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I have read all the information I can find on here regarding building ramps.
Looking at the pics posted it looks like no one has gone higher than a 6" lift.
To me that seems really low when considering space underneath to do work is really cramped with only a 6" lift.
Has any one built these ramps with a 12" lift?
The old metal ramps I have that I used on my older vehicles have a 12" lift, and working under the vehicles was real easy because there was lots of space underneath.
So, is it feasible to have 12" lift on home made ramps for my C5?
I know weight has to be a consideration, but then again, how often would they need to be used?
Perhaps once a year to change oil.
I can about change the oil with the car sitting on the ground, so I just stack a few planks of wood and roll up onto them. Long arms are important though haha.
6" is the typical height of auto super store ramps. The height for standard model Race Ramps is either 8" or 10". Reverse Logic offers a 78" long Race Ramp with a 12" high platform with the same 10.8 degree incline as the popular 56" and 67" ramps.
If you do decide to make a 12" high ramp from staggered 2x12s, each ramp will weigh close to 100 pounds. You can probably cut the weight down by half by framing the ramp and sheeting it with plywood or planks.
With a 12" high ramp you will want to verify that the end of the car opposite the ramps will not be below ground level when the tires are on the ramp platform. You can make a reasonable estimate of the ground clearance after one end of the car is on the ramps using this formula.
Normal Ground Clearance - (Overhang/Wheelbase x Ramp Height) = Ground Clearance (with other end on ramps)
So if your ground clearance is 5" on level ground, the overhang length from the axle is 35", the wheelbase is 105", and the ramps are 12" high, then the ground clearance would drop to 1" when the car is on the ramps.
5" - (35"/105" x 12") = 1"
If your normal ground clearance was 3", you will hear a loud scraping noise as the tires get to the top of the platform.
A simple solution is to use a pair of ramps like the Race Ramps Roll-ups on the end of the car opposite the 12" high ramps.
Roll-ups are pictured at the bottom of the page at the second link above.
Originally Posted by calguy
....Looking at the pics posted it looks like no one has gone higher than a 6" lift. To me that seems really low when considering space underneath to do work is really cramped with only a 6" lift. Has any one built these ramps with a 12" lift? The old metal ramps I have that I used on my older vehicles have a 12" lift, and working under the vehicles was real easy because there was lots of space underneath. So, is it feasible to have 12" lift on home made ramps for my C5?....
6" is the typical height of auto super store ramps. The height for standard model Race Ramps is either 8" or 10". Reverse Logic offers a 78" long Race Ramp with a 12" high platform with the same 10.8 degree incline as the popular 56" and 67" ramps.
If you do decide to make a 12" high ramp from staggered 2x12s, each ramp will weigh close to 100 pounds. You can probably cut the weight down by half by framing the ramp and sheeting it with plywood or planks.
With a 12" high ramp you will want to verify that the end of the car opposite the ramps will not be below ground level when the tires are on the ramp platform. You can make a reasonable estimate of the ground clearance after one end of the car is on the ramps using this formula.
Normal Ground Clearance - (Overhang/Wheelbase x Ramp Height) = Ground Clearance (with other end on ramps)
So if your ground clearance is 5" on level ground, the overhang length from the axle is 35", the wheelbase is 105", and the ramps are 12" high, then the ground clearance would drop to 1" when the car is on the ramps.
5" - (35"/105" x 12") = 1"
If your normal ground clearance was 3", you will hear a loud scraping noise as the tires get to the top of the platform.
A simple solution is to use a pair of ramps like the Race Ramps Roll-ups on the end of the car opposite the 12" high ramps.
I know that these are not the same as home built, but I found a pair of ramps at harbor freight made in the U.S., made of molded plastic good for 4000# that don't scrape or mar the bottom of the car with 9" clearance for 40.00 work very well.
I messed with home-made ramps for a while but they were heavy and not that easy to work around
I've found the fastest, easiest way to get under the car is:
-jack up the front with low-profile jack & wood block (my car is very low so I have to drive up a 2" wedge to make room for the jack)
-support front with 2 jackstands
-move low-profile jack around to the rear & repeat the procedure.
I can get the car a good 16" in the air in 5 min or less, standing on 4 solid jacks.
MUCH easier to work around the jackstands than to work around the huge ramps. And no need to store & mess with enormous heavy ramps.
I made these and they work great with my C5 the picture just happen to have my C4 on them. They get 11 inches off the ground.
Side section can be removed if doing a lot of crawling back and forth. Also Front and back sections combined are the same length a the center section alone to they stack up nice and neat to store
Ramp can be removed and door shut for those cold or rainy days
08-09-2014, 03:52 PM
Home made ramps
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