- Thread starter J.F
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Wallace
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- Staines, Middlesex, England.
Very neat design, especially the flat packing and tabs, well thought out. I have a long shallow set my Father made from 1" x 1" x ⅛" angle with alloy chequer plate on top, I would use them more often for oil changes but they are still not shallow enough for some modern cars. I would echo what Pete says about the tipping point at the tyre stop as I have seen someone drive up on a set and tip them forward.
Thanks. The laser cutting cost £150 including the materials, the parts took up most of a sheet of steel which would have cost £80 from the local steel supplier. But the laser cutter supplied the steel which saved having to sort out collecting and delivering it. So the approx. price of the actual cutting was £70, which I don't think is a bad price as if you did it with a hand held plasma cutter you would still have to buy the materials and would never have that level of accuracy. On 3mm the laser is accurate to 0.1mm the accuracy gets worse the thicker the material.
Unlike the cheep ramps you can buy (blue ones in the photo) they don't seem to slide when you drive on them, they are quite heavy with a lot of area on the ground and the angle is quite shallow 15 degrees. But the rubber strip might be a good idea if the concrete is wet.
Unlike the cheep ramps you can buy (blue ones in the photo) they don't seem to slide when you drive on them, they are quite heavy with a lot of area on the ground and the angle is quite shallow 15 degrees. But the rubber strip might be a good idea if the concrete is wet.
gordon stephenson
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- Skelton in Cleveland U.K.
Pete. I understood what you meant regarding the front stops, But making them taller to contact the tyre sooner has exactly the same effect as moving a smaller stop rearward.( i.e. Therefore keeping the wheel more centred on the stands)
P.S. I saw a pair in Halfrauds recently, the short and steep angle iron ones and they were over £40-00,
P.S. I saw a pair in Halfrauds recently, the short and steep angle iron ones and they were over £40-00,
darren.a.roberts
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Great project - I like the way you designed the slots and tabs so that they self jig ready for the welding. Cracking work....
jinjahbiscuit
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Brilliant, as said before, another "to do"
!!
!!
octo0072000
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If you have steep ramps you can get ramp extenders
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Cougar-Ra...070?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item27ccd02ec6
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Cougar-Ra...070?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item27ccd02ec6
Why laser cut, well just a project really. Although cost wise it was more expensive, I don't think there was a huge difference as I used less mig gas, less wire/ cutting disks and electric. Also having an item cut with the cross braces built in means less welds and less chances of distortion. Also both ramps have turned out exactly the same to a 10th mm of each other.
Top work, I can certainly see the appeal of emailing someone some drawings and then collecting some fully cut pieces and knowing they will 100% identical. I can hear it now, I made those 25 years a go 
. These things aren't just about money, everytime you use them it will put a smile on your face. I wonder how much they could get the pieces down too if you ordered a few?
I does seem these days that far less people understand the "Just for fun" or "Wanted to see if it was possible" mentality, a friend of mine built a 3 wheeled Series 2 Land Rover years a go using bits from a Morris Marina and Robin Reliant. People at the shows just wouldn't accept he just did it for the challenge so he started giving out comedy responses....
"Not seen one like that before".............."Oh there's load about MEB have got a few of them"
"Why did you build that?".............."Built for a local potato farmer, 3 wheels meant rode better in the furrows"
. These things aren't just about money, everytime you use them it will put a smile on your face. I wonder how much they could get the pieces down too if you ordered a few?I does seem these days that far less people understand the "Just for fun" or "Wanted to see if it was possible" mentality, a friend of mine built a 3 wheeled Series 2 Land Rover years a go using bits from a Morris Marina and Robin Reliant. People at the shows just wouldn't accept he just did it for the challenge so he started giving out comedy responses....
"Not seen one like that before".............."Oh there's load about MEB have got a few of them"
"Why did you build that?".............."Built for a local potato farmer, 3 wheels meant rode better in the furrows"
Laird Scooby
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- Next Door to Top Gun, Suffolk, UK
Very clever piece of engineering, so simple it's genius! I suppose the ultimate "next stage development" would be to make them collapsible so they could be stored flat-pack then unfolded into a great pair of ramps.
Have to admit it's given me even more food for thought as i'm currently designing a set of ramps, ideally to be able to get all 4 wheels off the ground. Every time i think i have the final design i spot a flaw and go back to square one. Then the idea gets shelved for months! Your ramps have now given me the inspiration to get my backside in gear and get on with it - thanks!
Have to admit it's given me even more food for thought as i'm currently designing a set of ramps, ideally to be able to get all 4 wheels off the ground. Every time i think i have the final design i spot a flaw and go back to square one. Then the idea gets shelved for months! Your ramps have now given me the inspiration to get my backside in gear and get on with it - thanks!
Wallace
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I get that when I use the ramps my old man made, not quite as cool looking as these though.
paulmitchell1984
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Great design, im toying with something similar but to be able to withstand 2t of landrover, plus id like to make 2 sets and platforms between the 2, still in early days of thinking yet thoguh but this hasgiven me a few more ideas 
Kent
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Well that tight tolerance will make a big difference then
. Just seemed a bit overkill but I get the "coz I can and coz I want to aspect" There is so much we can buy as imports for less than we can make them ourselves for in materials and consumables its good some still get on with it and make the mundane everyday stuff a little better even if it works out more, fair play to you
Laird Scooby
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- Next Door to Top Gun, Suffolk, UK
Great design, im toying with something similar but to be able to withstand 2t of landrover, plus id like to make 2 sets and platforms between the 2, still in early days of thinking yet thoguh but this hasgiven me a few more ideas
When you say platforms between the ramps, do you mean across the car or along? If it's any help on your thought process, my idea is for a pair of long ramps (about 10'/3m) that are upside-down when compared to the conventional ramps you can buy. This means i would drive up the "underside" then jack the low end and fit some kind of support strut to make the entire ramp level. As far as jacking it to remove wheels once it's on the ramp, i had planned a similar jacking platform to what the thread OP has done. Hope that gives you some more food for thought?
paulmitchell1984
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yeah I mean along, so to drive along. if I had the room for storage then id do similar to the car forecourt rams where you drive up and they self level.
