Check out this home made all-wood car lift!

ovilla · May 5, 2008

So glad I already have my BendPak HD-9. This is surely a Darwin award in the making. Anyway, I just thought folks might enjoy checking this out.

http://www.svtperformance.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=98085

Mr. Welsh · May 5, 2008

Wow...and some people on that forum think it's a great idea. Not to mention all the other terrible ideas in the thread...shocking.

nissan_crawler · May 5, 2008

I see no Darwin's award.

PoorOwner · May 5, 2008

it looks quite safe to me.. 2x4 are very strong when used properly.

nissan_crawler · May 5, 2008

it's 2x10 sheathed with 3/4" plywood, not 2x4. All those morons freaking out need to go tear their house down. :thumbup:

That is 1000x safer than jackstands on a sloped surface.

ovilla · May 5, 2008

Okay, what happens when the wood gets wet and the car is still on the "lift"? Wait,, I'm sure someone will say that with the use of the right water seal, all will be fine. I could see maybe driving an ATV on it but not a car.

nissan_crawler · May 5, 2008

He's using the car to pull the transmission and lower control arms. I don't think wood rots in 2 days. Did you miss the part where he removes the car and stores the ramps in the basement? Waaah.

Mr. Welsh · May 5, 2008

Seems to me like a solution to a problem that a financially responsible person would not have.

nissan_crawler · May 5, 2008

Mr. Welsh said:
Seems to me like a solution to a problem that a financially responsible person would not have.

Seems to me like a statement from somebody that doesn't live in reality. Big deal, so he doesn't have the money for a lift, or, maybe he can't fit one in the garage in the first place. The solution worked, and as braced as it is, there's nothing wrong with it.

OMGZ IT'S WOOD!!

Mr. Welsh · May 5, 2008

nissan_crawler said:
Seems to me like a statement from somebody that doesn't live in reality. Big deal, so he doesn't have the money for a lift, or, maybe he can't fit one in the garage in the first place. The solution worked, and as braced as it is, there's nothing wrong with it.

OMGZ IT'S WOOD!!

Unless I'm completely off on how much an SVT Cobra costs (around $30k?), I'm pretty sure I'm right on this one.

He has allocated so much of his money towards a car that he cannot afford a place in which to modify it (which means he's dumping even more into it).

How is that financially responsible? Now I may not live in reality, but I imagine that if you spoke to the people who have the best shops and toys on this board, few of them will have allocated their money that way when they were young.

nissan_crawler · May 5, 2008

Maybe that's what he wants? Maybe it's not cost-effective to build a shop there due to land availability? Maybe he's moving in a year?

How the hell should I know the why? It's safe, it's not going to go anywhere, who cares the reasoning? For all you know, the guy is a millionaire.

I can't afford to spend $30,000 on a shop, and my 2 car garage is filled with tools, washer dryer, welder, plasma cutter, drill press, tube bender, table saw, hydraulic press, you name it. I work in my driveway, big deal. It's that or have the room and not have the tools.

Honestly, why do you give a **** where the guy works on his car

Sounds pretty snooty to me.

I have a hard time seeing 2x10's sheathed with 3/4 plywood, braced with 3 4x4 posts and 1/2" bolts going anywhere. I would go so far as to say it's more stable than a set of jackstands.

Mr. Welsh · May 5, 2008

Please forgive me for my snooty attitude, but if you build a ramp to work on your car out of any material outside in Massachusetts 20' off a 40mph road in what looks like a parking lot, I'm not sure what you would expect.

Especially when the purpose, from what I can surmise, is to play around modifying your $30k car with aftermarket parts. My interest, obviously, is the same as yours: I've been invited to comment.

nissan_crawler · May 5, 2008

So the roads speed limit and distance come into play now

Stuey · May 5, 2008

From your comments, I got very scared about what I was going to see. After looking at the photos, I think that you guys are way overreacting.

Granted it looks like it could use a little more reinforcement, the ramp looks very well designed and constructed. However, I would not feel confortable getting under that thing at all; I might have a slight fear of getting crushed.

nismomans13 · May 5, 2008

Mr. Welsh said:
Unless I'm completely off on how much an SVT Cobra costs (around $30k?), I'm pretty sure I'm right on this one.

He has allocated so much of his money towards a car that he cannot afford a place in which to modify it (which means he's dumping even more into it).

How is that financially responsible? Now I may not live in reality, but I imagine that if you spoke to the people who have the best shops and toys on this board, few of them will have allocated their money that way when they were young.

how dense are you man? just because someone works on a car doesn't mean they have a fly *** garage to work on it in. Hell, I've built 5 different cars, 4 of them in a 25x30 split entry house garage with a jeep and tons of other stuff in it. and the most recent in a 17 1/2 by 20 space.

Just because someone buys a 30k car doesn't mean they have a garage tall enough for a lift. You're a *****.

Stuart in MN · May 5, 2008

At first glance it looks pretty strong to me, but I'm only looking at a couple photographs. I do wonder what he used for screws, though - a lot of people put stuff together with drywall screws which are too brittle and don't provide much shear strength.

rburke65 · May 5, 2008

Mr. Welsh, what the heck does the speed limit have to do with....anything? I guess I'm having a hard time staying focused here.

ehjorten · May 5, 2008

Looks pretty sturdy. I would go with Stuart on this one...what screws did he use? How many? The other thing that I noticed is that there is little triangulation between the left and right ramp. Yeah...he has some ties between the ramps, but nothing triangulating it! I wouldn't be worried about the compressive strength, but would be worried about the whole thing folding over. OMG...I have a trailer with a wooden deck! OMG...I have a bridge made out of wood! OMG...I have a house made out of wood with a tile roof weighing about 21,000 lbs!

tstukel · May 5, 2008

Mr. Welsh said:
Please forgive me for my snooty attitude, but if you build a ramp to work on your car out of any material outside in Massachusetts 20' off a 40mph road in what looks like a parking lot, I'm not sure what you would expect. Especially when the purpose, from what I can surmise, is to play around modifying your $30k car with aftermarket parts. My interest, obviously, is the same as yours: I've been invited to comment.

I say, old chap, isn’t it just awful how these commoners try to act like car guys…can you imagine, buying a $30,000 automobile and not having a grand garage with a proper lift, harrumph. By the way, would any of you REAL car guys out there have any Gray Poupon…

nismomans13 · May 5, 2008

tstukel said:
I say, isn’t it just awful how these commoners try to act like car guys…can you imagine, buying a $30,000 automobile and not having a grand garage with a proper lift, harrumph. By the way, would any of you REAL car guys out there have any Gray Poupon…

Sorry man, i'm not baller enough, I just got French's yellow :sigh:

StingRay · May 5, 2008

Vertically you could probably put a Durmax one ton on that if he used proper fasteners and maybe some glue. Racking might get him killed though. As noted before there is no triangulation and the rear of it doesn't have much for cross bracing. It could easily rack just at the back end and the whole thing would come down.

Mr. Welsh · May 5, 2008

nissan_crawler said:
So the roads speed limit and distance come into play now

Ignoring the potential safety issues that I can see, my point is that he's quite exposed to the neighbors and passing traffic.

Ever wonder how HOAs get rolling? Here's a pretty good example. Except of course that I know he's not in a neighborhood, because the speed limit is 40mph.

Does this guy live in the house across the street? Where does he get air/power?

nismomans13 · May 5, 2008

Mr. Welsh said:
Is this not obvious? Ignoring the potential safety issues that I can see, my point is that he's quite exposed to the neighbors and passing traffic.

Ever wonder how HOAs get rolling? Here's a pretty good example. Except of course that I know he's not in a neighborhood, because the speed limit is 40mph.

Did you goto school to become this dumb? or were you just born with a incredible amount of stupidity?

Stuey · May 5, 2008

From the looks of it, I'm going to say large lag or carriage bolts.

That thread is four years old, I wonder what happened to the builder and ramp since.

nismomans13 said:
Did you goto school to become this dumb? or were you just born with a incredible amount of stupidity?

Easy there. Your arguments are sound, but there's no reason to go personally attacking people, especially when nobody has intentionally insulted or disrespected you.

brrman · May 5, 2008

LOL - While the idea is interesting, I think he need more cross bracing support. The down-weight looks like it would easily be supported with the 2x12's. I just think if you plan to place a 3000lb car on there and get under it for any length of time, I'd have a pro design it for structural integrity. There is an amazing amount of racking that will occur when that much weight is on those ramps. What he really needs is steel beams for cross brace support.

PAToyota · May 5, 2008

I agree with other posters - the biggest concerns I'd have would be the lack of triangulation, what happens to it over time, and what sorts of fasteners he is using.

As it appears, my main concern would be the ramps - where you'd have horizontal forces acting on it - I could see it "folding up" on you as you drove onto it. The main part where the car is sitting would have horizontal stability if from the plywood if it is properly fastened.

If I were to do something like that, I'd use Simpson ties with screws rather than nails and then Liquid Nails and plywood to provide the crossbracing- again with screws. Use bolted connections wherever you needed to disassemble things for storage and make it in easily managed pieces so that there would be less risk of knocking things apart while moving it around. I wouldn't leave it out in the weather. And I'd inspect it each time I set it up or used it to make sure nothing was loosening up.

Properly done, I think you could keep it safe.

cyclopsblown34 · May 5, 2008

It looks like the guy made do with what he has available but why is that necessary to remove the transmission? I have removed several using a floor jack, jack stands and/or car ramps. I still don't have a lift in my shop, just good quality stands , ramps and floor jacks.

nissan_crawler · May 5, 2008

He has 3 4x4's going between the two ramps with 1/2" bolts holding them on. Granted, it isn't "x"d, but I highly doubt those 4x4's would allow the ramps to rack on him.

PAToyota · May 5, 2008

I was thinking more about triangulation parallel to the ramps - not between the two ramps. But now that you mention it, I'd like to see some more bracing between the two ramps.

RickP330 · May 5, 2008

You know there are alot of good points here. Personally - I wouldn't go near the thing with a 10 ft pole, but that is me. The problem I see here, and I don't think anyone can disagree with me, is that Wood or Steel, I see no design considerations as to how much load it can hold and what that degradation factor would be over time. You are trusting your life to your gut instinct? That is insane. I'm sure a couple of simple calculations should be in order just to make sure. Heck, If I knew of him I'd even model it in FEA for him, just for kicks. I just don't see where he got that kind of outside help and just think its a little nuts IMO.
Rick

nissan_crawler · May 5, 2008

How did people ever build a garden shed before computers

Good lord, we built ramps that we put our semi on, I have no qualms going under it. Did I do a bunch of ridiculous load calculations? No. Do I have any doubts that they'll hold up? No.

If you can't build something that simple without a load calc, you don't need to be running a welder or table saw.

bobs4092 · May 5, 2008

The proper bracing is very important like in this pic: :bounce:

Jononon · May 5, 2008

nissan_crawler said:
How did people ever build a garden shed before computers

To be fair, my garden shed seldom has a 4000lb load on its roof

nissan_crawler said:
Good lord, we built ramps that we put our semi on, I have no qualms going under it. Did I do a bunch of ridiculous load calculations? No. Do I have any doubts that they'll hold up? No.

If you can't build something that simple without a load calc, you don't need to be running a welder or table saw.

Exactly. I've worked under hundreds of tonnes held up on cribs. It works because it's always worked.

But, and it's a big but, that set up has zero redundancy. If the second upright (viewed from the front of the car), which is a single 2x10, fails, on either side, he'll be wearing a car on his chest. I'd like to see the uprights doubled up, and enough strength in the ramp top to bridge a failed upright.

russlaferrera · May 5, 2008

The guy designed it , built it, put his car on it, and got under it. "It" is still standing.

Who would get under a commercial lift? The unit could have rust under the base plate bolts could be loose, cables worn, are you sure the concrete is thick enough, hydraulics going to leak.....oh my god the sky is falling!!!

flesburg · May 5, 2008

Hey guys!

A 2x10 or 2x12 under compession alone could hold up a 10 ton load. He has them on 16 inch centers with a 2x10/12 ramp top. On 16 inch centers the load they will carry 8 inches off of the verical is at least 10 tons. Four 2' long vertically placed 2x10s in static load held firmly vertical would hold up the car by a factor of at least 10. None of this considers the stiffening factor of the 3/4" plywood sides.

My thought: The two 10/12 inch wide ramps with a load on them would not tip over if he beat on them with a sledge hammer, and I suspect that you could not push them over with a pickup truck.

I think he has over engineered these ramps to the max. I have seen a car lift fall over with a car on it (happened 20 years ago to my secretaries "new Camaro" at a Chevrolet dealer). (Some of the anchor bolts failed) I bet these ramps would not fall over in a earthquake.

I have seen guys working on cars up on a car trailer at race tracks for years. Also guys laying under a Porsche GT3 with four skinny looking little air jacks hooked to a little 1 hp compressor. I'd sure rather lay under a car on these ramps that that GT3 on the little air jacks.

gbcamp72 · May 5, 2008

Air jacks use a slide on c shaped safety collar to keep them from collapsing. See the attached link. They are very safe at holding up a 2,000-3,000 # race car.

Glenn

http://www.sarlinraceteam.fi/service/hinnastot/JLS AirJacks.pdf

thefairlaneman · May 5, 2008

It would be safer if the supports for the ramps were crossed and not just straight up and down. The weight is coming in at an angle .

nissan_crawler · May 5, 2008

thefairlaneman said:
It would be safer if the supports for the ramps were crossed and not just straight up and down. The weight is coming in at an angle .

The ramps are bolted to the main pieces with 1/2" bolts, with all that plywood bracing, it's not going anywhere.

PoorOwner · May 5, 2008

no one here is on that mustang forum? Go ask if that guy is still around or not..!

I think some kind of sealant like paint will protect the wood and screws much better.. even though the guy he stores that indoors after the work is done.

348guy · May 6, 2008

bobs4092 said:
The proper bracing is very important like in this pic:

This is the pic I thought I was going to see when I clicked on this thread. I love it. This pic has to be photoshoped.

If the homemade ramps work for the guy and he's comfortable fine. Not for me though.

Check out this home made all-wood car lift!

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