shadetree mechanics. repair/service ramps. ever seen anyone drive off other side?

[vash]

i've been on an oil changing tear lately. just helping out others. in order to do this work in my driveway, and get my fatarse under the car, i drive them onto my trusty car ramps.

you know what? i hate them!! my palms get all sweaty, i stall cars with stick-shift transmissions, i get all herky-jerky even with auto tranny cars. my wife's subaru isnt too bad with the "hill holding" feature. but damn..i hate those ramps. i hate pulling a vehicle onto them.

i've fallen short of parking the car perfectly ontop, but i have never driven them off the other end. anyone ever do this? seen it done? the car body gets crushed?

you four post lift guys can kiss..nevermind..

[vash]

mine look like these (but mine are yellow)

[GH85Carrera]

I hate ramps as well. On my smooth garage floor I have to brace the ramps with a two by four against the wall to hold them in place or the ramps will move. I use my floor jack.

[mossguy]

I did this once with a Volkswagen bus. Because of the normal ground clearance it did not cause a problem.

[willtel]

I backed over a set of the plastic ones in my 930.

Steep ass driveway and I was trying to back onto the ramps so I could get under it. Low compression ratio coupled with tall gears and a stiff clutch and I backed right up and over.

I got really lucky and only slightly bent the lip of one side skirts when it came down. I used a neighbors flat driveway after that...

[pete3799]

I've got a pair of those also. Don't use them much but if i do i put a piece of 1/2 plywood under the back of them.....keeps them from sliding. Never launched off the end yet.

[fastfredracing]

I have seen a car wheel ( Front wheel drive) suck the ramp right back under the car. But heck, I have also seen professional techs drive right off the end of big drive on alignment racks . We had one guy crash through a block wall into the lunch room when he overshot a drive on rack.

[krystar]

never driven off the far end...but i've had too much speed going up and moved the whole ramp forward maybe a foot.

using truck rated rhinoramps for my small 2dr coupe

[SeanPizzle]

I have the same ramps. Bonus is my driveway is on a slope which makes it interesting with my manual tranny cars. You have to be very judicious with the throttle and feel the tires drop into the "pockets" on the ramps. I figure if I do over drive them, the worst that can happen is rockers might get scraped and you have to drag the floor jack out to lift the front of the car to extract them.

[Tervuren]

Originally Posted by vash

you four post lift guys can kiss..nevermind..

What about the two post guys?

[LeeH]

I spun one of my Rhino Ramps (plastic) out from under the right front wheel of my last Mazda5. It dinged the side skirt just a bit when it came down, but that's about it. Definitely got my attention.

[KaptKaos]

I drove over ones when I was 18. In the garage no less, so I had no room to get a jack in there.

Had to get some friends to lift the car to the top of its suspension travel to slide the ramp out.

Learned my lesson, and I hope to not repeat that maneuver.

[JAR0023]

I hate those things. My Father-in-law gave me a set one year for my birthday. I gave them back a couple of weeks later for Father's day. I simply don't see the appeal. Not even for oil changes. Been doing my own for decades. Jack and jack stands. Vehicle is up and stable in three to five minutes. -J

My old job used to have me down every dirt road in three or four counties. I'm sure this one is not confined to MS but who knows. The best one I saw was when someone put two stacks of concrete blocks in front of a steep hill and then laid cross ties from the top of the hill out to the blocks so they could stand under the car. [/shudder]

-J

[dad911]

Never use them. Jack & jack stands, or a lift.

[onewhippedpuppy]

Rhino plastic ones here, I'll use them for quickie oil changes but not much else. Having seen a jack stand crumple under load (scary), I like the fact that the car is very well supported and stable. I have a level garage floor and really ease onto them, but they typically scoot forward a little when the car drops into the "pockets".

[HHI944]

Originally Posted by GH85Carrera

I hate ramps as well. On my smooth garage floor I have to brace the ramps with a two by four against the wall to hold them in place or the ramps will move. I use my floor jack.

I have the same problem when working on the jag.........don't really need any extra lift to work on the landy

[lm6y]

If you cut some carpet squares, and put them under the back edge of the ramps, it tends to keep them from sliding.

[ckelly78z]

My wife's VW Cabrio requires them for oil changes. I take my red metal set with the support straps out against the concrete in the barn driveway......they don't slide anywhere and I just slip under the car on a piece of carpet. I do block the rear wheels with 4"x4"s.

[mikester]

Never gone over the edge and never seen it. Always a little worried about it but It's just never happened. I do use them regularly for oil changes and minor maintenance as well. If I were that worried about it though you could always use your floor jack to put the car on top of them instead of driving up on them I guess. I don't like jack stands - too rickety for me. Actually, these days if I have to actually get under the car I would prefer to pay someone to do the work. Working around or just under is okay for me though. I just don't particularly feel getting my body under the car is worth my time.

[pavulon]

front wheel drive+manual trans
Steel ramps+smooth concrete garage floor = FARK ME