Hey Guys,
I am interested in building my own wooden ramps for my 2015 Z06/Z07 with Stage 3 aero.
I've looked at the old threads on this subject in this forum (some 10 years old), and cannot find concrete information.
Not really interested in buying Race Ramps, nor QuickJacks, nor twin floor jacks.
I've seen the Mike Mercury "lowered C5" version at https://tim-yvonne.com/mikemercury/lowered.htm, but I see no confirmation they would work on my car. The "email" link at that site no longer works, so I can't email MM (aka Tim) to ask him.
As far as I can tell from the Race Ramp website measuring technique, my approach angle needs to be less than 9 degrees. The low spot on my car is not the front wickerbill/splitter, but rather a rubber air dam about 19" in front of the leading edge of the front tire contact patch, sitting only 3" above the pavement.
I see that Mike Mercury DIY "lowered C5" version starts at 7.5 degrees, then kicks up to 12 degrees. Can anyone confirm these would work on my car? Or do you know of other ramp designs that would work?
Thanks!!

 

I have 68" ramps for my lift that are 9 degrees and I also have a 2015 Z07 with stage 3 and I'm pretty sure it's got that air dam as well
works fine for me

 

Wow, our cars are almost twins, but you in Daytona Orange and me in Torch Red.

If my math skills serve me well, a 68" ramp at 9 degrees raises you about 10 3/4 inches?

Did you make them yourself? Would you be willing to share plans?

 

I'd share plans if I had them. I made an extension for them myself. They started out as 48 inch ramps that came with my
Wildfire Exotic lift, and I needed more only because my driveway slopes down coming right out of the garage.
So I made 18" extensions that were just 3/16 aluminum bent to make that wedge ramp shape just like any formed ramp.
And I bolted them to the main section.

must be less then 9 degrees then because it doesn't raise up 10 inches. But my driveway thing makes it wonky.
Like as in the first section of ramp is steeper, but shorter, and then transitions into the main set.

 

Don't worry about the rubber air dam in front of the front wheels. It is an easily replaceable wear-out item that is very flexible and designed to bend when impacted. The front splitter isn't a wear-out item and costs an arm and a leg so focus on protecting it. I measured the forward-most part of the front splitter on my Z07 when determining how long my trailer ramps had to be and found it to be 5 5/8 inches off the ground. To get the car up to the trailer bed (18 inches off the ground), I use a 10 ft ramp, and the splitter just clears it. If I remember correctly, the ramp provides an 8-degree angle.



Bill

 

I've been resisting posting this, as some here may describe it as "too-redneck" for a Corvette, but it has worked for me, and it may help other members.

In late 1978, I drove a brand-new Z28 Camaro off the showroom floor, and soon after got an old set of ramps, that raised the tire 9" off the ground. The '79 model had the first bolt-on chin spoiler, which wouldn't clear the ramps, so I made some 'extensions' for the car, using 2" x 8" lumber:
I have modified & replaced them for subsequent toys over the years, including an '82 Corvette, '03 Corvette, and now my '16 ZO6.



As currently configured, the front of each piece is cut at a 45* angle (typical), and each additional piece is offset rearward 3 3/4". The bottom piece is 31.0" long (tip-to-back), and, working upward, they are 22.50", 18.00", 15.75", then finally 13.25" in length. My ZO6 clears without scrapping anything, as observed my the neighbor who came and watched the test.

I would caution anybody who wants to replicte this extension that, if the inclined angle of your ramps are shallower or steeper, your lengths & offsets will vary, but the general idea can easily be modified with a little "redneck" engineering!

 

So you made your own 18" ramp extensions to allow your car to rise to the level of your lift, right?

I see Race Ramps also sells Xtenders, which decrease the ramp angle of a Race Ramp if it is too steep for your car. For example, their standard 72" ramp has an approach of 6.8 degrees. But if you bought mistakenly bought their 56" or 65" ramps and found it is too steep for your car, you can buy Xtenders. The addition of Xtenders decreases that approach of 10.8 down to 6.8 degrees, and effectively increases either ramp length by another 24". That is the kind of thing I am trying to get away from. That makes the ramp total length up to 89", and where am I going to store all that?? Since I want to build this out of wood, I need to build it right the first time, since adjustments in length and angle will likely mean I have to throw the whole thing out and start over.

 

An 8 degree angle should be fine for me, since I measure about 9 degrees from the front of my tire to my rubber air dam.

I am curious how you get 5 5/8" clearance at the air dam, and an identical clearance at the nose tip? Mine is only 3" off the ground at the air dam, and it barely clears two stacked 2x4s. My front splitter is higher about 5.5" off the ground, so close to your measurement. What do you think??

 

Now this is an interesting idea, to incorporate 2x12s and a commercially available ramp. Genius. If "redneck" means using your brains instead of your wallet, then I am right there with you. :-)

If high school trig serves me well, the angle of that metal ramp is about 21.8 degrees (arctan 1.5/3.75). Way too steep for our cars. And with a constant rear offset of 3.75 inches, the run between each 2x12 step is about 12.25", 8.25", 6.0", and 6.25". Do I have these right? Should the top two runs be equal?

I am calculating an angle of about 7 degrees, 10.3 degrees, 14.4 degrees, and 13.5 degrees for each step. Race ramps uses 6.8 degrees for the initial run, then 10.8 further down. Your angles compare favorably.

Thoughts?

 

Although I have a bit of a 'crude' background in drafting & engineering ( for 34 years, I laid-out & hand-filed sheet-metal tracing templates from blueprints, hence my screen name ), I didn't calculate anything while making these. I simply placed one mitre'd 2 x 8 atop the previous piece, making sure nothing rubbed or scraped. Minutes ago, I used a simple angle finder, and the metal ramps look to be 22*, + / - good-enough for the girl I brung.

What you are calling 'runs' ( mitre'd tip to mitre'd tip of next plank ) checks-out very close to the dimensions you say, 12.25", 8.25", 6.00", and 6.25", but the last two are probably closer to 6.062" / 6.187" each, with acceptable variances between the Left & Right extensions. I only granulated hih skule

 

I'll snap a pic of mine this weekend and attach it
The only reason I needed the extension was because of how my driveway slopes down immediately out of the garage for water reasons. That totally messed up all the angles of the provided ramps.
But the 48" ramps were specifically made for low exotics, hence the Exotic lift I got that is extra wide, wider runways and ramps and longer ramps to suit cars like this.

 

Well, you got one up on me. I was voted tallest 8th grader, three years in a row.

This might just do the trick. I wonder, if you've got a standard Z06 and mine is a Z06/Z07 with Stage 3 aero, are our ground clearances the same, or is mine lower? My spitter is 5.5" off the ground, and the rubber air dam further back (19" in front of the tire patch) is a tick over 3" off the ground. How about yours??

 

I got this '16 in mid-March of this year, it's my first C7, and I am 'assuming' it is stock ride height, with some modifications to the engine & exhaust. I just checked my splitter, it measures 5.00" from the concrete, and I see no verticle or angled rubber air dam behind that. The plastic horizontal 'belly pan', that extends reward to beyond the radiator, drops to a height of 4.00" from the concrete.

From a previous White vinyl fance & gate project from years ago, I stacked 2 pieces of vinyl rectangular channel, each 1.75" thick, for a total of 3.5" thick, directly under the center line of the car, with room to spare. When I tried to slide a round piece of PVC tubing, with an O.D. of .75" on top of that, for a total height of 4.25", it rubbed.

I'd think you'd be best served by mitre-cutting a pair of 2 x 8 planks, pull the car a good 8" to 10" onto them, place another pair of 2 x 8 cut at 45* against the tire, pull it forward onto the 2nd level, get out of the car, check things, and if it's good, back the car off of the wood, screw the 2nd level down, then move onto the next level, and repeat.

Once your wooden extension gets the car high enough to move onto your steel ramps, move the steel ramps from in-line with the extension, to along-side it, and trace the angle of the raised side-rail of the ramp, onto the backside of extension. This will tell your where you can cut the back-side of each level off at 90*, so that the back / bottom edge of each level is resting against the angle of the ramp itself. Unscrew the entire extension, cut the backside of each level perpendicular to the ground, then reassemble.

That;'s how I did it, without a care about what angle it is, CLEARANCE is the answer, in my book.

I was voted 2nd Best Looking Guy in my senior class . . . . of-course, everybody else tied for First Place, so . . . .

 

There is no way to science this out beforehand. So just figure it out as you go. I like your empirical approach.

 

So here's what I got. It only lifts 4 inches to get to the lift level. But I made the extension because of how much the asphalt drops from the concrete when it sticks out.
The front add on flexes down when the tire hits it because it's just bolted to the main section
Also, my Z07 seems identical to yours. It measures 5.5 at the front splitter, 3" at that air dam in front of the tire

 

rtv900,
That is a crazy approach you've had to deal with! No wonder you have had to splice together two ramps. I doubt I can learn much from your system, since my situation is the same car but a very different driveway. Fortunately for me, my approach is pretty level, with driveway and garage floor at the same level.

Is that your other hot rod? Reminds me of my buddy's 48 Chevy 3100 street rod.

 

yep
1950 chevy 3600 lowered
big block 402, tremec 5 speed and ford 9" rear

 

rtv900,

Nice!

My buddy has a fuel injected Olds 455, 200R4, Ford 9", and a Mustang II front end. You got to love old Chevy trucks that are hot rods!

 

Glensgages,

Thanks for the wonderful tip. I bought a set of metal ramps from Lowe's and made this wooden set using 2x10s but down on my buddy's radial arm saw. He even made me a pin that locks the wood ramps to the metal ones. I have a solid half in clearance under that air dam



all the way up, and 9,25" total rise when the car is on the metal ramps. Works like a champ!

 

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