Well, I have finally got yhe ramps to a stage that I have the car on them, Great ground clearance and really chuffed as they would have cost around £800 to buy something similar.

Still got a couple of mods to make and some of the additioanl stuff like a jacking beam abd exle stand base etc.

Now I,ve just got to tidy up the garage again.












[Edited on 15/8/05 by ewanspence]

[Edited on 15/8/05 by ewanspence]

Impressed

They would go really well with my not so deep pit (3 feet)

I think the postage would be a little too expensive, they weight a lot.

I can lift 1 completely off the ground but can't carry hold it for long. They have a full 5kg of welding wire in the pair.

I need to calculate how much they do weight so I can get a quote to have them galvanised.


I made them just over 2 feet from tall so I have good clearance but for many jobs I will probably not even jack them to get the car level, but just work on it on the incline.

WOW cracking idea mate well done.

Nice job. Every last car dealer here has at least a few ramps like that for their "car of the week" or whatever. They're made as a pair rather than two single ramps though and they are also made so that when the car is fully on, the ramp automatically tips safely into the horizontal position i.e. no jack required.

I did some calculations on the auto tilting ramp but it would have meant that the leadup ramp would have had to be longer to keep the slope at a reasonable angle to save the winch too much work and when doing some jobs it would be handy keeping it on the tilt to give greater access to the front end (or back end should you reverse up).

things like exhaust, brake pipes, welding work etc will be easier on the tilt.

I also have the option to build an additional bolt on flat section that could be added to the overall length and thus give me the auto tilt (and length) should I require it.

I have seen numerous garages locally with similar ramps but always as a pair, some don't look too substantial atall.

I put my Prelude on it last night to change the oil and what a difference not having to crawl under with scabby 10" ramps.

I'm curious - why haven't you triangulated the sides a little?

It obviously works without it, but i just through that with the car driving up it, you'd want to stop the potential sideways force.

You need a bread trolley to rest one end on so you can wheel them round . Or put some castors on the outside so you can tip them over and roll them then stand them back up. I remember seeing something on a bigger scale years ago for parking 2 cars in one space.

The ones I've seen at the car yards here are built very light but strong (triangulated) and have wheels at one end. You sometimes see the apprentice wheeling the things around and driving the cars up on them.

I did't triangulate because the research I did looking at other structures similar to this didn't have triangulation.

Other big ramps and also other standard small ramps.

It would have added additional wieght and I plan on making robust hooks in the garage roof so I can hook them up out the way when not in use so want to keep the wieght to a minimum.

I am also making a couple of brackets on the end to allow me to hook a pair of wheelie bin wheels and axle to allow me to easily minouvre them around.

The next thing I need to do is make the jcking beam and and a beam at the other end to allow me to fix the width at teach end and secure them together with a couple of bolts. Might get round to it at the weekend.

been looking at this again and it is triangulated (sort of)

the long ramp bit (the angle) means that it can only 'fall' forwards if that gives way at its start point. If the pointy end went to a point i'd say it would completely perfect. As it doesn't i'd be tempted to add a little triangulation / gusset into the almost pointy section.

(please bear in mind i've absolutely no qualifications in this area and am most likely talking out of my rear end)

I designed these out of my rear end and when I am under the car I am still setting up my large axle stands with a bar across it just as a fail safe option. I also leavve the jack fully extended uner 1 end when I am underneath.

I have measured the ramps unloaded and fully loaded across the main diagonals and there is absolutly no change so I feel ok about it.