A little ramp mishap..

JTK

Joined
Aug 14, 2003
Messages
15,690
Location
Buffalo, NY
I had a chance to finally chase a rattling heat shield issue on our 2015 Nissan Versa sedan today, so I figured I drive it up on my Rhino ramps. I must have gotten a little aggressive on the go pedal mid way up the ramps, causing the right side ramp to shoot rearwards towards the rear wheel. The vehicle then of course smashed down onto the ramp, causing the rocker panel pinch weld to chop through the plastic ramp like a meat cleaver. Rhino ramps do have rubber feet on them to prevent sliding, but maybe the cold temps and relative smoothness of the garage floor didn't help. The versa does have kind of a touchy tip in to the E-throttle which doesn't help. Probably lucky I was using plastic rhinos as opposed to my old steel set of ramps.
[Linked Image from i.imgur.com]
 
On a concrete slick garage floor I always put something under the ramps to keep them from sliding only my set was wanting to slide forward before putting something underneath. Usually use a piece of carpet or something.
 
Kinda scary when you think about how fragile they are if you make a fairly common mistake....
Even if you use ramps ALWAYS use a SECONDARY support as a back up. Place a jack underneath on jack points and make sure the pad contacts the lift point.
It might save your life even if it takes a few extra minutes!
 
I had that happen a few weeks ago when my daughter was driving her Odyssey onto a set of plastic ramps. She started to drift back and goosed the throttle. It spun the ramp under the right front tire back under the car.
No damage, easy recovery. Next try I drove it up and hit the throttle perfectly to put the car on the top section.
 
You have waaaaay too much horsepower; it simply overpowered you.

Actually, I love my HF ramps, but thinks like this give me the heebie jeebies.
 
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I think the progression of steps on my Pine-O-Ramps handle forces different than a large angled face.

The last ramp I slung was a steel ramp going up 4 about a decade back.
Now I do one ramp, two ramp, and four ramp jobs without issues.
 
Originally Posted by R1jake
On a concrete slick garage floor I always put something under the ramps to keep them from sliding only my set was wanting to slide forward before putting something underneath. Usually use a piece of carpet or something.

Yep. I use two pieces of carpet padding on the smooth concrete.
 
Originally Posted by NormanBuntz
Originally Posted by R1jake
On a concrete slick garage floor I always put something under the ramps to keep them from sliding only my set was wanting to slide forward before putting something underneath. Usually use a piece of carpet or something.

Yep. I use two pieces of carpet padding on the smooth concrete.


Great idea, Rhino Ramps + smooth concrete is dangerous especially w/FWD vehicles.
 
Sad thing is, this ~47yr/old concrete garage floor isn't really smooth.

Like a poster above mentioned. What did me in is I lost momentum on my way up and goosed the throttle just a bit too much on this little 100hp monster. LOL!

A shame too because I liked these ramps. The one is now junk. I like the carpeting idea.

What sucks about a little econo box like this Versa is, everything underneath is flimsy sheet metal. I'm talking like soda can. You have to use the pinch welds for jacking. I've got 3 different 'pinch weld adapters' for my floor jacks. One puck, one fab'd aluminum job and one channel steel job. None of them are a really great fit on this car, but can be safely used.

I guess the good thing is a think I finally got the rattling heat shield fixed with by adding a fender washer to one of the screw mounts.

Disturbing the amount of under body rust spots on a 2015 with ~48K miles on it and I coated it with fluid film in the fall. Only owned the car a year.
 
MIne collapsed a few months ago and they replaced them with the heavier model at no charge. Very commendable. Had to send pics.


However, the new heavier ones are starting to split as well. Not bad enough to scare me, though.
 
I only get the heaviest rated Rhino ramps. A slick floor will affect pretty much any brand, but the Rhino's do seem to be prone to this condition. Make sure to check the underbody for damage, and have any ramp-to-body scrapes touched up properly to prevent further rust.
 
Originally Posted by JTK


What sucks about a little econo box like this Versa is, everything underneath is flimsy sheet metal. I'm talking like soda can. You have to use the pinch welds for jacking. I've got 3 different 'pinch weld adapters' for my floor jacks. One puck, one fab'd aluminum job and one channel steel job. None of them are a really great fit on this car, but can be safely used.

I guess the good thing is a think I finally got the rattling heat shield fixed with by adding a fender washer to one of the screw mounts.

Disturbing the amount of under body rust spots on a 2015 with ~48K miles on it and I coated it with fluid film in the fall. Only owned the car a year.


Nissan's, Mazda's ... they do not use a good phosphating process on the steel stampings (i.e. the wishbones, other suspension members) - followed by good E-Coat. So the suspension members and the subframes rust like crazy. Also, in reality, the pinch-weld flange is hard-to-protect (sharp corners / small-radius surfaces are hard to paint properly)... and so when the galvanizing is poor (as it is on a Mazda) - rust occurs. Unfortunate...
 
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Originally Posted by Gebo
MIne collapsed a few months ago and they replaced them with the heavier model at no charge. Very commendable. Had to send pics.


However, the new heavier ones are starting to split as well. Not bad enough to scare me, though.


when i was looking for ramps i read some bad reviews about the new style Rhino ramps on amazon. because of the reviews i looked for a set of the older style . Got them for $20 like new. the old one can't stack together like the new ones though
 
Originally Posted by Egg_Head
Originally Posted by NormanBuntz
Originally Posted by R1jake
On a concrete slick garage floor I always put something under the ramps to keep them from sliding only my set was wanting to slide forward before putting something underneath. Usually use a piece of carpet or something.

Yep. I use two pieces of carpet padding on the smooth concrete.


Great idea, Rhino Ramps + smooth concrete is dangerous especially w/FWD vehicles.


I've had my Rhino ramps for about 7 years now. Been doing this exact thing this whole time issue free. OP went up the ramps too fast; they didn't slide.

Perhaps soft gravel would be better? It'd keep the ramps from sliding.

In all seriousness, I'd argue a rear wheel drive car would be dangerous. FWD just crawls up whereas a RWD could push them. I've used ramps on a 4WD a few times and always engage the front wheels.
 
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