Do it yourself

Quote: AZDuffman

Will see how it feels but logistically it isn't going to be practical. 8" of drop over 48".

The 8" drop isn't the number you should be looking at, it's the other 5'8" to the chin that matters.

You are looking at this through young eyes. Sure your parents are spry now, but what about 5 years from now? Five years at an advanced age is a lot more than from 28 to 33. Sixty to sixty-five to seventy is a really long ways. Don't build it for today.

For such a small pour, you have the cement skills or brick/stone and mortar already if you can build those shelves. No fear. Look at you-tube, you don't want a mirror finish anyway. It really is, that easy in small amounts. I taught myself to finish concrete, one ten foot square at a time and moved onto sidewalks. Simple, but I get it.

One more time, hehe, put those mad welding skills to work and weld one. Cabbage the floor joists someplace and weld expanded metal on it. Nobody but nobody will challenge the manliness of welded expanded metal. Plus it is great to skuff your snowy boots on and clean them on the way in.

I would probably do it Bobs way, for a quicky. There must be tons of used red bricks around? Beautiful, durable, and nobody would dare check it with a level, if they do, they aren't the kind of friends you want anyway. : )

I used Trex boards on my houseboat. They are near indestructible, I used them for fenders all the way around, I could ram the dock, no problem. They are also heavy, and will take a "set" in hot weather if not supported.

Ok, ok, maybe my best idea so far. Go to your local power company and ask for used crossarms. I have given away hundreds of them, and power poles. They are beautiful building materials, as when they were made, they were select material and many of the used ones are still perfect except for most of the treatment has leached out of them. I have built many, many things out of them. You may be surprised at how cheaply lineman or warehouse persons can be bought. A 12 pack can go a long way. : ) Also you can cut them "twain", as our local shipwright would say.

I have a Makita planer, : )) [brag], and have re-purposed many boards. They aren't the best 6x12 planer but still nice.

Oh, and the local paper has somebody selling a Ford ranger, which you mentioned somewhere? It is one owner with 81k miles, extended cab, they are asking 4K?

On the handrail. Even if you don't put one on now, you might consider constructing your ramp with a method in mind for adding one at a later point. An anchor spot? Some post holes. Or just study what you might want to do.

Older people who get balance problems is pretty common.

Quote: AZDuffman

Hills all over my old neighborhood. Heard the old joke about school being "uphill both ways?" Well it was no joke!

"Uphill both ways, in the snow and when I got in, my father used to saw me in half with a bread knife..."

Quote:

Second thing, I always set the parking brake when I park my car. It is from habit when I was younger.

I always do that regardless of the hills... it seems to be a North American thing where people will just leave car in park on the flat.

Quote: TheCesspit

"Uphill both ways, in the snow and when I got in, my father used to saw me in half with a bread knife..."

At least you had bread knives!

Quote:

I always do that regardless of the hills... it seems to be a North American thing where people will just leave car in park on the flat.

Is it common to use the brake elsewhere? Might have to do with automatic transmissions?

The parking brake thing has caused more than one argument among friends and I. One said it would "wear out" the parking brake. I tried to explain that if you do not use it then it is worse because the "snap" of the release shakes off dirt and dust from the cable, but to no avail. He just doesn't know mechanics.

Quote: AZDuffman

At least you had bread knives!




Is it common to use the brake elsewhere? Might have to do with automatic transmissions?

It's standard to apply the handbrake (as we call it back home) when parking. It might even be required as part of the driving test. I just always did it as i was taught to, my parents did, my friends did... it's just done. I suspect it is to do with Automatics being far more common in the US, as you say. On hills with a manual car, I always put on hand brake, then leave car in gear (1st or reverse, depending on direction of the hill)

Quote:

The parking brake thing has caused more than one argument among friends and I. One said it would "wear out" the parking brake. I tried to explain that if you do not use it then it is worse because the "snap" of the release shakes off dirt and dust from the cable, but to no avail. He just doesn't know mechanics.

It's designed to be used, and 'wearing it out' seems like poor reasoning to me!

I never use the E-brake when parking, because of where I live coupled with the age of car I always seem to own. You can engage it, and it'll probably work. Problem is it has a habit of not disengaging lol. Just had this happen last Sunday.

Quote: TheCesspit

It's designed to be used, and 'wearing it out' seems like poor reasoning to me!

He is a great guy, but he has no aptitude for the mechanical side of cars whatsoever. It can drive me insane.

Case in point. This past weekend I checked the spare tire on the SUV I bought this past January. I knew I should have checked some things out right away, but in the cold, well I slacked off. So this weekend I changed the oil, a mini-adventure in itself as I never had a skid plate before. No big deal, but getting it done with no issue is the difference between when I was a kid and the knowing MAWG I am today. Anyhow, I tell my dad I want to check the spare, which became an actual adventure.

Under the car the spare has this screw that lowers it. Clearly this spare was not touched since it had been in South Korea. I broke the bolt that holds it up trying to loosen it. Research shows this happens often as the thing rusts up. Those that know cars know when I replace it I will be spraying white lithium grease on the new one yearly as well as run the nut up and down it to test it.The tire itself has less air inside than a children's party balloon. Easy fix, but if I had a flat I would have been in a bad way.

So I relay the story and mention not a bad idea to check the SUV his wife drives. His attitude was kind of along the lines of, "she can call the auto club." So I ask what if she can't get service, or "suppose they do not have any replacement tires?"

I wonder how many people ever check their spare?

Quote: AZDuffman

He is a great guy, but he has no aptitude for the mechanical side of cars whatsoever. It can drive me insane.

Case in point. This past weekend I checked the spare tire on the SUV I bought this past January. I knew I should have checked some things out right away, but in the cold, well I slacked off. So this weekend I changed the oil, a mini-adventure in itself as I never had a skid plate before. No big deal, but getting it done with no issue is the difference between when I was a kid and the knowing MAWG I am today. Anyhow, I tell my dad I want to check the spare, which became an actual adventure.

Under the car the spare has this screw that lowers it. Clearly this spare was not touched since it had been in South Korea. I broke the bolt that holds it up trying to loosen it. Research shows this happens often as the thing rusts up. Those that know cars know when I replace it I will be spraying white lithium grease on the new one yearly as well as run the nut up and down it to test it.The tire itself has less air inside than a children's party balloon. Easy fix, but if I had a flat I would have been in a bad way.

So I relay the story and mention not a bad idea to check the SUV his wife drives. His attitude was kind of along the lines of, "she can call the auto club." So I ask what if she can't get service, or "suppose they do not have any replacement tires?"

I wonder how many people ever check their spare?

My spare is under the car.
I never check it.
Its attached to a chain that I can lower the tire to the ground or raise the chain to bring up to the bottom of the car.
I ocasionally tow a RV so I have a tire inflator that plugs into the cig lighter.
If towing, important all tires inflated properly so thats why I have an electric tire inflator in my car.
If I need to use the spare and its soft, I can just pump it up :-)

Quote: AZDuffman

Under the car the spare has this screw that lowers it. Clearly this spare was not touched since it had been in South Korea. I broke the bolt that holds it up trying to loosen it.

This is probably my own ignorance rather than yours, but that doesn't make sense.

Every truck/SUV I've had or serviced has a sort of winch device holding up the tire. You stick the factory supplied tire iron into a slot in the bumper, it fits over a square nut under the bed, and you wind it down.

When you say "bolt holding it up" and "broke it", it makes me think you tried taking off the plate that holds the tire onto the winch cable. I'm not saying you're a dummy, but I just thought I'd ask to confirm ;)

Quote: terapined

My spare is under the car.
I never check it.

If I need to use the spare and its soft, I can just pump it up :-)

Spares go soft for a reason, and being in Florida, the "safe" reason (wild temperature fluctuations) don't apply as much.

Rubber is in a constant state of curing. If you've ever stored any in a shed, you'll smell them for years after purchase. That's because they continue to undergo chemical changes until they break back down into their base elements. Heat also changes their composition (called heat cycling). Every time they get hot and then cold, they get harder. This is most apparent on tires in use, but the simple day/night cycle still heats and cools your spare.

A 5yr old tire is expired. It has broken down past the point of being viable. You can still use it, many do. But it is officially expired and won't be sold or approved by any retailer or tire specialist. When it breaks down, it loses strength and elasticity. "Dry rot" is an extreme example, but before you get those big cracks of rot, you get tiny fissures of rot. Your soft tire is soft because of those fissures.

Just something to think about. I've lost tires at speed; hell, if lost the wheel and everything at speed. Twice. It's not necessarily a death sentence if you know what you're doing, even if you lose it on the I-90 near the 400 like I did. But if you're toting 2,000lbs of pop up
behind you, you best hope it's a trailer wheel that goes. Lose one on your rig and those tie dyed shorts of yours are gonna be a mess ;)

Quote: Face

This is probably my own ignorance rather than yours, but that doesn't make sense.

Every truck/SUV I've had or serviced has a sort of winch device holding up the tire. You stick the factory supplied tire iron into a slot in the bumper, it fits over a square nut under the bed, and you wind it down.

When you say "bolt holding it up" and "broke it", it makes me think you tried taking off the plate that holds the tire onto the winch cable. I'm not saying you're a dummy, but I just thought I'd ask to confirm ;)

Sort of what you are saying. SUV so no bed but rather in the rear. No slot, just the head of a bolt. You turn it counter-clockwise like you are unscrewing the bolt. This makes the nut on the other end ride down. Think the principle of a scissors jack but instead of the screw causing something to go up it causes it to go down.



You turn #4 which rests in a nut in #2. As #2 rides up or down the "J" moves up or down. The problem is this is the very rear of the vehicle where lots of salt and moisture collect. #4 is $10 across the parts counter. #2/3 is $65! So I will try heat to remove the bold and if that does not work will look online as the parts kid gave me the part number so searching should now be easier. For $10 I would rather not fool around with the online order and possible errors.