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While working through a restoration for my 1969 Toyota Landcruiser FJ55, I decided to design and build an auto rotisserie which would allow me to easily work on the body of the vehicle with ease. Essentially a super sized chicken rotisserie made to rotate the body of a vehicle, the auto rotisserie makes doing a frame-off restoration easy.
I first decided to make my own rotisserie when the ones I found online either did not meet my criteria for build quality or were far too expensive. I began by designing my rotisserie in SolidWorks and running finite element analysis and hand calculations on my design. One of the key features I sought with my rotisserie was rigidity in order to prevent any stress on the body of the vehicle. I also wanted something universal, so that it may be used for any vehicle.
An important aspect of an auto rotisserie is the ease of use. An ACME rod shown here allows the vehicle to be adjusted to its center of rotation, thus allowing for one handed rotation of the vehicle body.
Cutting of tubing was a breeze using a cold saw to make accurate burr free cuts.
The center pivot pipe I used was slightly oversized so I turned it down. A spare aluminum pulley was turned down to fit the inside of the tube and hold the part steady.
Here you can see the completed rotisserie. A major part of the design was the ability to break down the rotisserie into a small space for storage, so many connections were bolt-on.
Throughout the rotisserie I went with a set screw design to create rigidity for any sliding tubing. This allowed for a universal rotisserie capable of handling any vehicle.
PS: Don't mind the wacky paint job, my 7 year old brother had a go at some of the parts.
A long ram hydraulic jack allows the rotisserie to pick the body off the ground and raise it to the necessary height.
The main working mechanism of the rotisserie is the pivot pipe shown here. Originally my design included a pin stop with a milled plate to lock the rotation, but I instead opted for a set screw design which made manufacture a bit more simple both in machining and aligning of the two halves of the rotisserie. I included dual zerk fittings to grease the pivot.
Using the auto rotisserie to hold a door for paint/rust removal and painting.
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