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Finally bit the bullet after a few years of thinking about pulling the trigger. Ordered a pair of Race Ramps (RR-56) and used them in time on my wife's RDX and my Evo over the weekend. Here are my thoughts:
PROS:
1. MUCH easier than my old jack and jackstands combo - There is less hassle and less chances of you scratching up your toy with these things. It is a LOT quicker to get set up as well. You just need to position the car halfway in the garage, stick both ramps right up to your front tires, center them and drive on. On both the Evo and RDX, I just had to let go of the brakes and let the car roll on the ramps under its own. The ramps didnt budge or move an inch.
2. Safer - sometimes when I had to try and loosen a drain bolt on either my sportback or her RDX I had to give the bolt a good tug and the car would sometimes shimmy. That's not good. On these you could try and shake the car and it wont fall on you. With the two solid rubber wheel chocks (weighing about a pound each) behind each rear tire the car was as stationary as you can get. Plus they are made with a solid core and coated with some rubbery rhino-liner type coating so there is tons of grip and is impervious to nearly all automotive chemicals (according to the manufacturer)
3. Light weight - I had my wife try and lift both ramps using the affixed strap on one end of each ramp and she is a small girl. But she can easily lift both no problem.
4. Reasonable working height between the floor and the car - as you can see in some pics, I had plenty of room underneath to work under each car. I tested the C7 Stingray and it also fits with no issues. I forgot to measure, but it's maybe about 18 inches of clearance on the Evo, higher obviously on the RDX.
CONS
1. Expensive - They are $214+ tax and shipping via their website. I bought mine through Walmart. Walmart and Amazon both sell them a bit cheaper ($203) but Walmart had free shipping and free pickup to a location near me so I ended up buying mine from Walmart.
2. Cant change pads or rotate tires (I knew full well hence why I took so long to pull the trigger) - obviously that would require jacks and jackstands which I have. But for a quick oil change which can get messy (and was the sole reason for buying them in the first place), changing transmission fluid and draining coolant, these are perfect.
Overall I am happy with them. If you can get past the initial cost and know what your limitations are with it, it's worth it.
Last edited by sixsixfour; 10-10-2016 at 11:37 PM.
Cost aside, race ramps are the best out there with the Modular design, versatility and amount of options for them. Being able to remove parts of the ramp to allow better access to under vehicle, heights, etc...
the little roll up to help you get the jack under the car
the full car ramp is pretty cool. That's a lot of pieces to store though. I have Rhino Ramps and they were around $50 on sale I think. I love them for oil changes, trans fluid exhaust.
both my buddies with vettes have race ramps... i think for the full module setup (front & rear), they ran close to $500... i agree with fattysims that they are versatile and durable and arguable the best out there... for the price, they better be... but both my friends have the same issues that nuts mentioned... when taken apart, they take up a lot of space... when not in use, they are throw in the attic because otherwise you trip over them in the garage... i borrowed them a few times when i had to do a mid pipe exhaust...
i think for the price though, you are halfway to these as a better option?
thanks OP... Nice and informative review! I was leaning toward purchasing a set and you helped finalize my decision
Curious on why you didn't go with the RR-52-2? - each ramp is in two pieces so that you can roll underneath and also helps with storage.
Thanks! I haven't seen anyone yet with them that actually posted their experiences. A lot was only through research online. Plus I've been thinking about getting these for the longest time - even when I still had my TL. Sure the jack and jackstands combo is much more compact, but it's just a chore. And nowadays with errands after work and a lot going on, I just want to change the oil without having to go and jack up the car and down. Plus when I got the C7, it has jack points in the underside of the car to keep it up, closer to the center and not at the usual places for most cars. So the Race Ramps were hitting two birds with one stone.
I couldn't get the 52's because I also have a C7 Stingray that will only clear the 56's. The Evo also would not clear the 52 when I measured it.
Thanks! I haven't seen anyone yet with them that actually posted their experiences. A lot was only through research online. Plus I've been thinking about getting these for the longest time - even when I still had my TL. Sure the jack and jackstands combo is much more compact, but it's just a chore. And nowadays with errands after work and a lot going on, I just want to change the oil without having to go and jack up the car and down. Plus when I got the C7, it has jack points in the underside of the car to keep it up, closer to the center and not at the usual places for most cars. So the Race Ramps were hitting two birds with one stone.
I couldn't get the 52's because I also have a C7 Stingray that will only clear the 56's. The Evo also would not clear the 52 when I measured it.
I meant to say 56-2... my bad. in any case, i was referring to the two piece set. you raised a good point, i have to check clearance.
def looks somewhat easier and safer then jack and jack stands.
I meant to say 56-2... my bad. in any case, i was referring to the two piece set. you raised a good point, i have to check clearance.
def looks somewhat easier and safer then jack and jack stands.
Yeah I thought about getting the 2-piece. But I had room in the garage and when they are stacked on top of each other, they form a decent rectangle box, so some of the tools I use a lot can be put on top of them.
But yeah, check the clearance first to make sure they will work. I was shocked the Evo needed this kind of an approach angle to clear ramps considering mine was not lowered.
Those look nice! Something else I need to add to my list.
Question:
Are the straps on the high end durable enough if I wanted to hang them from hooks high up on the garage wall for storage? Don't want them falling off and hitting the cars or my kids of course :-D
Those look nice! Something else I need to add to my list.
Question:
Are the straps on the high end durable enough if I wanted to hang them from hooks high up on the garage wall for storage? Don't want them falling off and hitting the cars or my kids of course :-D
They look very durable to me. The straps are molded with the ramps themselves. The straps are made of the same kind of material as the straps on equipment bags, and looks to me that they can support the weight of the ramps no problem.
They look very durable to me. The straps are molded with the ramps themselves. The straps are made of the same kind of material as the straps on equipment bags, and looks to me that they can support the weight of the ramps no problem.
Nice, amazing that they weigh only 10 lbs and can hold that much weight. And at a little over a foot wide should fit nicely and not take up much room on the wall using 2 studs 16 oc Thanks for posting this up!
Nice, amazing that they weigh only 10 lbs and can hold that much weight. And at a little over a foot wide should fit nicely and not take up much room on the wall using 2 studs 16 oc Thanks for posting this up!
You're welcome!
You can see the strap on this pic. It's likely affixed to the ramp before they coated it with the black liner.
I will be buying a pair of these, just need to look around to see where I want to order them from. Summit Racing is down the street and they have them in stock for $203. But I might go to our grocery store and pick up some amazon gift cards(gas discounts) since they have free shipping.
I got a little ahead of myself, I was hoping to use them with the Odyssey as well, but it might be over the weight limit. I gave them a call, It's 1500 lb per ramp and they print that on the box apparently, 6000 lb per car. @ around 4500 lb they said the ramps would see an impression on the top as these are made with a highly dense foam with coating. They said I wouldn't see a catastrophic failure ever like some of the plastic ones that I've seen in the reviews. I would feel safer under these than plastic and even jack stands. Was kind of excited to get them, esp. for the weight and being able to hang on the wall, back to being on the fence for now...
I got a little ahead of myself, I was hoping to use them with the Odyssey as well, but it might be over the weight limit. I gave them a call, It's 1500 lb per ramp and they print that on the box apparently, 6000 lb per car. @ around 4500 lb they said the ramps would see an impression on the top as these are made with a highly dense foam with coating. They said I wouldn't see a catastrophic failure ever like some of the plastic ones that I've seen in the reviews. I would feel safer under these than plastic and even jack stands. Was kind of excited to get them, esp. for the weight and being able to hang on the wall, back to being on the fence for now...
Yes it is 1500 per ramp and a combined of 3000lbs. The Odyssey weighs around 4600lbs and is split 57/43 so that would put approximately 2622lbs over the front axle - well within the weight limit of 3000lbs. Of course using ramps or jackstands comes with a certain amount of risk. I would not be worried about the impression or it deforming under load as long as I use it correctly.
my rhino ramps are very light and they stack on top of each other so when stored it looks like only one ramp if that makes sense. Unless you're going to get a bunch of the accessories like fsttyms showed, I don't see it being worth the cost. My only gripe with the rhino ramps is that I would rather them be wider and longer. I can't get my CL onto them (lowered with front lip), but it's easy enough to make some 2x6 helpers. I also still put jack stands under the car just in case, but I have carfallingonme-phobia.
56% front / 44% rear for the EX-L certainly under the limit, put my weight on it and the force driving up might cut it a little close. I was surprised that the guy on the phone admitted that over time I would see it start to sink in a bit on the top. It would be nice to see a thicker metal plate or something molded into these to distribute the weight a little more evenly across the top of the foam. Maybe they'll make a heavy duty line at some point...
Yeah that wont work for the C7 or my dad's 2013 Explorer. A Ford dealer already bent the front driver side jack point of my dad's explorer the one time he brought it there for service. Never again.
both my buddies with vettes have race ramps... i think for the full module setup (front & rear), they ran close to $500... i agree with fattysims that they are versatile and durable and arguable the best out there... for the price, they better be... but both my friends have the same issues that nuts mentioned... when taken apart, they take up a lot of space... when not in use, they are throw in the attic because otherwise you trip over them in the garage... i borrowed them a few times when i had to do a mid pipe exhaust...
i think for the price though, you are halfway to these as a better option?
My friend that has many pieces built a little rack out of 1x3's attached to the garage celing in one corner. All the pieces slide into the rack up and out of the way. When he needs them he just pulls them down. Mounted this way they take up far less space than a floor jack and jack stands or other types of ramps which arent nearly as light and cant be stored as easy
10-10-2016, 11:33 PM
