We understand that doing maintenance on your own car is less than ideal. You assume a lot more risk when you have to do work under your car, so you want the safest method to lift your vehicle off the ground. Among the options, car ramps are the best way to raise your vehicle. To ensure safety, you should also use jacks and jack stands with your ramps. This will make your process easier and faster, especially in the case where your car is low-profiled and it’s difficult to see the jack points.
It’s important to keep in mind that your vehicle won’t be level when using ramps since you can only use ramps at one angle. Ramps aren’t advised for changing fluids because the angle of the car may not allow the fluid to drain all the way. If you are going to change your own oil using a ramp, you must ensure that you have one of the best car ramps for oil changes on the market.
Why are all these important things to know? Because if you’re going to be doing minor jobs on your car it is best that you know what you should and should not be doing with the ramps. Luckily for you, we have taken the responsibility to give you the steps to safely raise your vehicle with ramps. While you can do this by yourself, we suggest having a friend help to ensure that no one gets injured!
Raise Your Vehicle Safely With Ramps
Step 1
For this entire process, you must be careful because injury can come from any of the following steps not being followed properly. To begin, you must put your vehicle in park on a firm, level surface. While not necessary, we also suggest using the car’s emergency brake for further safety. It is better to be on concrete or asphalt because those surfaces have more traction. You must straighten the steering wheel to make sure that the front wheels point exactly straight ahead.
Step 2
After the car is parked on a level surface, slide one ramp directly in front of the vehicle’s front wheel. Do this on the driver’s side wheel until it touches the rubber of the tire and is aligned perfectly.
Step 3
Now you do the same thing with the second ramp but on the passenger-side wheel. Make sure the ramp is aligned perfectly with the wheel or you will be unable to raise your vehicle properly.
Step 4
Make sure each ramp is centred in the path of the tire. If this is not the case, the vehicle will move forward. In order for the wheels to be completely supported by the ramps, they need to be centred. We keep repeating this step because it is very important!
Step 5
This step requires a lot of precaution and precision since it can end up damaging your vehicle or injuring you and/or your partner. With the car turned on, put your vehicle into DRIVE and slowly begin inching it forward onto the ramps. You need to do this slowly because you can end up pushing the gas too hard and drive straight over the ramps. However, if you do not push the gas enough, you will not make it up the ramp. For this step to work, it is important to be slow and steady as you apply more and more throttle until the vehicle begins moving up the ramps.
Step 6
Continue driving slowly, as you move up the ramps, and keep doing so until your vehicle is levelled out. Once levelled, you must stop immediately. This is why it is preferred to work with another person because they can let you know when the vehicle reaches the level part of the ramp. It is extremely difficult to find the level point if you are working along, but you should be able to feel when you are no longer inclining.
With the newest automotive ramps, there is a slight dip at the top or in other cases a bump stop which helps stabilise the vehicle while correcting the position of the wheels. This will allow you to know when to stop completely.
Try not to get frustrated if you are unable to get your car raised on the first try. It is completely normal and even professionals don’t always get it on the first attempt. For most, it takes several tries for them to get a feel for the vehicle and see how it responds to the ramps. If it takes multiple attempts, you must reposition every time because the ramps can move throughout the process.
Step 7
By now, the front wheels should be in the final position at the top of the ramps. You are then going to put the vehicle in PARK or first gear, depending on the type of vehicle. Be sure to use the emergency brake and quickly turn off the ignition. Then you must remove the key. While it may seem like elementary stuff, it’s important to keep these little things in mind as horrible accidents can happen.
Step 8
The last and one of the most vital steps. You must put chocks on the rear wheels so that the vehicle does not roll back down the ramps and onto you.
Conclusion
Once your repair is complete and all the hard work us done, you can begin removing the chocks from the wheel and do the steps backward. First, you turn on the vehicle and move down slowly and then all you have to do is put your ramps in a safe place for storage.
Clearly, these steps are easier so that is why we don’t dwell on them. The best thing is that once you master the steps above, the whole process will be easier. Remember, safety comes first so go as slow as you need at first. Although we recommend you keep the same level of care as you do in the beginning.
This process is intended for use for standard car ramps. Raising your vehicle is a lot simpler with ramps that have hydraulics. While that is much simpler, the best hydraulic car ramps will surely put a dent in your pocket. Using regular ramps can give you the same results with a little bit of effort and more money in your wallet!