How to Build Wooden Car Ramps
Car ramps are one of the essential tools required to work on cars and trucks around the world. They work by allowing an individual to drive their car up onto up onto an elevated platform to create a workable space underneath the vehicle. While car ramps can be purchased from any auto part store, you can also build your own out of wood to save the hassle of renting and transporting a ramp. Wooden car ramps can be used for any type of vehicle, and can be built out of any type of wood.
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Things You'll Need
- 2-by-10 lumber
- Work gloves
- Safety glasses
- Tape measure
- Pencil
- Carpenter's square
- Circular saw
- Hand-held drill
- Wood screws (3 inches long)
- Wood glue
Instructions
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Pick up at least 30 feet of 2-by-10 inch lumber, either treated or untreated. Mark the pieces with the pencil and tape measure at lengths of 24 inches, 36 inches, 48 inches and 60 inches. Make two of each of these lengths, and use the scrap material to cut two stoppers, 2-3 inches in height, that will mount on the finished ramps.
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2
Put on the work gloves and the safety glasses. Adjust the depth of the circular saw to barely cut through the 2-inch material. Place the planks on flat areas and cut the pieces along the pencil marks. Firmly hold onto the opposite edge of the pieces of you are cutting so the blade does not catch when you are cutting the wood.
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3
Place the 60-inch long sections side by side. Center the 48-inch pieces on top of the 60-inch pieces so that the sides and back line up. Glue the wood planks together and sink the 3-inch wood screws along the length of the planks, roughly every 3-4 inches apart. Repeat the process for each tier of the ramp, working your way up to the shortest length of wood to create a sort of half wooden pyramid.
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4
Place the scrap pieces on top of the ramps. Glue and screw them into place to mount them on top of the ramps at the edge where the pieces all meet up as stoppers. Allow the glue a minimum of 24 hours drying time before using the ramps for any type of vehicle.
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Tips & Warnings
All materials and tools can be purchased or rented from your local home improvement store.
To add more height to your wood ramps, simply add more levels of wood to your pyramid.
Always wear protective gear when working with power tools.
Resources
- Photo Credit Car Brake image by Joelyn Pullano from Fotolia.com
