I was fed up of working either with the car up on 2 axle stands or the silly little metal ramps I have. What use is a 20cm raise? I had a look around for some decent access ramps and found the perfect solution, unfortunately they cost oround £1,000. I decided I could make some cheaper than that.
I sketched a basic design that would give me about 50CM rise so I could work underneath but still reach the top of the engine. I then went to B&Q for cheap CLS timber (£2.08 a length).
The design was basically a ramp long enough to get both sets of wheels on it and then to be able to raise it to level. This also had to fit into my garage. The length was set at 3m mainly because it fitted and that was the longest length of timber I could get. The plan for each ramp was to have 2 continuous pieces of wood as the ramp surface and then a stack of wood underneath to form the ramp bit. There would be a flat bit at the front so when the back of the ramp was jacked up it would have something to sit on. This should make sense later.
The basic cutting of wood to length was easy enough but made a lot easier by this.
This meant I now had a pile of wood that just needed fixing together.
I built the ramp upside down so the surface of the ramp was on the floor and the underneath bit was built on top. I also decided that the ramp surface would be made of 2 pieces of wood with a narrow gap between them. This was because the 3m lengths of wood were £6.50 each and also I picked up the wrong number . Also, it was a cheap solution to making the ramp a bit wider. The ramp surface is 25cm wide and the ramp support is 30cm wide. The various bits of wood were used to get the spacing consistent. I used the pieces that would form lower parts of the ramp to make sure the key supports were in the right place.
First one completed quite quickly but used loads of screws. 2 screws at each joint meant over 200 screws to put both ramps together. On the subject of screws, make sure you alternate the way you put the screws in on each layer or this could happen when one screw hits the head of the one below it.
I would really recommend Spax screws. I had no problems at all until I ran out and had to use another brand. Suddenly my drill driver kept jumping out of the heads, the screws didn't bite properly or go in straight etc. I know this split was caused by screwing too far but was it just coincidence that this was the first of the non-spax screws?
When I turned the ramp over it looked quite good and I was pleased with it. I moved it into position and marvelled at the extra height it gave me and the space underneath. I then banged my head on the door opener and realised I had to make adjustments.
Originally the ramp was made up of 7 lengths of wood with 6 sets of cross struts. 3m, 2.5m, 2m, 1.5m, 1m and .5m lengths meant a nice shallow ramp to drive up with a 50cm flat bit to stand on when I levelled up the ramp. A quick bit of bodgery later.
The 1m and 0.5m lengths were replaced with a single 0.6m length and a little block to stop the ramp see-sawing onto the flat end where the weight is.
All of this meant the car now fitted on the ramp and didn't hit the yellow box that was the garage door opener.
I now have loads of space under the car to work
I am sure there are engineers on here who are laughing / crying into their coffee but it works and cost less than £90
Stuff I would change / improve.
Get the height right first time.
Put some grippy material on the ramp surface as wheel spinning up the ramp is fun.
Buy the right number of Spax screws.
Devise something cleverer than a stack of bricks to hold the back of the ramp level.
Home Made Ramp
Linear Mode
