Ramps or a pit ?

Had the car up on jack stands a few days ago. My wife came into the garage for something and said I needed "one of those hole thingy's" in the floor. I told her that I was going to build a set of ramps because I thought she would kill me if I cut the floor for a pit but she said it sounded like a good idea.

What are your opinions? Ramps or pit?

Are you talking about a hydraulic lift? If you are I think one of those are nice. A pit would have some nice things to. You don't have to worry about the car falling on you. But if you have kids you would have to keep it covered. I would go with the ramps or lift.

ramps are good for a variety of things. Only thing is when shopping around make sure:

A- they are plenty wide enough to accomodate a variety of tire widths

B- The platform stops are high enough to stop the tires from going over when a spotter is not available, such as what I almost did last weekend.

don't forget that ramps are a lot cheaper that a lift or pit. just make sure you get a set thats well built.

Dylan what kind of ramps do you have? Pic?

A lift is not an option for me. Besides, I don't like a lift or a ramp that's too high because you can't work with someone under the hood and someone under the car at the same time. I know a pit would be a lot of work. I can build ramps myself, they just have to be able to be moved out of the way when not in use. I have an idea of how I would make the ramps but does anyone have any plans or pics.
Maybe I could install a drive-on lift over a pit and have it all. LOL

One thing you have to be sure about with ramps is that your able to acutally get your car on them without ripping up the front end. A guy I went to school with in HS made some ramps for his '98TA, they turned out to have to much of a rise in them and the car couldn't go on.

As for making them, start with a piece of paper and a pencil and just draw some out. Make sure to have bracing, to much is better than not enough. Then get some steel and a welder.

sounds like a lot of work to me. lol

sounds like a lot of work to me. lol

Yep, just use a jack and some jackstands.

A lift is not an option for me. Besides, I don't like a lift or a ramp that's too high because you can't work with someone under the hood and someone under the car at the same time.

i'd go with 2-post lift. they're not actually that expensive. two of my mates live together and their garage has 3 5-ton lifts in there. and when they need someone working underneath and somone you can get a platform with step-ladder on castor wheels. i've used the one my friend have. you just get it in place, lock the wheels and work away.

http://www.americasprideonline.com/9000-lb-floorplate-2-post-auto--car-lift-1015188-3-1-.ViewProduct

that can hold 9,000lb and only costs $1,295. lifts are far better than ramps because you lift the car by the chassis/monocoque instead of the tyres, so removing wheels and working with the drivetrain is a lot easier.

if that's not an option, then like the others said, jackstands. you can get low jackstand, 2ft jackstands, 12-ton jackstands.. and with that you can get under the car easily, and someone can work on the engine from the top easily too.

Dylan what kind of ramps do you have? Pic?

Got em from a old mechanics garage sale, overall standard driveups, but are capable of handling small trucks and the ramps detach from the stand for space saving storage :grinyes:

I have ramps and have used them, but they didn't really lift it high enough to do much, i could barely fit under to change the starter. When i backed off, they tore the ground kit off the passenger side in front of the wheel. That was a PITA to bend back and reattach. I've used my friend's pit and i LOVED it. He could look down through the hood and i could be down there working, made things nice, especially for changing oil. and filters.

Ramps are very FTW

one thing to thinka bout pits.. what if it rains? what if you drain oil into it.. O_o...

here in hawaii..what if you hit groundwater?! lol jk :P

:screwy: Who drains oil straight into the pit? Everyone i know, including me, uses a bucket.....oh, and yeah, i have a neighbor who has some really bad scarring on his face from being in a pit and having a spark ignite the grease and gas fumes down there. Lucky to be alive. He's really healed up quite a bit though. Would be odd seeing an outdoor pit.... Only ones i've seen are indoors, thank god, because the wind is a mofo where i live.

I knew I could count on you guys to point out the pro's & con's on everything.
Like I said, a lift is not an option right now. I use jack stands when I have too but I'm not crazy about it, especially if you have to run the engine. I rocked my old truck off stands once. Solid motor mounts and enough torque to lift one wheel when I could get it to hook up.
A friend told me today that he had some ramps from where he used to work that they used to drive forklifts onto. Said I could have them, just have to modify them to fit the car.
So, I guess it'll be ramps.

I'm surprized none of you Maro/Bird guys mentioned this. Just jack the car up high enough to get the ramps under the wheels then let the car down. That way you don't tear up the ground effects. And you don't have to modify the ramps and fear that your mods. may not be strong enough to hold. I also put jackstands under the car just incase the ramps don't hold. The only problem is if you want to work with the tire/tires off, then the ramp just gets in the way. But, I am scared to death of having a car fall on me so I go alittle overboard with safety (jackstands, ramps, concrete blocks, wheels laying flat under the lowest point of the car). Sometimes all of that at the same time! But you know they always say "better safe than sorry".

:lol:

With all that safety conciousness going on there, you don't feel the slightest bit uneasy jacking the car up so high that it's probably only making conact with 20% of the lift pad so you can get a ramp under it?

lol..my ramps lower than my jack... and some of my friends cars i work on cant go up the ramp.. soo... i tell em to park on my inclined driveway so the gfx get a bit higher. then jack.

dangerous!

:lol:

With all that safety conciousness going on there, you don't feel the slightest bit uneasy jacking the car up so high that it's probably only making conact with 20% of the lift pad so you can get a ramp under it?


No. Because then you get the stands and ramps under it, then you're fine. Just a regular floor jack. Not the spare jack or some little cheapy from Wally World.

i feel u giddyup....i know of 2 people whao were sorry and not safe! one lived to tell the tell the other was a horror story of 2 guys trying to lifet a car off of their friend...smh. thats a fucked up way to go!

. Just a regular floor jack. Not the spare jack or some little cheapy from Wally World.

I wouldn't use any of the above on a Geo. Never used the tire jack, except to reset the good old bumper and some dents. :grinyes:

Ask John about the time I had the stuck jackstand under my car at his house.....

I heard that story is just crushing. :icon16: