jac430

I wanted a safe and relatively easy way to be able to work under the car.
It is absolutely necessary to use the parking brake and block both rear wheels.
(but we do that always anyway, right?).
I looked for ramps to buy, but the ones I found were just too small (not wide enough for the tires of the LS430....).
So I made my own ramp.
The front wheels are raised by about 14 cm (5.5"):





The car drives up this ramp very easily.
I could add an extra inch or so by putting the car in "height high" mode.
An extra step (= 4 tiles per side) might be more comfortable to work under. Not sure yet.
It should suffice for an oil change I guess.

A new floor jack is under way (the old one gave up).
I feel more safe with the car on stands i.s.o. with the raised wheels...

But when you are under way, and suddenly feel the urge to inspect how rusty these LS430s get, any side walk should be able to get you the required tiles

Jac

Kansas

Fortunately, far less rock salt is used on roads in Canada and the USA during Winter than in the U.K. and Europe. A number of less corrosive chemicals, such as calcium chloride, are used instead.

caddyowner

I have a set of 2x10s in various lengths that do the same. I bought and cut them for loading one of my past vettes on a trailer.

2004TOYO

Good ideal, I like

Jabberwock

Something about that setup using multiple paver blocks does not look safe to me - I have no idea what kind of compression strength they use on that material, but I would not trust my life to it. I suggest you get a set of pro ramps and jack stands or a floor jack and jack stands.

jac430

I fully agree with you. With the car on the blocks I did not have the courage to get under the car, so something tells me I don't trust it either.
The suspicion that it is unsafe is probably without much ground. These tiles are used on almost all pavements in this country, and very often cars are parked with two wheels on the pavement (which is not allowed btw).
These tiles are laid on (white) sand. But despite the weight of cars, you don't see cracked tiles. I checked (and selected) the tiles that were on top of each other for flatness, because sometimes there is a small blob of cement on them, which would certainly give an uneven weight distribution and could cause a crack.

I have jack stands (used them for cleaning my brakes) and the new floor jack will arrive today or tomorrow.
I could not find any pro ramps over here.

Working on the brakes is only possible with the car on stands, so just consider my post as thinking aloud

Jac

Dutchie101

Hmmm.. scary!!

dejavu157

iTrader: (2)

that is a very smart idea!i would still squeeze in some jck stands just in case. imam do this the next time i need to get under. but imma raise the rears too.

Boomer01

I have a problem getting a jack under my car so I just bought some ramps. They work great.

McSwine

I've got some of these as well, but I don't trust them either...I still use jack stands as backup.

Jabberwock

Crawling under a car should always require a belt and suspenders safety plan to insure you can crawl back out alive. This means using a primary lift method (ramps or jack) and backup jack stands. And don;t forget good quality wheel chocks - the strongest jack in the world will fail if the car rolls a few inches.

StanVanDam

Reminds me of these:
http://www.mustangworld.com/ourpics/...amps/index.htm
http://www.myturbodiesel.com/1000q/multi/wood-block.htm
http://www.svtperformance.com/forums...-mod-pics.html

I think wood can be strong enough to use as a ramp for the LS430, provided it is constructed properly.

airtime

I would suggest if you are going to stick with the paver method, extend the paver on the other side just in case you don't stop in time at the top.

My method would be to jack the car up and place stands underneath with the jack still in place as a backup. And if possible, have another person with you just in case.

jac430

You are absolutely right: safety first.
But these are all the tiles I have.
I first tried 1-2-1 and 2-1 tiles to see if there was any displacement of the tiles. But they stay in place when I let the car go up the "ramp".
Then I used up all my tiles on the 3-2-1 stack. I put a street-stone (I don't know the proper name for it) on the end of the stack, and I could clearly feel that the wheels touched that. But I put them away for the photos.

My new jack arrived, but I have to raise the car (quite?) a bit before I can use the jack.

The ramps of Boomer01 and McSwine are not available over here. At least I could not find them.
In this country most cars are much smaller than the LS430.

I have always used stands so far. And sure intend to keep on doing so.

Thank you all for reminding again of the safety aspects. You are never "too safe"!

Jac

Viper6

Only jack I could fit under to raise the front of the vehicle from the approved subframe lift point is a trolley jack... ramps are a great idea for basic services where you don't need the wheels unloaded (oil changes, etc.).

Anyone have experience with these? They were on sale for $40 and they have 20% coupons as well... hmmmm

http://www.harborfreight.com/magnum-...ock-67722.html