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Failed ramp construction, How do I make it work?

it's incredible how many times i've loaded my moto by myself onto a truck bed/back of van using inappropriate equipment.

making a foldable ramp was your first mistake. why are you messing with hinges? you're just asking for them to fail.

all you need is to find an appropriately angled driveway that you can park your truck against. the ideal situation would be a driveway angled down with the street angled up away from it, making a mild V. that will effectively lower the height of your truck's tailgate as well as shorten the necessary length of the ramp. just use one piece of wood to bridge the gap. i've loaded a very heavy '71 Honda CB500 into the back of a pickup truck this way by myself. it's stupid and i don't recommend it, but it will work better than what you're trying to do.

whatever yo do, don't film it and put it on youtube.
 
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Get 3-4 pieces of wood. Bolt them all together after stacking them on each-other. then cut top and bottom 45 degrees so you can lay even with the ground
 
f' me, I love BARF.... this thread made my day.
 
1. Take botched ramp and throw it in the garbage can
2. Go buy proper arched ramp.
3. Profit!!

You would have been better off just to skip the hinges and deal with the one large board. I did that for years when I first started back in the olden days. :p At this point, don't do that. Search c/l and find a used ramp close to you. Bite the bullet now rather than later when your bike falls off the home brew version.
 
I really hatez it wen peeps out 'banjoboy" me! :x
 
Hubbard 0 said:
So with my moving, I needed some ramps to get the bike out west (Coming from Illinois). I didn't want to shell out big money so I thought I would make my own. I bough ramp ends from autozone and (2) 2x10s at 10' long. I cut those in half and was going to make a fold able ramp that would be compact. I bought the biggest, beefiest hinges at home depot. I then drilled and bolted in 2 hinges per ramp. Upon walking up the ramp as an initial test the hinges spread open and turned to shit.

So I see my options as:

Find new beefy hinges (quick because I have to pack the bike up by next week)
Bolt on a 3 ft. extension and rock solid 8 ft. ramps (Bed with tailgate down is 8ft)
Build a "kickstand" to support the hinge or use another form of support.

Here's some pictures of my attempt.







Looking for some constructive input here.
Click to expand...


Shervin ? Is that you !!??
 
Bronto said:
Heh see If I can use words to paint a picture :D

Butt together the two 2x6. Place a 3ft 2x6 evenly over the butt joint. Use carriage bolts to fasten the 3ft board to other two boards. Two carriage bolts at each end of the 3ft board. One more carriage bolt in the middle of 2x6 @ 3" about 10" from the butt joint.

Picture a long length of 2x6 with a small length of 2x6 attached at its middle.

Use two of these with a 2-3ft width of 3/4" exterior grade plywood.(Use real ply not other stuff :D ) A width can place a foot down and the bike is walked up the ramp.

A safety chain connecting the ramp to the truck so it doesn't shift off the tailgate.

Added strength by using a tension cable under the 2x6. Put a spacer in middle of the 2x6 board to get an angle for the cable. A block made of multiple pieces of 4x 2x6 will do it. Use a metal plate near the end of each 2x6. Mound the plate using multiple wood screws. Drill one 3/8" hole through the 2x6 and plate. Use a carriage bolt with two large washers and nut. Make up a 1/4" cable the length of board plus one turnbuckle. Tighten the cable loop around the 3/8" bolt between two large washers. Tighten the carriage bolt having the cable leading towards the center of the board. Do the same with other side and connect the turnbuckle. Tighten the cable to get a twang sound when plucked.

I know there is assembly required everytime its used. If the boards are mounted to the plywood. Having two shorter length of ply is not unreasonable. The center 2x6 lapping board and then cable connecting is all needed to do.
Click to expand...

Bronto said:
agree the metal ramps are the siznit.
Talking how to salvage the wood ramp.

Another design is turning the 2x6 vertical, like a flooring joist. Again using Plywood to make the ramp wide and stable. This time mount the 2x6" to extend past the middle section of ply by 12-18". Position the 2x6 to interlace with the other 2x6"s. Going to overlap 2x6 on one half right next to other half 2x6. Drill one hole towards the end on the extended 2x6 and through the 2x6 its laping.

In other words - there is two half's of the ramp. Ply and 2x6 screwed together. the middle section has 2x6 extended 12-18" beyond the ply. These extensions are positioned to set next to the other half's 2x6. Going to piece these halfs together and bolt the extended 2x6 to other halfs 2x6.

Means there is only four bolts to assemble to extend the ramp. Obviously the ramp on the ground requires the 2x6 to be angle cut. The Tailgate Ramp jigs can be mounted on a beef up Plywood end using a flat section of 2x6 or 2x4.
Click to expand...

You could try to do all the above nonsense or just buy another 2x10 for $10 and don't cut it this time.
 
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Another option. Get some of those ramps for cars where you drive up and raise one end of the vehicle so you can work underneath it. Use them on the front of the truck to raise it and angle the rear down. Use an angled driveway for more angle. Position the high part of the ramps so that when the front of the truck is up on them, the rear wheels are in the gutter. With the combined angles from the ramps and the driveway, you should be able to use three simple lengths of board. One for the bike, the other two on either side for your feet. Make sure you put some anti-slip stuff on the boards and make sure they won't slip off the truck.

What you're trying to do is a waste of time and money. With all the time and money and gas you've spent, you could have bought some decent ramps. Give it up.
 
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