Jacking car on gravel driveway

[105.4]

Evening all,

We may be moving into a new house soon with an entirely gravel driveway. This will pose obvious stability problems when it comes to jacking up vehicles and supporting them with axle stands.

However, I have a cunning plan. A plan which I hope you’ll be able to tell me is a stupid one or not.

My plan is to drive the car on to some thick rubber 6ft x 4ft mats, (the type you get in gyms), and to have sheets of 9mm / 12mm ply glued and bonded to the upper surface of the mats.

In theory the rubber underside will soak up the undulations of the gravel driveway whilst the thick plywood upper side will provide a strong and stable surface in which to use the jack and the axle stands.

Am I being stupid and reckless, or is my plan safe and sound?

In advance, many thanks.

[E-bmw]

It is feasible that it could work but I would be then attaching 3mm steel plates to the top of your ply for more security personally.

[Nampahc Niloc]

Safe and sound - definitely not.

Will it work - maybe.

Just remember that your whole construction is sat on a bed of little rollers.

[anonymous-user]

I always jack my car up on gravel as it is. Not ideal but it hasn't moved and I always use axel stands.

[steveo3002]

id go piece of 3/4" ply

while its not text book health n saftey approved the weight on the car will settle the gravel

[Chris32345]

How deep is the gravel?

If just a few centimetres get a shovel and dig the area around the jack upe.g pull the stone away from the area your placing the jackthen place a solid plate on the ground underneath

[tapkaJohnD]

How about some large stone flags, set into the gravel, on the base that is on?
Site them where your jack and stands will be, move the car over them, away you go.

[Clifford Chambers]

Elatino1 said:

I always jack my car up on gravel as it is. Not ideal but it hasn't moved and I always use axel stands.

It's OK with a pillar jack, trolley Jack's need a smooth surface otherwise the whole thing becomes unstable.

Even grit and block paving can prevent jamb the wheels.

[PhilF329]

I have also worked a lot on gravel driveways, and provided the gravel has a good sub-base (not just gravel laid over soil) then jacking with a trolley jack and using axle stands is absolutely fine. Moving the trolley jack and losing nuts / bolts / tools is the problem - remedied with brute force and magnetic parts trays!

[Evoluzione]

Oh God not this again, we've only just stopped bickering about the last one.

[Pothole]

What will the other gravel-drived neighbours think of your DIY efforts? You'll be shunned!

[105.4]

Pothole said:

What will the other gravel-drived neighbours think of your DIY efforts? You'll be shunned!

Apologies for the late reply and thanks all who have offered an opinion.

The house has a high hedge and high gate. The neighbours shouldn’t be able to see. My biggest concern regarding neighbours is reducing the noise that my compressor makes.

The gravel is quite shallow from what I saw in the 30 min we had a look around the place but I’ve no idea how stable the ground below the gravel actually is. Is it concrete or is it dirt? I’ve no idea.

Regarding the rubber mats, I was thinking of placing the car of four or six of these:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Rubber-Gym-mats-Indoor-...

but with 9-12 mm ply bonded to the top, they’re going to be heavy things to move about.

I won’t know if this idea will work until I try it. Unfortunately if it doesn’t work then it will be an expensive mistake.

[hidetheelephants]

A strip of plywood (~19mm) wide enough for the trolley jack plus ~50mm and two bits of angle steel screwed to the edges to guide the wheels and keep the jack from falling off and another bit of angle as an end stop; used this for several years at a house with a deep gravel drive with success. I forget how long it was, maybe 1.5 x the length of the trolley jack.

[Boosted LS1]

Evoluzione said:

Oh God not this again, we've only just stopped bickering about the last one.

No we haven't!

[Hereward]

It's a pain in the arse. Literally, when you're lying down on it.

Use boards / planks to allow the jack wheels to move when you're pushing it in to place. A big jack and axle stands (>3 tonne) also provide a stable platform in case the gravel decides to move.

And lots of cardboard to lie down on.

[RizzoTheRat]

Regardless of how stable a platform you get for the jack, make sure you cover a big enough area around it with cardboard/matting/plywood/etc as you will drop a nut and it will be an absolute bd to find in gravel!

A cheap camping rollmat makes a reasonable surface to lie on while working on stuff.