car ramps

Mar 16, 2015 11 Replies

I have inherited some long car ramps, you know the type you drive onto so that you can work under the car?



These are 600mm high 3m long, and the problem is that the driven wheel will climb the ramp fine but the un-driven front wheel doesn't, it pushes the ramp forward.



Any tips on overcoming this problem?



Ta



Steve



yes, attach a long strip of old carpet to the end (just loop it round the last rung), the wheels then drive onto the carpet and hold the ramp from sliding away, once the car weight is on the ramp there will not usually be a problem if the site is level and not too slippery, if you still have a problem then you can make the strip of carpet long enough to reach the rear wheels as well. Or do as I sometimes do and just jack the car and put the ramps under when it is high enough.

yes, attach a long strip of old carpet to the end (just loop it round the last rung), the wheels then drive onto the carpet and hold the ramp from sliding away, once the car weight is on the ramp there will not usually be a problem if the site is level and not too slippery, if you still have a problem then you can make the strip of carpet long enough to reach the rear wheels as well. Or do as I sometimes do and just jack the car and put the ramps under when it is high enough.

Thanks, will give it a go!

STeve

I glued some rubber matting to the underside of mine - stops them slipping.

A bag of building sand/balast in front of the ramp will stop it moving forward.

Also useful at the foot of a ladder.

Hi,Mr Sandman,given the height and length of your ramps,am curious if these are factory made or `homebrewed`?.

Cheers, Doug.

I find the ramps difficult enough to store on their own without adding a couple of bags of sand. ;-)

Or a couple of concrete blocks (I happen to keep "spare" blocks next to my parking). As an earlier poster said, once there is a bit of weight on them they don't slide.

If you're using them in your garage or driveway, bolt them to the concrete with Rawlbolts. Easy to remove and use again at a later date.

Talking of ramps, has anyone here ever heard of anyone driving over the end? I love my ramps, but I'm always worried about doing this, and am not 100% convinced that the raised bit at the end is adequate :-)

If you're really going for it, yes, you can do it. But - honestly - you'd have to be paying roughly zero attention to do so.

Yep, many years ago and sods law meant it was a pair I lent to somebody. What made it more awkward is when the car crashed down some bush on the suspension or steering just managed to pop through the gap in between the treads and the ramp effectively became bolted to the car. Had to butcher the ramp to get it free. After that I decided it wasn't worth the hassle of helping mates out, up to then every Saturday seemed to have someone coming around with a problem and I was ruining clothes while they stayed clean.

G.Harman

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