Garage car ramp

[RossDagley]

I've had several questions via PM etc about my ramp so thought I'd make a quick thread with the (few -sorry!) photos I took as it was delivered/unboxed etc so you can see if you can also organise one yourself if you're in the market for one

So - I have this:
http://www.automotechservices.co.uk/pro ... ssor-lift/

Came in at about £1650 delivered.

It's jolly heavy at about 650kgs when delivered as everything is on one pallet.

First up, the prep. I knew it was going to be a mare to get in the garage as I have a gravel driveway. Luckily it slopes downhill a little towards the garage, but there's a lip and an uphill bit to get actually IN the garage:

I laid down some loft boards all down the driveway. My delivery driver only had a manual pallet truck so I didn't need it to be wide, but it did need to be strong. With the loft boards interlinked, actually by some miracle they all stayed together as we wheeled it in. You can see in the photo I also bolted a winch to the ground at the far end of my garage in case we needed to actually winch it in up the last slope bit into the garage itself. It turns out I didn't need this but I was a boy scout so always came prepared

So now I'm left with this in the middle of the floor:


Once it's in, the next job is unpacking. Again, knowing it was going to be a ball ache to move around once in, I bought some of these:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00FIE3S34

These are rated to 150kgs each, so I figured once I'd got the pump box off the pallet, I'd put the ramp on these so I could move it about real easy. That went exactly to plan and you could spin/move the whole lot (actually with the pump still on so overweight) really easily - one handed I had to use a jack to jack up the whole delivery and get one under each corner:


You'll need a few tools, but not much to be honest:


Rather irritatingly, in order for it to be shipped it comes with wood bolted to the bottom of the ramp legs. You need to raise the ramp to unbolt these bits of wood, so you'll need to have got unpacked and connected before putting the ramp in it's final home:


Once it's all sorted though, I positioned it where I wanted, and again used the trolley jack to raise it enough to remove the dollies I'd used, and put it down in it's final home:




Once in place, I used M12 expanding anchor bolts to stop it moving. The ramp doesn't need to be bolted crazy strong to the floor like a 2 poster as it can be completely self supporting - the bolts are just to stop it moving around/getting nudged as you drive on/off.

First test was of course with the car I use for transporting the dogs, not the audi!:


Then I realised it would be nice to have some better lighting under the ramp, so went about installing some 12V LED's under the ramp. I installed the AC/DC converter in the main control unit (not that you can see it here, but I have - promise!). I did this so I'm only running 12v to the ramp, not 240v and converting it down on the ramp. Don't much fancy a short for some reason on the ramp of 240v...


Then I added the lights:


And used a little connector from B&Q so I could quick disconnect the lights (in the same way the hydraulic lines come apart for transport or whatever):


Once in, it really makes doing anything a doddle. It's not full height, but 90% of everything you want to do doesn't require a full height ramp. I use it mostly for cleaning or brakes etc:




Final thing to remember is you'll need compressed air to lower the ramp. It works by using air to lift the safety releases. Any standard compressor should do it. I'm fortunate enough to have a fully plumbed in compressor system in my garage so just added another spur for the ramp, with a small regulator on it:


The only other point of note is if you've got it on the floor like I have (as opposed to being sunk into the floor), some cars will need to be raised before the ramp can be used (depending on ground clearance). The ramp is 110mm high from the floor. The 206 drove over and I used the (100mm or so thick) rubber blocks that come with the ramp under the jacking points. On my RS4, I don't use any blocks, just thin strips of wood (10mm or so) under the jacking points. My friends S3 we have to drive onto bits of wood otherwise the ramp is too high. Ideally you'd sink this into the floor so it's flush and then any car no matter how low would drive on no issues

That's all folks

Any questions, please ask and I'll be happy to help!

[daytonamart]

Great write up Ross, Thanks for taking the time. It looks a lot of effort but worth it in the long run.

[dhali]

Thanks for the write up . Answered many questions I was going to ask you

[lma07]

Wow. Ramp envy!! That's a fab write up.

[RossDagley]

Cheers. I aim to please.

[Azmontana]

My question is with the cross bar between the ramps does that make it more difficult to work under the car?

[RossDagley]

My question is with the cross bar between the ramps does that make it more difficult to work under the car?

Probably if you wanted to drop the gearbox and needed to get a transmission Jack under it or something, yeah. In reality I've not had to do anything yet on any car where it's been in the way.

And automotech do offer a spot ramp system- it's more expensive and isn't "mobile" - has to be bolted down full time. And it of course needs careful alignment.

For me, this was ideal. But check their catalogue and see if something else takes your fancy. I think for 99% of jobs this is all you need.

Spacer fitting / removal all round in under 15 minutes. Brake pad changes in 30 minutes all round - taking is easy. Even cleaning the wheels - on the ramp, clean the barrels, turn wheel, clean. Lovely.

[weekenny]

great idea with the lights, I have the bolted down version might add some lights.

You can get different thickness rubber blocks on eBay, I got ones just under half the thickness of the standard ones. They work ideal with my wife's S3 sportback. I've only had to use extra planks to drive on for my dads Porsche.