Car Ramp Thingy

[TurboDan]

A while back, someone posted a link to this ramp-like thingy that allows you to get under your car for routine maintenance (oil changes, etc.). Seems like it would be a good alternative to a floor jack. Does anyone have the link to where I could buy one of these?

[giant_mtb]

Go to Wal-Mart or any car parts store like Advance Auto.  They have ramps.  Should be about 30-40 bucks.

[TurboDan]

Sweet! Thanks!

I'm tired of minimum wage oil change dudes half-assing the job and refusing to put my skid-plate back on correctly, causing the damn thing to nearly fall off a couple days later. Plus the idea of a $70 oil change for synthetic drives me insane. It got worse this week when I went to pay and the lady behind the counter asked "How much do you want to leave for a tip?" Tip? WTF? You already raped me for $70 for the damn oil change in the first place - not to mention the guy called out "Who has the Jetta" and when I said "I have a Passat, you mean me?" he gave me a snarky "Whatever" and rolled his eyes. How the hell am I supposed to know there wasn't a Jetta owner there too? Arrrrgghhhh oil change places annoy the shit outta me.

OK, rant over! 

[Rupert]

A tip for a car mechanic? And not even a real one? Wow.

[Eye of the Tiger]

Get the plastic ones.

[Rupert]

Rhino Ramps, yeah?

[Secret Chimp]

Rhino Ramps are Jesus Ramps.

[280Z Turbo]

I don't trust those.

I like jackstands.

[Secret Chimp]

I think your car is going to be a lot more stable on ramps than on jackstands.

[93JC]

My dad had a sweet set of metal ramps, but they're gone. Not sure what the hell he did with 'em.

[VTEC_Inside]

Happy Rhino Ramp owner here.

Only beef is that they are a bit lower than your basic metal ramp. That's not an issue just doing an oil change, but really limits what you can get to if you are on a creeper.

[Rupert]

Low is good if you have a sports car.

[S204STi]

A tip for a car mechanic? And not even a real one? Wow.

I've received a tip twice, both amounting to a total of $2.  Not really a tipping industry IMO...

[VTEC_Inside]

Low is good if you have a sports car.

No doubt, but it kinda defeats the point of driving it up on ramps if you still don't have enough room to do anything under there.

[S204STi]

[Byteme]

I've got a set of metal ramps I really like.  Whatever you buy make sure they are sturdy. Two other points to check on.

1.  Make sure the front overhand of the car doesn't hit the ramps before the tire touches the ramp part.  If tha t happens the car will just push the ramp out or the way.  You can overcome this by placing a short length of 2X6 in front of the ramp for the car to roll on before it gets to the ramp.

2.  On slick surface, like my garage floor (tiled) the tire will just push the ramp around instead of rolling up the ramp.  Make sure ou use the ramps on a surface that will not let the ramps slide like that.  I fixed that by attaching a web strap to each ramp.  Ehen the front tire contacts the ramp the rear tire is on the strap preventing the ramp from sliding.  The below picture shows the straps and ramps after the rear wheels are off the car.



General tims when using ramps or jackstands.

NEVER GET UNDER THE CAR WHEN IT IS ONLY ON A JACK.   Lower the car onto jackstands and then leave the jack in position to take the load if the jackstand fails.

Before you get under the car grab hold of a fender and give the car a good shake in all directions.  If it moves a bit it isn't stable enough for me to crawl under.  

[TurboDan]

Happy Rhino Ramp owner here.

Only beef is that they are a bit lower than your basic metal ramp. That's not an issue just doing an oil change, but really limits what you can get to if you are on a creeper.

Come to think of it, does the angle of the ramp affect oil drainage at all?

[giant_mtb]

Come to think of it, does the angle of the ramp affect oil drainage at all?

Get four!

[Rupert]

I've received a tip twice, both amounting to a total of $2.  Not really a tipping industry IMO...

What was that? 0.2%?

[Rupert]

No doubt, but it kinda defeats the point of driving it up on ramps if you still don't have enough room to do anything under there.

How much room do you need to change your oil? I don't even jack up the Explorer.

[93JC]

It depends on what you're working on. Some cars are quite difficult to work on. The Spirit's front-end was so frigging long that I didn't bother with jackstands or ramps: I'd take off the passenger side wheel. It was the easiest way to get to the drain plug. With the Jeep I didn't need to do anything, it had lots of clearance underneath it.

[S204STi]

What was that? 0.2%?

Just over.

[BimmerM3]

Come to think of it, does the angle of the ramp affect oil drainage at all?

Depends on where the drain plug is. Mine is at the rear of the oil pan, so if anything, having the front end of the car up would help.

I've thought about getting ramps, but I usually rotate my tires when I change my oil, so there would be no point.

[Onslaught]

I've got 4 you can have. Can't get either of my cars up them because my bumpers are too low.

[r0tor]

yup... bought some and they dont work for my car either... and then i tried driving up on 2x4's and then the ramp and it cleared but it was very hard to control the gas/brake/clutch and i became extemely paranoid i was going to overshoot the ramp and really f&ck things up

[giant_mtb]

If you're worried about overshooting, do a mock set up right next to the vehicle as though the car was on the ramps and put some wheel chocks in front of the rear wheels and place them properly for the real thing. If that makes sense.

[MrH]

You can't modulate your clutch enough to inch forward?

[Rupert]

That gets tricky when you start on a flat, have to inch uphill for a short ways, and they are suddenly on a flat again.

I mean, I can do it, but it's tricky.

[giant_mtb]

You can't modulate your clutch enough to inch forward?

I don't think inching up a 15-20 degree slope onto a flat surface about a foot long with self-destruct written on the other side is something that's exactly "easy" or "relaxing" to do.  I still am extremely cautious and slightly nervous when doing it in my automatic vehicles.   

[Rupert]

They should put a chock shape thing at the end of those ramps.