motorhome ramps (1 Viewer)

[Colin and Jaen Andrews]

Hi
We are looking for ramps that we can drive the front of our RV up on. Does anyone make these that would take the weight. oh: Our Rv is 34ft and 7.5 tonne. We use wooden blocks under the jacks and they are fine so wondering if we could utulise the idea by making them longer and sloped to drive the wheels up.

Does anyone else use similar ramp idea for when we are on sloping pitches - we could get level but would take front wheels off the ground - not a good idea.

Any ideas out there pse

Many thanks:thanks2:

Jaen

 

[Bulletguy]

Hi
We are looking for ramps that we can drive the front of our RV up on. Does anyone make these that would take the weight. oh: Our Rv is 34ft and 7.5 tonne.

Any ideas out there pse

A quick Google turned this up.....Aluminium Ramps - Vehicle, Plant, Motorbike, ATV and Quad Ramps, Disabled Ramps

They custom build almost any kind of ramp to an individuals 'spec' and build ramps to take up to 20 tonne so no problem there! However, i suspect they won't be cheap and what you really need is to get the services of a local small metal fabrication company and skilled engineer. They would do the job at a fraction of the price.

 

[dikyenfo]

I use two plastic ramps side - by - side so doubling up on the width and weight carrying capacity and also have thick planks under also when necessary but drill through so a 6 in nail will hold them all together on soft ground when otherwise movement will occur. I use a bike rack to store them on with the spare wheel as getting that swine out from under would be too much of a pain. Hope this gives you the general idea.

 

[pappajohn]

i think any ramps would have to be extremely robust to take that much weight and also very, very heavy.
can you not just use the jacks to get the height then put the wooden blocks under the wheels then raise the jacks to suit

im sure the jacks are capable of lifting the wheels well clear of the ground without any undue strain.

if they werent meant to lift the wheels they would be limited to wheel height only.

 

[scotjimland]

Hi Jaen

The Fiama ramps won't take the weight, I tried and cracked them, then they collapsed .. if I had jacks like you I would jack up then place bocks of timber under the front wheels.. but I don't, so I use bits of timber, usually scrounged from around the site and just roll onto it.. I've seen guys with big home made wooden ramps , but carrying them must be a pain.. they need to be made of heavy timber and have a slow incline.

On our present site I had to put large pieces of 3/4 ply board under the rear wheels as we were slowly sinking into the mud..

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[moandick]

Hi Colin and Jaen

We carry a set of wooden planks 8 inches wide 2 inches deep and about 3'6" or 4'6" long.

We went to a timber mill and ordered 4 x 8 foot long (8 x 2 inch) planed flat 'Tannelised' planks.

We then cut each plank into two using a 60 degree cut across the plank. Difficult to describe but that 60 degree cut allowed us to drive up onto the plank - it gave us the wedge shape for the ramp.

One plank was then about 4 ft 6 long whilst the bit we cut off was about 3ft 6 long - which means that when we put the short plank on top of the long plank the 60 degree cut lines up in one long slope for the tyre to ride up onto the top of a 4 inch deep ramp.

You need one ramp for each front tyre and two more for each tyre on one side at the rear. So you end up with 4 planks that are 4'6" long with a 60 degree slope at one end - and another 4 planks that are about 3'6" long - again with a 60 degree slope at one end.

You must ensure that the plank is wide enough for the complete width of tread to sit happily and long enough so that you have just enough room to drive on to it without falling straight off the other end - if that makes sense.

With our combination we have never been foxed by any slope (within reason) and we have once been able to use them laid end to end to drive over a very soft puddle!

 

[moandick]

I hear what the others say about taking the weight on the jacks then putting the blocks underneath before lowering the jacks back down so that the tyre rests on the wooden block. That is fine, in my opinion, for someone with four jacks - but my Monaco has only three - the jack at the front is in the centre of the front axle.

Bearing in mind my wife is sometimes in a wheel chair and cannot help me very much when we are 'pitching - so the first time I lifted the front of the RV (a pusher) off the ground, I tried to go out of the (front corner) door to place the blocks and my extra weight was enough to 'drop' the RV on that front corner wheel and very nearly bent the jack - it didn't because I had foreseen that there might be a problem and was being very, very cautious.

Since then I drive (or reverse) onto the planks come what may!

 

[olley]

Hi Dick why do you need planks? surely you have jacks.

Ok just seen your post, but still don't see why you need planks, Monaco design it to be safe on three.

Olley

 

[scotjimland]

We carry a set of wooden planks 8 inches wide 2 inches deep and about 3'6" or 4'6" long.

We went to a timber mill and ordered 4 x 8 foot long (8 x 2 inch) planed flat 'Tannelised' planks.

We then cut each plank into two using a 60 degree cut across the plank. Difficult to describe but that 60 degree cut allowed us to drive up onto the plank - it gave us the wedge shape for the ramp.

One plank was then about 4 ft 6 long whilst the bit we cut off was about 3ft 6 long - which means that when we put the short plank on top of the long plank the 60 degree cut lines up in one long slope for the tyre to ride up onto the top of a 4 inch deep ramp.

You need one ramp for each front tyre and two more for each tyre on one side at the rear. So you end up with 4 planks that are 4'6" long with a 60 degree slope at one end - and another 4 planks that are about 3'6" long - again with a 60 degree slope at one end.

Hi Dick .. I like this idea, must try and make a set..:Cool: then find space to store them..

Cheers

Jim

 

[Colin and Jaen Andrews]

Wow fantastic help as always



Huge thanks for all the ideas - had not thought of lifting wheels and putting blocks under - will def give that a go - yep one of the concerns was the weight of these when travelling so the blocks would be great, less weight.

Dont you just love this site :thumb:- someone somewhere always comes up with an answer - yippee - hope we can help someone eventually and return the favour.

:thanks:

Cheers
Jaen

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[Bulletguy]

Huge thanks for all the ideas - had not thought of lifting wheels and putting blocks under - will def give that a go - yep one of the concerns was the weight of these when travelling so the blocks would be great, less weight.

A note of caution on storing wood blocks inside your rv/mh/van or whatever.

I once bought a caravan where the previous owner had stored the wood blocks (used for parking up) just behind one of the wheel arches. The arch leaked during driving in rain and the blocks soaked the water up like blotting paper. I knew nothing about this until the first rain came along as i'd bought the van during a long spell of dry weather.

 

[JayDee]

A note of caution on storing wood blocks inside your rv/mh/van or whatever.

I once bought a caravan where the previous owner had stored the wood blocks (used for parking up) just behind one of the wheel arches. The arch leaked during driving in rain and the blocks soaked the water up like blotting paper. I knew nothing about this until the first rain came along as i'd bought the van during a long spell of dry weather.

When I made up some wooden blocks (a bit like described earlier. but smaller) it occured to me that they would need to be waterproof, so I liberally coated them with whatever they call creosote now. The main down side to this is - you've probably guessed - the smell, which still transfers to my hands even after a year or more. But they work a treat. :thumb:

John

 

[scotjimland]

Re waterproofing..

there is a clue in Dick's post . .........

We went to a timber mill and ordered 4 x 8 foot long (8 x 2 inch) planed flat 'Tannelised' planks.

 

[ruffingitsmoothly]

I have to give a word of warning here

Be very careful using planks of wood I read somewhere I think it was the ARVE mag that someone in the States had driven onto a couple of planks of wood to save sinking and when he reversed off the planks flipped up catching the front cap and as good as pushed it off the front of the RV


Regards Pat

 

[Road Runner]

Hi Jaen

The Fiama ramps won't take the weight, I tried and cracked them, then they collapsed .. if I had jacks like you I would jack up then place bocks of timber under the front wheels.. but I don't, so I use bits of timber, usually scrounged from around the site and just roll onto it.. I've seen guys with big home made wooden ramps , but carrying them must be a pain.. they need to be made of heavy timber and have a slow incline.

On our present site I had to put large pieces of 3/4 ply board under the rear wheels as we were slowly sinking into the mud..

Mine collapse first time out so i am sticking to the wooden planks (nearly £30 down the swanny)

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[pappajohn]

Mine collapse first time out so i am sticking to the wooden planks (nearly £30 down the swanny)

same here but mine sank in the middle......
now they are not only banana coloured but one is a banana.

 

[moandick]

Hi Pat

I read about that plank almost taking the front cap off the RV but I have to admit that I thought it was in this country - anyway nevertheless - it is a good warning and well heeded!

One of the reasons that I use a fairly long plank on the bottom (apart from not wanting to fall off the end) is that the slope of the ramp at 60 degrees is quite long and not quite so likely to flip when the wheel comes off the end. I have to be honest and say that I do drive off them until I feel the wheels go down onto the ground - then I stop and check - hopefully at that stage being able to remove them. I don't like the idea of driving to far forwards or backwards whilst they are still under me - so to speak.

Hi Olley

Yes I agree that the triangle of jacks is probably perfectly safe - Monaco think that a triangle of Jacks is less likely to cause a longitudinal twist than four jacks badly adjusted.

But - and it is only BUT - I have heard on the grapevine that if you lift the front too high just on the one jack in the middle of the RV - you can displace the central column on the windscreen and suddenly you get leaks on the outer edge of the screen where the screens have not gone back properly into their original position. Probably a bit like someone was saying on here a while back about reversing onto a ferry to get over the high ramp onto the ferry. Yes you can do it but the extreme twist on the front of the body doesn't do the seating of the windscreen any favours.

And I am not willing to experiment just yet! Anyway - when I did try to lift the wheels off the ground and then get off the RV - the way to RV sagged to one side was not for the faint-hearted so I gave up and ran for cover.

 

[Jim]

I made some fancy plank ramps but I must have got angle wrong, they were 2" thick and I cut them at about 45 degrees. The RV just pushed them along rather than mount them. (At Peterboro last year Bryan was too scared to hold them firm with his boot) If I turn them around to the 90, the tyres bite easily and climbs up.

 

[tuscancouple]

Now we're only a light weight at 6.4t with 1.9t of that on the front wheels, so use the large Fiama ramps where we need to have the front higher, rather than lift the front wheels off the ground with the jacks. Not sure I'd be too happy with that, though can see some logic if you're then going to drop the front wheels down onto wooden blocks.

Mick