Home built ramps from 2x10's?

[brucepick]

Anybody ever built "ramps" from 2x8s or 2x10's stacked up?
I think it might work if you bevel-cut the ends so there's a slope where you roll the car up.

I have steel ramps. But I don't completely trust them. My drive way is a bit uneven. I'm thinking of doing some aero work under the car once the weather actually warms up so that's why I'm thinking about this.

[Red]

Like these?
http://www.mustangworld.com/ourpics/...amps/index.htm

[trebuchet03]

No need to bevel cut I've used scrap 2x4's (perpendicular to the wheels rather than parallel as pictured).

[lovemysan]

I'm not so sure you couldn't get solid resin ramps for about the same money.

[brucepick]

I like the Mustang ramps. Made from 2x10's, not angle-cut.
At http://www.mustangworld.com/ourpics/...amps/index.htm
They left 18" between steps.
Nice that you would feel the steps and know how high you are.
Since they're stepped flat you can stop as long as you're on the flat and the car will be pretty stable.
They're 30 lb. each if I recall, and not exactly low-cost due to all the wood you'll buy. Maybe 12 or 14 inch steps for some other cars, less wood needed.

[trebuchet03]

Originally Posted by lovemysan

I'm not so sure you couldn't get solid resin ramps for about the same money.

Unless you're recycling 30-40% of the materials for housing construction is waste (which is why ~30% of our landfills in the US is from construction) - Most of that is lumber. I'd be finding a place that's being "developed" and see what scraps they have :P

off topic -- yet another reason to go prefab -- the prefab industry has about 2% waste

[omgwtfbyobbq]

My cousin has a pile of scrap wood 30ft high at his house that'd be perfect for this project.

[kps]

Actually, I've recently been considering using some scrap (mostly 2x4s) to make a full-length pair of ramps extending my driveway's gentle slope. (I once bought some regular steel ramps but immediately returned them because they were too steep to fit under my car.)

[Bill in Houston]

I like my Rhino Ramps a lot. Depending on the car, an air dam might scrape, though.

[Ryland]

those mustang ramps are way way over built, they are practicaly solid wood! so you have a 2,000 pound car, heaver in the front, right? lets say 1,200 pounds, 600lbs per wheel, sure that's a bit of weight, but not so much that solid wood is needed, I would say a 2x10 on flat with a suport every 24" inches should be more then enough, lets say you want to be really cheap (you know you want to) get a cinder block or two, and a 3 foot chunk of lumber without knots, and you have a ramp! curbs work too, old tires, a combination of those, and a floor jack.

[DracoFelis]

Originally Posted by Bill in Houston

I like my Rhino Ramps a lot.

Unless you really want to "recycle", by making your own ramps, I also 2nd the suggestion of Rhino Ramps. While I don't use them often (mostly because I usually let my mechanic to car work, instead of doing it myself), they have worked great on those few occasions when I've tried them. And they were reasonably cheap to buy (if memory serves, my pair cost me around $40 at Walmart), for a pair of ramps that are made out of really STRONG plastic!

BTW: I got the 12,000lb set, not because I needed that much weight, but because they were wider (and therefore easier to drive up on) than the (slightly cheaper) 8,000lb set.

[JanGeo]

We have some ruff planed 3x10 ramps sinve I was a kid. They work great beveled the end so they don't move driving up. They feel a lot better on bare hands on a cold day and don't rust or make as much noise when dropped. Then can be raised up more or less with bricks too.

[slurp812]

Originally Posted by omgwtfbyobbq

My cousin has a pile of scrap wood 30ft high at his house that'd be perfect for this project.

You could build ramps to get the car on the roof of the house, LOL!

[silvergt]

well i did the ramp and its heavy as ****.....lol but my car is like 2 inches off the ground so taht why the ramp was needed, i couldnt even get a jack under it i had to drive the car on the ramp then jack it up.....lol

[Snax]

That's the same reason I built my ramps. My last car was was too low to even get a low profile floor jack properly underneath. I built my ramps out of 2x6s three layers deep. It's not much of a lift, but at least at that point I could get a jack under the car!

Anyway, the middle layer is composed of three seperate blocks of 2x6 with about 8" spaces between them to lighten the ramp and provide carrying handles.

Obviously 6" is a bit narrow, but it has not presented much of a problem in how I have used them.

[VetteOwner]

my dad and i built somehting like that but we attached our steel stor bought ramp sto the end of the wood ramp. raises the wheels a foot off the ground.

[itjstagame]

Yeah we've always had these pretty giant 4"x1'x2' cement blocks that we stacked in a way to make a 'ramp' and then filled the 4" rise with 2x4 scraps to get up each step. Worked well.

Maybe I should build something like this for my house. My driveway is already 4" up so I could just extend off of that.

[brucepick]

I did a "quickie" version that worked out well.
Discovered I had 2 - 2x10's on hand.
Cut two pieces 19" long, the other two about 36" long.
Two of the cuts I did at an angle so there's a bevelled surface for the tire to go up.

Just lay them down on top of each other and that's all.
When I get time I'll cut another pair for more height.
Lower "steps" can be 11-12 inches long, no problem.
(that is, 11" plus the part that's below the layer above it)
Top step should be longer (that's my 19 inchers) so you don't roll off the end when going up.

Leaving it as separate boards makes them easy to carry. Make some marks so it's easier to line them up when you stack them.

[s2man]

hmmm, leaving them separate could let one of them shoot out from under your tire if you accidently hit the gas or brake too hard. It's bad when my whole metal ramp shoots out from under the tire on slick concrete.

Back to your question, brucepick. As long as I can remember, my dad always had a pair of ramps/stands made from ~14" pieces of 2x4 assembled log-cabin style - about the size of a milk crate. The top pair of 2x's was set perpendicular to the tires so the tires nestled between the 2x's and didn't roll. I don't recall his ramp configuration, but it was removable (say, that sounds handy).

Boy, we used those blocks to support all kinds of stuff besides cars, we stood on them, etc. I may need to reinvent a set of those