Rear Tire Install Dolly...Making My Life Easier... I Hope!

Bedifferent

Old man on a bike
Joined
Dec 11, 2014
Messages
1,764
Location
Coldwater, MI
Ride
2015 Rocket 3 Touring
Tire Dolly Parts.jpg
Tire Dolly End Blocks.jpg
Tire Dolly Sides.jpg
Tire Dolly End View.jpg
Tire Dolly Bottom View.jpg
I haven't posted one of my crazy ideas in a while so here goes another one. I just finished making this tire roller dolly to be used on my next rear tire change. The last time I removed and put the rear tire on myself I was fighting for two hours trying to get it back on. Much of the time was spent trying to get the spacer washer back in, but I thought I still needed to make something to help get the tire in position and easily be able to rotate it to line up with the final drive splines. Using my feet under the edges of the tire was not very effective for me, requiring many 4 letter words and some words I'm sure have never been spoken before. I'm not sure what the wife was thinking as she tried to help!

After a great deal of pondering, I decided this was my best idea. I bought two 1" X 8" conveyor rollers off Amazon for $20. I used some 1 1/4" and 1" square tubing, two 4" square U-clamps, some 1/2" threaded rod, 1/4 X 20 tpi threaded chair glides, various 1/2" nuts and some custom cut square oak block I made to drive in the ends of the larger square tubing. I used the oak blocks for several reasons including holding the glides on, but mainly I could now tighten things down real tight without crushing the tubing. My original plan was to put caster wheels on my dolly, but that was going to be a lot of fabrication to keep it low profile. It became a "NOT" option even though I bought small casters. the 2 1/4 inches in height plus the swivel clearance was becoming a real problem. As it is, the tire can easily rest on the rollers and be jockeyed into position using the the handles on each side. It won't be rolling around (yet another fight) on the wheels either after I get it where I want it. Now I can get the tire in position, lower my lift to the correct shaft height and then rotate the tire on the rollers to get the splines lined up.

A couple more things...I wedged the rollers in front and behind my rear tire. I determined the center line distance for the rollers with the tire resting on a flat surface needed to be 13 1/2". I drill multiple holes inward and outward from that point so I could adjust the rollers and resting points of the tire on the rollers. I may add another hole or two inward, but I don"t think I will need it. Right now, as I have it, the tire should be riding about 3/4" off the ground when resting on the conveyor rollers. The total height of the dolly is only 1 5/8" with around 3/8" spacing under the long tubing. Very easy to put a pry bar under each side to micro lift the tire for any small line up issues. I may opt to bend my 4" square U-handles up slightly for more knuckle clearance, but at the moment there appears to be plenty of knuckle spacing. The large square tubing sections are 20' long and the smaller 1" cross tubing sections are 8 3/8" long. I may or may not paint it.

I guess that is about it...Here are some pictures in case you are interested.
 
Last edited:
This looks good. I take it that the threaded ends of the conveyor rollers are just sitting in the holes in the square tubing?

Will this be enough for the tire/wheel to stand up by itself or will you have to hold it up while lowering/raising the lift to get the shaft lined up?

Let us know how it works for you.
 
This looks good. I take it that the threaded ends of the conveyor rollers are just sitting in the holes in the square tubing?

Will this be enough for the tire/wheel to stand up by itself or will you have to hold it up while lowering/raising the lift to get the shaft lined up?

Let us know how it works for you.

Actually, the ends of the conveyor rollers are a plain 5/16" shaft. No threads, they just ride in the 5/16 " holes I drilled. I don't believe the rather round profile of the rear tire would allow it to free stand on the rollers but since I haven't used it yet I don't know. It would be pretty easy to keep it standing between the final drive and other side of the swing arm once in position. The problem for me was getting the tire into position, lifting it a bit with my feet while trying to keep it vertical and then rotating it. I don't believe I will have that problem now once the dolly is moved into position with the tire on it.
 
Last edited:
Maybe you should think about making some kits to sell to your fellow Rocketeers.....I'd be interested. :thumbsup:

Oh no, not another project to make and sell. Actually, it wasn't that hard to make after I figured it all out. Mostly cutting and drilling. I just bought a hand held bandsaw on sale at Harbor Freight. I made two cuts with it today as I had cut all of the other pieces with a hacksaw up to that point. It sure made things a little easier and faster. It takes about two and a half hours to make one, but I have no clue as to how much the whole thing costs total. That hollow square tube ain't cheap when you buy it at a place like Menards or Home Ripoff. I was trying to avoid having to use a welder to fabricate.
 
I appreciate your design because it is something I think I could make. I am wondering if some rails were added length-wise, about 3-4 inches above the base, if that would be enough to hold up the tire/wheel while lining up the shaft? This might make it work a little easier for you?
 
The timing of this thread is good for me. I am close to needing to get my old tires off and new ones on. This will my first time to do it with my R3T. I will take them to a shop to have the new tires put on. I definitely relate to your struggle with the rear. My bad back hurts just thinking about it. This could be just the trick to making this job more doable.
 
I appreciate your design because it is something I think I could make. I am wondering if some rails were added length-wise, about 3-4 inches above the base, if that would be enough to hold up the tire/wheel while lining up the shaft? This might make it work a little easier for you?

I actually considered that as another idea for helping to keep the tire more vertical. A couple of plates could easily be fastened to the rails using the two nuts and the extra available threads on the square u-bolts. There is plenty of thread there to fasten/shim two plates close to the tire. A plate 3 or 4 inches high would be more than enough.

The only reason I haven’t pursued that is...I sort of tilted the tire to help slip it under the rear fender and then into position between the swing arms. I thought those plate might interfere with the room I needed to tilt the tire. I was reluctant to lift my bike another 4 to 6 inches to get the tire past and under the fender without tilting. Another reason I kept this dolly so close to the ground. In any event, a little elbow grease with a hacksaw, a drill press (if you have one), a 1/4-20 tap for a nice mounting of the glide feet and a table saw to cut the wood blocks is all you need to make it. I did some subtle things that I did not mention to keep my cross rails locked in position and not turn but that was just me being me to keep things tidy. The conveyor rollers were actually sold as being 25mm x 200mm which translates to 1” X 8”. I think the whole idea will work really well when the time comes. BTW...I bought the rollers off Amazon, not eBay. I corrected that error in my post.
 
Last edited:
Back
Top