Car Ramps - What weight do I need?

[Chief]

Hi,
I'm looking at buying a pair of car ramps for my cars (MM and MX-5) and wondered what weight capacity I should be looking at for the ramps. The ones I've found that come with low profile extensions (required for the MX-5) are 2.5 Tonne which I presume means 1.25 Tonne per ramp and I take it that will give a good safety margin?
Thanks,
Chief.

[ianmack]

Yes you’ll have a good margin there. A saloon weighs 764kg and of course one ramp won’t be receiving the car’s whole weight.

Cars don’t come much lighter. If a ramp couldn’t take a mog there wouldn’t be much it could be used for!

[philthehill]

A consideration - When the MX5 is on the forward top of the ramp does the top of the ramp slope foul the underside of the MX5 body?

If you can find a reasonably priced pair these are the ones to have.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ADJUSTABLE-C ... Sw7NNT0ok2

[Chief]

Thanks for the responses, I thought the 2.5T would be a safe bet but figured I'd check.

While it would be nice to get those cjautos' ones my budget is a maximum of £35 so I doubt I'll find any of those within my budget.

[StillGotMy1stCar]

I had the same problem with low ground clearance, lowered Celica and MR2. I have been given two pairs of old ramps without extensions. The extensions I’ve seen online appear to be from 500 to 630mm long which I don’t think is long enough for some cars. I decided to make my own 750mm long made from 30x30x5mm angle iron with wood insert. The top has a hook to hook under the ramp rung that I’ve welded a little fillet too so the hook meets it at 90 degrees locking the extension in place, can’t lift up, ride up or down and can still be lifted out when the car is on the ramp. The best thing is you don’t need 4WD low range to get up it and you don’t bump over the rungs (unnerves me) with the flat wood surface.
I made the hook bolt on as my other ramps surface is solid plate so I can just drill a hole to attach the extensions to them.
I have added some photos, you will notice I have attached the extension near the top of the ramp, if attached to the lower rung the bumper still touches the ramp when going up.
Regards John

Ramp with extension.jpg (540.28 KiB) Viewed 1838 times

Fillet fitted to ramp.jpg (424.91 KiB) Viewed 1838 times

Hook.jpg (409.27 KiB) Viewed 1838 times

Ramp extension.jpg (498.08 KiB) Viewed 1838 times

[Blaketon]

I have a set of 1950s ramps, bought in Halfords (They are much more sturdy than what you seem to see these days) and I think the first car up them was a Riley RME, which weighed in at 26cwt.

As I am often working alone and don't feel confident enough to drive up ramps, without anyone watching me, I have a set of these https://www.cjautos.eu/product_p/cr01.htm. I don't suppose you could get into too much trouble driving on to them but I tend to use a trolley jack and push the ramps under the car. There is a mechanical lock. The hydraulic ramps are prone to weep a bit after use, which is perhaps a concern but they have never failed in the 3 years I have had them.

My father has a set of these http://www.hamercarlift.com/ and it's a very nice piece of kit. As we don't have anything wider than an MGB or Minor, my father's ramp is a little narrower than standard. The Hamer lift can be disassembled but if you have the space to leave it in one piece, that's better. The hydraulic ramps take no more room than a normal pair.

[biomed32uk]

I have a pair of the CJ Autos height adjustable ramps, they are really good and very easy to drive up onto. They are the manual adjusting type so out with the ratchet to adjust them, but it's a fairly quick process, depending how high you want to go of course.

Had a bad experience with ramps and MK2 Cavalier years ago!.

[ianmack]

We must never be cavalier about such things!

(I’m sorry, I’ll get my coat.)

[philthehill]

If you are working under or even around the car make sure that someone knows and get them to check up on you every so often.
If you get injured or trapped and no one is aware of what you are doing or where you are you may be there for hours or even days.

[Blaketon]

I have a pair of the CJ Autos height adjustable ramps, they are really good and very easy to drive up onto. They are the manual adjusting type so out with the ratchet to adjust them, but it's a fairly quick process, depending how high you want to go of course.

Do they adjust from flat; in other words can they lift the car? If so, that's simpler than my sort. Do they have a fail safe lock system?

[philthehill]

https://www.cjautos.eu/product_p/cr02.htm

[biomed32uk]

They are not flat, without measuring them I reckon they are about 6" at their lowest to drive onto them.

They are wide, sturdy and very easy to drive onto, with a definite point when you are on them so you know when to stop.

They would have to be going some to collapse, but it is all on a screw thread. I put a lump of bar through them at a sensible point, so if something did let go it's not going to come right down.

[philthehill]

One of the pictures in the cjautos link above has axle stands under the car to add more security just in case.