Jughead

That's what I did Eddie. That's an old pic as you can see I had no side exhaust when it was taken. I added another level too, the bottom of the tire is 7.5" off the ground.

Carl, for $1,200 I think I'll stick with my homemade unit.....cost me $50. I dunno, that quiklift still looks a little scary to me.

carl a

actually there pretty h.d..the rails have a metal piece that slides from frt to rear , you can put jack stands on/ bottle jacks ect,whats nice is you can comfortably work on your car,you can actually sit under it!! i spent from 930 am to 530 pm under the c-5 and with my bad back ,,i am 100% today!! usually doing a brake job on all 4 means i cant walk for a week to 2 weeks,,so im my condtion its well worth the $1200.00.anyone ever thinking of a lift but not enough celieng height should take a look at these at your next show,,crawn under it ect,,they make plenty of stuff to make our lives in this hobby e/z/er..such as trans jacks,,oil drain w/ funnel containers ect ect...just the fact that i am not in pain today is a relief

Vette Gator

I also thought about doing this, and it may be fine. I worried about whether this would put a lot of stress on the frame since the weight of the motor would be between the two sets of jack stands. I'd love to know the definitive answer, though.

c3_guy

I think I would like to try a bridge and ramp system. How long are your ramps so you don't bottom out on the way up? More pics would be a great help. Thanks

JPhil

Chevyman's set-up looks pretty much the same as mine, just different style of construction. I considered an official store-bought lift/ramp, but I didn't want a permanent unit in the garage--most times I have my truck and Vette parked side by side, but when I go to work on the car I put the truck outside and put the car in the middle. Plus, having used drive-on style lifts before, I like the idea of not having a center section but just 4-corner support. When not in use, I stack my ramps against the side walls where they make a handy bench/shelf surface. (They also make great grandstand seating for my buddies when they come over and drink my beer and tell me how to work on my car.)
As far as ramp length to avoid hanging up while driving on and off, build your "parking" section first. Then find your lowest point of ground clearance on the car, and give it some fudge factor. Measure your wheelbase (I think it's almost exactly 96"). Mark a point half of this distance (48") from the front edge of the parking section, on the side but at the top, and set a nail. On the front edge of the block, measure down your required clearance distance and make a mark. Hook a string on the nail and pull it out till it is at or above your clearance mark on the front edge. Make a mark on the floor and measure the distance to the block. This is how long your ramp needs to be.
I also suggest that at the toe of the ramp section, where the wheels first roll on, use a seperate piece of something like 1x6 with a beveled front edge and attached to the ramp with a piece of sheetmetal or even holy-iron so it has a little bit of up-and-down pivoting ability and a smooth entry so that when your tires first start to roll up onto them they don't push on the ramp and knock the whole thing askew.

(Jeez, yeah, a few photos would be so much easier!)

John

chevymans 77

Here ya go.



I have the cut list and a diagram that someone on the forum drew up a while back that I can e-mail you if you want (I am out of space on my hosting site or I would post them).

Neal

c3_guy

John and Neil thanks for the ideas. I think thats the way I'm going to go. Need to finish my current project first, finding an electical short and fixing all the misc. stuff under my dash that doesn't work.

Jason Staley

I usually do the same thing .... I just thought I was paranoid.

theandies

That would be great. IM Sent. How high does it get you off the ground? It looks to be 18 to 20 inches in the pictures. That is perfect.

carl a

now thats using your head , i like what you did here ,its a wooden quick lift and 1,000 cheaper,,and it can be moved outta the way!!! good thinking,,only thing is you cannot remove a wheel like the quick lift,,thats what the center sliding bar is for ,to use jack stands and bottle jacks,,,now if this were to be made wider like 2x12's instead of 2x6's you could lay a center board from tire to tire and use 4x4 or 6x6's vertically to support,,place from wheel to wheel and install a jack stand to remove a wheel for a brake job,,just have to have the supports under the board

77dude

Is it just me, or does this look really unstable, and unsafe

chevymans 77

Carl if I want to remove a wheel or two I use a 4x4 across the suspension to lift the wheel and if I leave it that way for a while I will put jack stands under both ends of the 4x4 to support it.



I am haveing a lot of trouble with the forum today so I am not sure if this pic is going to work. If it does not take a look at my photos under my avater, go to page two and look at the photo labled C5 rims on C3, one of the photos shows the 4x4 with my jack holding the rear of the car up while I test fit some C5 rims.

Neal

JPhil

Removing the wheels is no problem--That's where I use my other jackstand blocks or turn a bridge section 90* and slide it under the car.
I have completely replaced my entire front and rear suspension systems. Using the blocks with short jackstands or more wood blocking keeps the car very stable and secure, much more so than before when I would have the car on four tall jackstands only.
And it only takes about ten minutes to set it up and have the car on.The first few times I drove on or off I was really paranoid and white-knuckling it, but now I run up and down like a 12 year old sk8boarder on a half-pipe.
Neal, I don't see any connecting latches on yours--have you had no trouble with the sections skidding on the floor while drivingon or off? I found with mine if I tap the brakes too hard, a section will skid and leave a gap....

John

Steve's74

Mine's been sitting just like that for a year, although my stands are a little further apart with the front ones further forward. I've been over, under and against it quite a bit. Jackstands are the safest method, used properly. Like others, once I have it up, I shake the crap out of it. If I can't knock it over trying, it isn't going anywhere while I'm under it.

John, I think Len's version is probably the least expensive "drive up" method you'll find.

Steve