Beware of Sears automotive ramps

[Fatboymoe]

I thought I would inform members of this board about what happened when using Sears "heavy duty" automotive ramps. I purchased these ramps about a year ago from the local Sears store and have used them about 6 times. The only cars I have used them on was my BMW 325i and a friend of mine's VW Jetta.
When I tried to use them yesterday for an oil change on my BMW, one of the ramps collapsed! These "heavy duty" ramps are rated at 2700lbs per ramp and my BMW does not come close to exceeding that limit. Thank God it happened when I was putting them on and was not under the car working on it.
I took the ramps back to Sears and got nowhere. They don't sell them anymore and the store manager told me there was nothing He could do. I called the telephone # on the ramps and it is no longer in service.
These are Sears Heavy Duty Steel Automotive Ramps. Model number 9-51169. They are orange-yellow in color. If you have these, please check them out carfully. Make sure the welds are still intact and that nothing is bent. If a BMW and a VW can destroy these, I would hate to see what a full size SUV or a Pick-up could do.
I am going to contact consumer groups to see if this has happened to others. If you have these, PLEASE BE CAREFUL !

 

[kc8adu]

www.cpsc.gov

 

[dkcase]

Have pictures ?

 

[Fatboymoe]

kc8adu,
Contacted them today and filed a report. It takes about 2 weeks for the report to be forwarded to me for review. I will then send pictures and a certified weight of the front axle of my BMW. It will take me a week or so to get the pictures to post.

 

[obbop]

Sears has insurance to cover lawsuits. Speaking of "suits," the greedsters at the top of the corporate pyramid care about their HUGE salaries and bonuses (bonusi??). Your well-being is surely of little or no concern to them.

 

[Tosh]

Yep, you're just a pawn in their risk management game.
Also, contact Consumer's Union (Consumer Reports magazine). They may already know about this.

 

[1sttruck]

2700 lbs per ramp isn't much of a safety margin, at least not for me if want to crawl under the car. Rhino Ramps are 8k or 12k lbs, but even then I'd be placing stacks of 4x12 block at the jack points.

 

[JohnBrowning]

I can vouch for Rihno Glass Reinforced Nylon ramps. I do not remember how many tons they are rated for but I have never had a problem with mine. I only use them on cars becasue all of our trucks are 4x4 and have plenty of ground clearance.

 

[simple_gifts]

quote:

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Originally posted by 1sttruck:
2700 lbs per ramp isn't much of a safety margin, at least not for me if want to crawl under the car.

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I used to work in a shop that built lifting equipment for a shipyard. If the lifting assembly was stamped MAX CAPACITY 500LBS it was load tested for 1000 LBS. I thought this was standard industry practice but after buying jackstands at Wally World, I figured out otherwise. The jackstands were supposed to be 3000lbs rated and I wouldn't have put my lawnmover on them.

 

[White 03]

quote:

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Originally posted by 1sttruck:
2700 lbs per ramp isn't much of a safety margin, at least not for me if want to crawl under the car. Rhino Ramps are 8k or 12k lbs, but even then I'd be placing stacks of 4x12 block at the jack points.

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The way I read the ratings of my 8000 pound Rino Ramps is they are rated for a vechicle of 8000 pounds or 2000 pounds per ramp. My PU weights more than 4000 pounds on the front. I wish I had bought the 12000 pound ones. But they are good ramps.

I have read here that jack stands are rated for each stand.

 

[frankiee]

I thank you for posting and following up on the wrong that the ramps have done. If not for people like you who push justice and saftey, there would be a lot more serious accidents that happen.
I myself never really question the rating on ramps before getting under them. I will now.
As far a I remember, lifting devices such as cranes have to be built to a safty factor 8 rating. If it breaks at 8000 Lbs. then they call if a 1000Lb. capability.
Maybe sears has it backwards and has derated them. (If it breaks at 1000Lbs they call it a 8000Lb.
Keep up the good work.

 

[andyd]

uhmn, similar experience a few yrs ago with a set of steel ramps rated for 3k lbs. Same color too, but the ramps were borrowed from BIL, so I'm unsure of their origin. Put the front of a 3100lb 528e on them and the right one folded sidewise. I always thought the safety factor on hooks and shackles etc, was 3 x the posted limit.

 

[got boost?]

same thing here, I had a set of those yellow stamped steel ramps and one collapsed as I was driving on to it. damaged the bumper when it fell and hit the garage door. since then I've always used a floor jack and stands, I won't touch ramps.

 

[T-Keith]

Glad I don't use ramps.

My step-dad used to use solid wood ramps. I had them tip over a couple times, but at least they can't collapse.

I think I'll stick to my jack.

-T

 

[Crashbox]

I had a set of ramps many years ago; hated using them with the manual-trans car I had. I also use stands and a floor jack now in the rare instance I need to raise the vehicle.

Yeah, those ramps kinda made me nervous too.

 

[frankiee]

andyd
I should have said a crane designed for elevating people.
The requirement is safety factor 10

WCB Standard: WPL 3-2004 Safety Factor and Minimum Breaking Strength for Suspended Work Platforms and Associated Components

"Safety Factor" means the theoretical reserve capability of a product, determined by dividing the breaking strength by the rated working load unless otherwise noted.
3. Safety factor
(1) Rigging and suspension lines except for a catenary line used to support work platforms must have a safety factor of at least 10.

What I wanted to say in the post was that if there is a high safety factor for elevating devices where people can get killed by falling, then they should have a safety factor which is very high to prevent people from getting crushed.
Yes hoisting devices where a person is not suppose to get under the load is down to 2.5 or 3.
I personally have never seen a hoisting device fail and have personally taken them beyond their working limit quite a bit.(I know I should'nt, but I was young and a bit more silly)
Now thats at 2.5 or 3 safety factor.

If all these ramps that are breaking and falling were rated even at a 2X safety factor that would be 2700lbs per ramp x 2 = 5400 Lbs for one ramp.
At a 10x safety factor (which is where I think they should have to do it) it would be 27000 Lbs for one ramp. Sounds like a lot of overkill I know.
I am trying to find the safety factor which ramp manufactures have to design to(if any) but have not found any yet.
By the stories I have heard I don't think they have to have a safety factor but I dont know.
I know that if that many ramps go down there is something seriously wrong.

 

[frankiee]

The figures I did in the above post was me supposing that the figure on the ramps was a yeild strength with no safty factor.

 

[1maniac]

quote:

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Your well-being is surely of little or no concern to them.

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Replace "surely" with "DIFINITELY."

 

[deepsquat]

the Raymond forklifts at my work can lift a 4500lbs load 36 feet high and then push it out about 4 feet , without tipping over ...but they only have a built in safety margin of 10% ...so if I really wanted to push it I could lift a 5000lbs load ...but i sure would n't try gouing over by 2.5 to 3 like some of you are talking ...as for the subjuect at had ...nevr have used a ramp in my life ...always have jacked the car up and placed it on stands and then left the jack under the car with just the slightest bit of tension on it ...just in case it all came off the jack stands the as a last resort the jack could catch it ....hopefully

 

[andyd]

my experience with lifting gear came from working around cranes in a ship yard. Only time I ever saw a piece of gear fail was a 7 ton hook that at the last instant slipped into an open deck seam and grabbed. Before we could wave off the operator, the deck buckled and the hook straightened out and let go. It was pretty scary.