I am considering doing more of my under-car maintenance on my 97 Miata. I have looked into both drive on ramps and jack stands with a floor jack for elevating the car. Anyone have an opinion as to which is safest? Should I use a particular size or capacity of stands? If I go the ramp direction, will the slope of the car affect the adequate drainage of the various drain plugs I want to access? I do know which end of a wrench to hold but sliding beneath any car is not something I want to do until I feel that it won't fall on top of me!
DIY Under-car work
- Thread starter fxpthl
- Start date
Ramps are the safest for sure. You can get REALLY solid plastic ramps @ any Advance Auto / Auto Zone / Etc for like $30-40. Once the car is on the ramps, it would take an act of god to get it knocked off.
I'm glad you at least asked before posting a picture on the web of you working under the car only supported by the scissor jack... I can't tell you how many times I've seen that. Scary crap... THAT is a dumb idea.
The ones I got are 8000 lb (total) ramps:
http://shop.advanceautoparts.com/we...cle-Ramps-Blitz_9040020-P_N3400_T|GRP2042____
These EASILY will hold my pathfinder, that I use to tow the Miata.... that is to say that they also work with my Miata, my VW Jetta and my old Protege just fine lol.
Cheap, CHEAP life insurance if you know what I mean
For basic maintenance these are fine.
For more intensive stuff, suspension work, clutch changes, etc etc, you want something that will safely get the car up higher. I have a couple sets of REALLY stout jack-stands that I use for that (WAY over-rated for my 1750 lb miata lol) that work great. I just take GREAT care when getting the car dropped down on them to make sure the car is sitting right on them, and to make sure they are sitting right on the floor.
I'm glad you at least asked before posting a picture on the web of you working under the car only supported by the scissor jack... I can't tell you how many times I've seen that. Scary crap... THAT is a dumb idea.
The ones I got are 8000 lb (total) ramps:
http://shop.advanceautoparts.com/we...cle-Ramps-Blitz_9040020-P_N3400_T|GRP2042____
These EASILY will hold my pathfinder, that I use to tow the Miata.... that is to say that they also work with my Miata, my VW Jetta and my old Protege just fine lol.
Cheap, CHEAP life insurance if you know what I mean
For basic maintenance these are fine.
For more intensive stuff, suspension work, clutch changes, etc etc, you want something that will safely get the car up higher. I have a couple sets of REALLY stout jack-stands that I use for that (WAY over-rated for my 1750 lb miata lol) that work great. I just take GREAT care when getting the car dropped down on them to make sure the car is sitting right on them, and to make sure they are sitting right on the floor.
Thanks aMaff for your great advice. I was still wondering though, when you put your car up on the jack stands, do you use a hydraulic floor jack or just the scissor jack? Seeing as how I won't be doing this kind of under-the-car maintenance that often, the expense of the floor jack might be prohibitive at this time. You did not mention in your reply about whether or not the angle would affect getting most of the fluids out of the trans. and/or the differential. Thanks again.
I would highly recommend getting a hydraulic floor jack. The scissor jack takes forever to get the car up since it's basically designed to change out a flat out on road somewhere and save space in the car instead of lift the car up on jack stands. It's a very worthwhile investment along with a good set of jack stands. Ramps are good for oil changes but they won't be good enough for working on the car from underneath such as exhaust removal and whatnot. You'll need a pair of jack stands anyway to lift to rear up to level the car out for draining transmission and differential fluid.
