Ruby's Rails

I still can't believe that summer is more than half-way over. My To-Do list is still extremely long, and practically nothing has been accomplished. Where is the time going!??!

One of the little projects I've been wanting to work on lately is a driveway ramp which will allow me to move the in-work cars (which generally don't have functioning engines or transmissions or drive train mechanisms) out onto the driveway so that I can use the garage to do the actual work (i.e. welding, drilling, cutting, etc.). 

The driveway has a roughly 13-to-1 slope (1 inch vertical drop for every 13 inches horizontal distance) which worked out to be a single 2x4 thickness every 20 inches, so I designed a simple set of wooden ramps built out of my favorite building material.

The design uses 3 standard 96" 2x4s laid side-by-side for each wheel track, with stacked layers of diminishing length underneath:

1st layer (top): 96" length

2nd layer: 76" length

3rd layer: 56" length

4th layer: 36" length

5th layer: 16" length

Total height = 5 x 1.5" = 7.5"

The main purpose of the ramp (or "rails" as I like to call it) is to allow me to move Serenity out of the 3rd bay so I can get my power tools moved out of the basement, but there's too much junk piled all around the car right now, so I'm testing the ramp design with Ruby, who is currently sitting in the 2nd bay.

First thing was to make sure Ruby can actually roll along the cement. I've, um, "borrowed" a few parts off of her in order to keep some of the other cars in working order, so certain things are missing. But for today's purpose, she seems to roll OK. Not perfect, but OK.

Ruby waits for a chance to go outside

The rails are relatively easy to produce, since they are simply two sets of 3 stacks of each length of board, all screwed together, with 1x4s used for bracing between the 1st and 3rd stack in each set.

Ruby's Rails, showing the slope

Due to the weight of the aggregate sets, I only attached the bracing between the inner and outer stacks of each set, leaving the inner stack out so I could more easily move the ramps around. Now is not the time to hurt my back trying to lift stacks of 2x4s! The picture below shows the two main sets with the cross-bracing at the bottom. Alongside each paired stack is the associated inner stack which will be placed in the middle of each set.  Notice tha tthe set on the left has a "stop" block attached at the top to keep the car from rolling too far.

Ruby's Rails, showing the Stacks and Cross-Ties

The picture below shows the two sets with the center stacks inserted in place.

Ruby's Rails, with Center Sections in Place

After assembling the rails, it was time to set them up in the driveway and roll Ruby backwards onto them. Very slowly and carefully.

Ruby Heading Outside

Note that I kept extra stop-blocks (chocks) handy all along the way. I'm nothing if not paranoid about something going wrong!

Ruby finally got to the end of the ramp without any difficulty; the big test was to find out how easily it would be to move her back and forth along the ramp. Any kind of incline was going to make it very difficult, as she is a very heavy car.

But, surprise of surprises, the early calculations paid off, and she moved very easily back off the ramp and into the garage again!

This is as far as it goes ... so far

One of the best parts of the design, which I hadn't really thought about, was that the ramps easily store underneath the car without taking up any extra room in the garage.

When We're Done, the Rails are Tucked Underneath

So now Ruby is back in place, ready to be rolled out whenever I need her out of the way, and this weekend I'll be able to use the ramps to move Serenity out of the third bay.

At the End of the Day, Everything Put Away!

All in all, a very satisfying couple of days being creative!