Rhinoramps Review (Best car ramps!)

I’m just like you. I want to be able to access my car and do some solid work on it without always having to jack it up. I mean, heck, I’m just trying to save some money on an oil change, is that so much to ask?

That’s when ChrisFix introduced me to buy these ramps, and they’re so good I had to write this Rhinoramps review.

If you don’t have a lot of time to read, here’s what you need to know: These ramps are perfect for working on my mustang! In my experience, the Rhinoramps are safe, sturdy, and really help me get under my car without having to spend a ton of time or a fortune setting up jack stands and jacks. It lets me get in and out without risking my life. (And this is from someone who has had their jack collapse on them!)

I highly recommend you buy them. I bought them for $50, but you can check the price here. After my jack incident, I really don’t like having my car up like that. These ramps allow me to have some serious peace of mind when doing simple oil changes

Let’s go into this a little further.

Rhinoramps review, my ford mustang from www.vekhayn.com
Rhinoramps review, my ford mustang from www.vekhayn.com

Discovered Watching a ChrisFix Video

I first discovered the Rhinoramps when I was watching ChrisFix. ChrisFix is an awesome YouTuber that shows you how to fix your cars for free.

Here’s the specific video of his that introduced me to the rhinoramps.

ChrisFix oil change video, showing ramps.

In his video description, he links to the rhinoramps. Additionally, in the video, he uses ramps to change the cars oil.

Rhinoramps Are Very EASY To Use, They Save a Ton of Time!

I’ll cover a bit more about safety and my story about the failed jack in the next section.

But let’s just talk about how easy these are to use. They really do save a ton of time!

Instead of having to wind up a jack that may fail, then taking a risk by trying to set up two different jack stands, you can just use the ramps.

Getting those jacks and jack stands out takes a lot of time. Furthermore, they might not even raise the car high enough for your oil change purposes.

The ramps take about 5 seconds!

Just Put The Ramps Infront of Your Tires

Here’s what I do:

  • Drive my car to the place I’m going to do the oil/coolant change at.
    • So generally just in the road in front of my house.
    • Please do this on a flat surface with wooden blocks behind your wheels. DO NOT DO THIS ON A HILL.
  • Place the rhinoramps directly in front of the tires. Like, I literally push the ramps under my tires essentially on both ends.
    • Make sure they are straight and everything is even. Have a friend double check.
  • Hop in the car and slowly drive it up. You’ll generally be able to know when to stop if not by the sudden and abrupt screeching of the ramps.
  • Put the vehicle in park/gear 1. (you definitely don’t want this rolling back)
    • Pull the emergency brake hard.
  • Put blocks behind your wheels to ensure it doesn’t rollback.
  • I give my car a little nudge to make sure it isn’t going to suddenly split or roll, then I get to work.

The Rhinoramps Give You a Way Bigger Clearance Than Jack Stands/Jacks

Here’s one of the biggest things I wanted to touch on in this rhinoramps review.

In fact, it’s not even just something I realized. A long time ago, I went to buy a few jack stands, and the guy at the O’Reillys counter said, “yo, you trying to change your oil with this? I’d check something else like ramps because these jack stands won’t give you enough clearance”.

Fortunately for me, I already had the ramps, I was just using the jackstands for extra safety.

But here’s the thing, when you jack up your car, it seems like it gives you a lot of room. But, it really doesn’t.

Here’s why:

Your car’s jack points are generally for things like changing brakes or simple maintenance parts. They rely on the rest for just common car mechanic shop lifts. So if you jack your car up and work on your brakes, sure you get a ton of room, but just for that wheel, right?

If you’re using a jack or jack stand to try and change your oil or coolant, you won’t be able to get the car up high enough. Furthermore, they can get in the way and pose a safety risk if you bump into them!

What Are Rhinoramps Good For?

This is probably the real reason you came to this rhinoramps review. I’ll be honest, I used to be the same way. I don’t care about my safety or nothing!! Tell me if this product is good for me! (but seriously, please be safe working on your car)

Rhinoramps are very good for changing oil, changing coolant, getting under a car to look at parts that may be damaged, doing exhaust modifications, general undercarriage work, and are good for saving time.

I use rhinoramps specifically for my oil changes. It’s far better than wasting time or risking being under a jack. Plus, it gives me tons of more room to work on my car and more reliably.

I feel a lot safer pulling heavy on my wrench or breaker bar with the car on ramps than a single jack. But honestly, the clearance the ramps give you is really good!

This helps me move the oil pan under the car, have room to not get oil on me, have room for all my tools, and lastly still have enough room to not feel like I’m in a jail cell!

What Are Rhinoramps NOT Good For?

There are a few things rhinoramps are NOT good for.

Anything involving a wheel coming off, you cannot use rhinoramps for. Obviously, it makes sense as well, you need your wheels on to use the ramps.

But anything that involves the wheels or anything suspension wise, you’re just out of luck here.

There’s no way you can really take off a sway bar for your tire without the entire car collapsing on you under the ramps. That’s something you’ll need a jack and a few jackstands for.

And in general, most engine repairs are a no go. I will not completely rule this out because there are SOME things in the engine you could repair with the ramps.

However, many car dealers actually make it incredibly hard to work on the engine without removing both wheels. Part of this is a safety feature for car accidents so the engine can take the force and not you, but part of this is also poor design.

This is FAR Better Than a Jack, especially after my jack failed… (Most important part of the rhinoramps review!)

Here’s the thing. I don’t like jacks or jackstands.

About 1.5 years ago, I had a jack give out while I was under the car. The wheel was off of my mustang, and the only reason I am alive is because the wheel was turned on its side under the car. That was something Ian always told me to do, without that, I would not be writing this.

I mean I’ll be honest, when I heard the jack fail and saw my car come an inch from my face- I uh- froze? I won’t lie and say I am some superman. Sure, I am tough- but seeing your car come crashing down on you is really a scary experience, to say the least.

I had so much adrenaline I was instantly shaking and couldn’t even sleep for a day straight. I literally stayed up for 28 hours straight, it was a very haunting experience. That was one of the few times I’ve brushed with death, and it’s never pretty.

Needless to say, safety is a priority for me. And sorry ahead of time for covering it so in-depth in this post, but I really don’t want to die working on my car.

Even if the ramp fails, you’re going to be alright usually.

Here’s the thing. If you’re using ramps, you likely don’t need to take any wheels off your car. (otherwise…the ramp wouldn’t really work?)

All cars have a little bit of clearance under them, this is so your car doesn’t hit every tiny pebble on the road.

Now, be safe under these ramps. While in my experience they have been very sturdy, be safe! I never thought my jack would fail, yet here we are.

Now, if you’re changing the oil in your car, let’s assume the ramp fails.

Generally, that would mean the ramp caved in on itself. So one side would come down, placing the tire on the ground.

While you might get knocked in the head by something if you weren’t in the clearest spot, you aren’t going to get crushed or anything. Your car has clearance under it, and you can simply just crawl out, have a friend rejack the car, or call 911.

Regardless, while you might suffer a fractured arm or even break a bone (worse case scenario) you won’t be crushed to death by car.

This is different than a jack/jackstand setup. Generally for those, you’re taking a wheel off. This means if it fails, that entire metal end of the car will come down to the earth where you are laying and unfortunately crush you.

Combine The Ramps with Jackstands + Jacks to Maximize Safety

Hear me out in this Rhinoramps review.

Drive your car up on these ramps, then place a jackstand directly under your axle or other important points. Then take a simple jack, and attach it to a jack point.

This will relieve pressure on the ramps and the other jack stand. Furthermore, in the event a ramp fails, the jack will attempt to hold it, and then it will land on the jack stand(s).

That’s just personally what I do. I’m not some master physics person or anything, I’m just a simple bodybuilder that likes to save money on his car. Following this advice may just save you from injury!

Regardless, it takes a few minutes to put another jack or jack stand under the car and it might just save yourself from getting seriously hurt. So, just do it.

Are Rhino Ramps Safe?

This is a great question. In my experience, rhino ramps are very safe. And even if they fail, they have a very low chance of even injuring you. Here’s why:

  • Only one ramp may fail, leaving the other side of the car up all the way.
  • If the ramp fails, you can just stay under your car. There’s room under your car regardless if there is a ramp or not, so you won’t be crushed or injured.
  • There are four points of balancing the car on the ground, making it so the ramps aren’t lifting everything. This is superior to a jack/jack stand that is single-handedly supporting everything.
  • The rhino ramps are very sturdy in my opinion.

While I can’t advocate for the company, I personally use rhino ramps and tell all my friends to use them!

This isn’t a fake review or anything. That picture in the beginning of the article is my car that I love to death. I work on my car by myself with the rhino ramps all the time, I don’t lie about this stuff.

What is The Rhino Ramps Max Weight?

Officially on their website, it says a safe number is 12,000 lbs. However, I don’t recommend putting anything that heavy on these ramps.

Personally, my mustang is 1.8 tons. That’s 3,600 lbs. I feel very safe with that car on the ramps. The ramps don’t bend or anything.

However, I have heard of freak stories where they put a ford F450 or Ford F550 on these ramps and they fail. These cars are around 12,000+ lbs, and at that point, that’s just not even safe.

If a car weighs more than 4 tons, I don’t recommend putting it anywhere near the ramps. Use a proper industrial, strong, jack stand and jack combo.

A minivan weighs around 3 tons, and I’ve read a ton of people on Amazon talking about how they use it for that. I’d say that’s pretty safe.

Personally what I recommend is this: Drive your car on the ramp. DON’T GO UNDER IT YET. Look at the ramps. Do they look bent? Do they look like they are caving in? If so, that’s not normal.

Obviously, there should be a little stress on the blocks. But if you see very noticeable folding, don’t go under, and use a different method.

Nice Anti-Slip Track

Something I had to touch on was the nice anti-slip track built onto the ramp.

While it’s not perfect, it provides texture to help your tires grip the ramp better.

Uhhh, this might sound weird. But I’ve seen literal ramps that don’t have this. And I think it should go without saying that well, that’s incredibly dangerous.

We all know how hydroplaning works, when your tire is bald and meets asphalt it likes to spin and lose control. The same thing happens with those ramps.

Thankfully, Rhinoramps has some treading in there to save us.

Easy To Store

Haha this is just something I had to include in there for us guys that love having their house clean. Or, if you want to avoid your wife’s wrath, this is an important step!

You can actually stack these racks on top of each other and stand them up. They fit very well in between things or on shelves too. I personally put mine under a tool shelf next to the freezer in the garage.

It’s really convenient that they stack, it just takes up a lot less room. I just thought it was something to note for some of us out there that don’t leave their garage a mess. But, each man their own.

FAQ

Rhino Ramps Height?

The rhino ramps are roughly 36″ long, and about 8-9 inches tall. Regardless, this will give you a much higher clearance than a jack or jack stand and will still give you a ton of safety.

Rhino Ramps Warranty

Here are some resources if you’re looking for the rhino ramps warranty:

Rhino Ramps Failure?

There’s always a first time for failure. No matter how great something is, there is always a risk of failure. That’s why you still be careful and take precautions even if your car is on 5 jackstands.

Some people on the Amazon page and forums have all reported failures. However, it seems most of these times it’s because the wheels are not centered, this means that the ramp will collapse from uneven weight distribution.

An easy fix to this is just having a friend guide you on the ramp, or putting the ramp directly up to your tire.

A good thing is though, it seems these ramps fail the moment you drive it up on the ramp, not while you’re under it. That means, usually, you’ll figure out if it’s safe or not ahead of time.

Regardless, while rhino ramps are fairly safe follow these tips from me so I can keep you alive as a fan:

  • Put a jack stand or jack somewhere on the car to support it, even on the ramps.
  • Always have a friend guide you on the ramp.
  • Get on the ramp very slowly, don’t overdrive it.
  • Don’t use the ramps if there are visible cracks or the ramps are very old.
  • Keep it on a dry platform that isn’t on a hill.
  • Put blocks behind the wheels to make sure it doesn’t slip.
  • Always try to nudge the car to see if there is any movement.
  • Have the emergency brake on.

Should I Buy The Rhinoramps?

Well, if you want a very simple and safe way to do oil changes, coolant changes, exhaust changes, or other simple car stuff. Yes! They’re really cheap, as you can check on Amazon here– but overall I use these all the time. It’s far better than risking your life with a jack.

Combine the ramps with a jackstand and blocks, and you can be incredibly safe and save a ton of money on oil changes or coolant changes. (I mean seriously, I paid $70 for a full synthetic oil change at my local shop, when the local NAPA had a deal going on for $30!)

There’s a lot of fake reviews these days. But this rhinoramps review was not fake, I personally do use this product all the time and recommend it to people trying to work on their cars.

Good luck! And hopefully you aren’t working on a european car. (took me 2 hours to change the coolant on my Audi A4, 5 minutes on my mustang…)

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