This rocker stand from Harbor Freight is really inexpensive for being a one-piece welded lift - about half the cost of its nearest competitor. So I bought one for maybe $27, then found out the unit with the included paddles was too narrow for the rear wheel, and the lifting paddles unsuitable for the front wheels. What a shame! So I relegated the rocker stand to a corner of the garage thinking someday I might be able to modify it to work. And there in the corner it stayed -unused and forgotten for months.
Then a few days ago I noticed that the axles for the wheels on the bolt looked like they might be hollow. So I had an unused plastic rod from a Venetian blind and poked it into the hole in the axle -- and sure enough, it went all the way through. Same with the front axle.
Now I'm thinking maybe that rocker stand from Harbor freight can be used by taking the paddles off and using a suitable sized steel rod through each axle.
A little experimentation showed that to be the case. So I found a suitable 6' 303 stainless steel rod for about $6, and made the "axle within an axle."
Then I went up to Harbor freight and bought another rocker stand one just like it (priced at $35, less a 20% off coupon = $30 including tax), took off the paddles, and made another "axle within an axle."
The pictures (in separate posts) below show it works really well:
Picture 1: The offending paddle(s) I removed
