Body Roller - How to get it back on its wheels?

[Fortunate Son]

Finally found the courage to roll the van yesterday, used trolley jack to get it to the "tipping point" and man handled it myself to get it on to its side. It went a bit more suddenly than I expected and it has just knocked the shelves on the garage wall which has bust one of the plastic sky lights (bugger) could have been worse though I guess! A bit more top heavy than I had been advised on a CJ Autos roller - maybe the Dormy roof?



(Axle stands are pointless as it it well and truly happy flat on its side)

Anyway, I have now started to wonder, once I have cleaned, blasted, welded, painted etc, how the hell I'm going to get it back on its wheels. I have seen that CJ Autos do a drill powered attachment for a one man operation but it comes in at over 400 quid :shock: As the roller was a bargain off eBay I don't really want to go this route.

Anybody got any tips / tricks for cheaply and safely tipping it back (other than getting the help of six blokes to man handle it back over!!) I have had a look on here, vzi and YouTube and there are plenty of pics and videos of rolling a van but there never seems to be any of getting one back on its wheels :?

Ta in advance

Andy

 

[Whistler]

When I tip mine unfortunately it's the later I'm afraid. Takes three of us to push it back over. Some times two if that's all we have.

FYI, the bus is empty and I've taken the roof off as well (devon).

 

[Whistler]

Oops - double post :?

 

[Fortunate Son]

Cheers for the reply - how do you do it - do 3 of you pick it up so far and then run round the other side to catch it? Or do you use chocks and blocks or other "catching" method? I get the impression with mine that it will want to come down with a bit of a thump.

 

[Whistler]

Comes down with a thump

You get to the centre point (as with going the other way), then change from lifting to try and pull it back and lower it slowly. The last foot or so it just goes. I do think about getting a block of wood and the jack and lowering it slowly. But I do it all in a day then put it back in the garage so I'm normally very very tired by that point!

It doesn't seem to do any harm, I just hope the shocks and air in the tires takes all the thump!

 

[Fortunate Son]

OK, cheers. I have the added obstacle that the pop top just catches the ceiling at the balance point, which could actually be useful, thinking about it. I have got it really close to the wall which will be challenging!!

 

[Whistler]

Same here, one side is a hole for the window to the basement (it has been very very close a couple of times), and a fence the other side.

 

[89Rallye]

I've rolled a few now and have got it sussed, I can now do it all on my own slowly and controlled.

And here's how, I originally started with one of these but I now have a plate mounted on either side of my garage.

Onto this I mount,

As you have done I jack them up and usually have to push them over that tipping point with a helping hand by means on my body press kit, obviously whilst doing this giving a little slack on the winch till it tips over.. (You can just see the strap at the bottom left corner) Then simply lower it to the floor.

Another shot I found showing the winch connected.

To bring it back I simply move the winch to the other side of the van (connected through the c pillar with a block of wood, glass removed of course) and use a hand winch to pull the van upright, once again giving it a little slack at a time on the electric winch till it has the weight, then just lower it to the floor.

I can't believe you tipped it on your own and tried to hold it while it dropped :shock: very lucky.

 

[Fortunate Son]

Thanks for the info - liking the ingenuity very much! Out of interest how much does a winch like that cost? It's 240 volt, yes?

When I tipped mine I stayed on the "up" side to send it over the tipping point - there was no way I was getting myself the other side!

I have a 5.5m wide garage but still underestimated how much width you need to roll a van. The positive to it is that the ceiling wasn't too low in the garage - I had convinced myself it wouldn't fit - sometimes you've just got to give it a go!

I think I should have removed the glass before I tipped it - I may climb inside and remove it before trying to roll it back ( though if I go for your winch set up, I may not need to take it all out.

 

[89Rallye]

I can't remember where the electric winch came from but it was only cheap, iirc it was Aldi or somewhere like that for about £40.

You don't of course need an electric one, when I right mine I just use a manual winch which was about £15 (although I've had it at least 18 years! ) but its the same as this one.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2-ton-Hand-Power-Puller-/181177540986?pt=UK_Lifting_Moving_Equipment&hash=item2a2f05e17a" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

 

[89Rallye]

Oh and I also made the mistake of rolling a van without removing the glass, so I can tell you it's possible (but not easy) to do it while its rolled.

Does give you the advantage to climb inside, which can be useful...

Enjoy!

 

[Fortunate Son]

Nice one Mark, many thanks.

When you pull it back over and you connect to the c pillar, do you mean take the glass out and winch from the same side as when you tipped it with the cable running through the window aperture to the c pillar on the other side ( sorry if I'm being thick!) cheers - Andy

 

[Fortunate Son]

Just re read it and I think I get it - where did you attach the hand winch on the van - the jacking point /outrigger?

 

[89Rallye]

Because I do it on my own I use two winches to pull it back, one to pull it upright and the other to lower it down.

So I'd have the manual one connected to a chassis rail and the electric one connected to the window post (with block of wood to let it slide and stop it damaging anything) on the roof side. Drag it up manually while keeping a little bit of slack on the electric one till it tips.. Then simply lower it to the floor with the electric one.

You could do it with just one winch connected to the chassis rail to pull it upright and then either lower it with jacks etc or as stated above a handful of sturdy mates.

Looking at how tight you are against the wall I think you'd have to use just one winch anyway, it is amazing how much space it takes. First one is always the worst though.

 

[89Rallye]

Just re read it and I think I get it - where did you attach the hand winch on the van - the jacking point /outrigger?

You beat me to that there, yes I use centre of the upper chassis rail as you can drag/slide the bus sideways if its not pulling in the centre.. Your in trouble if that happens, cause it won't roll back straight and they can be a pig to move back

 

[Fortunate Son]

That's really helpful Mark - I'm feeling a lot happier about the whole thing now! I was a bit pi**ed off when I tipped it and damaged the roof vent!

Andy