[WedgeSalad]

Looking at the 80" race ramps (RR-80-10-2) to accommodate 11+ rear tires when I'll need to put the rear up on there. Part of me wants to run to home depot and grab some wood to make a set of my own. They'd be huge and weigh a ton. The other part of me likes that the race ramps are light and breaks down to 4 pieces. Third part of me might regret not being able to take off wheels with race ramps. Also not sure if I can adjust my coilovers with the raceramps.

Has anyone gotten RaceRamps and regretted it? Do you wish you had just saved for quick jacks? Are there any low approach angle alternatives to race ramps?

Ramps will be used for a mixture of service, installations, and part development.

[F87source]

Personally I use rhino ramps which are 11 - 3/4" wide. They aren't super low in terms of approach angle so I just jack the car onto the ramps.

[TheHaze]

I used race ramps until I bought a quickjack. I pretty much only use the quickjack now. Both work well, it just comes down to personal preference and what kind of work you're doing on your car.

[///393]

I use wood ramps to get clearance for my floor jack and then use jack stands in conjunction with the floor jack under the center jack point for 3 points of contact.

This is definitely low rent but quick and effective.

[F87source]

This is my setup (this was before I took the car down, so the scissor jacks were removed):




So here is what I do:
1) Put the car in 1st gear + parking brake.
2) Chock the front wheels
3) Lift the rear onto the ramps first with a jack on either side, why the rear first? Because the rear has parking brakes + the engine/transmission in first gear to keep it from rotating, the front wheels have nothing. So it is safer to have the rear up first because it won't roll off.
4) Jack the front onto the ramps

The ramps will be facing opposite directions so the chocks in the ramp prevents the car from rolling forwards or backs. Then add chocks onto the ramps for extra security.


Then I have 4 bmw x5 scissor jacks (I like scissor jacks because they don't sink like hydrualic jacks, and I have the x5 version because it is heavy duty and has the bmw jack pad adapter built in) that I will put into the jacking points for further security, and I put 2 jack stands under the rear subframe (surprisingly the ramps are the perfect height that my jack stands fit perfectly under and touches the subframe. When I lower the jacks it applies just enough pressure that the jack stands are stuck, but the suspension is bottomed out, so maybe under a hundred pounds on the jackstands but enough that I know itll be there if the ramps for some reason blew out.



So in total I have 4 8,000 lbs rhino ramps capable of holding 32,000lbs total + 2 2 ton jack stands capable of holding 4000 lbs + 4 bmw x5 scissor jacks each capable of holding 2640 lbs each (so 10560 lbs total). Thus my setup can hold 46,560 lbs total, in other words I should be pretty safe

The setup also has multiple redundancies and back ups, so if the ramps blow out (which is unlikely because 1 ramp can hold 2 m2's with weight to spare) the scissor jacks are there and the jack stands. It is also so much more stable than jack stands because the point of contact holding the car up is the tires, which is alot more surface area than the tiny little jack pads on a flat circle jack stand (to me that seems sketchy which is why I went with ramps). Then the jack stands add alot more stability as well, it all makes for a super sturdy, safe and level car support.



I'll get some images of the whole setup together this summer, since I didn't take any photos of the car with the scissor jacks and jack stands in place. I am also thinking of adding 2 more jack stands in the front for added safety.

[jefe2000]

With the US San Francisco Bay Area’s high labor costs, it made sense to me to pull the trigger on a QuickJack. I can service both our vehicles for far less than the service department and pay back the QuickJack cost after a series of DIY fluid changes (especially with the FCP Euro refund on fluids and filters). This calculation probably doesn’t work out as well in lower labor cost regions.

[WedgeSalad]

Originally Posted by TheHaze

I used race ramps until I bought a quickjack. I pretty much only use the quickjack now. Both work well, it just comes down to personal preference and what kind of work you're doing on your car.

which quickjacks do you have for you car?

[WedgeSalad]

Originally Posted by jefe2000

With the US San Francisco Bay Area’s high labor costs, it made sense to me to pull the trigger on a QuickJack. I can service both our vehicles for far less than the service department and pay back the QuickJack cost after a series of DIY fluid changes (especially with the FCP Euro refund on fluids and filters). This calculation probably doesn’t work out as well in lower labor cost regions.

Which quickjack did you get? FCP Euro allows you to refund used fluids and filters?

[WedgeSalad]

Originally Posted by F87source

This is my setup (this was before I took the car down, so the scissor jacks were removed):




So here is what I do:
1) Put the car in 1st gear + parking brake.
2) Chock the front wheels
3) Lift the rear onto the ramps first with a jack on either side, why the rear first? Because the rear has parking brakes + the engine/transmission in first gear to keep it from rotating, the front wheels have nothing. So it is safer to have the rear up first because it won't roll off.
4) Jack the front onto the ramps

The ramps will be facing opposite directions so the chocks in the ramp prevents the car from rolling forwards or backs. Then add chocks onto the ramps for extra security.


Then I have 4 bmw x5 scissor jacks (I like scissor jacks because they don't sink like hydrualic jacks, and I have the x5 version because it is heavy duty and has the bmw jack pad adapter built in) that I will put into the jacking points for further security, and I put 2 jack stands under the rear subframe (surprisingly the ramps are the perfect height that my jack stands fit perfectly under and touches the subframe. When I lower the jacks it applies just enough pressure that the jack stands are stuck, but the suspension is bottomed out, so maybe under a hundred pounds on the jackstands but enough that I know itll be there if the ramps for some reason blew out.



So in total I have 4 8,000 lbs rhino ramps capable of holding 32,000lbs total + 2 2 ton jack stands capable of holding 4000 lbs + 4 bmw x5 scissor jacks each capable of holding 2640 lbs each (so 10560 lbs total). Thus my setup can hold 46,560 lbs total, in other words I should be pretty safe

The setup also has multiple redundancies and back ups, so if the ramps blow out (which is unlikely because 1 ramp can hold 2 m2's with weight to spare) the scissor jacks are there and the jack stands. It is also so much more stable than jack stands because the point of contact holding the car up is the tires, which is alot more surface area than the tiny little jack pads on a flat circle jack stand (to me that seems sketchy which is why I went with ramps). Then the jack stands add alot more stability as well, it all makes for a super sturdy, safe and level car support.



I'll get some images of the whole setup together this summer, since I didn't take any photos of the car with the scissor jacks and jack stands in place. I am also thinking of adding 2 more jack stands in the front for added safety.

Looks like you have plenty of safety nets. How long would you say it takes to set this up? If you wanted to remove a wheel what would you do?

[WedgeSalad]

Originally Posted by wilson kop

I use wood ramps to get clearance for my floor jack and then use jack stands in conjunction with the floor jack under the center jack point for 3 points of contact.

This is definitely low rent but quick and effective.

Does the wood let you jack all the way into the center jack point or do you have to do one side at a time first?

[jefe2000]

Originally Posted by WedgeSalad

Which quickjack did you get?

The 5000TL model. I purchased via Costco; it seems to go on discount there every so often for about $300 USD less.

FCP Euro allows you to refund used fluids and filters?

Yep, FCP Euro’s Lifetime Replacement Guarantee is pretty generous. They absolutely take back used oil and filters (and many other items). You can read about it here:
https://www.fcpeuro.com/page/lifetime-guarantee

And they even have a help article specifically about returning used oil for refund:
https://help.fcpeuro.com/hc/en-us/ar...-I-return-oil-

[TheHaze]

Originally Posted by WedgeSalad

which quickjacks do you have for you car?

I have the 5000SLX. I got mine on sale at Costco too.

[F87source]

Originally Posted by WedgeSalad

Looks like you have plenty of safety nets. How long would you say it takes to set this up? If you wanted to remove a wheel what would you do?

Approximately 15-30 mins.

If I wanted to do a brake fluid job then I would god go with jack stands, and put the ramps under the car (the side of the stiffening plate where the front subframe is), and in the back of the car. Of course the ramps will not be touching the car it would only be there if the jack stands were to fail.

Then I would have additional jack stands on the rear subframe and a jack on the front center jack point.

[///393]

That setup is about the only thing I’d feel OK spending any time underneath the car with outside of quick jacks or a proper 2/4-post lift.

I get in/out from under mine when doing an oil change as fast as possible. With three points of contact and basically one layer of redundancy risk is minimized but it still creeps me out.

[jefe2000]

Originally Posted by wilson kop

That setup is about the only thing I’d feel OK spending any time underneath the car with outside of quick jacks or a proper 2/4-post lift.

I get in/out from under mine when doing an oil change as fast as possible. With three points of contact and basically one layer of redundancy risk is minimized but it still creeps me out.

I feel you on the “creeps me out” factor. Many years ago, I performed some DIY car maintenance at various points with friends and family. I always got that sensation with their car lift setups. It wasn’t until I’d found the QuickJack that I started to entertain self-maintenance of my own vehicles.