Race Ramps for oil changes

[ViperJon]

Was thinking about getting a pair of the 56" Race Ramps for oil changes, questions for those who have them:

Are the 56" long enough to get a TA (or similar low car) up without scraping CF Splitters? Need extenders?
Assuming you drive front up and jack up the rear and put on stands, are the Race Ramps tall enough that you can get under car or is it tight?
They seem like a nice safe way to get half the car up (although a bit pricey) versus jack stands.

[Nambo]

I have the 75" race ramps and I could get the TA on them with no issues and my TA was lowered. Oil change can be done but it is tight under there depending on how big you are.

[RedTanRT/10]

Hey John, with a nice, big garage like your's, get a 4 post lift, $2500 or less will get you a good one. Easy to work on the car and provides space to store another toy.

[ViperJon]

Hey John, with a nice, big garage like your's, get a 4 post lift, $2500 or less will get you a good one. Easy to work on the car and provides space to store another toy.

I hear you but they are just too big and permanent for me, I like the wide open uncluttered spaces.

[esm_viper]

I thought about doing oil changes with ramps as well. The problem is the drain plug is on the side of the oil pan. This is what I did and it was really easy once i figured out the best way to jack up the car.......

(Copied from another thread)


I just completed my 1st oil change at 500 miles, thought I would add to this thread. Tools that helped were a low profile, long reach 2-ton jack, Tsco jack stands and an oil filter wrench from Home Depot (I could not get the filter off by hand)



- Since the oil pan drain plug is on the driver's side, (13 mm) I jacked up the car on the passenger side so the oil would drain. I left the jack under the rear jacking point so the car wouldn't move, not necessary but it made me feel safer.



- I found the easiest way to jack up the car and get a jack stand under it was to use the rear jacking point and jack the car up high enough to get the jack stand underneath the front jacking point.



- I let the oil drain until it wasn't coming out and I was able to tilt the rear up and down with the jack to make sure all the oil was out.

[ViperJon]

I've actually decided that instead of buying Race Ramps which were around $230.00 or so, I bought another low profile floor jack.
So with two floor jacks and some Esco stands should be a breeze and a lot more practical and useful than the ramps, achieving the same purpose really.

[daveg]

Hey John, with a nice, big garage like your's, get a 4 post lift, $2500 or less will get you a good one. Easy to work on the car and provides space to store another toy.

^^^^^ I have 2 in a big garage. TRUST me you wont regret it!!!! I tell my wife every time I do work on my cars that I love them!

[gage]

I want a 4 Post lift but my garage has 2 drains, one under each bay. So the floor slopes in that direction. I'm using ramps because I dont feel all that comfortable putting jacks down with a slope...

[serpent]

I saw the price of the race ramps... what a fucking rip off.
Might as well get two low profile aluminum jacks and two or more jack stands.

I'm thinking of pulling the trigger on a 1.5 ton low pro aluminum jack from harbor freight. Just waiting for a 20% off coupon...

Kudos to op for going the jack route. And nice stands esm viper

[thetalonguy]

I saw the price of the race ramps... what a fucking rip off.
Might as well get two low profile aluminum jacks and two or more jack stands.

I'm thinking of pulling the trigger on a 1.5 ton low pro aluminum jack from harbor freight. Just waiting for a 20% off coupon...

Kudos to op for going the jack route. And nice stands esm viper

FYI...HF has their parking lot sale this weekend. That Jack is 79.99 now.

I'm picking up a compressor today.

[ViperJon]

FYI...HF has their parking lot sale this weekend. That Jack is 79.99 now.

I'm picking up a compressor today.

I ordered their 3 ton low profile online, and with a discount was $84.00 plus $6.99 FedEx Shipping.
Check it out, model # 62326. LOL.....$6.99 FedEx for a 75 Lb. jack.

3 ton Low Profile Steel Heavy Duty Floor Jack with Rapid Pump®

[thetalonguy]

I ordered their 3 ton low profile online, and with a discount was $84.00 plus $6.99 FedEx Shipping.
Check it out, model # 62326. LOL.....$6.99 FedEx for a 75 Lb. jack.

3 ton Low Profile Steel Heavy Duty Floor Jack with Rapid Pump®

Great deal. I picked the same one up a few months ago @$90.

[Vprbite]

I saw the price of the race ramps... what a fucking rip off.
Might as well get two low profile aluminum jacks and two or more jack stands.

I'm thinking of pulling the trigger on a 1.5 ton low pro aluminum jack from harbor freight. Just waiting for a 20% off
coupon...

Kudos to op for going the jack route. And nice stands esm viper

They have a 20% off coupon in Playboy every month. I mean, so I heard. Also, if you sign up for their text message and email thing, they pretty much always are sending you a 20% off any one item coupon. So no need to wait of that's all you are waiting on. And, that low profile floor Jack is a harbor freight gem. So many things in that store are made like total crap but I wear it feels like 80% of the people on here have that Jack.

What do you use two of them for? I mean, what is the process for using two of them to get he car up on jackstands? Or do you mean you just use 2 jacks for redundancy since two or of them won't fail (and you don't need stands cause you are t getting under it?)

I agree that race ramps are a nice design but for the money they are tough to swallow.

[1bad540]

I have the sears low profile jack and the smaller hf one. I also have the race ramps although I haven't tried to get the viper up on them yet. All great ideas. Ive gotten a 08 zo6 up on the jacks with no scraping and no problem, I assume the viper shouldn't be an issue.

[Steve M]

What do you use two of them for? I mean, what is the process for using two of them to get he car up on jackstands? Or do you mean you just use 2 jacks for redundancy since two or of them won't fail (and you don't need stands cause you are t getting under it?)

I'd think one under each side...jacking things is more fun with a friend, am I right? Or I guess you could jack a little on one side and then go around and jack a little on the other side, but that's just a lot of running around and a lot of extra jacking with the same end result. I think I'd rather have a friend helping me jack it.

[serpent]

FYI...HF has their parking lot sale this weekend. That Jack is 79.99 now.
I'm picking up a compressor today.

Wow, thanks for the pro tip. I got an aluminum low profile 1.5 Jack for that $79.99 price, a couple of hours ago. Super light and will fit in the foot well of passenger seat. 3/4 pumps and its already at full length. awesome.

They have a 20% off coupon in Playboy every month. I mean, so I heard. Also, if you sign up for their text message and email thing, they pretty much always are sending you a 20% off any one item coupon. So no need to wait of that's all you are waiting on. And, that low profile floor Jack is a harbor freight gem. So many things in that store are made like total crap but I wear it feels like 80% of the people on here have that Jack.

What do you use two of them for? I mean, what is the process for using two of them to get he car up on jackstands? Or do you mean you just use 2 jacks for redundancy since two or of them won't fail (and you don't need stands cause you are t getting under it?)

I eventually plan to get a heavier lifting jack that is also longer, this one that I bought today is short and will be used for the track (rotating tires at the track).

[Vprbite]

I'd think one under each side...jacking things is more fun with a friend, am I right? Or I guess you could jack a little on one side and then go around and jack a little on the other side, but that's just a lot of running around and a lot of extra jacking with the same end result. I think I'd rather have a friend helping me jack it.

hahahahahahahahah...that's like a filthy joke that I would make. Well done, sir. Well done.


So do you guys put one under the front right and one under the rear left and lift the whole car, and place the stands underneath the unused Jack poiints, remove one Jack and replace with stand, then remove other and replace with stand?

Something like that? I think I am going to get a set of those jackpoint Jack stands. They seem like they will work perfectly for the little stiff that I need to do.

[Steve M]

I eventually plan to get a heavier lifting jack that is also longer, this one that I bought today is short and will be used for the track (rotating tires at the track).

Highly recommend this one (AC Hydraulics DK13HLQ):

hahahahahahahahah...that's like a filthy joke that I would make. Well done, sir. Well done.

Just talking about jacking things...what people do in their garage is up to them.

[LmeaViper]

I have 2 jacks as well and use them both on every vehicle I have. I keep the jacks in and use blocking and jack stands...you can't be too safe with this stuff.

[ViperJon]

I have 2 jacks as well and use them both on every vehicle I have. I keep the jacks in and use blocking and jack stands...you can't be too safe with this stuff.

Yeah I agree. Two jacks and four jack stands ought to do it.

[river rat]

For 40$ worth of 2x12 lumber, you can make a set of ramps.

[Vprbite]

Yeah I agree. Two jacks and four jack stands ought to do it.

So how do you use the 2 jacks in combination with the Jack stands and Jack points? A brief description would be helpful if you don't mine. Thank you.

[Steve M]

I posted this in another thread, so I'm copying it over here too:

Here's how I do it for my Gen 4 (Gen 3/4/5 should be about the same)...

Here are the factory jacking points:



I grab the rear of the frame in the center of the car (there's a cutout in the underbelly exposing the cross piece) and jack up both rear tires at once. I place a jack stand under each rear factory jacking point, and let the jack down...as the rear tires droop, it will bring the front of the car up a bit so you can get your jack under one of the two factory front jacking points. I then place the other two jack stands under the more central part of the frame. I keep the driver's side jack stand towards the front...if you put it in the same spot as the passenger side front jack stand, it'll block your access to the oil drain plug. Hopefully this explains it a bit better:



I then keep my jack in contact with one of the front jacking points as an extra precaution. You could also place the jack stands under the central part of the frame, and then move your jack to raise the car up from that location and move them outboard, but that's another step you'd have to take.

I modified this jack pad:

http://www.purems.com/Products/PROTE...-Lift-Jack-Pad



So that it would fit in the opening of the underbelly pan (approx. 3" x 3" opening) and grab the cross piece of the frame (approx. 1" wide) under there:





It ain't pretty, but it works. Stuff is hard as hell to cut.

The jack pad sits on top of the rubber pad on my jack:



There are many ways to skin this cat...that's how I do it. If you use the factory jack points, you obviously won't be able to put the jack stands in the same place. In the front, this is no big deal since there are plenty of other places to put the jack stands (lots of exposed frame up front). There are far fewer options out back since the belly pan covers most of the rear frame, hence why I went to the trouble of modifying the jack pad like I did so I could grab the rear from the center of the car even with the belly pan in place.

[Vprbite]

I've used your number 1 spot before. Then I think I used the other front blue spot spots for the Jack so that I could place the Jack stands on the Jack points so that I could feel good about it being on the Jack stands while I had the tires off for a day. Or something like that. I had 2 people but one jack. as I recall, we used a piece of wood to spread the force out when I jacked up using the frame.

[ViperJon]

That's great info Steve M, thanks.
Didn't know there was a center jack point in the rear underbelly, that's a great spot for getting the rear up on the stands.