my father in law made me a set of ramps for Christmas one year. He used pressure treated 2x10's, started out cutting the bottom ones about 3-1/2' long or so, and kept stacking them up and making them progressively shorter, the top piece is about a foot or so. At the very top, there is a 2x6 and a 2x4 on top of each other to act as a "stop" of sorts. Screw some heavy duty eye bolts in the flat front, add some heavy duty rope for handles and you are set. he has used a similar set for years and has never had any problems... oh yea, hes used them with anything from my wifes old pontiac sunfire to his '03 Pete. One thing... they are heavy as all get out, so be warned. You can adjust the height by just adding layers to them, lenghen them to be able to drive lower profile front ends up on them... all that good stuff... plus they will probaly outlast anything you can buy at the autoparts store.

As far as sliding, ive never had a problem on my garage floor, maybe because they are so heavy, but a friend of his screwed part of a recap tire to the bottom for "grippyness"... kind of like you would see on the front bumper of a push truck at the saturday night dirt track races.

oh, and as far as putting all 4 up on ramps... not that tough, just have all 4 at the same distance from the leading edge of the tire, and drive right up

 

I've done that. And you're right. They are heavy as hell! But they won't fail and sometimes they are good for something else like scaffolding or holding a plank to work over the edge of a high fender. (it's a short guy thing, you see )

 

I've used those kind of ramps to level my fifth wheel Trailer. I made them out of 2"x10"x8'. Cut the first one at 36", second at 28", third at 20" and fourth at 12". Put a rope handle on the side for easy pickup. The only problem I had was leaving them at a camp site. LOL. I did not use pressure teated wood. Regular wood is okay as long as you don't store them in the weather.

 

Both have a good use. I use ramps for minor things like changeing oil and such, but if doing allot of work or work close to the tire and whell area I always use jack stands. Thats mainly because they allow easier movement. Ramps seem to stick out in the way and are hard to manuver around.

 

My F150 collapsed my Extra Heavy Duty ramps when I cocked the steering wheel to change the oil filter. They apparently had little side load capability. I straightened out the supports by hand (and foot), but have not used them since. I now use 6 ton jack stands, and 3 ton for back up's. I keep trying to talk myself into doing a good old fashioned grease pit next to my garage (if I can work out the drainage).

 

I think he meant that he supplemented the ramps witha concrete block under the ramp. I don't think that would do a lick of good, because in the instance of a ctastrophic ramp failure the resultant load already in motion would crush the block probably on impact. However, I don't think he was using them alone. I use six yon jackstands. If the truck goes all the way up I use three on each axle.

 

When you work on class 8 trucks all you use are jackstands. Most of these trucks start at 12,000 pounds. Jack stands are great if used properly. I would think most jack stand accidents happened because people did not test the vehicle before getting under it. Or they ignore the warning to use them in pairs.

I have seen the folded metal ones collapse and I have a set I hardly ever use because of it. I like the idea about using the solid wood ones though, probably a lot cheaper than the solid aluminum ones.

 

Concrete blocks can and do fail even without a sudden impact load. Never use concrete blocks in any manner to support a vehicle.

With real trucks you don't NEED jackstands or ramps to change the oil

 

I've known two people that have had cars fall on them. One lived, the other didn't

You can never bee too carefull. When I use a jack, jack stands or a block of wood (yes, we have a 12x12) are under there too. Most times, if I'm working on bearings or brakes, the jack, tire, and wood are under there. Of course the jack is let down to have everything else support the car too.

On ramps:

Don't buy cheap ones. We've had a set of metal, two piece ramps for 20 years that are great. I got a set of stamped metal ones at a garage sale for $20 a while back. These have the vertical support in the middle. I've seen the stamped ones that just have a support at each end . Not me under that thing !!!!! The plastic ones seem ok for low profile cars but, they flex a little much for my taste.

 

Well, after reading everyone's advice, I think that I'm just going to make a pair of ramps out of a 2X12 as desdribed by sonic.

 

If you get quality plastic ones, they are better than metal ones IMHO
Mine have honeycombs all across it and are made of like 1/4 plastic for each comb/wall etc