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Truck Service Auto Ramps

I have a cheap set I used on my old 83 Shortbed Scottsdale and didn't feel real confident with them. I only use them for small tractors now. I think you get what you pay for and, like jackstands, I want overkill for supporting something I'm going to be counting on while underneath.
 
Find some: Blitz Rhino Ramps.
12,000 lbs capable. Very stable, large stops, rubber block on bottom to help traction. I bought mine like 10 years ago or more. Best ever ramp set. Everything from little bitty honda to my hummer (just had to try one time- I can fit 5 gallon bucket under hummer without ramps).
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https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000AMMN9O/?tag=jhdiesel-20
 

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BoostN said:
Changed my oil tonight, and I got to thinking, ramps would be so much easier.. I've found some on Amazon, but a lot of review of them breaking. That's not ideal... then, I see Harbor Freights set for $35..

https://www.harborfreight.com/Magnum-16000-Auto-Ramp-Set-with-Built-In-Safety-Chock-67722.html

Suggestions or?
Click to expand...
I've got an old set of those. They work fine for cars and lighter vehicles, but not for trucks. I used them one time with a 98 1500 z71, and backed it right off of them. Did not feel safe at all.
 
I have a similar plastic set can't remember where I got them. Probably Walmart or Northern Tool. Mine are more like Will's they don't nest. I like the idea of Harbor Freight's that come apart for tire stands (still going to need to jack it up). The ramps and jack stands do get in the way sometimes.

My experience your mileage may vary with floor type and vehicles. And they may have changed. Watch out for this.....

Mine had a rubber cleat on the bottom at the front of the ramp I had to take it out. When I would try to pull a Mazda 5 Minivan onto the ramps they would scoot forward instead of the car climbing the ramps. The rubber cleat was too tall and too far from leading lip plus I have an epoxy coating on my garage floor. It did something weird like a seesaw on the cleat and then skidded the cleat. W/O the rubber cleat it works fine. But I am always a little nervous. Mine even though they are not expensive ones seem ok sturdy, not too heavy, and stand up to store semi-compact. Note the Amazon ones look like the cleat is closer to the lip. Using the ramps with my truck the rubber cleat was never a problem.

Just a little friendly FYI ramps 101 I had to learn the hard way with the scooting forward thing. Also, once I pulled the ramps rearward instead of car upwards and shot them under the car with front-wheel drive trying to ease up on them with light brakes trying to ease it. :bag: I was surprised how quickly they went under the car. I think proper technique is to hit them with a little momentum and either open the door or look out window to watch ramps pulling onto them (probably a good idea with any portable ramps). I pull the vehicle to where I want to use them put the ramps against the wheels then back up and drive up on them slowly in one steady motion not too fast to hit brakes and bump/skid ramps forward.
 
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Good info @schiker . I've seen that happen before myself.

The Blitz ones on Amazon have good reviews, but still has a handful of "these broke with pictures" reviews as well. That scares me. I would like to get a big enough set to use on my next 2500 if possible.
 
You do have to read and interpret the fine print at Harbor Freight. They seem to exaggerate limits and capacities and leave little to no safety margin. The 16,000 is GVW but not axle weight (very ambiguous). Mine seem decently tough the nesting feature I imagine does reduce stability I am only guessing if non nesting ones broke it was due to uneven or soft ground and torqued the ramps weirdly maybe with sideways thrust. I'd be leery of using ramps on anything other than a nice flat hard surface. And anytime something is lifted really torquing on a wrench and/or pushing on it can put some big teetering forces. Always aggressively "test teeter" stuff before going underneath.
 
I looked into those newer versions- nope.
As for harbor freight- nope.

I didn’t just buy the set back when I did randomly- I found the best set I could at the time. I bet I looked at 20 before buying. The moment there is any sign of structural damage, I will destroy them beyond use so they cant fail someone else from dumpster diving.

There are some tools to save money on and some to pay top dollar for. Jackstands, ramps- these are not something like a socket that if fails could bust a knuckle or destroy hardware or components.

If they fail you could become paralyzed, or die. Don’t try to save money here. Don’t put your wife or kids in the situation where they are the ones to come find your dead body or have you screaming “Help
Me!!!” and them panicking as you die or are mangled and ruin their lives always blaming themselves because they couldn’t save you.

Make a proper choice when buying crucial tools.
 
I remember my Dad telling about working under a car with only a bumper jack. (Poor as a church mouse) It was winter and he was all bundled up for the cold, told Mom to come check on him in a bit in case it fell over. He was under there and sure enough the jack fell over. He managed to slow it down a little bit but ended up trapped. Mom totally forgot about him too. He wasn't hurt but was pinned underneath. After realizing Mom wasn't coming he decided to try and get out, discovered if he took a deep breath he could raise the car a bit. He'd put his hands kinda in the push-up position let the air out and scooch out about 1/2". Took him about 1/2 hour to get out. Mom got chewed on about that . LOL
 
Guy I went to school with one grade ahead of me. He was working on a sports car when a jack stand tipped over in his garage. They found him sitting in a chair dead, no real visible injury but he had been hit on his head. Can never be too safe.
 
@ak diesel driver Yeah, your Dad is not a small guy. Guessing it wasn’t
A 1970’s land yacht. Glad he wasn’t hurt.

When we were teenagers and someone was under a honda or ford pinto we would lean on fenders on purpose knowing they would be safe from real injury, but never if it was on stands or ramps.

When I was 12 or 13 me and a friend 1 year younger bought an old vw bug that we were turning into a dune buggy in my backyard. I went in to make sandwiches and returned to see steve trapped: head under the engine, one tire on his stomach, tires having slipped off stacked 2x4s. I did the adrenaline thing and lifted the back bumper over my head while he rolled out. I remember it happening but didn’t think about not being able to lift it. Next door neighbor heard him yelling and jumped the fence as I lifted it. All of our parents said they had seen things like it before, and steve’s mom bieng Police dispatch had heard numerous accounts, so they weren’t shocked by it. Kinda freaks me out still remembering it. Since then steve and I have been let’s say- overly cautious. He had mild concussion and 2 broke ribs from just a vw bug.
 
Me and my wife were at the Ware Shoals drag strip in South Carolina 2 years ago walking through the pits and heard someone barely saying “come help me” near us. After a few minutes of looking we finally found him. he had used a jack on the front and two jack stands on the back. The jack gave way and pinned him from the waist up under the car. His legs hanging out is how we were able to find him. My wife ran for help and I talked to him while we waited to get enough people to pick the front of the car off of him. After getting him out he said that he thought he was probably there for 20 minutes or so before we came walking by.

That’s the day that I got rid of all my crappy jacks and jack stands and started spending the extra $ for the good ones.
 
@NVW sorry to hear that. Delayed injuries are crappy.
Poor guy probably thought now that he is out he is ok. Modern medicine can do amazing things, but only if we get over our “I am a man and I don’t need a dr.” Took me 40 years and lost friends to start seeing that.

A 20 year old guy I worked with when I was 16 at kentucky clucky chicken slipped on wet floor and smacked his noggin. Found dead next afternoon in his bed. Remember the nursery rhyme- “its raining, it’s pouring, old man is snoring. Went to bed, bumped his head, couldn’t wake up in the morning.” Yup.

We recently had safety meeting about electrical shock. Always go get checked out. Walk into ER and say possible heart attack from electrical shock, you will not be in a waiting room. If your company has the automatic defibrillator- hook it up. (I want to buy one for my house) People get shocked with 110v, and are fine for a day before heart attack like 13% of the deaths. The simple hook up and check is fast and will save your life.

One local electrician got a zap and felt bad, so 3 days later went in and his heart was misfiring the whole time! They defibbed him and he was fine in a couple hours.

Ok, safety sam is done and going to watch YouTube so I can go fix the rear right window in the wifes escalade that the stupid GM cable regulator system fell apart on so she can close the window. It fell all the way down in the door. Glad it was after the 2 days of straight rain- haha. Hope the gmt800 is easier than gmt400. I hate interior stuff. $5 says I break the door panel somehow.

@Jaryd glad you learned from others! Also sounds like he was ok, so good. Racecars are lighter so that helps.
 
I didn't say I was going to spent $40 a call it a day. You guys are preaching to me here..

No luck so far.. walmart had a 12K set today that was $40 as well. Seems to be all priced like that. Not sure what the next step up in quality is.
 
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