jack and slide under for $20ea or spend the $250ea for the real GoJaks. Since the video I've talked to a few tow truck drivers now that use the real GoJaks. They all say they're virtually indestructible and worth the money.
@@65ford 👍👍😎🇺🇸 very well explained the way caster wheels and the distribution of weight in order to rotate. Thank you for sharing your knowledge and experiences 🤘🤘🤘
I have designed a few on paper/my head over the years but by the time I bought the casters at $50ish and materials I was going to be really close the cost of these. I figured I would give them a try, but I didn't think I was going to spend any real time having to modify them like I did. I've had them for a few weeks now and had made up my mind to return them at least 3-4 times. I was going to cut these all up and just use the mechanisms with the wheels inline like you describe and I may still do that as the 8+" is annoying. On the side that's not against the wall I have a 8" tripping hazard as well.
Only having the front on those jacks will make it alot hearder to push sideways, even with your truck in N... At at HF you get what you pay for generally...
The problem with most of these types of dollies is that the caster wheels are too small. I have 6 HF diamond plate dollies and they have the same problem. Mine don't bend noticeably but a small bit od debris will stop the dollie wheel form turning. Bigger wheels would work better but I'd have to jack the car up higher (doable).
Some of those plate dollies have teeny wheels. I saw tow truck driver the other day that had the actual Go Jak dollies on his truck. I talked to him for a few minutes and the wheels on those seem about an inch larger than the ones I have. Says he pulls cars all the time across the super rough asphalt and even dirt on occasion. Says they do break on him after a few years of hard use though.
I bought 2 of the Harbor Freight moving dollies that are supposedly rated for 1000 lbs each in order to use them to make a motorcycle platform / dolly for my garage. I can use it to store my 800 lb Harley in the back of the garage behind my Jeep. By using the wheels from 2 moving dollies, I figured it would be rated at 2000 lbs and thus be easier to move across the garage concrete floor (which is most definitely NOT glass smooth). The platform itself is made from 2x10s for the longitudinal members and 2x6s for the cross members. www.monkeywrench.space/diy/motorcycle-garage-dolly-all-2x10-03.gif It's a lot easier to squeeze the bike into a tight space, but there is a definite amount of resistance involved in getting the casters to change directions. My solution for this is to use one of the pieces of wood from the original moving dolly as a lever to pry between the concrete floor and the edge of the dolly to get it started. Once the caster has rotated to align itself with the direction that I'm wanting it to head, it moves smoother. I suspect that the hard rubber wheels might be making it more difficult. Having solid steel / cast iron wheels might be better.
I like the way you think. I already did the math and the coefficient of friction/rolling resistance for steel wheels is 1/10 or more vs the plastic wheels (depending on what they are made of). I have an engine hoist with steel casters that easily moves the heaviest loads. My tentative plan is to remove the plastic wheels and make steel ones and I expect too see a dramatic difference especially when changing directions. Also I wouldn't have to worry about the wheels getting flat spots from prolonged weight storage. Your plans are very well illustrated.
That's right , China doesn't want the competition so they don't grease the bearings like they should , vaseline grade clear grease at best. First thing you do , tear it down and grease your tool proper.
so moral of the story is if u dont have access to a press, a welder, and the capability to modify these just spend the extra money and get the go jacks
Great Job with your design modifications for the dolly's. Wondering if you are still happy with the results of all the time invested in the mods? Any other ideas at this point for making them even better? Thanks!
They have been working great since I reinforced them. Don't know if I would spend all the time and effort though if I needed another set. I would likely bite the bullet and buy the GoJacks.
Yes. I have a few different plans in my head but parts were going to be around $75-125 each. These looked decent from the outside and figured they would just work right out the box and I could move onto more important projects. I was wrong.
