OT: moving/pivoting/sliding a vehicle sideways

[98gpgt]

I have a broken down minivan, seized engine. It's more or less where it needs to be, on dirt, but I really need it to be a few feet forward of where it is. But because of trees, 1 in front of it, 1 on it's left flank, it ain't happening. So I guess I would need to pivot the rear to the right a few feet, then pivot the front in the opposite direction. I've thought of a couple ways of doing this that I wanted to bounce off y'all.

 

1st method - jack up rear or front, place a plank under each wheel with a ~1/8" steel plate between plank and tire, well oiled. Perhaps put some plastic sheet between tireand oiled plate. Then push.

 

2nd method - jack up rear or front, make a ramp under each wheel with plank supported by bricks, with oil, plastic, steel. Lower jack. This one is a bit more difficult, though I do have a 2 1/4 ton floor jack, the whole rear or front needs to be jacked up.

 

Or what about jacking up the rear or front and pushing on the van while jacked up? Clearly with wood and steel under jack. Assuming this would work, do I run the risk off ruining the jack?

[jimmyfloyd]

get a sheet of plywood, and 2 harbor freight mover's dolly's.

 

Jack up the rear and place the plywood down, then put the mover's dolly under each wheel on the plywood.

 

You might need to cut the plywood in half if the jack will be in the way.

 

Also, make sure you are on level ground or have some way to stop it from rolling.

 

Also, you might need a 2x8/10/12 or a couple 2x4's on the mover dolly across the padded parts, as the lower rails don't support the weight.

 

Then lower it down, move the car as far as you need to/can. If you run out of plywood, either get another piece or jack up and reposition. 

 

Either 2 of these on the cheap side (can be had for less on sale or coupon) or these if you have the money or plan to use them for vehicles often 4 of the second work great in a garage for an immobile car/tractor/etc

 

I would not recommend moving it with the jack that's just asking for damage to you or the car. 

[jimmyfloyd]

Source: http://www.v8beetleresource.com/strippingvw2.html

 

This is the idea, but since you have dirt, you'd need the plywood to give you a smoother surface. 

[98gpgt]

Sounds like a plan. Those 12" x 18" jobbers are rated @ 1000lbs. I also have some serious heavy due casters laying around, could even just rig something even. Moochess graayass.

[Imp558]

Is there a reason you can't push the car back and fourth and maneuver it into position without engineering a machine that could be used to construct pyramids? Maybe I don't understand the plight completely.

[Schurkey]

I would not recommend moving it with the jack that's just asking for damage to you or the car. 

I do it frequently, but typically the jack is on pavement not dirt.  How well it works on dirt will depend on the firmness and flatness of the dirt.  Around here, you'd jack a hole in the dirt before you'd lift the car.  Other places, it works OK.

[rich_e777]

I was going to ask a similar question when those harbor freight dollys came up for a few bucks a piece. Seeing as how simple they are I might build some wide enough so that a tire could rest in the center a bit better and one can buy bigger wheels to make moving over rough surfaces a bit easier.

[98gpgt]

As to why I probably couldn't rock it back and forth into position, it's wedged in kind of tight (trees). Also it's on dirt, no helpers, I have a hernia. This van is a hetnia . . . I plan to dismantle it and sell the parts. Anyone do this?

[Imp558]

I have two strip-n-scraps in the coming weeks.

[98gpgt]

Typically what would you expect to make on a mini-van (Venture)? And how quickly?

[Imp558]

I have no idea, maybe look on Ebay and see what things are listed for. I don't sell much unless I think a member here would appreciate a deal on something I can pull while I have it. Most of what I'm doing is harvesting for my fleet of patchwork cannibals.