For a number of years, here at the Cadillac V-Net’s product evaluation shop, one of the cars we work on, an ATS-V with the big front splitter that comes with the CFZ “Carbon Fiber Package,” is so low, we can’t get our floor jack underneath the front of the car and that’s even with one of the so-called “low-profile” jacks. At first, we drove the front tires up on a pair of ramps we made using a table saw. We cut up a couple of lengths of 2×8 framing lumber, then beveled one end of each. That worked ok and we used them for a number of years. Admittedly, they looked pretty unprofessional.
Recently, one afternoon while browsing the web site for Zip Products’, a Corvette parts vendor, we noted Zip was selling a special set of Race Ramps intended for raising the front end enough to get a floor jack under a low-ground-clearance car. We lift the front of an ATS-V with floor jack under the suspension cradle crossmember that runs between the two, front, lower control arm mounting brackets. These ramps as sold as a pair and the product, known as “Trak-Jax,” can be ordered from Zip Products with or without tire stops (PNs X-3612 or X-2184) at the tall end of the ramp. We ordered the ones with stops.
There are a number of reasons these Trak-Jax are way better than our previous wooden ramps: 1) they weigh five-pounds each so they are easy to carry and the 1.5-inch high tire stops double as handles, 2) they are strong–they’re made of high-density urethane foam, 3) they have a non-skid surface which prevents movement, regardless of what type of surface they are on. 4) they are designed specifically to get the front of a car that is low and/or has a low front air dam or front splitter.
We’ve been using this pair of Zip’s Trak-Jax for about a month. The best thing about them is they weigh about a third of what our wooden ramps weighed. Also, because they are 30-in, about six-inches longer than the wooden ones, they are easier to drive the car up onto. The tire stops make them safer than our homemade wooden ramps which had stops only a half-inch high. Zip’s ramps are as wider than the 255/35ZR18s on the front of ATS-Vs. Finally, we like that they are made right here in the USA.
To order, visit this page on Zip Products’ web site.