Homemade car ramps for oil changes, etc.?

Has anyone made some nice homemade car ramps that work well for doing stuff like oil changes on low profile cars?

I'm thinking about making some out of heavy steel angle iron with diamond tread on top or something. I don't trust those cheap stamped sheet metal crappy ones they sell and the slope on them is too steep. I've been using some ramps made by cutting some 10x10 timbers to make two big wedges, but they're getting beat up and I'm afraid they're going to crack apart someday. I want to make something that's strong enough to drive a heavy full size pickup truck on and feel safe. Maybe a heavy framework made out of angle iron with triangulation and a diamond plate steel top for traction. I want to put a really shallow slope on it so that I can drive low profile cars up the ramp without scraping anything. I tend to make things too strong though. If I make them way too strong and the ramps weigh 100 pounds each, they're not going to be too convenient to use.

It would be nice to see what some of you creative guys have come up with, or maybe see pictures of some old really well built commercial ramps that have survived for fifty years -- built back when people cared about quality.

Thanks

 

2 x 8s Stack them. Put a stop at the end of the top 2 x 8, chuck your wheels front and rear. Low buck way to go.

 

I have a pair of those stamped steel ones that I used on a '63 full size Pontiac

The only problem I have is they try to scoot when driving up them (too steep like mentioned).

That can be solved by bolting some heavy rubber mat to the front edge so that the ramp sits on the rubber.

I do used jackstands under the car as well, You don't get a second chance when a car falls on you.

 

I got a pair of RhinoRamps. They are a plastic, lightweight, wipe off with a rag to clean and will hold any full sized car. Oh, and they nest together to store, out of the way...I got 'em for less than $30 for the pair at Pep Boys
http://rhinoramps.com/

 

I cant believe with the price of ramps that it would even be cost efftive let alone safe to make em from wood? Do as you must.
Dave

 

I have a set of these also.. I think I bought mine at WalMart... I have the black set... they also make a gray set that is supposed to hold more weight and I believe(not sure) are a little wider...

 

I got them also. Love em.

 

Those commercially sold metal ramps have bent and collapsed on occasion.

I have seen ramps tip over sideways on seemingly solid ground.

The wood idea is best if you don't make it too narrow. Give it a wide footprint, and it will be safer than the narrow ramps being sold.
Stacked wood is how they hold up coal mine roofs, railroad cars, etc.
We have used it to support huge bulldozers while under repair.

Of course, you don't use wood to make a spindly frame, you use it stacked solid with a reasonably wide footprint.
Impossible to compress with many many tons, yet it still slightly "absorbs" an uneven metal, or concrete, or gravel footprint without letting anything slip like metal would.
Wet rubber against wet wood could get slippery, but under other conditions, stacked lumber or flat timber is often the best to use to support weight in a safe manner. Just don't make it skinny.

 

When you've got a car that sits too low for any kind of ramp or jack like my kid does, wood works. Oh yeah. You can bolt on handles to carry them also.
BTW, how do you figure unsafe? With some of the ramps I've seen in the passed 20 years, I'd stick with the wooden ones.

But in truth, I'd rather use my floor jack and jack stands. I learned the wooden ramps when I was a tyke at my father's knee in the mid fifties.

 

Unless you're just itchin for a welding project, I don't see the cost or performance advantage in making your own. For low prifile vehicles or odd undercarraiges, you can always floor-jack the vehicle and slide the ramps underneath the tires similar to jack stands, except now the suspension is compressed. I did this once on all four wheels with two pair of ramps and several buddies wondered how I'd driven up all four ramps at once...

 

yup, 2 X 8's or 2 X 10's. get the cut offs from a construction site. stack 'em up and your good.

 

You think he thought I was talking about a wood frame???????? Geez, I didn't think anyone would have thought that. Lordy Lord!

 

???????
I was coming to your defense when a critic said your idea was unsafe.
Are you mad now?

??????????????????? geez.

 

Oh nooooooo, Sorry bro. I know you were. Sorry if it seemed like anything other then my agreeing with you!

I was in the construction industry for years and know the benefits of wood.

Peace Bro. And, Thanks.

 

I have one set of stamped ramps out here that are pretty well smashed from trying to run a 77 K30 Chev up on them. Out of three sets on the place only one set isn't at least slightly bent.
And they will tip on soft ground if things aren't square.

I'd go with the wood planks stacked and screwed together to make a set of ramps. It will be less expensive and plenty safe and solid.

 

Ditto, 2X8's up to 2X12's nail the layers together, there a little heavy but won't collapse, block the wheels always

 

No Problem.

I just want people to know that commercially sold ramps are often very unsafe, and that do-it-yourself ramps can be much safer than commercial ones if done correctly.
To me its a matter of safety rather than cost.

 

One word RhinoRamps

 

Thanks for the ideas. Yeah, probably some 2x10s or 2x12s stacked up would be the way to go. That would be better than the big solid blocks like I have now, which could split in half if a crack gets going right down the middle. With multiple boards, a crack in one wouldn't split the whole stack in half at least.

I'm still thinking about some really long ramps that go up a little higher than the usual ones though, so I might make something someday. I think maybe I just have fun welding, and I'm just looking for some excuse for something to build now. It was probably that "beautiful welds" thread that got my mind going.

Thanks again.

 

another vote for rhinoramps...lightweight, they nest, easy cleanup, cheap

 

How do you cut the sharp angle on the boards? My saw will only do a 45.

 

I think the slope on those RhinoRamps is too steep for some of the cars we have at my house to clear low fenders and low front bumpers. But thanks anyway.

 

I just did a search on them. They look kind of steep and short to me. The honeycomb webbing looks OK but geez, they are still plastic after all is said and done.

And yes, I know the qualities of plastics but also the failures of them. Temperatures being one.

 

"I was in the construction industry for years and know the benefits of wood."
Ah, yes... at my age, a little wood would be nice.

 

Have you got a band sander? I never bothered to bevel the edges even. Heck, curb cuts are 2"s.

 

Not to go O/T but I was doing everything I could to stay off that wood subject.

 

I guess 45s would be O.K., especially if you made the boards progressively shorter.

 

I think somebody cut the big timber ones I have diagonally down both sides with some sort of very large hand-held circular saw that reached about halfway deep into the timber. I bought them at a garage sale for $5 about 15 years ago. Some older guy had used them to park his motor home on to level it in his driveway. They used to seem pretty solid, but now they're all cracked up and I don't trust them much anymore.

 

Of course. Maybe I took it for granted that everyone knew what I was talking about. You start off with a length of, let's say 36", then lay down a length of 30", and so on. Stagger brass screws in each layer. Three per platform is fine. and you go from there. You literally build a set of steps.
You can use stainless screws if you prefer. I went with brass cause my Dad, (RIP Pop) was into boats so had plenty of brass screws around. Old habits are hard to break.

 

Maybe glue em and clamp em, screws may make em crack faster.