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47 Posts
Hello Fellow Accordians :wave:
I was in market for new ramps since i decided to take the charge to do relatively easier maintenance tasks such as oil changes and ATF at home. After looking at the budget ramps available at Walmart, Autozone, Harbor Freight etc i decided to build wooden car ramps myself.
I searched on google for design ideas and was overwhelmed by so many existing types however most of them complained about being too heavy, approximately 50 lb each :0
Wood in general is quite heavy and creating a lightweight ramp definitely required exploring multiple arrangements. The engineer inside me woke up and i immediately started drawing up different options in AutoCAD to come up with an economical solution :nerd
I evaluated the following options in different configurations:
1. 2" x 10" stacked to create step structure
2. 2" x 12" stacked to create step structure
3. 2" x 6" inclined ramp at 13 degrees
4. 2" x 6" stacked in both longitudinal & lateral directions
5. 2" x 4" inclined ramp at 13 degrees
6. 2" x 4" stacked in both longitudinal & lateral directions
After rigorous material quantity analysis along with cost (Yes, i made an excel spreadsheet :tongue
, i settled down on the 2" x 6" inclined ramp at 13 degree for the following reasons:
1. Most cost economical ~ $20.34 (lumber + Screws)
2. Light weight ~ 25 lb. each
3. Maximum height ~ 7.5 inch off the ground
The default clearance from the tire to mud guard at front is about 8 inches in length and 5 inches in height so 13 degree angle was good enough to work. However, this might need tweaking if your car is lowered.
Once the drawing was finished, i had to make sure that i will be able to get that 13 degree cut otherwise this whole mission would be in jeopardy. I have a colleague who is known in my company for his exceptional woodworking skills. I showed him the design and asked for his feedback regarding that 13 degree angle cut. He said that it was a piece of cake if you had the proper tools. Living in an apartment without garage doesn't provide me the liberty to buy a lot of tools so i was discouraged. I was even more disappointed when i learnt that none of the lumber yard or big home improvement store would cut the lumber at my desired angle or as they call it "precision cut" :rant:. I was about to give up on this idea but then i decided to ask my colleague for help. He readily agreed to help me out and i was back in the business again :grin
Started searching for a local lumber yard in Houston for the best prices & service and went there to get the required items for my project. It was unbelievably fast service and i really enjoyed my first visit to Grogan Building Supply (in and out under 20 minutes :dude. I asked them to cut the 2" x 6" x 12 footer to cut in 2 pieces so i could carry it in my car. They did it without raising any eyebrows or charging me a dime.
However i made a mistake of getting the 8 footer cut in 2 pieces of 49" + 47" assuming that i will get 7 pieces of 7" bracing to fit in perfectly but boy i was wrong. After 6 pieces, the last bracing fell short of 0.5 inch so please be careful about that and get it 51" + 45" instead.
After getting the wood in my car, i drove to my colleague's house and was amazed by the amount of tools he had in his garage. Let's just say that he doesn't rather he can't park his car inside his garage because it's like a wood workshop with every possible tool. He makes his own furniture so that explains everything.
He did that inclined cut and i was happily on my way to do the assembly on my living room's coffee table from IKEA. I put together everything on the table according to my drawing and then had the clamps in place to hold that arrangement so that i could mark the places i wanted to drill holes at.
I tried putting screws with and without pre-drill and realized that it was much easier to have the pre-drill hole in place. After 2 hours, everything looked as i had drawn up and i was very happy to see a product that i envisioned.
I went outside to test it immediately and was so happy to see that it worked perfectly. Left the car on ramps for 30 mins to see if it will do something to it or not. The ramps pass the test with flying colors and here i am sharing my joy with you all :grin
Summary:
2" x 6" x 12' x 2 No. cut into 6' sections.
2" x 6" x 8' x 1 No. cut into 51" + 45" sections.
2.5" screws x 1 lb. box
5 sheet ply ~ 10" x 19" x 2 No. from a 2' x 4' section
Total Cost ~ $20.34 excluding the plywood.
Total Weight of both ramps ~ 50 lb.
Total Height ~ 7.5 inch
Clearance from ground to bottom of oil pan ~ 16"
I am going to add a stopper piece on each ramp along a handle to lift it up. Hope this help someone looking to build wooden car ramps :smile
Cheers :salue:
Disclaimer: The ramp design is not approved by OSHA, ASTM, ASCE, ASME or any other institution/organization. Please use it on your own risk.
I was in market for new ramps since i decided to take the charge to do relatively easier maintenance tasks such as oil changes and ATF at home. After looking at the budget ramps available at Walmart, Autozone, Harbor Freight etc i decided to build wooden car ramps myself.
I searched on google for design ideas and was overwhelmed by so many existing types however most of them complained about being too heavy, approximately 50 lb each :0
Wood in general is quite heavy and creating a lightweight ramp definitely required exploring multiple arrangements. The engineer inside me woke up and i immediately started drawing up different options in AutoCAD to come up with an economical solution :nerd
I evaluated the following options in different configurations:
1. 2" x 10" stacked to create step structure
2. 2" x 12" stacked to create step structure
3. 2" x 6" inclined ramp at 13 degrees
4. 2" x 6" stacked in both longitudinal & lateral directions
5. 2" x 4" inclined ramp at 13 degrees
6. 2" x 4" stacked in both longitudinal & lateral directions
After rigorous material quantity analysis along with cost (Yes, i made an excel spreadsheet :tongue
, i settled down on the 2" x 6" inclined ramp at 13 degree for the following reasons:1. Most cost economical ~ $20.34 (lumber + Screws)
2. Light weight ~ 25 lb. each
3. Maximum height ~ 7.5 inch off the ground
The default clearance from the tire to mud guard at front is about 8 inches in length and 5 inches in height so 13 degree angle was good enough to work. However, this might need tweaking if your car is lowered.
Once the drawing was finished, i had to make sure that i will be able to get that 13 degree cut otherwise this whole mission would be in jeopardy. I have a colleague who is known in my company for his exceptional woodworking skills. I showed him the design and asked for his feedback regarding that 13 degree angle cut. He said that it was a piece of cake if you had the proper tools. Living in an apartment without garage doesn't provide me the liberty to buy a lot of tools so i was discouraged. I was even more disappointed when i learnt that none of the lumber yard or big home improvement store would cut the lumber at my desired angle or as they call it "precision cut" :rant:. I was about to give up on this idea but then i decided to ask my colleague for help. He readily agreed to help me out and i was back in the business again :grin
Started searching for a local lumber yard in Houston for the best prices & service and went there to get the required items for my project. It was unbelievably fast service and i really enjoyed my first visit to Grogan Building Supply (in and out under 20 minutes :dude
. I asked them to cut the 2" x 6" x 12 footer to cut in 2 pieces so i could carry it in my car. They did it without raising any eyebrows or charging me a dime. However i made a mistake of getting the 8 footer cut in 2 pieces of 49" + 47" assuming that i will get 7 pieces of 7" bracing to fit in perfectly but boy i was wrong. After 6 pieces, the last bracing fell short of 0.5 inch so please be careful about that and get it 51" + 45" instead.
After getting the wood in my car, i drove to my colleague's house and was amazed by the amount of tools he had in his garage. Let's just say that he doesn't rather he can't park his car inside his garage because it's like a wood workshop with every possible tool. He makes his own furniture so that explains everything.
He did that inclined cut and i was happily on my way to do the assembly on my living room's coffee table from IKEA. I put together everything on the table according to my drawing and then had the clamps in place to hold that arrangement so that i could mark the places i wanted to drill holes at.
I tried putting screws with and without pre-drill and realized that it was much easier to have the pre-drill hole in place. After 2 hours, everything looked as i had drawn up and i was very happy to see a product that i envisioned.
I went outside to test it immediately and was so happy to see that it worked perfectly. Left the car on ramps for 30 mins to see if it will do something to it or not. The ramps pass the test with flying colors and here i am sharing my joy with you all :grin
Summary:
2" x 6" x 12' x 2 No. cut into 6' sections.
2" x 6" x 8' x 1 No. cut into 51" + 45" sections.
2.5" screws x 1 lb. box
5 sheet ply ~ 10" x 19" x 2 No. from a 2' x 4' section
Total Cost ~ $20.34 excluding the plywood.
Total Weight of both ramps ~ 50 lb.
Total Height ~ 7.5 inch
Clearance from ground to bottom of oil pan ~ 16"
I am going to add a stopper piece on each ramp along a handle to lift it up. Hope this help someone looking to build wooden car ramps :smile
Cheers :salue:
Disclaimer: The ramp design is not approved by OSHA, ASTM, ASCE, ASME or any other institution/organization. Please use it on your own risk.
