Ramps Are Tools Right?

[xroad]

I have a set of metal ramps I used for chaning oil in my car. It finally bit the dust when I used it for my F150 pick up. Totaly warped it. I never did liked them because the metal edge bits into my asphalt driveway and leace a deep mark. It is also angled too steep so I have clearance problem with my mini van and econo box.

SO ..... Any recommendations on a another set of ramps. I see plastic ones, are they good? Angle steep? Better ground contact?

Just the whole idea of a set of ramps, I am not sure if it is any more convenient than just pulling the floor jack over to the car. ALl that lining up to the wheeels ... storage ...etc.

 

[vette-kid]

www.raceramps.com

 

[KCarGuy]

Reading your thread put shivers up my spine and brought back bad memories.
I hate Ramps! I wrote a post on my bad experience with a car rolling backwards ontop of me (while working on a ******).
My Strong Suggestions is...Good Quality Floor Jack and Good Quality Jack Stands.
Please...Lifes too short!
You'll thank me when your old and gray and enjoying your great grandkids. KC

 

[avc8130]

I tried ramps with my Silverado. The left one crushed and that was enough of that ****. Jack and jack stands.
ac

 

[Frank Elson]

almost everyone I know - including me- has a set of ramps sitting, unused and rusting away, in a corner of the garage.
like they say, jack and jack stands.

 

[Chris Adams]

Or some of us have two sets...

Ramps are seldom much use.

I have a set of metal ones, even for small cars they tend to move too much to be useful. On concrete they skip away from the tires, on asphalt they dig holes, on dirt they sink.
Then they are always in the way when you try to get underneath.

I picked up a set of plastic ones, cheap, that have the removable ramp parts. Those are handy on small (very small) cars as you can basically use them as tall tire blocks. But I raise the cars with jacks, then put them under rather than play with the ramp part.

Any ramp that you can carry around comfortably is too light for a truck, I don't care what the 'rating' on the box says.

 

[jsaw]

These support large trucks

 

[kythri]

I bought a set of Rhino Ramps, prior to owning a jack (the ramps were on-sale at Wal-Mart).

As far as supporting a vehicle goes, they work fantastically.

The issue that I have with them, though, is that they slide across smooth concrete (and the only "unsmooth" concrete I have is the driveway, which is on the other side of the house from my shop, and I've never gotten around to taking them out there and testing).

They have a rubber pad in them that's supposedly supposed to bite, and stop them from just being pushed forward, but it doesn't seem to work too well, which is a shame for cars lower to the ground. I've toyed with trying to find some kind of rubberized coating to line the bottom of them with, but, much like trying them in the driveway, I'm never thinking of it until it's too late.

I'm going to end up springing for a low-profile high-lift floor jack one of these days. My OTC Stinger is a fantastic jack, but it's obnoxious only having about 2" of handle/jack swing until I get the car up a couple more inches.

 

[Chris Adams]

These support large trucks

And roughly how much do they weigh? And how much lift? From the looks, I gonna say about 40 lbs each, and lift about 7 inches.

You could just pile two by sixes in a staggered pattern...

Not being serious here.

 

[nate379]

Sure you can. I have done that many times since my jackstands only go to 31" tall and my Jeep frame is just a few inches lower than that.

 

[speed bump]

Go to the lumber yard and buy about 6" of 6x12 and 6" of 2x12" if I need ramps thats what I do.

 

[Chris Adams]

Sure you can. I have done that many times since my jackstands only go to 31" tall and my Jeep frame is just a few inches lower than that.

I've seen guys do that, but mostly in the news, you know, local guy crushed by car stuff.

Here, with earthquakes a common thing, even good ramps are dicey. I have seen guys block their cars up with 4x4's but I've also seen a lot of them fall over.
When I was in auto parts guys would come in all angry, buy jack stands and tell us about the darn ramp collapsing, the darn 4x4 breaking, etc.
Mind you, we sold tube jack stands mostly, because in the 70's, 80's and early 90's that was the standard. And lots of those would tip over, especially on pickup trucks.

The way I was taught at the first small shop I worked at, was if you could shake it off the jack, don’t get under it. The boss would grab the side of a car on stands and give it a STRONG shake. If you didn’t feel comfortable doing that, you had no business under the car.
He lost a son to a jack stand and a 4.0 trembler. Those are the light ones that just make your china rattle.

 

[GYOGI65]

Bought a set of rino ramps worked great for getting rugrats lowered rice burner up high enough to get a jack under to use with stands was so pleased bought a set to use at work so can use a ten ton frame jack on one ton dually vans but have also had a car roll off them so stands and chocks are very important

 

[Charles (in GA)]

I have a set of metal ramps. Very sturdy, at least for my Ranger. Yes, they skate on smooth concrete, I use them just outside the shop on the concrete. There is a 1/2" lip at the garage door, I set the ramps up against the lip so they won't move and carefully center them on the truck tires and drive it up. Then I chock the back wheels with very large rubber chocks, set the brake, and leave it parked in reverse (5 spd) and key in my pocket. Great for changing the oil and filter and also the transmission fluid. not the least bit unstable. More trouble to get out two floor jacks and stands.

I cannot use the ramps on my Plymouth Breeze, the lower front end hits the ramps before the tires, so I have to jack it and use stands.

I was given the stands, almost new, about 20 years ago, I keep them inside and they are clean and not rusted or damaged. That reminds me, the Ranger is due for a 5000 mi. oil filter change.

Charles

 

[ImportTuner]

Bought a set of rino ramps worked great for getting rugrats lowered rice burner up high enough to get a jack under to use with stands was so pleased bought a set to use at work so can use a ten ton frame jack on one ton dually vans but have also had a car roll off them so stands and chocks are very important

You still refer to you son as a rugrat ..
I have the raceramps and two sets of Blitz (8,000 lb capacity and 12,000 lb capacity) .. works well and I always use a wheel chock ..

 

[nate379]

Shoot, barely even feel a 4.0.... remember I live in Alaska... we get them once in a while hahaha!

How do you think a house is lifted, or other heavy stuff? Wood cribbing blocks. Same deal with 2x6s under a jackstand.
I'd really need to get 12 ton stands, but they are fairly expensive and I already have 3 or 4 sets of 6 ton stands. Iit makes more sense to just crib them if I need the extra height.

I've seen guys do that, but mostly in the news, you know, local guy crushed by car stuff.

Here, with earthquakes a common thing, even good ramps are dicey. I have seen guys block their cars up with 4x4's but I've also seen a lot of them fall over.
When I was in auto parts guys would come in all angry, buy jack stands and tell us about the darn ramp collapsing, the darn 4x4 breaking, etc.
Mind you, we sold tube jack stands mostly, because in the 70's, 80's and early 90's that was the standard. And lots of those would tip over, especially on pickup trucks.

The way I was taught at the first small shop I worked at, was if you could shake it off the jack, don’t get under it. The boss would grab the side of a car on stands and give it a STRONG shake. If you didn’t feel comfortable doing that, you had no business under the car.
He lost a son to a jack stand and a 4.0 trembler. Those are the light ones that just make your china rattle.

 

[Coach James]

Been using Rhino Ramps for several years now. No problems. When I use them on concrete, I push them tight under the tire and they don't slip as I drive up. When I use them in my driveway, they really don't sink as the body is like a honeycomb unlike metal ramps where all the weight is on the edges of the ramp base. Once on the ramp, I set the parking brake and chock both back wheels front and back. My car is a Grand Prix with low clearance and no problems getting up the ramps.

My dad has a set of metal ramps he's used for years. For his b-day, I plan to get him a set of Rhinos. When I was younger, I had a Saturn that wouldn't get up the steep incline of those metal ramps. My dad took two four foot pieces of PT 2x12, put two spikes in the end of each one, bent them over 90 degrees and we hooked the ends into the holes on the metal ramps to make a low grade incline. Worked for 8 years until I sold the Saturn.

Those metal ramps just need one spot weakened due to rust for the wholle thing to come down so I'll feel better with him using Rhinos. My dad will be 80 in a couple weeks and still changes his own oil and almost everything else on his vehicles.

Coach

 

[jsaw]

And roughly how much do they weigh? And how much lift? From the looks, I gonna say about 40 lbs each, and lift about 7 inches.
We borrowed them from a truck mechanic friend.
They are made out of 10 inch square timbers, & weigh i'm guessing more like 60 - 80 pounds.
There are only some jobs they are good for, so they aren't used all that often

 

[Lookin4'67Galaxieconv]

I use my metal ramps on asphalt driveway. Put them right in front of the front wheels of my Pathfinder, then drive up on them. Very convenient if I have to take a quick look underneath, but don't want to go through the trouble of dragging out the jack and stands.

 

[Rickster]

My Dad has a set of ramps, I never liked them. I opted instead for a floor jack and some jack stands.

 

[Vinko]

www.raceramps.com

These look good -- You have them?

$300 for the 10" clearance is a lot just to see if I like them....

http://www.raceramps.com/67racerampsxt.html

This thread reminds me why I'm scared to hell though, of even jack stands. I was thinking of getting some new ones, I found some made in Denmark that are expensive but ridiculously good quality.

Can't put a damn price on not being crushed to death

 

[DustyandLefty]

The angles on both sets of my ramps were too steep for our low station wagons. I made two "pre-ramps" out of two staggered pieces of 2x6's about 18 inches long nailed together to get the car up 3" before the ramps. Like the others mentioned, these tended to skate out on my concrete garage floor when driving a front-wheel drive vehicle up them. I took some wide 40 grit sandpaper and fastened it to the bottom of each one. This gives enough grip to hold them in place.

Dusty and Lefty

 

[Mr.Nutcase]

I am nutcase when it comes to supporting cars!, My bro bought some ramps when we were younger, I started to laugh at him, right now there are collecting dust..
I allways use JACKS STANDS, GO FOR A 12 TON!!! DO NOT BE CHEAP HERE, DO YOU TRUST YOUR LIFE TO 12 Bucks stands/

 

[bchee]

I saw some Rhino ramps on CL, the plastic kind, not metal.
Do you guys think these would be safe to buy used?

I can't see how they would suddenly fail, but I figure you guys would know better.

 

[kindyr]

I'm not a pro mechanic, but I like having the rhino ramps around.

just this past weekend had a friend call with a tail pipe dragging(rusted through) she was 2 hours away. through the rhino racks and some basic tools in the van and headed that way. got there, confirmed the situation, pulled out the ramps, had her drive the car up, slipped under and wired the pipe up until she could get back to town and we'd fix it right.

I wouldn't deal with the metal ramps, but the rhinos have been good to me. I don't use them alot, since I tend to end up doing brake jobs for friends more than oil changes, but they are light weight, don't rust and I already own them. They aren't the only trick in the book, but I'm going to keep them in my book of tricks. probably should get wheel chocks for the non ramped tires, but I've never had an issue when I've been under a car.