Lifting ramps at Stoneleigh

[Stuart]

When I get chance!   WSCC Cotswold club tonight so I have some blatting to do Pics and youtubes here though

[Man On The Clapham Omnibus]

Collected this afternoon and already had the back of the Westy up on them.  I'm delighted with 'em.  The guys have a decent workshop about 4 miles from Hopwood Services on the M42 and are working on other things too like having a load sensor on the jack so you can corner weight.  The slidey things that the set up guys use to set caster to fit on top of the ramps too.  They even have a plasma cad-cam unit and can cut dashboards out with it.  Proper welding kit and the welds on the ramps actually pretty good.  Darren has buit a Cobra and says they would be happy to have a go at any kitcar related fabrication.  

 

Nice guys and even threw in a set of short lock bars so I can lock the ramps half way up.  Brilliant. 

 

 

That sounds like the sort of people I like to deal with rather than a bunch of half-arsed opportunistic bodgers that some automotive items are sourced from. My credit card is wriggling in my pocket as I type. I went to a wedding in darkest Essex yesterday or I might even have ordered them before now. Short locking bars you say... Hmmm... 

 

Thanks for the quick appraisal Stuart. 

 

By the way, have you thought about having four - one under each wheel? I can't see any reason for it not to work.

[Stuart]

One under each wheel would doubtless work but I can't really see the need/justification - other than to level the car up for a 'high level' oil change.  Think four would just be a luxury!

[Man On The Clapham Omnibus]

It's my son's idea - he enjoys spending my money!

[Man On The Clapham Omnibus]

Ordered!

[Man On The Clapham Omnibus]

At last I have had a chance to use my newly acquired ramps - to look for a knock from my son's S2000 suspension.

 

 

As you can see, the opposing end gets pretty close to grounding!

 

 

The construction is fairly rough, but they seem sturdy enough.

 

 

Plenty of room for access to the underside to beyond half way along.

 

 

This gives some idea of the amount of lift.

 

 

...and the underside access.

 

All in all I am happy with the value for money. It's a bit of a fag putting them to use, but for the money you cannot complain.

[Quinten]

The height looks great, but what's holding them up?  Hydraulic pressure or some locking pins?  Apologies if it has been mentioned in the thread somewhere...

[Man On The Clapham Omnibus]

There's a locking device that drops in behind the lift mechanism. No worry on that score but the makers still tell you to use axle stands once it's up. I suppose the axle stand makers tell you to wear a high vis and a condom too!   covering!

[Quinten]

Ah good... wouldn't want to see it dropping from that height...

[John K]

Dont take any of this as negative, all credit to folk who actually try to make something nowadays, just some questions?

If the advice is still to pop axle stands under the body, what is the advantage of having the lifting ramps?

Why not use a high lift jack and pop onto stands?

And would any of you go under the car on the ramps alone.

Looking at the way they lift, all the strength seems to be "active" in that all the weight is on bolts or quite complicated welds.

Sure an axle stand also has welds, but they are really simple and there is nothing to really fail on a stand.

But the best opinion comes from the folk who have them, do you feel "safe"..?

[Stuart]

I've been under my Westfield just using the stands, but only for a look - if I was spannering under there I would use my axle stands as a matter of course.  Nowt wrong with belt and braces.

[Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Chairman]

To be fair, if I've got a Westfield up on axle stands, I put something else under there too as a redundant back up. Westfields are so light, I've lifted/shifted them on axle stands before now when torqueing up some of the gorilla strength bolts/nuts or when undoing particularly stubborn ones. 

[Man On The Clapham Omnibus]

I agree Stuart. Yes I have been under the Honda without axle stands but there's a bit of heavily corroded nutwork to undo in the near future and then it will be supported elsewhere as well. As for why not use jacks and axle stands, well there's always difficulty in finding two closely located jacking points (one for the jack and one for stand) on modern cars. With these the 'official' jacking points are still available for stands when the car is at full height. 

 

John K, I have done a lot of stress calculations in the past and share your assessment. However the main loads are well reinforced once it's up. On the way up, especially in the early part of the lift where the mechanical advantages are poor and the jacks are working really hard, the stresses in the various points are really quite high. Like a scissor mechanism, the jack is barely able to even move the car up when the scissor is almost closed, but as you progress the leverage works increasingly in your favour. A slight worry is that you must NOT have the handbrake on nor the car in gear because it moves along the floor quite a bit during the lift. Brake when at height by all means, but release again on the way down. For this reason it's important to use a level site where running away is unlikely.

 

As I said before, the advice to use stands is more to do with covering the makers' backsides than practical advice I think. It's like the chocolate bar allergy advice that says: "Nut free recipe. Made in a factory where nuts are used. Cannot guarantee traces of nuts are not included". 

[John K]

"However the main loads are well reinforced once it's up" (and I bow to your experience re stress calcs...)

Very good point, like getting an 8ft concrete post into the ground.

Its a flipping heavy thing to get in the hole, but my wife can hold it in place onces its balanced.

So if they are going to go sproing, it will do so whilst jacking up. And you are unlikely to be under it at that time.

Mind you, I do like the idea of them... There is a LOT of lift height.

[Man On The Clapham Omnibus]

John, I haven't actually worked out the stresses in this, I base my statements on gut feeling from experience and watching the things operate. However no weld can be truly said to be sound until it's been broken, I suppose. But if they look sound, generally they are. When time allows I'll dig out my copy of Roark's Formulas for Stress and Strain and look out my old slide rule... Meanwhile, safety first.