Anyone have these wheel cribs? May be safer than jack stands......

[chrisntam]

Was watching one of those magical auto shows on TV and saw these being used.

Anyone have them?  Apparently, they come in heights of 8", 10" and 12".  How do you like them?  What height do you have?  Any height recommendations?

Seems like they would be great for working on the suspension, especially when it needs to be loaded.

I'm always leery of the failed jack stand even though I still have the floor jack in use.  Also, the stands/jack always seem to be in the way.

The cribs run a little more than $100 per pair....

What say you?

[TJ Hopland]

What I don't like about those and jack stands is getting the car up on em.  Those could be worse because of movement in the suspension.   I suppose it would depend on what you are working on.   Older cars the wheels didn't tend to move as much with the suspension travel but when you get to the independent suspensions wheels can get a pretty funky angle to them when unloaded and will want to try and move as you load em again. 

If your goal is just to get it up that 6-12" why not ramps?   They make ramps where the ramp parts detach.   

[chrisntam]

I would worry about driving past the ramp stop..

[Scot Minesinger]

Agree the ramps are a little risky driving onto, much easier to just jack up all four tires onto the wheel cribs.  Plus these could take up less space than ramps when not in use, and that is always a premium in garages.  Further, the ramps will obstruct some access, and creeper roller path too.  These seem better than four ramps. 

I just made my own out of 6 x 6 landscaping timers, screwing a 2 x 2 on each end of the 18" long 6 x 6, total cost for all 4 was just the cost of a 6'long landscaping timber (like $20).  When I quit the hobby in 30 years or so they can burn in my fireplace.

These are essential for suspension work where it needs to be loaded and also body to frame bushing replacements where again, car needs to be on all four tires.

[TJ Hopland]

I can't find the ramps that I was thinking of now,  I thought the were from one of the bigger names.   They were plastic and fairly long so low to the ground cars are not a problem and getting going too fast and driving off the end isn't a problem.   Once you are on the ramp part lifts off so no issues getting around under the car.    That feature doesn't help with garage space. 

I'm not a huge ramp fan and did drive off the end one time.  Looking back there were several reasons that happened, none of them the ramp or cars fault.   I have used jack stands and had some close calls with them getting the car both on and off em. 

For using these blocks or stands what sort of jack(s) are you using and are you doing it in several stages?   I have had better luck using way oversized stands, they have a wider footprint so they are more stable when say a floor jack may be tugging a little.

I hope not to have those issues anymore, someday I will have a real lift but for now I have the Kwiklift which is a giant set of ramps.   I won't talk about it here since the budget here is $100's, not $1000's. 

[chrisntam]

Here's a pic of a detachable ramp and a wheel crib. 

I wouldn't get under the wooden ones.

[Bobby B]

When I quit the hobby in 30 years or so they can burn in my fireplace.

Scot,
  It's a No-No to burn treated lumber in your Fireplace......

It would be nice to have a clear path underneath the car when working, plus I hate putting jack stands on a painted frame, even with wood, dense rubber, hockey puck, etc. on top of the stand. There's never a good place to put them when your under there working. It's a good idea. I would go for the 12" ones to get as high up as possible for additional clearance.
                                                          Bobby

[TJ Hopland]

Thanks for finding the race ramps,  don't know why I could not find them earlier.   That was the company I was looking for.   The trailer and tow ramps was what I was interested in and could not remember the brand.  They way I have been doing it with regular ramps probably isn't the safest.   The have the cribs too.  They say theirs are solid which I would think is a good thing.  Most of the plastic ones don't seem to be solid.

https://raceramps.com/

[30326]

Seen this setup from a company that sells everything and nothing! Wouldn't buy from them so will not post a link to their site, but these jack-stands look rather funny:

[The Tassie Devil(le)]

The trouble I have encountered with ramps is that they contact the under-side of the car before the wheels hit the actual ramp.

They are okay for cars with high ground clearance, and or minimal front and or rear overhang, but not my cars.

Plus, one has to secure the ramp to the ground to stop it sliding.   I once tried to put a '69 Firebird 400 up on my ramps, and the front wheels got half way up, and the ramps just wanted to slide.   The front of these cars were heavy, and friction of the base to ground was overcome by the forward pressure.

Bruce.

[TJ Hopland]

Both of Bruce's issues are addressed with various options from the race ramp people and I'm sure others.    Low clearance cars have been around for a while now so they are finally building ramps that work with them.    IF the race ramps are the ones I remember seeing at a show they are almost a rubber like product so they tend to grip the ground (and tires) pretty well.    Both of those were issues with the classic metal ones.  I can remember more than one time skidding them across the driveway and or spinning drive wheels trying to get up em. 

I just saw those hydraulic jacking ramps when searching on the subject today.   Interesting idea.   I didn't click the link to learn more but assumed that either they were so cheap you would not trust them or so expensive you could buy lots of better types of lifts. 

[chrisntam]

The trouble I have encountered with ramps is that they contact the under-side of the car before the wheels hit the actual ramp.

They are okay for cars with high ground clearance, and or minimal front and or rear overhang, but not my cars.

Plus, one has to secure the ramp to the ground to stop it sliding.   I once tried to put a '69 Firebird 400 up on my ramps, and the front wheels got half way up, and the ramps just wanted to slide.   The front of these cars were heavy, and friction of the base to ground was overcome by the forward pressure.

Bruce.

I'm out on any ramps for the reasons noted previously by Mr. Devil.

[chrisntam]

The metal ramps don't blow my skirt up, too big to store and I see no need to jack the car higher once on the ramps.

[TJ Hopland]

Ya,  from the looks of the pictures they are maybe 12"-16" to start with and then you could jack another 8?   If they were like 4 to start and you could jack them to 16 that may be something but again to do that right would likely cost as much as better options.   

[batterseaboys]

I will always use stands and jack all of good quality. Access to brakes and suspension is not really viable with the ramps. Or cribs

[TJ Hopland]

Quality jacks and stands seems to be easier said than done these days.    You used to be able to get mid range stuff like that from a place like Sears or parts stores but now its junk or bordering on cost prohibitive.    I don't expect a decent jack to cost $50 but $600 seems a little high.  If I was using it every day that would be one thing but jacks are one of those tools that can sit for months or even years sometimes so you hate to have a lot of money tied up in em.   On the other hand you also hate to have a car fall especially if you were under it.

You would not think stands would be that hard to make but most designs have the same very weak point in the weld in the stand part.  Marginal quality weld in marginal material isn't a good combo.    My current stands are good cheap ones but way oversized.   I think mine are rated at 5 tons each so one should easily be able to hold up the whole car with a decent margin and typically I am using 2 to hold up half the car.   I used to have a couple good ones but I drove a tractor over one and recently set a lift down on another.   Somehow the cheap ones seem to be avoiding those fates.

[Gene Beaird]

Here's a pic of a detachable ramp and a wheel crib. 

I wouldn't get under the wooden ones.

Hmm, why not?  3/4" plywood between short lengths of 2X4s.  ALL of the force is vertical, where most of the support is.  Those look like they're pretty well-built, and while mine aren't as high, look a lot like my wooden ramps that I've used for decades.  The first set of wooden ramps came from my Grandfather (who used them under our Calais) and I built a second set for my Dad to mimic the pair I had. 

Now, I have all four ramps.  Great pieces, I can drive a vehicle up on all four at once, and have never, never, driven off the other end, even with our race car which can be difficult to drive when the engine is cold. 

[D.Yaros]

Here is what I use.  Works for me!

[bcroe]

I don't trust jack stands at all; too easy to tip over or slip out of place.  For decades
I used a (now ancient) set of Sears ramps.  These were not so short that the tire
could barely fit on them; nearly 2' level top.  The ramps perhaps a bit longer and
removable once the car was in place.  A big stop prevented you from driving off the
end, and another one could be slipped in behind the tire once it was up there. 
After 25 years or so the heavy sheet metal parts with the cross traction pattern
got pretty distorted, so I beat them back into shape and bolted on some angle
iron reinforcements: better than new, but heavy. 

Yea they liked to slide.  So I got the car in the ideal position, jacked it up and slid
the ramps under it.  Then holes in the ramp frame were marked on the floor,
which was drilled for a couple 3/8" bolts.  I just drop a bolt through the ramp
frame into the floor, and that ramp never moves. 

To store these ramps they are stood on the big end; only take about one square
foot of floor space.  For a while they just got hung on the wall.   

If part of the car was jacked up, I might slide the level section of a ramp under
the frame as insurance, possibly with some wood blocks on top.  Also tires removed
slide under there, possibly with a 2 X 4 on top. 

The ramps are still here stored on a shelf, I made sure a 2 post lift would fit into my
new place.  The floor jack still does small stuff.  Bruce Roe

[chrisntam]

Hmm, why not?  3/4" plywood between short lengths of 2X4s.  ALL of the force is vertical, where most of the support is.  ........snip 

It looks like the tire is on the 3/4" plywood, not the 2x material.  Plus, if those fail and I'm under it, the little wifey won't get that big cash settlement.   

I'd build differently using solid 2x or 4x material, though I'm leaning on buying the pre-made ones.

as always, ymmv (your mileage may vary)!

chris.