Mike Mercury Ramp Design

Mike Mercury

Car Ramps C5. C6, C7

our 2002/mods/carcover/reducing interior noise/ham radio/3.42 upgrade

Works fine on C7's !

Hey, I am a cheap guy. I was in the market for car ramps for my Corvette but didn't like what I found, nor did I like the prices either. So I decided to make a set. Through my measuring I found that the maximum rise angle for my non-lowered standard suspension 2002Corvette Coupe was 9 degrees. But I also found that once the front wheels were elevated 4.5", it could tolerate a 15 degree rise.

Here is the side view of the overall design:

My goals were:

* have an overall lift of 10" so I could use a creeper

* have no contact with the ramp to any part of the car body

* have a 12" overall width for use with the rear wheels as well

* have a 12" long landing pad (now at 14" per requests).

To build, I purchased:

* two 2x10x10' boards

* one 4'x4' sheet of 5/8" plywood

* screws and glue

all for $38

NOTE; all measurements shown on the bottom of the drawing are measured from that bottom right edge; starting from zero.

if your C5 is lowered, click here

The most frequent question I get asked is: why did I switch to 15 degrees rise mid-way? The reason: to achieve the 10" lift, the ramps would of been too long and heavy with a constant 9 degree rise.

Layout the first side and cut it out. The second side comes from the remaining portion of the same board. Be sure to maximize the leftover parts of the 2x10 board. You will need to use full width left-over pieces to make the cross bracing.

After you have all the sides cut, then make cross braces from the remaining part. (the 4.5" location brace is a 2x4) and assemble. The internal width (between the two sides) is 9.25"

Then plank the top with 3 pieces of plywood and attach an end stop at the back edge of the landing pad.

Note on plywood selection:

* do not use anything less than 5/8" thick

*do not use anything less than 5 ply

* do not use particle board, chip, nor wafer board.

To avoid any "scooting" I cut a 45 degree bevel on the front lip of the ramps, then I place the front edge of the ramps against the tires, then kick them which wedges the ramps underneath the front of the tires.

There is 1/8" clearance from the front rubber skirt to the ramp surface at its closest point:

Since my ramps will never be used outdoors I did not use treated wood. Some may think the 10" lift is too high for oil changes. In that case, just simply pull your tires to the 4.5" lift mark and stop there.

email Tim

Safety notice: Use at your own risk. This design is not UL approved. Nor has it been tested by the AMA, OSHA, FBI, MTV, or Muppet Labs. Also, NBC News did not shoot toy rockets at the ramps to see if they would burst into flames; nor have they edited video or 911 recordings to effect the outcome either