It really helps to know some bakground when offering or getting counciling on projects to build and equip to buy. I am all paint fumed up now so I can really ramble. Sounds like a fun project, just always err on the heavier side. Never just a floorjack what if the cylinder blows a seal? And concrete blocks are terrible as well. I never work under a vehicle without redundant jackstands. It still would be a good idea to put a few wooden blocks under the ramps once they are lifted for redundancy. Make the lift so that the uprights are under your tires when it is lifted off the ground so the load path goes straight to ground. If you drive on it with the ramps flat on the ground then that deflection is a non-issue, but if you can drive on it raised then you need to address the deflection.
You may want to tie them together in a few places so they can't twist. Two 2x4x3/16 tubes per ramp with the 2" faces contacting the checkerplate sounds pretty decent before actually running any deflection calcs. And you can't measure accurately at the cut ends.
Of course what you buy off the shelf will also likely be on the thin side. Their material probably tends toward the thinner side as most mills seem to try to use as little material possible and still meet minimum requirements of the spec. O89, DEPENDING ON MATERIAL AVAILABILITY AT TIME OF CONSTRUCTION>Off the shelf steel is 36 ksi vs the above 80 ksi yield strength. On the other hand, at the cost of steel, $1,000.00 isn't bad for a price.ĪNSWER: KWIKLIFT IS CONSTRUCTED OF HIGH STRENGTH LOW ALLOY 80000 LB. No much to service back there that you can't simply crawl to. Do you really need the back end of your truck off the ground? If not, all you need is ramps. The pivot idea is cool, but for a truck, why not just make it with both ends high and drive up with ramps and forget the pivot. There should be lots of plans and specs for those. It's like building a car hauling trailer, but with no wheels or axles. O89, DEPENDING ON MATERIAL AVAILABILITY AT TIME OF CONSTRUCTION Any ideas? From their site:ĪNSWER: KWIKLIFT IS CONSTRUCTED OF HIGH STRENGTH LOW ALLOY 80000 LB. The design seems simple enough, but I'm wondering what to make the ramps from? Maybe 2"x4" 0.188" rectangular tube and 1/8" checkerplate? I'd like to be able to drive a fullsize 3/4 ton pickup with a large toolbox on it, so I'd need it to be about 20' long.