Drive-on ramps fail in garage
 

This past weekend I received my new JBR RMM and was very excited to get it installed. Backed the car out of the garage, swept the garage, laid out my tools, etc. Pulled my ramps down off the wall and laid them out in front of the car.

Standard procedure right? I start to drive up the ramps and get about halfway up when I start rolling back because I hadn't given enough power. I give it a little more and all of a sudden the front end is back down and im "landing" on the ramps. I get out and find that I have sucked the ramps up under the car and the car is now resting on my side skirts. OMFG!!!

Grab the jack...jack it up...pull ramps out. No paint damage but slight buldges on either side. Hoping I can lightly take a rubber mallet to them.

How did I fail? I have driven 4 or 5 other cars up on ramps without this sort of trouble. I didn't drive over the end either. They literally sucked up under the car (The car did not move).

Enjoy my fail!!

:worthless:

:worthless:

x2

Someone else has done this before.. i can't remember who.. he has a cwp ms3 though.

LOL I was expecting some orgish stuff like you got smashed when a ramp collapsed. Either way, NCE without pics.

What are your ramps made of? Is the floor slippery? I once had my ramps slip forward when I was rolling off them. They kinda shot out, like a banana peel, and my car dropped suddenly to the floor. It was kinda slippery 'cause the last car there dripped some oil and I'd just wiped it up. You might make sure there is good grip for your ramps.

In for pics...
Almost had this happen to me once. Stopped using ramps because of it...

I don't enjoy your fail, but fwd will do that sometimes.

If you can, buy a large roll of that rubber toolbox drawer liner / covering and place it under the ramps so they can't slide.

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/...500_AA300_.jpg

Amazon.com: Grip-It Shelf and Drawer Liner - Black: Home & Garden

I have yet to try out my rhino ramps, but stories like this make my sac tighten a bit.
I've read rubber floor mats under the ramps can fix this issue.

Yes I should have known there would be mad pics requests...Will get them up momentarily...Good idea finkle. tyvm

Needless to say im terrified to use them now...:lame:

I had a similar issue. I can't use my ramps inside the garage because the concrete floor is too smooth. When I tried to go up on my ramps, I could hear them slipping as I was going so I brought the car outside and placed them on the ground, much better grip. They were solid.

Funny, I trust my ramps more than I trust my jack stands. Odd how people think differently.

aye pretty sure that was my fatal flaw. The garage floor was just too fucking smooth. I even swept it to ensure my failure LOL

must have been the vtak that sucked them under

It's the amount of torque your car has. I was backing up over flat wooden boards, so I could jack up my car (Before I got a low profile jack). I was listening to my cousin who suggested I use the parking brake to keep from rolling forward and just give it a little gas and release the brake. No problem, right? I don't normally drive that way, I can keep the car from rolling by using the clutch, but whatever, I decide to just do it. The resistance (brake boosting) causes the car to load up and spool... So as I'm reversing over these boards, the car flexes some Mazdaspeed muscle and shoots one of the boards ahead of the car about 20 feet! RPMs were probably at 1500-2000 and I was slipping the clutch. By no means did I apply all the power suddenly. There were two boards, one on top of the other with slick vinyl-like surface... so very little friction between the two boards.

Anyways, this car has a shit load of torque and you gotta keep that in mind.... You gotta keep that shit from slipping. That material up above will help.

Edit: The look on my cousin's face was priceless. I love it when the Mazdaspeed3 genuinely scares someone without them even sitting in the car... If his car was in front of mine, it would have smashed up his car.

srsly...shit kicked in on me :werd:

Phew...feeling better and better with each additional person this has happened to! LOL

I may have failed...but not as bad as this bastard that stopped up 95N for an hour and a half the other night LOL

How did you fail?


Because racecar

I like turtles

Dam and I was right about to scoop up ramps

Don't fear the ramps...they work awesome...just make sure you use them on a rough surface or use something to break up a slick surface :biggthumpup:

That's my take away anyway

Also available at your local supermarket as dish mat; used for drying dishes. Price should be comparable, if memory serves.

I use ramps almost weekly.

Just be sure that you have something under them that is non-slip.

I use the shelf lining above with "race ramps" (which are very slick on a garage floor without any lining) with zero problems.

Edit: Like @Enki suggested above, the shelf lining is readily available @ supermarkets, auto parts stores, walmart, home depot etc.

For once I appreciate the shitty, rough, uneven surface of my parking lot. All the horror stories made me nervous to use my ramps too, but it was easy. I think the ramps were stuck to all the rocks and broken glass.

i use leftover speaker box carpet under my ramps.

The plastic ones I got at Walmart have rubber pads on the bottom, holds pretty good, except on oily, smooth concrete. But ramps are still great, like everybody says, just use 'em right.

I used to be scared of ramps too but now I love those shits. It is a lot easier to get up on them in an automatic or a 100HP Mazda 2 vs. an MS3 though.

Your car peeled out.

To do the RMM, you didn't need to do all that. Do it ghetto style, with jack, rachet, 17 and 19mm sockets. Just jack the left front of the car way up and get under there. It literally takes 4 minutes to do, start to finish. I've done this on the street a few times (swapping and retightening).

aye this is the way I ended up doing it :arms:

I've never had this problem. You don't pull up to the base of the ramp and use the throttle/clutch to pull the car onto the ramps. You accelerate towards them on the flat ground and let your momentum carry you up the ramp. And by the way, a Geo Metro has more than enough torque in 1st gear to send a 2x4 flying across the garage.

Step 1: Line up ramps with tires where you want car to be when it's raised.
Step 2: Back car up 10 feet.
Step 3: Drive car onto ramps as described above.

Seriously? I feel like that would end up with me driving right over the top of the ramp lol...These aren't race ramps..they have a decent incline on them.

I scraped my bumper going up and down my ramps on stock suspension. And the ramps don't seem to lift the car very high. Those are the biggest problems I have with ramps. I know the 2x4 method, just didn't have any laying around.

@Crarrs your bumper doesn't hit first and knock the ramps out of alignment when you pull up? I did the opposite and jammed the edge under the tires and crept up. I also don't trust my straight backing up ability.

Throttle control is the most critical factor, not a running start. Just take it slow and don't be on slippery ground.

I took a chunk out of my front lip using ramps at my Inlaws, but they have an uneven gravel driveway.

that is horrible advice. next thing you know you're going to be yelling at your girl friend, "why did you turn?! WHY DID YOU FUCKING TURN?!"

I didn't say fucking floor it. When I said accelerate, I meant to 2 or 3 mph. They're ramps, this isn't fucking rocket science.

Awesome vid man, that was awesome. 'I didn't turn!!' Awesome.

lol fucking epic vid...

I hear what your saying I just dont agree :)

The ramps don't 100% clear my bumper, it scrapes lightly. As far as backing up straight, don't move the wheel at all when you're going backwards or forwards after you set the ramps up.

video tape this please for us so we can all laugh. i want to see you, on a flat smooth surface where ramps normally slide, back up accelerate and coast up them without any sort of help from 2x4s.

just promise to post all the times you have to try to make it work.