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Going to wire them for plugs and LED lights as well.
I made up a materials list. Hopefully in next few days I can buy up the lumber and get this started. Be something for my son and I to work on together. I cut, he screws, lol.
Procrastination, I seriously love that pit and have thought about doing that many times. the red and blue stripes on either side are a nice alignment feature.
Dodos, I join those encouraging you to do the math on weight. I made some of those crib stands discussed elsewhere in the Forum and was shocked by their weight; luckily I made them in two parts so moving them is easier.
Consider putting casters somewhere to ease movement; for example, you could attach them to the outside edge of each section and rotate them 90 degrees to engage them. Some people call me lazy, others say I am thoughtful.
Same here as I have a one car garage and my ceiling is just a bit too low for a 2 or 4 post lift. A pit would be great and my floor/foundation is the perfect setup to make one.......just need time and $$$ and the $$$ usually ends up in one of three places, my wife's pocket, my kids pocket or in the Vette.
Someday when I can make some extra money on my stocks............
When you build them remember the point load.
The top (2x12) should sit ON the sides (2x10) and inside the entire structure should be solid bracing every 16" minimum.
My boxes are 11' for my Avalanche but the Vette only needs 10' (measure from the outside of you tires to make sure).
The ramps themselves are 5' long so that the front fender/skirt does not hit on the way up.
Ive come to the conclusion that a set of homemade ramps may be just what I need in the shop.
something like this, but with a bottom plate:
Wouldn`t it be hard to get underneath? You couldn`t access it from the sides, only the front & back. I use a set of wheel blocks (they can be adjusted in height)...
Originally Posted by Procrastination Racing
IMHO, this is the best, especially if you can't go up due to a low ceiling.
I LOVE the pit idea..... and it doesn`t have to be indoors, either!
I don't have any photos to illustrate this but years ago the house we lived in was on a street that had been dropped over a foot but no curbing had been put in. So in essence there was just a small bank between our yard and the street. I could pull one side of my car up on the bank and have plenty of room to get underneath it to do oil changes, starter changes, etc. I did that several times laying in ice and snow because I had to get a car running to be able to go to work the next morning. I'm glad those days happened for the experience, I'm also glad they are gone and now I can work in a climate controlled garage whenever I want. As for the ramps, I love these I am seeing in the pics here. I generally work on stands but have used blocks a few times also.
The only thing I don't like about stands or blocks is you have to jack up the car to get them under.
I drive up on my ramps without any problems. I store my car on them all winter.
I have about 14" of room under the ramps to do work.
I want top put in pot lights before winter to give me more light under there. I'll use LED bulbs to deal with cold weather and to not burn me if I get too close.
I also want outlets mounted at each end. Once I plug in the ramps to a wall outlet, then I will have lights and receptacles to plug tools in.
The only thing wrong with my ramps is that they are a little heavy...when I don't want to park on them, I have to stack them up beside the car to get them out of the way. The only thing better would be a 4 post lift to me.
They are pretty heavy. I made them longer than what Benny's plans called for so I could get a truck I have up on them as well. I think his plans only call for 9 or 10' maybe, so they wouldn't be has heavy. Plus on the inside I did some over-engineering. I stack them either on the side of the shop or in our attached garage. I have a couple of 4 wheelers I use to move them back and forth. Rockler makes some workbench casters that attach to the sides and lock up or down so I intend to get those to replace the 4 wheelers, but have had other projects going on. I have stored the car on them all winter with no problems. Ken's idea of the lights and outlets is a good one. If you look at the pics in Benny's write up, he shows how some other guys have done that. I was too lazy! I think I had 2-300 bucks in these and at the time that was easier to manage than cash for a lift. i have been pretty happy with them.
This is the only other one I have. It's kinda crappy. I just had the car on it last week and could have taken a couple more if I had known. The ramp parts are 8' IIRC and pretty sure I used 2x12s instead of 2x10s like the plans said. I'll measure when I go home for lunch and will post if this is not correct.
Mike, you may find some of these systems to be a bit more versatile and easier to work around. Of course they're probably not as inexpensive as making your own.
Well it's up. Took a video during the first load but no idea how to upload it here.
2x12x12 construction. Vertical bracing every 12"
Need to reinforce the ramps a bit. Smooth out the transition from cement to wood, but other than that, I'm nappy. No creaking or groaning. Made sure the car was off high idle, climbed right up with zero fuss
this winter I'll wire it and light it. Maybe I'll get my son to sticker it up for me. Lol
thanks for everybody's input and suggestions.
Last edited by Dodosmike; 10-17-2017 at 10:36 AM.
Reason: wow, my spelling was awful on the phone keyboard
You couldn't see them in my pic, but I have a set of regular car ramps, not the steel ones, some kind of plastic composite by rhino or somebody that I use for the pickup and higher cars, I slide those under the ramps closer to the bottom end so those wood supports you see closer to the top are the only ones so I didn't have to build anything else.
09-18-2017, 04:02 PM
