Handy Bros, Help Me Out!

[BrutalB83]

Let me guess, now you're going to offer to drive it for me twice a month too, lol?

 

[Briansol]

Why don't you just buy snow tires? $400 bucks for a set...

 

[jamesA]

Let me guess, now you're going to offer to drive it for me twice a month too, lol?

haha dammit! you've seen right through my ploy...

 

[BrutalB83]

Well, it's not just the lack of snow tires. I'm just trying to keep the car as pristine as possible. Winters are harsh here and they salt the roads terribly. Plus, the apartment I'm at right now doesn't even have covered parking (well, it does, but only one spot and I gave it to my roommate for a break on the rent), so it'd be completely out in the elements all winter long.

EDIT: And I do store other stuff in this garage too, so it's not just the car that I have it for.

EDIT # 2: And it's not a bad neighborhood or anything, but I've had people at apartments fuck with far shittier cars than this, so I'd rather not have it sitting around there all the time.

The car is 8 years old now and zero rust on the body and hardly any on the underside or suspension either, which is pretty rare for a Michigan car that's driven semi-regularly.

The storage place is only a couple miles away from my apartment, so it's easy to get the car whenever I want it. I have a shitty, rusty 95 Civic for a DD.

 

[eg6sir]

Just get an 8' 2x10

 

[B16]

Wont you need to anchor it somehow too? I see that thing slipping off when pulling the car back out.

 

[BrutalB83]

Wont you need to anchor it somehow too? I see that thing slipping off when pulling the car back out.

Well, just the loose boards by themselves haven't slipped off when backing out yet, so I'm hoping it will be alright.

 

[Briansol]

You could always spray it with some of the spray anti-slip stuff (like a rubber coating), or find a way to put a wedge in it like a door stop

 

[BrutalB83]

You could always spray it with some of the spray anti-slip stuff (like a rubber coating), or find a way to put a wedge in it like a door stop

Yeah! I was thinking of doing that, actually. Any recommendations on what to spray them with?

 

[TurboMirage]

mix coarse kitty litter into a bucket of your favorite paint and roll t on.

 

[Briansol]

naw, use some bed liner spray or anti-slip stuff for stairs like:

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Rust-Oleum-EpoxyShield-12-oz-Anti-Slip-Aerosol-268652/203483351

says it works on wood

 

[chestercheeto48]

I keep my RSX in a storage unit for the winter. The unit is built on a big slab, and then each stall has it's own slightly recessed slab, so it's kind of a "step up" to get in to it.

See shitty MS Paint illustration # 1 for a visual:

View attachment 22760

I can get the car in without any sort of ramp if I give it a decent amount of gas, but it's a little more abrupt then I like, so I just chopped up an 8' 2x6 in to four 2' parts, and I lay the boards down next to each other (2 per wheel) to use as ramps.

See shitty MS Paint illustration # 2 for a visual:

View attachment 22761

This works well enough most times, but sometimes the boards will move around a bit if I don't hit them just right. Also, it's annoying to have to lay them out and pick them up individually every time and I also have to line them up with the wheels pretty precisely seeing as two 2 x 6 boards next to each other are just barely wider than the RSX's tires.

SO, I'd like to build something a bit more permanent and quicker/easier. I'm thinking get a 12 foot 2 x 6 and once again chop it in to 2' sections. This will give me three 2 x 6 boards for each side, so I can have a wider surface and can then be less precise with my placement. I also want to attach the three boards together and then screw some handles on to the sides to form two ramps that are quick and easy to lay down and pick up.

See shitty MS Paint illustration # 3 (attachment # 3) for the proposed ramp:

View attachment 22762

So my question is, what's the best and most secure way to fasten the three side by side boards together?

Sorry, I'm sure this is elementary shit for some of you guys. I have tools and I'm perfectly capable of being handy, I just don't have much experience with building shit out of wood...

Take the boards you already have. Add wood glue between each face of the boards then screw them together till the glue sets. As long as the boards aren't kept in the elements they will be fine.

 

[Jeef]

Kreg pocket screws would work but dont know if they will handle the weight, but it might work.

Is there enough room to bolt on a piece of wood underneath?

 

[BrutalB83]

Take the boards you already have. Add wood glue between each face of the boards then screw them together till the glue sets. As long as the boards aren't kept in the elements they will be fine.

Huh? I'm not attaching them face to face. That would make the ramps super thin. They're laid side by side. I suppose I could still add some wood glue to the mix, but how would I screw them together? Go from the top of one board into another at an angle?

 

[BrutalB83]

Kreg pocket screws would work but dont know if they will handle the weight, but it might work.

Is there enough room to bolt on a piece of wood underneath?

Yeah, I think there is. I'm probably going to go that route, or try E's tow strap idea.

 

[Matts96HB]

What, are you guys all engineers?

Lol

@BrutalB83 If it were me I'd stop at your local Ace/Home Depot/Lowes and go to the metals section. They have short lengths of steel with holes pre-drilled in them. I'd use a couple of those and run some screws into the boards to hold them together. For a handle, I'd stop by the cabinetry section and grab a cabinet door handle for each side.

 

[reckedracing]

the metal strips idea is nice, but the cabinet door handles would need to be drilled from the back and you would need to buy extra long screws to go through the thicker board
i would look for some type of handle that you can just screw from the face

 

[E_SolSi]

i would look for some type of handle that you can just screw from the face

 

[chestercheeto48]

Sorry I misinterpreted your sketch. You could still glue the edges and screw at an angle with some pre drilling. You could also get some pre drilled metal stock and screw them across the underside with some 1 inch screws as brackets. Think like the back side of a fence gate. The metal stock you can get at any home improvement store.

 

[92stoccord]

You could also use grip tape on the bottom side. Then do a kick flip. I have a friend who drives to Michigan weekly from Ohio. He tells me I haven't seen shit for bad roads till I've been there. He busted a rim on I believe the Jefferson bridge? On a brand new rental Maxima, on a hole that went all the way through the bridge. to the water.