Moving a 72 Ranchero sideways with no front suspen

I need some thoughts on this.
I need to move my Ranchero from one side of the concrete driveway to the other. So say 10 feet at most. Probably less.
Yes, poor planning on my part. I should have parked the Ranchero where I need it now before I started to work on it. I can be stupid at times. I also didn't anticipate this taking months.

Problem is there is no front suspension on it at all, and I need to move it before that is going to change.
Car is complete except for that. Front is on jackstands right now. Rear is sitting on the tires like normal.

budget for this has to be $150 or so, preferably less.

I can get dollies to put under the rear tires, although I have not had a good experience with those you get from HF. And it looks to me like the other places that are selling them are selling the same ones but for a higher price. In the past I replaced the casters  on the ones I used to have and that helped a lot, but it more than doubled the cost.
But for the limited distance I am willing to try them again.

Problem is what to do with the front? Big problem is that I am doing this alone.
I have thought about using a floor jack, moving the car a foot in front, then a foot in back, etc, until it is moved where I need it. But there has to be a better way.
Thinking about getting 4 of the HF dollies, just not sure where I could put them in front. Need to make sure the engine isn't damaged in doing this.

I am not able to weld something structural that would hold up a 3000+ lb car. I'll be doing good to get the floor pans replaced and not have them fall off once I get to that point.

Thanks,
Russ



Edited by russosborne - 14-September-2016 at 8:43PM

call some movers with heavy duty furniture dolleys, put some cut 4x4 on top of the dollies for height, use them to support the front of the car (from somewhere?) and then you also have 2 guys to help.

Thanks.
I will probably try the floor jack before doing something else, since I already have one of those.
Just need to be careful, I forgot that the driveway is sloped a bit. Will have to have the ebrake on and if it starts rolling drop the jack really fast when doing the rear.
Really wish I would think ahead all the time, I normally do but I really expected this to be a couple of days and done.
Russ

Might be a thought...

sounds like that should work. if not floor jack will! just jack up one end and move it over 6" or whatever and jack up the other end and move it the same, changing the jack end for end until you get it where you want it

Use an engine hoist. Hook a chain to the crossmember, jack it up just a bit and roll it away. BTW, if you have the emergency brake on, it will not work, as the rear wheels must roll to be able to pivot.

Well, this has become an emergency. Got a zoning violation today about the Ranchero, so it needs to move twice. Once to get the Mustang out, and then moved to where the Mustang is right now (behind a gate in the backyard).

do like i did with one of my chargers. get a pair of those 1500 pound wheel dollies from harber freight, (50 bucks) a good sized piece of wood, (or pieces as the case may be) strap them all up to the frame of the car and under the dollies, so that theyre all rigid and solid and move them around as you wish. between these and a floor jack, you should be set. i had to move my car over 20 feet this way. took about an hour start to finish.

See if they have a small 1ton wrecker, it should have frame forks that sit in the wheel lift and go up under the frame to pick it up

Thanks.

I thought I had posted the conclusion here, guess it was in my project thread.

I did end up calling a tow truck. My luck, I called the wrong one though. Very friendly guy, but totally clueless. I still haven't looked under the car, but I know there is damage. He didn't have any tools to do this, guess all he did was normal tows.
Ended up still having to use our Subaru to push it into the back. Luckily the bumpers lined up.
The tow guy got it up in front of the gate, but it was so bad I told him that I'd finish it from there.
Russ