Rhino Ramps for Oil Change

Here are pictures of the constriction of the Power Ramp and the Prius on them.

 

I made this video a year ago. The timing of my stop was very good. The ramp did not slide at all. If you want to see detail of the construction of the ramp, I'll take pics.

[ame=http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3175183213517953777]Prius: Precise control while driving up a ramp (using electric motor)[/ame]

 

If you want to play a prank on someone or scare them, give the car some gas in reverse. I shot the ramps over 6 feet away.

 

I have used 2 by 4 to climb up tall curbs and to break the beads of tires.
Remove Tire

How long are your 2 by 8 peaces of wood?

 

About 2 feet seems to be enough to lift the wheels before the cowling touches the ramp. It does still touch a little bit on the way up, but not enough to matter.



> How long are your 2 by 8 peaces of wood?[/QUOTE]

 

Tsk, that's terribly irresponsible. I always carefully soak up the used oil with a bald eagle.

Seriously, just about any auto parts or service center in the US will accept used oil.

 

please excuse the delay while I pull myself up from the floor ...

 

I picked up a set of the 8,000 lbs Rhino Ramps at Sears today for $37.26 . They weren't in stock but if you order them from a kiosk inside the Sears store they will ship them to your house for free.

Now I need to figure out how to get the rear of the car on jack stands using a floor jack and the rear jack point......

 

I use Rhino Ramps on the front; rear wheels are on the ground. Any reason why you want to jack up the rear?

 

I'd like to have all 4 wheels off the ground and on jack stands to change the transmission fluid myself in another 3k miles. It also makes rotating the tires easier. I refuse to roll the car up on a ramp, put the front end on jack stands then jack up each rear wheel individually. I feel it puts too much stress on the frame. I'd rather roll the car up onto the Rhino Ramps, use my floor jack to get the front end on jack stands then use the rear jacking point to lift the car and place jack stands on the rear end. Perhaps I just need to spend the $200 - $400 for a quality low profile aluminum floor jack? I was hoping to avoid that....

 

what size threads is on the prius oil drain plug
in order to get a drain valve?

 

You totally don't need ramps to do a tranny-fluid change. Unweighting
the front a little bit [stock jack on one side, maybe your floor
jack on the other] helps get a little more clearance, but it
really doesn't have to be way up in the air unless you're
seriously barrel-chested.
.
_H*

 

I'm more concerned with having the car level so I don't overfill the transmission.

 

I found that the threads on a bottle of Captain Morgan Long Island iced tea match the oil fill cap. Just cut the bottom of the bottle off, screw on, and you can dump the whole jug in seconds.