The Mother of all Wood Ramps.

[George7941]

The ramps on the bed of my truck

The ramps being used on a Freightliner truck

A view of the joints on the ramps

Them ramps while they were being built in my backyard

They are built out of 2x12s. The bottom piece is six feet long. Being five planks thick, they lift the truck up 7.5in. I plan on adding one more piece at the bottom, to give a total lift of nine inches.

For me it was either build the wood ramps or get a pair of OTC truck ramps
http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200358556_200358556


I put a joint in the middle for 1) Ease of storage and handling 2)After the truck is up, the rear section can be removed to give access from the side of the truck.

With each step being a foot long, it is really easy to drive up on to the ramp since you can feel each step and I just count to five and then stop. There is no tendency at all for the ramps to slide. No need for rubber or carpet at the bottom of the ramps.

The Freightliner weighs 7 tons at the front axle and I felt perfectly safe under the truck. There doen't seem to be any undue stress on the wood.

 

[eljefino]

 

[hate2work]

Awesome job, love the side handles for carrying

 

[Mr Nice]

Nice job. I've seen varoius photos of ramps being made with wood and all seemed to be well made and very safe.

 

[d00df00d]

Nice work!

 

[Burt]

Quick! Patent this and start selling it. You could have a sustainable business. Not sure that you can compete on price with plastic ramps for vehicles, but you can on quality.

 

[d00df00d]

Originally Posted By: Burt
Not sure that you can compete on price with plastic ramps for vehicles, but you can on quality.

And portability.

Considering that ramps are something you pretty much buy only once, I think it'd be easy to make the case.

 

[bustednutz]

Well I know what my next project is gonna be! I love those. I'm still using a pair of beat down steel ramps from the mid 80's And my newer post 80's vehicles love to scrape their front lower lips on them. I'm all over that! awesome!

 

[cjcride]

Ramp Champ!

 

[HM12460]

I have a set of 4 that I made quite a few years ago when I drove F-bodies. They were necessary then, and still useful for servicing the Ranger.

 

[Samilcar]

I made similar ramps, although shorter and one board level lower. My local lumber yard has a cut rate scrap pile, so I was able to get almost all of the 2x12 pieces for around 50 cents each. My two bottom boards are 4 feet long, so I had to buy a regularly priced 8 foot board for that.

 

[George7941]

With the truck lifted up 7 1/2 inches, I can sit under the truck and change seals, u-joints etc. There is a big difference between sitting down and lying flat on your back on a creeper. It is tough to keep oil, dirt, coolant etc. off you when you are lying down.

 

[JHZR2]

Really nice. My issue was the 45 degree angle that the "ramp" section has was a bit too difficult to climb... But all my saws only go to 45. Any suggestions on how to get a bit more gradual angle when cutting 2x12s??? I wasn't going to be able to do it on my compound mitre saw I don't think... And doing it by hand was too tough for four sets. Which is my intent...

 

[cjcride]

Originally Posted By: JHZR2
Really nice. My issue was the 45 degree angle that the "ramp" section has was a bit too difficult to climb... But all my saws only go to 45. Any suggestions on how to get a bit more gradual angle when cutting 2x12s??? I wasn't going to be able to do it on my compound mitre saw I don't think... And doing it by hand was too tough for four sets. Which is my intent...
Had same problem. Bought a Power Plane and beveled a gentler grade. Plane has come in handy for other jobs too.

 

[George7941]

I smoothed out the 45 deg cut edges with a coarse sanding disk on an angle grinder.
With the ramp being long, once you verify that your wheels are straight and aligned with the ramps, you don't have to crawl up the ramp, you can pick up a little speed and go thump, thump, thump and stop after the fifth thump. The top platform is extra long at two feet in length and it gives you time to stop.

 

[Papa Bear]

George, you make me proud to be a Canadian.

 

[Shannow]

That's really nice, and you can't get much safer than wood.

Was going to do a set this year until I priced lengths of treated pine, and bought a set of plastic.

 

[tonycarguy]

Douglas fir has a compression strength of 400-500 psi. A vehicle's tires extert 30-40 psi. With a 12x safety factor, solid wood ramps are very safe.

Are the planks glued on top of each other or did you use fasteners?

 

[tonycarguy]

Originally Posted By: Shannow
That's really nice, and you can't get much safer than wood.

Was going to do a set this year until I priced lengths of treated pine, and bought a set of plastic.


A less expensive alternative is to buy 2x4's and build a solid cube out of them. Then use a floor jack to raise the car and place the pedestals under the tires. It'd cost $20 per pair of cubes; cheaper than ramps and more solid!

 

[odie]

Very handsome ramps . I made a pair of 2 tier ramps out of leftover pieces of 2x6s' and 2x4s' and a few pieces of 2x2 for stoppers . Stapled some white rubber foam drawer liner ( http://i01.i.aliimg.com/photo/v0/220431245/drawer_liner.jpg ) on the bottom angled slope so tires don't spin on the smooth surface of the wood . Can also use this or cut up pieces of worn rubber vacuum cleaner belts ( http://hoover.com/parts/details/40201318/2-pk-hoover-style-18-belt/ ) on bottom of ramps so they don't slide / move when driving up onto the ramps . When driving onto ramps I put the car into 1st gear ( auto or manual ) . Could use a reciprocating saw for less of angle for vehicle to climb . Thanks for the pictures and how to .