Assembly question on bar cart. Help!

Mundane Pointless Stuff I Must Share (MPSIMS)
#1

I suck at assembly. Totally inept. But I needed a cart for my wine and spirits, as my kitchen cabinet needs to hold other things. The cart I ordered from Amazon was supposed to be “easy assembly,” and that’s what all the reviews said. Ha! They haven’t met the likes of nelliebly! I have the framework of the cart assembled, but it’s wobbly, and I don’t know why. ( I suck at geometry, too.) I followed the instructions, but one corner is higher than the other. There’s air between the corresponding bottom corner of the cart and the floor–a tad more than an eighth of an inch.

This has happened to me before. I have a free-standing wire shelf unit in my kitchen that also wobbles, so it’s definitely me. What am I doing wrong? And how can I fix it?

#2

Without seeing it & being too tired to look it up, I would guess that one of the wheel-to-leg attachment is not seated properly. IOW, the wheel thingy is not pushed up into the hollow leg as far as the other three. Look to see which one is different than the others. Then figure out what you did differently on that one as compared to the others. Maybe you put the washers on the wrong side of a shelf or some such.

IHTH, 48.

#3

Does it have slide rings on the shelf corners? Those are tricky to get adjusted right. Count the notches and make sure all corners are equal. Send a pic.

#4

Serious possibility: maybe the floor is uneven?

I once sank way too much time into a similar problem until I realized how warped the flooring had become. smack
You mentioned another wobbly item that’s also in your kitchen, and the floor usually takes more abuse (esp. spills & other moisture) than almost anywhere else in your home.

Otherwise …

If you can link to the Amazon item, we can at least see the item & how it’s assembled. That may yield suggestions.

#5

I haven’t put the wheels on yet. The shelves have to go on first, and I don’t want to do that while the cart is clearly so uneven. The instructions say to turn the frame upside down onto the top shelf/basket, but I can’t attach it because that one corner is about 1/4" off the surface. (I was wrong before when I said 1/8th inch. You can see why I’m bad at this.), I’ve tried it on two different floor surfaces, and it’s the same on both. No slide rings for the corners.

I sure appreciate the suggestions.

Here’s the Amazon link.

#6

Do you have the bolts in the right holes on the bottom basket part? Looks like there are adjustable bolt holes on the top. I can’t tell on the bottom.
ETA is it sitting square? Measure corner to corner, both ways. They should be the same.

#7

All I can add is don’t tighten any bolts until the basic framework is complete. Then set it upright (or upside down, whichever is more stable) and shift it around until it sets straight then tighten things. The assembly manual should mention this anyway.

Dennis

#8

“Framework is wobbly” actually makes sense before it’s fully assembled, because until the shelves and such are put in there to attach the sides/corners together and keep them square, they’re going to be wobbly. At this stage, before it’s fully assembled, don’t worry about it.

The measurements being off, however, is something you want to fix. I’d go back and make sure that all the right pieces are in all the right places, and (and this is key) that all the pieces in their places are facing the correct direction. Sometimes it’s possible to flip a piece so that the side that should be facing out is facing in, and that has consequences for the whole thing. Check the orientation of all the pieces.

If you’re okay there, and it’s still off, I’d go back and loosen each screw just a bit and see if the piece can be adjusted a bit in the direction you need. Sometimes big side pieces can be slid up or down an eighth of an inch and re-tightened. Keep the screws in place, just loosen them a turn or two and see if you can adjust and re-snug.

#9

One of Flayrods out of skew on Treadle.

#10

Aha! Excellent advice! I did measure diagonally, and one diagonal is almost an inch longer than the other diagonal. How could that be?

I checked to make sure all the pieces were oriented correctly, and they are.

I did tighten the bolts once the framework was assembled because I thought maybe that would fix the issue. I’ll loosen them.

I was wondering if the shelves would make it more stable. It sounds like maybe they will. It’s going to take some work to screw in the one higher corner. :frowning: Also there’s only one hole in the top shelf/bin, and I need to attach the frame in four places. The directions say not to use power tools.

Who put the ass in assembly, me or the manufacturer? :slight_smile:

#11

Before this goes to Doper oblivion, I just wanted to thank everyone again for all the great advice. The bar cart is now assembled. The trick turned out to be: get friend’s professional carpenter boyfriend to do it. As was said here, the cart did get more stable as it was assembled. As was also said here, the cart pieces were messed up. There are no wheels on it because the wheel shafts are far too large for the openings. Also, there were no pilot holes, so he had to use a drill.

You’re all invited over for a cup of cheer.

#12

Thanks for the update, I was hoping that we would get some “closure” on this.

Thanks again, 48.