I have 10" and my doors fit in their factory storage bags. You can probably go an inch or 1.5 narrower without bags if you had to for some reason.
thanks i am trying to see if i can build one for a 2 door on the Flat Harbor dolly that is 24" . Based on what you are saying, I think i can get away with it. The OD of the 1.5 pvc is about 2". so 6" for the runs leaves 9" gap for each of the doors. I can always slightly overhand the ends on the dolly to get 9.5" gap. Thanks a lot for the info.
I really like this approach as I have been wanting two separate carts each storing two doors, while also having some sort of option to help safely reattaching the doors. The non-cemented side providing a single modular component to this to assist with the door is great. Would you mind sharing the length of PVC on the larger vertical and horizontals? I would like to reproduce this almost identically for my needs. Thanks.Based on the insight and input from this thread, I tried to tackle it, albeit with an added use. Thanks to those who did this and inspired me to attempt!
Seeing a lot of folks drop their doors on re-install (not too many on taking them off), I figured I could shrink the distance from door base to surface below by utilizing a version of this framework and an existing dolly/cart I had laying around. I have the door bags and would place the doors in the bag, before any removal/re-install to give extra protection as well.
I didn't realize how quickly the primer/glue set, so one of the elbows was cocked two degrees off, throwing the entire rack a bit wonky when the two half's are joined, but oh well. No extra parts or patience to rectify! (But it does place lateral pressure on the two horizontal pipes joining the two half's at least when assembled in full... I'll probably still take a ratchet strap around the entire base to hold together, just in case since I want to leave the modularity in place for loading/unloading.)
I left two joints unglued, so I could have a "storage" full (for when both doors are off and sitting in the garage) and a "removal/reinstall" half version (for active removal or reinstall.)
I plan on actually testing it out tomorrow as I ran out of time today, but here's what it looks like based on my crappy drawing and actuals:
Yep, I completely follow your intent and reasons which align with exactly what I wanted to do. Another thing I wanted to ask is how has using this solution as a support system to mount / unmount the doors? I did notice that when the doors are open, the ground clearance up to the bottom of doors is less towards the door jam, and progressively higher towards the end of the door. Did / does that cause a challenge when building the rack and using this solution in the overall mount / unmount of the door? I appreciate your response!I will go measure the as-built today, but that means it won't be the exact measurements as some of the pipe is within the joint pieces. (yes, I'm an idiot who lost all of the measurement sheets I left on the shelf at Home Depot as I cut the pieces...)
For your use, if you want two separate storage racks, make x2 of the below image alone as opposed to what I did, but with a 4-way instead of 5-way at the bottom corner. If you're using the second cart to store the rear doors, make as I did. (The second half of mine cannot stand on it's own and requires the "double vertical" piece to support it.)
The primary reason I modified as I did was so that only a smaller rack was involved when I install/uninstall the doors... this does mean, that my first door is in its bag, on the floor leaning against something until I can get the other door off. Then I connect the second half of the rack and place the door back in it. For an added 1.5" of length, I could have built x2 of the double-vertical" side of the rack and joined them for storage that way, and probably should have.
like this - two half's joined by 2" of pvc if you want each door to stand on it's own, yet still collapse down to manageable pieces when not in use. (In my case, I nest the smaller "half" inside the larger half and hang the entire thing up on ladder hooks in the garage when not in use)
You'll see I purposefully made my rack a bit higher than most (the extra leg-length beneath the door supports) for the purpose of using to install/uninstall... but, I wanted the cart mobile as well so instead of buying the hard mount one (and then have to mount that to the rack and then not having it store on the wall easily), I just rest this on top of a dolly I had laying around. Now, I do zip tie the rack to the cart when I am actively loading/unloading doors, just so it doesn't move around on top of the dolly. But for storage, the rack's on the ground and isn't going anywhere with either or both door resting on it! When the doors are on the Honey Badger, the cart halves and dolly are stored on the ladder rack/hooks on the walls.
Sweet. I appreciate the detailed explanation / response. I quickly took measurements of the doors and your measurements make sence to me. Thanks for taking the time to backwards engineer the lengths of the different pvc sections. It's great to hear the solution helped with the door insulation and the process overall. Did you end up using Primer and Cement for pvc? I've seen forgo the Primer and skip straight to the Cement. Not sure if primer is essential. I've yet to work with pvc sealant, so this will be my first rodeo. Should be fun!You'll see I purposefully made my rack a bit higher than most (the extra leg-length beneath the door supports) for the purpose of using to install/uninstall... but, I wanted the cart mobile as well so instead of buying the hard mount one (and then have to mount that to the rack and then not having it store on the wall easily), I just rest this on top of a dolly I had laying around. Now, I do zip tie the rack to the cart when I am actively loading/unloading doors, just so it doesn't move around on top of the dolly. But for storage, the rack's on the ground and isn't going anywhere with either or both door resting on it! When the doors are on the Honey Badger, the cart halves and dolly are stored on the ladder rack/hooks on the walls.
Uninstall, it probably wasn't necessary, but for re-install, it's really nice (without a second person around) to use the rack (on top of the dolly as shown in the picture) to get very close to the hinge pins, then lift and set back on. Gives me piece of mind until it's all bolted back together, that if it falls, it's an inch at most.
You are correct in your assessment on how the door opens upwards and outwards (like Aston Martin, albeit not as extreme!) and why I set my rack-on-dolly to just clear the inner section closest to the hinges. It does mean the outer part of the door, furthest away from the hinges, is slightly higher... but since the doors are in the bags for when I take on/off anyway, it's a minimal "fall" distance!
See dimensions below:
I did use the purple primer and cement. It’s what caused it to set so quickly and be a few degrees off on one section! So, if you use both, make sure it’s lined up first! Hahaha
Ah OK. Thanks for confirming. I'll give it a shot hopefully this weekend. I appreciate it.
This is a great idea. It is kind of hard getting the doors on/off solo. More so getting them back on, especially without damaging anything. Having a cart to raise/lower them would help out big time. Keep us updated if you end up building one!I’m going to use this to help get them on and off. Stolen from a jeep site. Ahhh
I know its been a few months, but do yu have a cut list/parts list for this design? Thanks!Oh, and you can get a cheap trolly from harbor freight (they are blue) that is completely flat. Half the price of the wood/carpet option and you can drill directly into the plastic or use zip ties. During the summer I take it apart and store it, so zipping it has been helpful.
