DIY Car Servicing Ramp

[Carls2001ws6]

I used 4X4 to crib my car when changing my transmission, It was more sturdy than any jack stand. HOWEVER you must use caution when raising or lowering your car.

In the industrial machinery field I have seen machinery riggers move 20,000lb machinery using cheap 2X4s, If you spend some time and think about what your doing there is nothing wrong with using wood. People who use there heads rarely have accidents.

 

[ss454]

I'd use those cribbing platforms. Look really easy to store, too.

 

[Thirdgen89GTA]

Speaking of which, am I the only one that's terrified of accidentally hitting the ratchet arm on jackstands when there's weight on them? Jack stands scare me.

If the mechanism has been designed correctly when there is a force acting on it it will lock into place and require a significant effort to get the lever to move. More than you would accidentally do if you hit it with a ratchet.

As for wood? Built right it can support the weight of a car. Steel and steel re-inforced concrete can hold more, but for the weight of an average car a wooden dolly could be designed to take the load.

Doesn't anyone remember building the bridges and towers out of balsa wood in Jr High and then having to test them to destruction? The little balsa tower I designed was assembled with nothing more than an exacto knife, elmers wood glue, and 1/8th" balsa wood. It stood less than 5" high by 1" square. But when we tested the darn thing to took almost 120lbs to cause it to collapse. That little balsa tower easily held 80-100lbs. It was only when we went beyond 100lbs that things started to fail. At first a triangular spar broke, and after that the structure became progressively weaker as more broke.

 

[KagA152]

i found a railroad tie (a new one), cut it into 4 sections, works great

 

[greasy]

Just finished building mine last night. They feel very sturdy, but I still need to test them out. Will be doing an exhaust swap in the very near future and I will get a review/pictures up of the a car on them.

Top

Bottom

 

[Yaj Yak]

fucking awesome. burley.

 

[greasy]

fucking awesome. burley.

Yup They also make great stools for standing on or sitting on to drink beer!

 

[EmersonHart13]

That is high! That will be quite roomy underneath. I want to see the jacking up process.

 

[greasy]

That is high! That will be quite roomy underneath. I want to see the jacking up process.

They measure 12"-1/8" tall, obviously you could have ballparked that with some simple math. My jack has a max lift of 21.5", so my plan is to put it up in 2 steps. Jack the car up onto unraised jackstands front first and then the rears. Then I will put the car up on the cribbings front first and then the rears again. I built a small platform for my jack that connects to the contact plate if it will not reach high enough underneath the car.

 

[rocco]

Greasy, do those somehow interlock or is it one fixed piece? I haven't heard of cribbing before but that does look better than jack stands.

 

[greasy]

Everything is locked together with 2-1/2" coarse thread screws. If you look at the 2nd picture you can see the screw pattern I used, but I alternated the cross pattern every row to eliminate the screws running into eachother and for added strength. The 3rd picture does not show it because that is the bottom, they were all screwed from the top down.

 

[EmersonHart13]

Your jack has a nice amount of lift. Sounds like a solid plan.

 

[greasy]

Your jack has a nice amount of lift. Sounds like a solid plan.

It is actually a nice jack. I bought it from Costco for $100. It is a low profile jack as well, the only issue is it weighs a ton!

 

[Gav'sPurpleZ]

I am almost done building mine, they are just like these below! I like the ones below because you can slde out from underneath the car easier. So funny that you posted this.

2nd gen camaro :drool:

 

[Smokinhot]

2nd gen camaro :drool:

so sexy

 

[rocco]

It is actually a nice jack. I bought it from Costco for $100. It is a low profile jack as well, the only issue is it weighs a ton!

I have that same jack, Arcan is the brand I believe.

What's your process for jacking the car that high? I know if I jack up the front and put it on jackstands, then start to jack the rear, the jack tends to start pulling the car backwards almost pulling the car off the front jackstands. I usually have to go around the car and jack it up a little at time while raising the jackstands.

I guess what I'm asking is, if you jack up the front and put it on those blocks, then go to the back and jack up the rear, does the jack seem like it doesn't want to roll and tries to pull the front of the car off the blocks? Not sure if that makes sense to you. It seems my jack doesn't want to roll when jacking and instead stays stationary pulling the car, instead of rolling forward as it goes up. And my floor is pretty smooth also.

Beautiful car BTW.

 

[greasy]

Yeah Arcan is the brand of the jack. I have experience the jack not moving on a very seldom basis. It seems will getting hung up on small debris on the floor or a crack.

This is from above.......They measure 12"-1/8" tall, obviously you could have ballparked that with some simple math. My jack has a max lift of 21.5", so my plan is to put it up in 2 steps. Jack the car up onto unraised jackstands front first and then the rears. Then I will put the car up on the cribbings front first and then the rears again. I built a small platform for my jack that connects to the contact plate if it will not reach high enough underneath the car.

There is no way, that when on the blocks, the front tires will move off because the force of the jack wanting to not move would basically have to be greater than pulling a 3500 lbs car over a 2" x 4".

 

[greasy]

OMG, IT'S GOING TO FALL!!!!!



The shit is rock solid and Gabby Sidibe could work under there comfortably.

 

[Fish]

My grandparents have a couple vehicle being proped up by wood..........out in the open........................to elements.....................for about 9 months now......................constantly. Nothing has fallen yet and the wood is still in decent shape. I see no issues with Greasy's jenga stands.

 

[Sprayin]

I got all the way to page 3 thinking this entire thread was a joke. No thanks on any of that. I'll stick to a jack with stands.

 

[greasy]

I got all the way to page 3 thinking this entire thread was a joke. No thanks on any of that. I'll stick to a jack with stands.

These cribbings have a wider overall footprint, larger contact area with the car/ground, offer far more room under the car, and are inexpensive when compared to jackstands.

 

[Bob Kazamakis]

Jackstands are pretty damn cheap.....and they come taller then those. Just sayin'

 

[Thirdgen89GTA]

But the jack stands are lifting from the body, or the axle, or some other hard point.

These cribs are lifting from the wheels, which provides more ground clearance.

And also with their wider foot print its harder to tip them over than a jack stand would be. Not saying you can't tip one over, push hard enough and anything can be tipped over.

 

[Bob Kazamakis]

I'm not saying Jackstands are better but to say they're worse then these is comical.

 

[Lord Tin Foilhat]

they just seem like a pita to put a car on, other than that their cool