I was recently reading a thread about how to lift your car to work on it without a lift. Seems I was doing about the same as most, jacking one end or side, then the other till you get it high enough to get it on jack stands.

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I was never to fond of the approach, and it just took to long. Just to get it like the picture above it would take 20 min or so. Then you are still limited to what you can do. But can't afford a lift, So after reading the thread I decided to work on an idea thats been building in my head. I went around the ranch and started grabbing anything I thought might work, remember I'm a CSOB so I wanted to use material I had and not have to spend too much....in case it didn't work....who said that.

Got out the chop saw and welder and went to work.

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Have you guessed yet. A little paint.

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Well here it is, platforms to hold the front wheels, angle iron across the front to keep the correct width and act as a wheel stop. 8' ramps so the angle is valance friendly, and my car is lowered a couple inches. The bonus is now I have 914 friendly ramps for my trailer. And when i'm not using it, heavy duty end tables for the garage.

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Simple to use, drive up till the front wheels touch the angle iron. Chock the front wheels.

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I welded two nuts on top of a heavy piece of square tubing, to fit into the donut holes so it can't slip off, then with a jack in the middle lift the back end up and put jack stands under the square tubing.

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Once its up and on jackstands then you can take the ramps out to give more access. All my jackstands are old school, and I've welded nuts on top to fit in the donut holes, so I guess its time to buy some new jackstands. Maybe taller too, couldn't quite level the car with my jackstands maxed out anyway.

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Now thats what I call room!

Total time to set up, drive up, jack up the rear and put on jack stands with ramps pulled, then put ramps back, lower, drive off, and put away.....Under 30 min.
And thats with taking pictures. Oh total cost $20, had to buy carriage bolts. Ok now I'm too tired to work on my car...time to start...


Jeff

That's cool! I need to build some heavy duty 'end-tables' for the shop.

Get some 12 Ton Jack Stands.

Looks good Jeff. I like the "dual purpose" factor.

looks awesome, great work!

If your other cars have similar axle widths, you can use the same system for routine oil changes, etc.

Only flaw with this setup is you can't service anything that requires removal of the front wheels....although I suppose you could back onto the ramps and jack up the front!

nevermind

Excellent idea; could build rear platforms attached to the front after lifting. I just do not like the idea of jack stands; I really like the idea of the platform idea. Just make sure everything is within the highest point of your floor jack. Excellent for working safely under the car without taking the tires off. If you have to take the tires (i.e. work on brakes, etc) the platforms could be extended to allow this type of work and easy tire removal. What about a second tier of "hydraulic jacks or any type of jack to take the car up additional inches for tire etc removal??

I really like the idea of driving the car up on ramps and then jacking the car up for clearance. I would build rear platforms and the front platforms within the maximum range of the floor jack; add second tier jacking so you can remove tires, etc and work safely.

I think you have come up with an afordable way of building a safe jacking system without having expenses of the large hydraulic stands. Make it modular so the pieces can be handled with ease and tie them together to keep them from sliding while lifting the rear.

How do you tie the front platforms down to keep them from sliding while driving the front of the car upon them???

How about keeping the height under the maximum range of the floor jack in case you have to use it for removal???

How would you attach any rear platforms to the front platforms after jacking up the rear to prevent any possibility of sliding and other safety issues???

How would you attach any additional jacking to clear the tires from the platforms for their removal and still be safe???

How would the second tier of jacking be attached or positioned under the car to allow removal of such major items as complete from suspension, engine and transmission, all the brakes, rear suspension, body working and welding, etc.????

Above is food for thought since I think the platform method properly designed will allow anyone owning the Teener can use for all the maintenance, etc. activities we seem to come across.

Great idea!

Steve Hurt

Good job!!! Me likes.

When I was building the platforms (end tables) I thought Mark could put some wheels on these and a motor on top and wheel it all over the shop. Or put a really heavy beer on it




Thanks Lennie, I needed ramps for the trailer, so my design had to include ramps. Last time getting the car off the trailer was a blocking nightmare.


All my "cars" are 914s so no problem. I can get under my truck without anything.

I really like the idea of driving the car up on ramps and then jacking the car up for clearance. I would build rear platforms and the front platforms within the maximum range of the floor jack; add second tier jacking so you can remove tires, etc and work safely.



The front platforms are tied together with the angle iron, with the low angle I didn't have any issues with the platforms sliding.



The height of the platform is only 19", my floor jack will go 24" so I think i'm good.





I never intended to build rear platforms, to put rear platforms under the wheels, you would have to jack the rear higher than the front to fit the same height platforms in, (which would be out of the reach of my jack) due to jacking by the body the suspension will drop. Or if you use lower platforms in the rear , then the car won't be level.



I didn't really design this to jack the car off of. More a quick way to get the car off the ground with more clearance than normal jackstands, for maintenance mainly, oil changes, valve adjustments, finding loose parts rattling driving me nuts, things like that. I suppose you could go back to jack and block to get the wheels off, or do the back, turn the car around do the front.




Now you're just making me think to much, I'm just trying to keep it simple.





Thanks

Thanks whoever cleaned up my responses, I'll get it one day.

I got to thinking about shoguneagles comments last night, see what you did, I'm thinking about building rear platforms and ramps to connect the front and rear, then you could drive up on till the four wheels are on platforms, pull the ramps for access...no jacking, unless you want to remove the wheels.

It would require more space to set up, but would get the car level off the ground alot quicker and safer as long as you don't drive off the ramps

But that will have to wait, need to get my idle better before WCR.

Jeff

I think I started that thread and coincidentally was welding square tube over the weekend. I made a pair of roller stands, which do not at all solve the problem of levitating the car onto them.

I like your approach because the modular pieces don't take up too much space, which I find is at a premium. With a previous resto I made a plywood structure that interlocked so you could knock it down to flat in 5 minutes and it was out of the way. This time I figure I have a welding table left over when I am done.

Nice job!

Warren