Shop wheels

[jaybee]

I acquired my 57 Chevy 2 door Handyman wagon with entirely mismatched wheels, not a good stance to start tearing out rocker panels and doing other work. At the moment the car sits with no interior, glass, engine, trans, or front sheetmetal, just a body on rolling chassis. I've fabricated some 3/4" plywood wheels for it, with a 2" ring glued to the back side to stiffen them up even further. The diameters are the same as I've chosen for my eventual wheel/tire combo. They seem pretty solid now and I even slid one across the floor a bit while jacking up the other side. I've been questioned on the safety of this arrangement, though. Has anyone worked with such a setup in the past, and would you do it again?

[Jon69RagTop]

So you've envisioned the stance now, but I would suggest getting back to wheels for safety sake. Why in the world would you chance laying under a car supported by laminated wood product.

So what if the wheels are mismatched while you tear down the car. Build some DSE style tire stands, get the car up to a good working height and begin your build.

Just my two cents worth.

Jonathan

[Jim Nilsen]

For the cost of the plywood you could have gone to the salvage yard and gotten 4 that matched, even if the wood was free it could have been put to a better use.

Get safe and avoid the agony of ruining your hard work over a broken wheel.

[jaybee]

Oh, I've already built my cribbing. I'm not a bit concerned about that part. If house movers can use stacks of cribbing to hold up entire buildings it will be more than sufficient for one car.

When I say mismatched I mean a 205/75 14 on one corner and a 15" truck tire diagonally opposite. Every tire is different, and although the odds are against it I don't want any twisting to affect my work.

As for why I'd consider laying under a car supported by a laminated wood product, it doesn't seem an unreasonable concept considering that untold thousands have flown in aircraft built of laminated wood product. The real question is execution--how to build such a device that's strong enough to do the job.

[indyjps]

go to the junkyard and buy space saver spares. cheap rollers and plenty of access while working on the car.

[jaybee]

Might go that route. I tried to research the strength of plywood to try and prove/disprove the adequacy of the material for this use and can find nothing that tells me anything useful.

[megaladon6]

plywood is not structural, 2x4's are. depending on how it's reinforced, there's no reason they won't work, but why worry? plus, if you're working with chemicals, welders, torches.....

[dropit69]

even if you are using the wood wheels put 4 jackstands under there taller than your body in case if falls..no need to risk life its your only 1..

[megaladon6]

or the 2 mismatched wheels/tires (used to do this as a tow driver--saved my a$$)

[speedshftr]

a buddy of mine thats a service manager at a gm dealer lent me 3 rollers to clear the discs.i was short one.the junkyard charged me 40 bucks for a mud crusted dryrotted turd of a spare.it now is rollable.i didnt trust the plywood wheels

[HRBS]

plywood is not structural

Not to get into a pissin match but plywood when placed vertically IS very structural. TJI trus joists are a perfect example of that theory (I have a background in Architecture).
Anyway back to topic, John, you may want to invest in a set of these for your next project:

http://www.kugelkomponents.com/products/mockups.php

We use them all the time during mock up. They not only support 1500 lbs but are light weight and skinny which make storage pretty simple. Dont cheap out on safety !
Good luck with your build !

[Roadbuster]

Not to get into a pissin match but plywood when placed vertically IS very structural. TJI trus joists are a perfect example of that theory (I have a background in Architecture).
Anyway back to topic, John, you may want to invest in a set of these for your next project:

http://www.kugelkomponents.com/products/mockups.php

We use them all the time during mock up. They not only support 1500 lbs but are light weight and skinny which make storage pretty simple. Dont cheap out on safety !
Good luck with your build !

Those shop wheels only support 375 pounds per wheel. Too bad they don't support more.

[HRBS]

Those shop wheels only support 375 pounds per wheel. Too bad they don't support more.

True. And last time I checked 375x4= 1500. LOL
But I mentioned these because John stated:

At the moment the car sits with no interior, glass, engine, trans, or front sheetmetal, just a body on rolling chassis.

Most "project cars" that are in mock-up stages or final assembly are "gutted" or stripped down and weight alot less than a complete car.

I like them because thet are extremely easy to store away. Not to mention a "junk yard" 15x7 with a (chevy) 5x4.75 bolt pattern wheel is considered a dinosaur and are pretty hard to come by in a salvage yard here on the east coast. Believe me... I tried

[jaybee]

Thanks guys. One thing I do know...375lbs is not enough for my car. Even if I knew that it was only 375lbs at its heaviest corner in this condition it isn't nearly a high enough margin of safety. They'd work fine for a rolling chassis though, maybe even an early rod with a bare frame mounted to it, no fenders or anything. I do like the shock mock up tools, though.

[Jim Nilsen]

$275 for a set of 4 is crazy, you can pickup used tires and wheels cheaper than that anyday of the week. I guess they won't hurt your back installing them but it just doesn't make $$$ sense to me.

I paid $300 for the Corvette wheels I have with tires on them that were worn but more than good enough to roll the car and mock up everything. It's not that hard to find used tires and wheels ,is it?

I bet you know 4 people who have a spare they will never use,lol.

[megaladon6]

HRBS: clarifying not doubting---is plywood structural on it's own or does it have to be attached to something? i ask 'cause well, it flexes pretty easily.
obviously to make a wheel out of it there has to be some structure but...

[HRBS]

lol.... not to change topic but yes. laminated plywood VERTICALLY is structural in compression and tensile strength but not laterally (side to side). The TJI trus joists have 1x's top and bottom to stiffen lateral movement similar to a steel I-beam. The top and bottom flanges of a steel I-beam are to prevent lateral movement under load (the center is the strong point).

Back at the topic at hand: Lateral movement is where the plywood wheels would lose their strength. The wheels cut of plywood would be prone to bending or bowing under load without proper reinforcement. The Krugal pieces have a steel inner liner within the ABS that acts as a stiffener.

As mentioned, junk yard wheels would work fine. I was just throwing another alternative out there in response to the original question.