[DR-JEKL]

So I was looking into to getting some race ramps as my existing car stands wont fit into the slots for the oem locations so I thought I would buy some race ramps:



While looking at a few online vendors I came across the race ramps wheel cribs:



I was thinking that these cribs would be dead easy to use, just jack up the rear of the car slot 2 in, then jack up the front and slot another 2 in easy.

I was thinking that these could potentially be better then the ramps as they take up less room to store them, regardless of how low i go i wont have to worry about my front chin spoiler scrapping on the ramp, and it will allow for easy access under the car also being 12" high.

So have any of you guys used these cribs for maintenance type activities?

[Casca]

My car is lowered. I cannot fit a low profile jack under the car in order to jack it to get it onto the crib. The race ramp you have in the pic, no way my car could use that. Why not just get jack stands instead of the crib blocks?

I use these stands in order to get my front high enough to get my low profile jack under the car to raise it and put it on jack stands. My car is not really that low. I don't scrape at all driving around.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

A ramp that gets your car higher off the ground is useful because you can do some maintenance that requires you getting under the car without having to go through jacking up the car and lowering back down onto jack stands. However, you have to have wheels on to use it, which means you'll still need jack stands when you need to do maintenance that requires wheels off.

Going with those block cribs just seems like all the limitations of using ramps with none of the benefits for ease of use. You're still going to have to jack it up (..and if you lowered it you'll need a low profile ramp to fit even a low profile jack ...) and you're still going to have to lower it onto the cribs only now you'll have ramps, jacks cribs and jack stands. Seems redundant to have the cribs and jack stands to me. If you're really worried about your jack stands not fitting the BMW jacking loctions, get some jack pads

http://www.amazon.com/BMW-Jack-Pad-A...=bmw+jack+pads

[DR-JEKL]

Thanks for your reply dude.

Well its a bit of a dilemma!

First of all those jack pads are great for 'jacking' a car up, but I just use a piece of wood the same size as the plastic slot on my jack. Using the jack pads on the stands whilst the car is suspended in the air I'm just not confident with as any form of lateral movement potentially the jack pad could skid off (not likely I know but potentially it could happen)



On a stand like so:

I have no worries getting my low profile jack under the car atm (I only plan to lower 10mm or so) and its no drama to jack the car up as it takes literally 15 seconds per end.

Looking online I think I might go for some of these Torin stands from reverse logic:



http://www.reverselogic.us/ReverseLo...ck_Stands.html

The trouble is I reside downunder which makes p&h a killer, so i may source a local supplier of these stands and machine up some blocks at work and drill and mount them (and just because im anal weld them also)

As you said the stands are handy to take the wheels off the car whereas the cradles cannot be used for this purpose (although sometimes the stands can get in your way when working under the car, and the cradles would be great for ease of access)

[Casca]

I agree about the adapter pads and was actually just looking at those torrin stands with the blocks screwed in as well.

I like this DIY

http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=727131

[DR-JEKL]

Originally Posted by Casca

I agree about the adapter pads and was actually just looking at those torrin stands with the blocks screwed in as well.

I like this DIY

http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=727131

You know what I looked at that DIY sometime ago and thought hmm I dont like the idea of taking mass out of the mounting location as it could potentially fatigue once modified & sawn, but looking at it again I think it shall be OK...

Certainly a lot cheaper to do this mod then buy new torin stands, and cast iron can easily be cut with a hacksaw (even though I have access to a variety of band saws, lathes, mills etc @ work - Im a metallurgical engineer for a steelmaking co)

[mlifxs]

thanks for posting the info on the cribs. It's always good to see others ideas on what's available to safely work on a car.

Regarding jack stand and related adapters to fit the slots on the jack points, I've found that hockey pucks work extremely well, as is (fit between the jack point and the stand). They are durable and "mold" themselves if placed on the stand properly.

My car is not lowered (sport suspension) but my jack still has trouble getting under the jack points. My best solution would be to buy a lower profile jack but i've improvised two ways:
1. Rhino ramps, similar to the ramps you show, then jack the car. This usually works but they often slip trying to bring the car up.
2. 1/8" vinyl tiles. These are available at many home improvement stores. Using 4 to 5 of them, I can quickly raise the car a 1/2 in which is enough to make the jack fit underneath. The tiles are also good to use if you need to make your car level in an un-even floor or to make temp adjustment to alignment toe. Credit to CALWATERBOY for giving me this idea and the following video link....

[gtaccord]

I have the race ramps with extenders which do allow you to drive extremely lowered cars up onto the ramps. They have worked well for me and get the car up higher than the rhino ramps. I hate using jack stands (a lot of trouble and I just don't trust them) and try to avoid it unless the wheels have to be off of the car.

Those wheel cribs would have been useful for me just a few weeks ago when I changed my trans fluid and needed the car up off of the ground and level. I ended up using a second set of ramps instead.

If your car is low and you can't get your jack under the car just just buy a piece of 2 x 6 board. Drive up on that and then use the jack.