jimlab

1. Buy a 12-foot 2x12.
2. Cut it in half with a 45-degree angle. It doesn't have to be exact.
3. Cut a ~2-foot piece off of each of the halves, again with a 45-degree angle.
4. Take the short piece and nail it onto the top of the longer piece with the square ends flush and the far edge of the angled end down.
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There you have it. Two little ramps that you can put in front of the tires by yourself and then drive up on to get enough clearance to get a jack under the front. They won't slide out from in front of the tires because it's a very gradual transition.

user 9348703

Its ideal for tranny fluid, but for the oil hummmmm

FDNewbie

iTrader: (10)

Jim,

I LOVE the illustration Actually, my body shop has this:

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He made it himself, looks like it'll only take a couple hours to make. It's not wide enough though, of course I can just make mine wider. But guess what? We STILL have to have someone (not me lol) hold the blocks w/ their feet so they don't slide backward, even though the edges are cut at at 45 degree angle. Go figure...

jimlab

Jeez, I've never once had to have someone hold the boards for me, even doing all four wheels at once. Go figure...

If you drive up to the board and try to push your way up onto it, you're going to push it ahead of the tire. If you put it a few inches in front of the tire and get a short run at it, you'll pop right up onto the boards. If you wedge the front of it under the tire, you should also be able to get up on it without it moving.

The reason I only recommend a "double-decker" is because it gives you a good couple of feet to be able to stop on before going over the back of the ramp, and if you do go over the back of the ramp, it's low enough that it won't contact your floor pan.

FDNewbie

iTrader: (10)

I dunno what to say, Jim. I guess we're all not as talented as you are

That's actually a real good point. Thanks

jimlab

Apparently not.

FDNewbie

iTrader: (10)

LOL :shaking head: I knew you'd like that haha

Birdman-85RX-7

I made the 3-level one. At the time it was for leveling my pop-up trailer on an uneven campsite. (no, my FB doesn't tow it, my suburban does).

It works well for oil changes and any time you need to drain the coolant. It never slides when driving up on it either.

rfreeman27

iTrader: (5)

I had 2x12's screwed to my garage floor at FD width to get the car over the lift.

diyman25

you can alway push your CAR. that what I alway do for ramp. and put anti slide paper under you ramp they kind da look like a sand paper.

academytim

Kindof back on topic...Herblenny and I use this to change the oil on our 7s. He also has another one dedicated to doing coolant flushes. This is great for someone who doesn't want to hassle with jacking the car up. You just put the hose in...give it some pumps to get the pressure going, and walk away. Come back every few minutes to give it a couple more pumps and you're done. It's kindof nice being able to just pop the hood and change the oil without worrying about jacks/jackstands/dripping oil/etc. I'm sure its not for everybody, but it is really nice.

adam c

iTrader: (2)

Go to any hardware store and buy a couple of rubber mats. Put the ramps on them, and they won't slip.

M104-AMG

iTrader: (8)

Go to a boating supply store, like West Marine, and look the the "Top Sider".

I have one dedicated for oil-changes, and another for anti-freeze and water (like when you need to drain a stopped up sink or toilet).

They are about $39 or $49 and hold the same amount and can be transported much easier than Griot's to your nearest recycler.

:-) neil

R. Gambino

Am I understanding that people are changing oil while the car is on a jack or ramps? With the drain plug not at the rear of the pan, how much extra undrained oil is being left in the pan? Considering that you can't get at up to 1.5 quarts (R1/R2), thats more unchanged oil being left unchanged for no reason.
These oil extractors are most likely getting more oil out with one quarter of the effort. I promise you these puppies work!

Rhode_Dog

You mean like grip tape (the stuff that goes on the part of a skateboard you stand on?)

widebody2

FDnewbie I've gone through the same crap as you with the stock jack then the regular jack. I also used to use the ramps with those extensions...boy was that scary. Like you said the tires were wider than the damn ramp. I stopped using the ramps when I finally drove off one with my altima...if that had been my FD it would have been hundreds of dollars worth of damage. This gizmo seems like a worth while investment. It won't work for all cars though since with many cars you can only take the oil filter off from underneath, so you'd need to jack the car up anyway.

iluvmy3rdgen

Yeah most hardware stores sell it by the foot. Fairly cheap also. The rubber mat idea is good. I would cut squares of rubber and either bolt, rivet, nail it to whatever your using it on, makes it easier to take out/ put back.

Kento

Boy, you guys having problems with the ramps must have little patience. Yes, my tires are larger than the ramp (275s), but as long as they're fairly centered, no drama. The ones I have are the same basic type you see at auto parts stores-- they're stamped steel, and have two plastic removeable lips to help the tire roll up the ramp by easing the angle of attack. I use mine on the smooth concrete floor of my garage, and have no problem with driving onto them, as long as I do it smoothly and slowly; yes, if you try to do it too quickly, they will slide, but take it easy and it's no drama (I'd like to see someone stop one that is sliding with just their foot or somehow "hold it"...). I also don't need to have someone guide me up the ramps; I basically sight it first, then drive up onto the ramps to determine where the tire is "landing"-- if I need to make any adjustments, I just roll back, adjust, and drive up again to check. It never takes me more than two tries. It's called "taking your time to do things carefully"....

I've used a small level on the bottom of the oil pan to determine how high the rear needs to be to get a decent drain.

Sgtblue

iTrader: (16)

For the record, I run the front end up on stands, then use a floor jack and stands at the rear to level the car out. I'm guessing that most do it that way.
Still, I'm liking the idea of this pump.

FDNewbie

iTrader: (10)

Tim...how are you and Phil gonna hide this from me ALL THIS TIME?! lol. Where'd you guys get yours from? And how much? (Any other neat gadgets you got that you aren't telling me about? lol)

Well the Camry's oil filter is top and center (such a beautiful easily accessible spot...I wish they were all like that!). The Maxima is in a funky spot... you gotta somehow construe your hand behind the fender lining to get to it, since it's between the lining and the tire. Funky. Most of these things were DEFINITELY designed to be removed from underneath (ie w/ the car on a lift). And I remember my old Honda...oh wow that was fun. The filter was ABOVE the axle or frame of the car (I forget which...it was a while back) Bottom line, you had to reach up through all this stuff, and I could BARELY reach it. That was a riot. Freakin PISSED me off. And of course, due to the position you were in, there was NO WAY to slide out in time w/o getting oil all over you since your hands were caught all up in between various bars of the car frame. Rediculous. The FB tho takes the cake. Oil filter mounted right on top of the oil cooler. A 2-year old could get to it. Simply wonderful. Too bad the oil cooler is leaking like a ****...

Kento, widebody2 said it for me. I'm NOT about to guess whether I'm lined up or not, or whether the car is far enough forward on the ramps w/o being able to see... EVERY SINGLE shop I've seen in my LIFE has someone to direct the driver (who's also employed at the shop) as to how far forward or back to go, and to move right or left, and that's for aligning the car for a LIFT - so there's MUCH more room for error.

Can you do it? Sure. Do I wanna risk it? HELL no...no thanks...not me.

CantGoStraight

Since this thread has been hijacked by ramps over original subject......I'll go ahead and add my $.02. First off the oil you guys are so worried about getting to (left in the pan around the drain) is such a small amount compared to all the oil left in the oil cooler and lines. You "NEVER" get all the old oil out of the system, so wether you use the pump or the gravity method you'll only get most of what's in the pan any way. Jack

Kento

Heh...there's not a whole lot of GUESSING involved. You roll the car PARTIALLY up the ramp (by that, I mean six INCHES or SO), STOP and CHECK to SEE where the TIRE is POSITIONED, roll BACK and MAKE ADJUSTMENTS as NECESSARY, then roll carefully forward a bit, STOP and CHECK to see how those adjustments worked, and go from there. You're only rolling forward about three feet total, so there's no STEERING necessary, like you would with EVERY SINGLE shop's lift I've seen in my LIFE. (no offense Ramy just poking fun at your caps usage... )

I'll veer back on topic a bit. While the convenience factor of this pump deal is nice, one of the reasons I don't mind the "hassle" of either jacking up the car or rolling it up on ramps is that getting underneath the car also allows you to periodically check out portions of the chassis and engine that you'd never be able to see otherwise (suspension components, sway bar mounts, transmission, possible oil pan leaks, etc.), thus ensuring that you'll be heading off any potential problems before they get any worse. My $0.04....

potatochobit

iTrader: (1)

does the hose fit in the oil dip stick holder? i was thinking the holder was real small. also our drain plugs are magentic so you still need to take it off manually to clean any metal pieces that have stuck to it, because tehre are some every so often.

Herblenny

iTrader: (13)

I been using that for my FD's and my other cars for past 2.5 years.. You could also use it to drain your cooling system and much more.. I also have the one man brake bleeder from Griot's.. Awesome products and worth the money.

FDNewbie

iTrader: (10)

LOL I was wondering...I'm like this doesn't look like Kento's normal posts...LOL. I dunno...I just sometimes see emphasis on certain words as necessary. Force of habit since that's how I speak (public speaking). And no offense taken. It was actually entertaining lol

That's definitely a good point. But you gotta admit making sure you roll up the ramps right, just as you described is cumbersome...getting in and out a bunch of times, making sure it's all aligned etc etc. Lots of work and patience, as evidenced by all your capitalization

Phil, didja get yours from Griot's too?