has anyone cut down (Height wise) the gray Rhino Ramps to make them clear the front end of your C5? Like most of you I have to raise my Vette up a few inches to get the jack under it.

Let me know your results before I cut mine.

Thanks

 

i am able to get mine on rhino ramps with the stock ride height without cutting them. although it will bend the side air dam peices if you dont remove them first. they bend right back though so it doesnt really hurt anything.

 

I have 2 12"x12"x2" pavers that I set in front of my ramps and can drive up with out issue. No need to cut up the ramps.

 

Low profile jack and jack stands! Ramps,,,no need for them!

 

I would not cut your ramps. You don't want to risk damaging the engineering behind them for holding weight. You certainly don't want to be under them when/if something happens.... Its not worth your life.

Get the proper ramps (Race Ramps) with extenders. Its nice having ramps that work properly for my extremely low car. They weigh maybe 1lb each and you can just hang them on a hanger on the wall out of the way.

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c5-g...-shipping.html

Toque

 

2-piece, 2-stage incline Race Ramps with integrated XTenders are also available in 8" high or 10" high models. The attached photo shows (from left to right) the RLL-72-2 (8" high), RLL-87-2 (10" high), and the standard RR-XT-2 (10" high) ramps. The actual weight of the ramps is closer to 15 to 20 pounds per ramp. But since they are 2-piece, no section by itself is very heavy.

 

Gave my Rhino ramps away and purchased a set of Race Ramps. WOW....What a product.

 

They feel a LOT lighter than that to me....

Toque

 

I made some extensions out of plywood this weekend. They work great with the Rhino Ramps. No rubbing and it is easier to park on top of the ramp. It was a free fix since I had some plywood scraps laying around.

 

Ok I do have one question and Iam sure it is why the original poster added this thread to begin with. Cost $ he is trying to save money!

Rhino Ramps can be bought at any store for just about for $20-$35. Rhino ramps are general, for everybody use, and have a medium to low incline. They are made of a high strength plastic. So why are Race Ramps like $200-$300 yet made of a similar or exact same type of material and do the same exact thing? I am thinking one reason only...just like gas....supply and demand. Race ramps offer a lower then normal incline ramp for sports cars so they know you have $$$$. I dunno, I just could never stomach that kind of mark up for a set of ramps. It is just plastic poured into a mold, I don't see anything fancy going on here. I'll stick with my Rhino's and a piece of wood just like a lot of you do. For those of you who have the extra money to buy a set of Race Ramps...totally your choice and is why the company is in business.

OP: don't go cutting...that will hurt the integrity of the ramp as people have mentioned. Add a piece of wood at the beginning of your ramp.

 

Race Ramps are made of a completely different material than Rhino ramps.

Toque

 

Well unless they are made out of titanium or a precious metal...my comment remains

 

The old 80:20 rule applies here.

Plastic superstore ramps are molded and produced offshore in huge volumes and sold through big box stores and auto superstores. They are shipped in bulk with very little packaging and are typically not delivered directly to your home for $35. They work fine for 80% of the cars on the road. Manufacturers of the these high volume ramps choose to ignore the smaller less profitable market for low profile ramps.

Race Ramps are hand made in the USA. Sophisticated CNC cutting tools are used to cut the ramps to shape (they are not molded). The ramps are individually boxed and since they are typically shipped via FedEx directly to consumers, higher home delivery rates apply. Worse yet, dimensional shipping rates apply too. This means that a 30 pound set of ramps may ship as 80 pounds or more with dimensional weight rates. Race Ramps are generally not sold in local auto stores. If they were, most people would not be able to transport the large boxes home, especially in the car that they intend to drive on the ramps.

There is little to no comparison between plastic superstore ramps and Race Ramps. The plastic ramps are 6.5" high and designed for 9" to 10" wide tires depending upon the model. Despite the low height they have a relatively steep 17 degree incline. Your heart will race as you step on the gas to get up the ramps and immediately apply the brakes to keep from driving over the edge. At least mine does. A quick Google search will find a lot of poor reviews from users struggling with the ramps sliding around their garage floor.

The shape of Race Ramps are similar to the high volume plastic ramps. They have an incline section and a platform section. But that's where the similarity ends. Race Ramps service ramps are 8" to 10" high. High enough to get under the car for more complex maintenance, repairs, and modifications. They are 12" to 14" wide and can easily accommodate 12" wide tires. The gentle slope of the ramps makes it very easy for your car to climb the ramps. Since the ramps are solid core EPS foam the entire bottom surface is in contact with the ground and the ramps don't slide forward when the car starts to climb them.

Race Ramps service ramps are only part of the tool set. The product line includes Roll-Ups, Wheel Cribs, Trailer Ramps and other specialty ramps.

As to windfall profit margins... It just isn't so. The first 10% of MSRP goes to matching Amazon prices. The next 10% to 20% goes to free shipping. Another 3% goes to credit card fees. The gross margins on the Race Ramps products after these deductions is well under 10%. The first 10 to 12 ramps sales every month barely cover the CF sponsorship fee. I am not complaining, I am just trying to explain the math.

Almost forgot the post title. "There's no substitute for the right tool." Especially when it comes to safety. I doubt if you will find anyone in tech support at the plastic ramp manufacturer who endorses using 12" wide tires on a ramp intended for 9" or 10" tires. Also, modifications of any kind including the use of wooden extensions most surely is outside the best practice guidelines of the manufacturer. I will concede that the plastic ramps are the right tool for some cars. Just not the ones typically driven by CF forum members.

 

Thanks for the educational part of it. I did research the matter too just to see what they were in fact made of..."space age foam with a polymer protector" seems to be it. I agree with what you said as far as regular ramps being the right tool and that the "race ramps" be more suited for just that...high end sports race cars with widths exceeding 10". I still believe they could be a lot cheaper though. Taking into consideration all the math going on and being that they are handmade here in the states that does pretty much some it up since we are owned by the Chinese now and is why all our US prices seem to be off the charts.

Thanks for the input.

 

thats why im going to make some out of wood. will probably even be cheaper than rhino ramps, and fully custom to my application. You could buy a table saw, and make 10 sets of wooden ramps for the price of race ramps. I live in michigan in motor city. hows that for american made?

 

This will work and you won't have to worry about affecting the strength integrity of the ramps.

 

If you do a search, you will find the dimensions already calculated. Enjoy the savings and the diy experience.

 

Real nice!

 

I use the Rhino ramps for my C5 and for my '70 Camaro and they work great.

 

I believe Rhino ramps are foam injection molded which produces a very cost-effective part. The tooling can be expensive but can be paid off quickly if sales volume is sufficient.

I priced similar but lower profile versions that were based upon my own design, a while back. Each ramp would've cost me about $30 and the tooling was somewhere in the vicinity of $10,000. The per-piece cost is directly related to the quantity ordered so I can understand why Rhino ramps traditionally sold for $30 a pair.\

And by the way, I recall reading that the manufacturer of Rhino ramps tested them by driving a dump truck on them and then letting the truck sit for a weekend. I can assure you that the ramps were supporting well over 12,000 lbs, despite being made of a foam-injected plastic. That's impressive!