Working on cars with small garage/gravel driveway
Discussion
Hi,
I finally saved up enough and bought a house. My garage is a horrible shape though, 2.15x7 metres. The drive way is gravel.
I've looked at getting the driveway done in block but it is a major and expensive job, enough that I could buy a a lot of garage time. I also like the gravel as its an old house and suits it.
Is it a case that I just don't work on cars anymore? Can you jack a car up and work on gravel safely? Id really like to get a project car again.
I thought about gravel grids and those big rubber mats they use for diggers on grass but I'm not sure.
Thanks
I finally saved up enough and bought a house. My garage is a horrible shape though, 2.15x7 metres. The drive way is gravel.
I've looked at getting the driveway done in block but it is a major and expensive job, enough that I could buy a a lot of garage time. I also like the gravel as its an old house and suits it.
Is it a case that I just don't work on cars anymore? Can you jack a car up and work on gravel safely? Id really like to get a project car again.
I thought about gravel grids and those big rubber mats they use for diggers on grass but I'm not sure.
Thanks
Depends how determined you are 
I dont have a garage.
My 'driveway' is a gravelled area that I have to reverse park into from the road.
(The join in the tarmac where the water has formed a line is the boundary between my property and the road)
I do all the servicing on both our cars there:
You can see my car has all 4 wheels off the ground here.
Last year, I changed an engine there:
(OK, so I used the 1m of my tarmac and the rest of the road for that, but thick some sheets of ply would do it)
I have a 1m ish square of ally checquer plate that I put down smooth side up under the jack, and some smaller bits of steel to go under the axle stands.
Get decent axle stands not the cheap wobbly tripod ones and even with it up on 4 the car doesn't move.
When the weather's nice, it's nice, when it's pissing down and your MOT is next week, it's not so nice, but it's all do-able.
I dont have a garage.
My 'driveway' is a gravelled area that I have to reverse park into from the road.
(The join in the tarmac where the water has formed a line is the boundary between my property and the road)
I do all the servicing on both our cars there:
You can see my car has all 4 wheels off the ground here.
Last year, I changed an engine there:
(OK, so I used the 1m of my tarmac and the rest of the road for that, but thick some sheets of ply would do it)
I have a 1m ish square of ally checquer plate that I put down smooth side up under the jack, and some smaller bits of steel to go under the axle stands.
Get decent axle stands not the cheap wobbly tripod ones and even with it up on 4 the car doesn't move.
When the weather's nice, it's nice, when it's pissing down and your MOT is next week, it's not so nice, but it's all do-able.
Edited by chris1roll on Saturday 6th September 21:51
alex-1991 said:
Is it a case that I just don't work on cars anymore?
Not at allalex-1991 said:
Can you jack a car up and work on gravel safely?
Yes, you just need to be a bit more careful. There's loads of cons, but it sure beats not being able to do anything.
Even though I've now got a garage, I chose to do the X5 outside to avoid having a dead weight blocking it for months and to have somewhere to repair the engine.
Definitely do-able but it's a bit tedious.
Trolley jacks are hard to position since they have to be dragged. I have a 3-tonne trolley jack that weighs about 25 kg and it's hard work to move it since the wheels are useless on gravel. In 10 years I may not be strong enough, or may resort to finding a thick wooden board to position it on.
Gravel stones suddenly "give" as you jack up so be mindful of that. The non-jacked wheels can slip on the stones as the car is jacked.
Use some foam, cardboard or carpet to kneel on / lie on. Gravel is torture for your knees!
EDIT: It's also easy to lose nuts / screws / 10mm sockets etc when you drop them or put them down on gravel so be organised with storage containers.
Trolley jacks are hard to position since they have to be dragged. I have a 3-tonne trolley jack that weighs about 25 kg and it's hard work to move it since the wheels are useless on gravel. In 10 years I may not be strong enough, or may resort to finding a thick wooden board to position it on.
Gravel stones suddenly "give" as you jack up so be mindful of that. The non-jacked wheels can slip on the stones as the car is jacked.
Use some foam, cardboard or carpet to kneel on / lie on. Gravel is torture for your knees!
EDIT: It's also easy to lose nuts / screws / 10mm sockets etc when you drop them or put them down on gravel so be organised with storage containers.
Edited by Hereward on Sunday 7th September 21:29
Krikkit said:
Get some decently thick pieces of ply to foot jack stands and jacks on, and get some carpet offcuts from a local carpet shop for you to lie on underneath the car
Local scrapyard, they should be happy to give you boot mats, that is what we use in the gravel yard. much better than carpet and usually black so look cleaner for longer. chris1roll said:
Depends how determined you are
I dont have a garage.
My 'driveway' is a gravelled area that I have to reverse park into from the road.
(The join in the tarmac where the water has formed a line is the boundary between my property and the road)
I do all the servicing on both our cars there:
You can see my car has all 4 wheels off the ground here.
Last year, I changed an engine there:
(OK, so I used the 1m of my tarmac and the rest of the road for that, but thick some sheets of ply would do it)
I have a 1m ish square of ally checquer plate that I put down smooth side up under the jack, and some smaller bits of steel to go under the axle stands.
Get decent axle stands not the cheap wobbly tripod ones and even with it up on 4 the car doesn't move.
When the weather's nice, it's nice, when it's pissing down and your MOT is next week, it's not so nice, but it's all do-able.
No offcence but, I'm glad you are not my neighbour I dont have a garage.
My 'driveway' is a gravelled area that I have to reverse park into from the road.
(The join in the tarmac where the water has formed a line is the boundary between my property and the road)
I do all the servicing on both our cars there:
You can see my car has all 4 wheels off the ground here.
Last year, I changed an engine there:
(OK, so I used the 1m of my tarmac and the rest of the road for that, but thick some sheets of ply would do it)
I have a 1m ish square of ally checquer plate that I put down smooth side up under the jack, and some smaller bits of steel to go under the axle stands.
Get decent axle stands not the cheap wobbly tripod ones and even with it up on 4 the car doesn't move.
When the weather's nice, it's nice, when it's pissing down and your MOT is next week, it's not so nice, but it's all do-able.
Edited by chris1roll on Saturday 6th September 21:51
anyoldcardave said:
Krikkit said:
Get some decently thick pieces of ply to foot jack stands and jacks on, and get some carpet offcuts from a local carpet shop for you to lie on underneath the car
Local scrapyard, they should be happy to give you boot mats, that is what we use in the gravel yard. much better than carpet and usually black so look cleaner for longer. Made a board for my trolley jack so it didn’t dig into the ground, metal strips to stop it skidding around on the board. Also for extra safety wood block stops the jack from going down unexpectedly.
Also axle stand on metal plates to evenly distribute the weight and sinking into the ground.
Work on my car for 18yrs on a gravel drive with no issues, used car ramps too but they were problematic by sliding when trying to drive up them.
The deeper the gravel the less I'd trust it. Though I won't go underneath a car unless it's either still on its wheels or on a totally flat surface, too many horror stories of even supposed professional mechanics getting caught out with a car falling on them from axle stands on a surface not suitable or level.
I'd look at temporarily removing the gravel from the area you intend working on the car so have a solid base to work from, as it's likely a project car will be there a while, and keep the gravel for after so can restore the area. Also makes it easier to keep the area clean of oil/other liquid spills so not having to replace the gravel anyway if it gets contaminated.
I'd look at temporarily removing the gravel from the area you intend working on the car so have a solid base to work from, as it's likely a project car will be there a while, and keep the gravel for after so can restore the area. Also makes it easier to keep the area clean of oil/other liquid spills so not having to replace the gravel anyway if it gets contaminated.
Dog Biscuit said:
chris1roll said:
Depends how determined you are
I dont have a garage.
My 'driveway' is a gravelled area that I have to reverse park into from the road.
(The join in the tarmac where the water has formed a line is the boundary between my property and the road)
I do all the servicing on both our cars there:
You can see my car has all 4 wheels off the ground here.
Last year, I changed an engine there:
(OK, so I used the 1m of my tarmac and the rest of the road for that, but thick some sheets of ply would do it)
I have a 1m ish square of ally checquer plate that I put down smooth side up under the jack, and some smaller bits of steel to go under the axle stands.
Get decent axle stands not the cheap wobbly tripod ones and even with it up on 4 the car doesn't move.
When the weather's nice, it's nice, when it's pissing down and your MOT is next week, it's not so nice, but it's all do-able.
No offcence but, I'm glad you are not my neighbour I dont have a garage.
My 'driveway' is a gravelled area that I have to reverse park into from the road.
(The join in the tarmac where the water has formed a line is the boundary between my property and the road)
I do all the servicing on both our cars there:
You can see my car has all 4 wheels off the ground here.
Last year, I changed an engine there:
(OK, so I used the 1m of my tarmac and the rest of the road for that, but thick some sheets of ply would do it)
I have a 1m ish square of ally checquer plate that I put down smooth side up under the jack, and some smaller bits of steel to go under the axle stands.
Get decent axle stands not the cheap wobbly tripod ones and even with it up on 4 the car doesn't move.
When the weather's nice, it's nice, when it's pissing down and your MOT is next week, it's not so nice, but it's all do-able.
Edited by chris1roll on Saturday 6th September 21:51
Virtual PAH said:
The deeper the gravel the less I'd trust it. Though I won't go underneath a car unless it's either still on its wheels or on a totally flat surface, too many horror stories of even supposed professional mechanics getting caught out with a car falling on them from axle stands on a surface not suitable or level.
I'd look at temporarily removing the gravel from the area you intend working on the car so have a solid base to work from, as it's likely a project car will be there a while, and keep the gravel for after so can restore the area. Also makes it easier to keep the area clean of oil/other liquid spills so not having to replace the gravel anyway if it gets contaminated.
That was a back up plan, pour a concrete pad and just have a thin layer of gravel on top for aesthetics and sweep the gravel out the way for working. Was a bit worried having a big block of concrete going over service/waste pipes though as I'm sure there must be stuff running under the drive way and I can't see any access covers on the front. I'd look at temporarily removing the gravel from the area you intend working on the car so have a solid base to work from, as it's likely a project car will be there a while, and keep the gravel for after so can restore the area. Also makes it easier to keep the area clean of oil/other liquid spills so not having to replace the gravel anyway if it gets contaminated.
Gassing Station | Home Mechanics | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff