Suburbs suck. How to get on and off my driveway?

[Redlyne_mr2]

Have 2 cars both 2 inches off the ground, I had them trailered and dropped on the driveway when I moved into the house and now I'm realizing the driveway curb is too steep. Anyone have suggestions?

[Mista Bob]

http://www.summit-equipment-outlet.com/media/catalog/product/cache/1/image/5e06319eda06f020e43594a9c230972d/j/a/jackhammer-lift-assist.jpg

[86max]

Curb ramps would work, I think even CanadianTire sells them now.
http://g35driver.com/forums/attachments/brakes-suspension/89373d1210796507-curb-ramps-ramps1.jpg

[danno]

Pay the city to come lower them. I think rage at a thread about it 5 years ago. I think any ramp is illegal, not sure though.

[rage2]

Except he's in Red Deer now and I dunno how the bylaws work there. But ya, here in YYC it's fairly easy to get the process started. Just takes about a year to actually get it done because the city is so slow, and they can only do it during the warmer months.

[LUDELVR]

Does anyone know where to get these things in calgary? Those rubber ramps for the higher curbs on the driveway so you can get lowered cars with less scratching?

[Seth1968]

Please note: It is illegal to place materials on the street to create a driveway ramp.

http://www.calgary.ca/Transportation/Roads/Pages/Development-and-projects/Driveway-crossings.aspx

I wouldn't be worried about a ticket, but rather a possible law suit.

Can you drive in at an angle? Also, if you can drive in and out parallel to the driveway, then maybe buy one ramp and cut it in half.

[dirtsniffer]

I got mine a few years ago at the shawnessy canadian tire.

[Seth1968]

http://forums.beyond.ca/st/390838/suburbs-suck-how-to-get-on-and-off-my-driveway/

[revelations]

Originally posted by Redlyne_mr2
Have 2 cars both 2 inches off the ground

:eek: I hope these arent daily driver cars. You'd be hard pressed to clear anything. I had a car with 4" of clearance and that was a pain.

[C_Dave45]

Originally posted by Seth1968


http://www.calgary.ca/Transportation/Roads/Pages/Development-and-projects/Driveway-crossings.aspx

I wouldn't be worried about a ticket, but rather a possible law suit.

Can you drive in at an angle? Also, if you can drive in and out parallel to the driveway, then maybe buy one ramp and cut it in half.
Can't be that aggressively enforced, is it?? In our community, every single driveway has done this. From steel ramps, to rubber ramps, to DIY concrete patch jobs.
Every.
One.

[Seth1968]

^ It doesn't seem to be enforced in Lethbridge either. I'm in the County of Lethbridge, and most houses on my street have an asphalt ramp. They paved part of the road in front of my house a couple of years back, and I paid the foreman $100 to get the crew to put in an asphalt ramp.

[bjstare]

^My dad did the same thing. Had a big asphalt driveway being poured, and just got the guys to throw a little ramp at the end that didn't have a sidewalk cutout. Been there for... I dunno at least 3 years now with no problems. This is inner city NW Calgary.

[ercchry]

Why not mod the cars instead? Cup kit would help

[birdman86]

If they're just toy cars, I wouldn't think it'd be too unreasonable to just bring the ramps out on an as-needed basis until the city can do something?

[LUDELVR]

Just read that link. Cheers. Did not know you could not use these legally. Has any one had issues with enforcement for using these? Would I have to lay these out every time I went in and out? Kind of silly if I did but having to pay the city to redo it seems a bit shitty too.

[rage2]

Depends if you have dick neighbors. I had a neighbor complain about ours in Varsity back in the day and had to get it removed. 15 years later my brother buys the house and throws ramps down at the same house, no issues.

[DeleriousZ]

2x4 wood ramps and angled driving will be your friend.

[egmilano]

jackhammer or buy new cars?

Seems kinda obvious to me to use ramps or 2x4.... or beyond/google search because there's a few threads... canadian tire has sold them for years. :dunno:

[Redlyne_mr2]

thanks guys, I'll check out the rubber ramps at Canadian tire. Anything seems to go here in Red Deer so I'm not worried about a bylaw.

[Unknown303]

I'd build a jump.:burnout:

[16hypen3sp]

Originally posted by Redlyne_mr2
thanks guys, I'll check out the rubber ramps at Canadian tire. Anything seems to go here in Red Deer so I'm not worried about a bylaw.

Just be careful with those rubber ramps around street cleaning time.

I can't see the City of RD getting upset about it unless one of your neighbours calls it in and they decide to give you some hassle.

[mikestypes]

http://curbramps.com/products.php

Curb Ramps. Made in Edmonton and when I got a set last year, the Calgary supplier delivered them so it was supper easy.

Just be smart about making sure they are not blocking water drainage (there is a channel on the bottom but debris can plug it once a season) and remove them in winter and street cleaning time. No one is going to complain about them. Worth every penny.

[dj_rice]

Originally posted by mikestypes
http://curbramps.com/products.php

Curb Ramps. Made in Edmonton and when I got a set last year, the Calgary supplier delivered them so it was supper easy.

Just be smart about making sure they are not blocking water drainage (there is a channel on the bottom but debris can plug it once a season) and remove them in winter and street cleaning time. No one is going to complain about them. Worth every penny.


Awesome!! Thanks for the link. I've been looking into getting some garage ramps as my driveway has sunk, currently just using some 2x4 bolted together but this ramp is much better!

[LUDELVR]

I'm on Canadian Tire's website but can't seem to find it. What should I be searching?

[Lex350]

My dad poured a concrete ramp and put a pipe through it to allow water to pass through. He's in the inner NW and never has had a complaint about it.

[rage2]

Here's the proper way of doing it. According to my notes, I paid a tad under $3300 for it in total, one time payment to the city. You can pay it over 10 years interest free via property taxes, but you have to petition the neighbors and have a majority signoff. Not sure why, since it shouldn't affect their property taxes.

edit - looks like it's 15 years, under Local Improvements. Basically the same process as getting an alley paved.

I put in the request and paperwork for this job in the spring of 2009, and the city started the job in 2010. Took 2 weeks to finish the sidewalk, and another 2 weeks to set and repave the road.

Here's where you request it. Looks like prices haven't changed at all.

http://www.calgary.ca/Transportation/Roads/Pages/Development-and-projects/Driveway-crossings.aspx

The estimate from the city is free. IIRC, it took about a month for someone to come out with an estimate, and another 3 months for the estimate to come through the mail, with payment options. Once the payment is made (for me it was late fall), they call you up and get it scheduled. I got scheduled for early fall work. The city only does this work from May-September each year.

As a car guy, this is by far the best home improvement investment I've made.

http://virgeweb.com/rage2/driveway01.jpg

http://virgeweb.com/rage2/driveway02.jpg

http://virgeweb.com/rage2/driveway03.jpg

http://virgeweb.com/rage2/driveway04.jpg

[brucebanner]

I have nothing to contribute since everyone else seemed to covered it.

Since you're in Red Deer now though, I'd love to get a look at your mr2 sometime, she's a beaut. :bigpimp:

[94boosted]

Originally posted by rage2


http://virgeweb.com/rage2/driveway04.jpg

:drool: :drool: Omg that's awesome. I have to use some pretty ridiculous angles to get up and down my driveway without rubbing and the curb is far from steep.

[soupey]

my neighbours in hidden valley have those rubber things out 365 days a year, nobody bugs them about it. but anything that obstructs drainage isn't allowed. street cleaning seems to always go around it and they havent had to take them off. been there for 5+ years now right on hidden valley drive (main road in the community)

[mr2mike]

http://2nerd.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/Lower-your-car-they-said-550x577.jpg

[Redlyne_mr2]

^^^ real life struggles.

[G]

You need some buds.

WerrKJ8KOo0

[ercchry]

problem with ramps is you cant take them with you... living in the bro-dozer capital of alberta i would assume you'd have this issue everywhere... so make the car lift? :dunno:

1z1n-zINGm0

[88CRX]

Originally posted by ercchry
problem with ramps is you cant take them with you... living in the bro-dozer capital of alberta i would assume you'd have this issue everywhere... so make the car lift? :dunno:

1z1n-zINGm0

Aren't cup kits ridiculously expensive?

[ercchry]

Originally posted by 88CRX


Aren't cup kits ridiculously expensive?

depends how you go about it, but they dont have to be. some will reuse your coils so its just a compressor, tanks, some lines and then the cups. also depending if you can get away with just doing the front or if you need all 4 corners

http://www.phantomsuspension.com/shop/front-kit/

http://www.phantomsuspension.com/shop/complete-kit/

[M.alex]

Originally posted by rage2
Here's the proper way of doing it. According to my notes, I paid a tad under $3300 for it in total, one time payment to the city. You can pay it over 10 years interest free via property taxes, but you have to petition the neighbors and have a majority signoff. Not sure why, since it shouldn't affect their property taxes.

edit - looks like it's 15 years, under Local Improvements. Basically the same process as getting an alley paved.

I put in the request and paperwork for this job in the spring of 2009, and the city started the job in 2010. Took 2 weeks to finish the sidewalk, and another 2 weeks to set and repave the road.

Here's where you request it. Looks like prices haven't changed at all.

http://www.calgary.ca/Transportation/Roads/Pages/Development-and-projects/Driveway-crossings.aspx

The estimate from the city is free. IIRC, it took about a month for someone to come out with an estimate, and another 3 months for the estimate to come through the mail, with payment options. Once the payment is made (for me it was late fall), they call you up and get it scheduled. I got scheduled for early fall work. The city only does this work from May-September each year.

As a car guy, this is by far the best home improvement investment I've made.



There's one problem with that - one day the city may decide to do it for everybody on the block and you just paid for nothing :rofl:

That happened to my parents - back in ?2002?ish they paid to have the curb flattened, then several years later the city came back and did everybodies. Although with today's penny pinching I'd imagine the chance of that happening is pretty slim.

[rage2]

I don't live inner city, our sidewalks won't get redone for another 30 years. I think I'm good. :)

[Ca_Silvia13]

Originally posted by ercchry


depends how you go about it, but they dont have to be. some will reuse your coils so its just a compressor, tanks, some lines and then the cups. also depending if you can get away with just doing the front or if you need all 4 corners

http://www.phantomsuspension.com/shop/front-kit/

http://www.phantomsuspension.com/shop/complete-kit/

I would say that is rediculously expensive. 2800USD + shipping and install. Fuck me that's almost the cost of a full Airbag suspension for just helper bags

[ercchry]

Originally posted by Ca_Silvia13


I would say that is rediculously expensive. 2800USD + shipping and install. Fuck me that's almost the cost of a full Airbag suspension for just helper bags

like you'd pay for install :rofl:

but yeah it basically IS air ride... same supporting systems, but cups are for the performance oriented. thats the difference. lowest height is your rolling height, you are on full coils, need to get over something and then you use the system vs rolling around on air and emptying them to hardpark