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Driveway Garage Advice


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I lent my original ramps to someone in 1978 and never saw them again. Finally bought a pair for nothing a few years ago but the front apron is too low on our Golf and so I gave them away. 

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I generally use a 3 tonne long reach trolly jack and 5 tonne axle stands.

The long reach trolley jack mostly as the handle is still clear when I am jacking it up, just me being lazy, it will also lift a long way which is handy at times.

Like others I would steer well clear of the cheap pressed steel 2 tonne type trolley jacks, the rated load should be enough but with a LR or just about any 4x4 you will be using it higher up in its travel than on a standard car and as it its gets closer to its limits it can get a bit wobbly. Similarly with the axle stands I have, I mostly use mine with the pin on the first hole under the axle but a few more hole under the chassis, its mostly the extra footprint I want as it keeps things steadier especially if you are yanking things about trying to get suspension arms to bolt up.

I have had a LR roll off a jack in the past (on a slope, lifted one rear wheel, didn't put it in 4x4 (S2a) or chock the front wheels, learned that lesson the hard way!), so I tend to over do jacking and axle stands as that's far better than under doing it.

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I would quite like a trolley jack for the driveway or garage, as fiddling about placing a bottle jack behind the wheel or operating the release valve is a nuisance.

I have a pair of ramps, the HD orange painted type I think came from Halfrauds.  They have been very useful on occasion and seem more than sturdy enough.  I have seen smaller ramps of flimsier steel that I wouldn’t trust.

I got a 2.5t engine crane that is relatively quick to dismantle but also folds up vertically for storage, and that has been very useful for removing gear boxes, engines and moving axles around.  How often it’s helpful depends on the scope of your projects.  
 

Make sure you have a decent set of chocks for securing the car while wheels are off or prop shafts disconnected.  Don’t improvise with bricks, rocks or branches.

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