Best ramps for a 911 SC?

[darshie76]

Hi folks

I am planning to buy ramps for my garage, so i can avoid to stress my poor engine mounts with the jack and use the stands....i feel kinda like going to war everytime that i gotta lift my poor baby (not knowing if my kids will see me again, after being crushed)...wife approved the ramps but not the lift so.....

Basically i have heard about race ramps Xt; they are very expensive compared to the ones that you can find at sears or at autozone or kragen, so since i am totally ignorant about ramps, i hope that someone can give me good advices.

I assume that the more you pay the better it is (hence more safe...i will use stands also if i have it on the ramp, just to be safer); but the prices are so different that i wonder how can you put your car on a 40 dollars stand and expect the same from a 300 dollars one.....either the first are death traps or the second are ultra overpriced And also what kind of measurement should i get....going backward on a ramp is different from going face forward like all front engine cars; so there are for sure some different measuements to take in consideration.

BTW what i have to do on the car is just regular maintainance....change oil, filters, clean the bottom now and then, tranny fluid, fix some cv boot and in general nothing more than this; so this means that the car will be on the ramp for no more than 2-3 hours for a couple of weekend days, every 5-6 months.

Thanks in advance! Hopefully someone uses ramps....searched trough the forum and was surprised to not see a single post related to ramps(found some for lifts...but the lift is denied by wife :P)

[aigel]

I know of no ramps you can drive on with an SC. The car sits too low for this. Your chassis will hit the top of the ramp before the wheel will climb the bottom of the ramp. Unless you find ramps with a very low slope (these would have to be 6 foot long), this isn't a good idea.

Get a good jack, put a jack adapter aka "lollipop" into the stock jack locations and a good set of jack stands under the torsion bar ends in the rear.

Cheers,

George

[mercman]

I bought a pair at autozone, they worked fine with no rubbing of the front spoiler when the back end was up. My car had euro ride height as well.

[NewfieMZ3]

I use a combination of Rhino ramps, floor jack and jack stands. It is only a six inch rise on the Rhino ramps but it allows you to get under the car better with the floor jack. I know of nothing that you can totally drive all four wheels onto other than the Race Ramps..........and as you say , they are very pricey.

[Mountainman]

I have ramps but don't use them anymore ; what I do now is jack up the car and put either 6" x 6" or 8" x 8" two foot long wood blocks under the tires depending on how high off the ground I need the car. Usually the work is done on the engine end and I prefer the 8" blocks. VERY safe. If the tires are in the way I use jack stands and take the tires off, but the wood blocks make me very comfortable when my head is under the engine or trans.

[OldTee]

Get one of these.

[Kidasters]

Originally Posted by OldTee

Get one of these.

Good old "scissors of death".

if you are worried about rubbing, get some low profile ramps:

Low Profile Ramps with Extension Kit - Jacks & Stands - In Your Garage - Griot's Garage

Two Piece Vehicle Ramps, Set of 2 - Jacks & Stands - In Your Garage - Griot's Garage

[billybek]

Originally Posted by Kidasters

Good old "scissors of death".

if you are worried about rubbing, get some low profile ramps:

Low Profile Ramps with Extension Kit - Jacks & Stands - In Your Garage - Griot's Garage

Two Piece Vehicle Ramps, Set of 2 - Jacks & Stands - In Your Garage - Griot's Garage

First I time I have read a negative comment about scissor lifts.
Do you have any links to problems with this style of lift? I have been considering purchasing one.

On topic, I had to back my car up a pair of ramps that a friend of mine owns, they were too steep to get up from the front. After i lifted and blocked the front wheels to level.

[Rich Lambert]

Rather spending hundreds of dollars on ramps, why not try building your own for about $50 (put the savings in the lift fund)? I built these so my car would clear the lift, but they'd work independent of a lift too. You could make them a little taller & wider, maybe 2x12's on a 2x6 frame. That would get the bottom of the tires about 7" off the floor.

Link to a thread from another forum about the ones I made.

Rainy weekend ramp project - The Garage Journal Board

[Kidasters]

Are you serious about never hearing negative comments about scissor lifts?

The big concern - if there isn't a way to mechanically "lock" them open, you could lose hydraulic pressure (and then blood pressure if you are under the car).

[OldTee]

Interesting. I have this a lot of thought before I bought mine. Incidentally, it has a positive lock.

My rational was simple. I was prep ing a 911SC for painting using floor jacks and good stands. Sometimes I was changing the position two or three times a day. I said to my self "old self, one of these days you are going to be tired and the damn car is gonna come down on you, how much is a broken leg worth?" Then I went looking and the $1300 I paid for my lift was cheap insurance. Some brands are lower than that now.

There is something for everybody as the guy said "I wished I had married the rich girl rather than the pretty one with big OO "

[billybek]

Originally Posted by Kidasters

Are you serious about never hearing negative comments about scissor lifts?

The big concern - if there isn't a way to mechanically "lock" them open, you could lose hydraulic pressure (and then blood pressure if you are under the car).

Everyone that I have researched has a positive ratcheting lock that you can lower the lift onto.
I guess there may be some that don't.

[JJ 911SC]

Originally Posted by Kidasters

Are you serious about never hearing negative comments about scissor lifts?

The big concern - if there isn't a way to mechanically "lock" them open, you could lose hydraulic pressure (and then blood pressure if you are under the car).

Not sure which brand but on mine the normal operation is to release the hydraulic pressure on the lock...



Best buy after the car. At $80 labor charges, it pays for itself in no time.

More photo at Hemi Roadrunner Scissor Lift

[Bill Verburg]

I've never seen one w/o a positive mechanical lock but I suppose there may be some.

The mechanical locks can be at awkward heights, on mine the lowest mechanical lock is higher than I usually prefer, so i put dunnage under the arms at the height I want to work at.

Race ramps are great for those that have very low cars w/ deep spoilers. There really not needed by most 911s

[Gordo2]

I've had a set of Blitz Rhino ramps for quite a few years - think I bought them at Wal Mart. For a $40 or so set of ramps they are very durable/sturdy - I used to put my '87 Land Cruiser up on them without the slightest concern regarding integrity.

I can drive my '83 SC up on them - forward or reverse. The clearance between the ramp and the front valence is tight. I doubt that I could drive the car up on them if I had a chin spoiler.

I don't use them that frequently for the Porsche - I used to back the car on them for oil changes, but I've given up on changing the oil at home (I have access to a shop with a drive on lift and raised oil drain funnel/drum). They still come in handy once in while though.

I still use them for oil changes on my other vehicles. For the price they are hard to beat and nice to have around.

Good luck,

Gordo

[trojwl]

KwikLift drive on lifts, 2 & 4 post lifts, home, commercial, car, truck, forklift maintenance lifts

/

[darshie76]

Thanks for your replies guys.

What cause me concern is that i see a lot of replies related to lifts...i cannot afford a lift otherwise i would get one; nor i have space in the garage; so if anyone can give me some advices about simple ramps and some brands suggestions, I would really appreciate (i am planning not more than 200 dollars for the ramps, and i can just get a pair, so at least i can work on the back changing oil and tranny fluid; i do not necessarly need something that lift all 4 wheels.)

I just gotta slide under the car and do the job and get out, possibly in the same conditions of when i went under the car

Should i just buy the 40 dollars rhino ramps? a Land rover weights much more than the 911, and seems that they were able to hold on it

I would build ramps by myself if just i would have time....i prefer to pay some money to have them done professionally and quick, and also i have a name to blame and bring to court if something goes wrong....this won't happen with hand made ramps

[billybek]

I was considering the Rhino ramps. I am still hoping for a lift!
It seems to me that they would be fine if you were only concerned with lifting one end at a time and don't mind working on a car that isn't level. Like I mentioned before it is possible to back onto the ramps and jack the front end to level fairly easily.
Good luck with your search!

[euro911sc]

I have ramps. I also have a set of 16" long 1x12 with a 45 deg. bevel. On the bottom of those I have 3/8 ply that covers the bottom of the 1x12 and extends out about a foot. These go up at the end of the ramp and I then have no rubbing issues. I think my ramps were like $29.99 at Advance auto or something like that.

Cut a whole bunch of the 16" 1x12s and you can use them under the rear stands when you are pulling the engine and then you can use the rest to put the engine on before you seperate the trans from the engine. Useful

-Michael

[DanielDudley]

I have a Jack and Jack Stands. Picks the whole back of the car up in 30 seconds.