Techniques to drive up ramps to change oil

[mineo77]

so now that i have my car lowered my rhino ramps are too big to drive up on...any suggestions around this other than raising my car back up a bit?

[BrokenVert]

You could be a bit ghetto and get a pair of 2x6 to elongate the ramps

[mineo77]

Originally Posted by BrokenVert

You could be a bit ghetto and get a pair of 2x6 to elongate the ramps

all about being ghetto!

[KingOfJericho]

That's not really ghetto... it's very practical. Doesn't anyone make ramps for sports cars? My car is stock and couldn't get onto the flatbed this weekend without a 2x10.

[BrokenVert]

Originally Posted by mineo77

all about being ghetto!

I made Jack pad adapters out of an oak block. Wood is your friend

[My135]

Put a couple of 2X4s in front of the ramp and drive it on through. The 2X4s will give you couple inches of ground clearance that you need before it hit the ramp.

[mineo77]

thanks for all the tips, will try this out this weekend for my oil change

[larryn]

If you are getting up the ramps yourself, it's a good idea to mark the floor (I used a sharpie), after the car is up, so you can easily position the ramps for next time too. I just did this for my rhino-ramps last week. Made putting the car back on the ramps a breeze.

[Sylon]

Definitely have someone spot for you. Someone outside of the car to keep an eye on your car as you are driving up the ramps.


And placing wood in front of the ramps isnt ghetto, its called "shoring", we use it when loading aircraft all the time.

[Dackelone]

I have friends who use Rhino ramps.

http://www.amazon.com/Blitz-11903-Rh.../dp/B000AMMN9O

I prefer to use a H.D. floor jack, though. I use a hockey puck in the jack pad - so to not damage the plastic lifting pads on our cars. My floor jack can lift a car about two feet in the air. It comes in quite handy and is one of the best things I have bought for my garage!

I think I saw on Griots Garage... they had some extention for Rhino ramps - for really low cars.

Good Luck,
David

[JimD]

I made little tapered 2x4 mini ramps to get my stock 128i vert high enough to get the jack on the center jacking point in the front. I have a full shop so it was simple and cost very little. We use less gradual pieces that are similar at oil change events at church to get a surprising number of cars up onto ramps. Even ordinary sedans sometimes have air dams low enough to drag on the ramps.

I have a question for you ramp guys, however. I do not use my ramps because they want to slide across the concrete floor. I've read that putting rubber mats under them might cure this. Do Rhino ramps slide around like this? They are pretty inexpensive and might be worth getting if I was fairly sure they would be usable. I do not consider my current ones to be very usable.

Jim

[larryn]

Originally Posted by JimD

I made little tapered 2x4 mini ramps to get my stock 128i vert high enough to get the jack on the center jacking point in the front. I have a full shop so it was simple and cost very little. We use less gradual pieces that are similar at oil change events at church to get a surprising number of cars up onto ramps. Even ordinary sedans sometimes have air dams low enough to drag on the ramps.

I have a question for you ramp guys, however. I do not use my ramps because they want to slide across the concrete floor. I've read that putting rubber mats under them might cure this. Do Rhino ramps slide around like this? They are pretty inexpensive and might be worth getting if I was fairly sure they would be usable. I do not consider my current ones to be very usable.

Jim

Rhino ramps have a rubber block under the leading edge that compresses and sticks to the floor when you start to go up the incline. They do fall ut and can be lost. I epoxied mine on, and have no problem with them slipping.

Btw, the comment that you should always have a spotter is a good comment. Ive used mine so many times that I set mine on my floor marks, line the car up, get out and check that I'm in line with the ramps, get back in, and drive right up. I've done that numerous times, but wouldn't recommend it for all.

[vwown3d]

I know a company that makes ramps for lowered cars. Let me see if I can find them.

[vwown3d]

Pricy, give you 3 inches.

http://www.tomiokaracing.com/gallery.html