Posted: 02 March 2006 at 21:02 | IP Logged

Ok, I finally got fed up with my dollie carriages and took them down to a local machine shop. My exact words were "See if you can get these *badwordremoved*ed things to take grease so they will quit locking up on me"

Here's what my very experienced machinist found out. It's an engineering error. Have you ever had a set of dollies that no matter how hard you tried, you couldn't get grease into the zerks?

In this first picture, you'll see the standard setup for the zerks.

Now, notice the zerks. The metal that they are screwed into isn't thick enough. When you screw the zerk in and tighten it down, it's bottoming out. This effectively closes off the zerk making it nearly impossible for you to get any grease through. I kept breaking them off because my gun got so much pressure behind it, I couldn't get the gun off the zerks.

Here is the solution my local machinist buddy came up with. It's simple and ingenious.

He took a small nut with the same thread as the zerk fitting and welded it over the old zerk fitting hole. (I think it's 1/4 28 thread size) He was then able to install the zerk without it bottoming out. In fact, it creates a small grease reservoir. Now I can easily grease my dollies. Where I am at, especially in the winter, I need to be able to grease them regularly to force out all the mag chloride and other crap that gets into the bearing points or they rust and get stiff. Also, no more broken zerks because the grease gun releases very easily now.

A helpful hint for many I hope. Who knows, maybe Collins will see this post and spend a little extra money on an engineer next time. As long as I can remember, I have always had this issue with dollies.

Posted: 11 February 2010 at 17:15 | IP Logged

There really isn't a limit. A lot of things have changed since I made this post. The new Collins Dolly systems are lighter and stronger and this year, they are increasing the length of the aluminum dolly bars to accomodate wider cars that you may have to dolly the front tires when they are turned and locked. Also, there is a new change coming to the carriages where they are considering using one carriage for both the smaller and bigger tires. This will have the effect of giving you a little more lift if you use the bigger tires.

Dollys are very easily disturbed if they are not used properly and can cause all kinds of safety issues. However, if you take the time to learn how to use them safely, they are a very sturdy setup and I would have no trouble hauling a car across country on a set. The secret is in the safety straps. Don't leave home without them.

PS, Collins manufacturing has been around for years. There are some new ones on the market and you can consider them if you wish but my choice (just recently re-affirmed) would always be Collins. Also, I do not exceed 55 mph on smooth roads and even a little slower if the pavement is bad.

Posted: 12 April 2010 at 09:17 | IP Logged

Collins here,

Just for the record, the issue of the grease fittings bottoming out on the pivot pins and not taking grease was addressed just a few months after those pictures were taken in 2006.  We are happy to report that in the subsequent four years, there has not been one problem reported!

The secret is our patented lubrication channels (6 & 26 in illustration below), machined into removable grade-8 hardened shoulder bolts (5 & 25), which allow grease fittings (10 & 30) to seat tightly all the way into bushings (11 & 31). Plus, a 360-degree lubrication resevoir is created inside the bushings. Properly maintained, this lubrication system also helps eliminate any seize ups. 

The best part of all though, is the ability to replace individual, damaged components in an instant with just a single bolt, rather than having to stand the expense of buying an entire new dolly side frame because of a bent spindle or seized bearing. Only Collins offers this patented feature.