Are Metal Car Ramps Better Than Plastic Car Ramps?

A wise person once said that the best car ramps, no matter what they are made of, are there to make your life easier whenever you're in the garage, fixing your vehicle. They offer a way to easily lift your car so that you can work on them from below, safely. But the variety of ramps can be overwhelming as there are many different choices available for both ramps and floor jacks.

Car ramps have a great variety of designs made of different materials. Some designs are removable that allow your vehicle to sit in the ramp's highest points while removing the unnecessary places for easier access. Other ramps come with indentations that keep your car centered and in place once the wheels are up. But what makes a big difference in all of them is the materials that are used to build them. The most common are metal and plastic, and here we will focus on the advantages and disadvantages of plastic versus metal materials in car ramps. 

Metal Car Ramps

Metal ramps are the original design that was in the market decades ago. These are made of different types of metals like simple carbon steel, high-grade aluminum, or alloy designed specifically for low weight and high strength. Even if it seems almost impossible, metal ramps are less expensive than plastic ones a vast majority of the time. The reason? Because the material is far more available for the manufacturing process than the plastic.

So metal ramps are of low cost and with a simple design, which sounds great for any person looking for a cost-effective ramp of their own. However, there is one catch. Metal ramps are prone to corrosion as time passes due to the harsh environments they are in. Like steel ramps, some of them are typically coated to prevent initial corrosion, but even them under harsh environments can slowly lose the coat. As the coat begins to fade, the metal is exposed, and the moisture begins to make contact with the underlying material. That is where the corrosion starts.

On the other hand, aluminum is designed to have better corrosion resistance, but this is a highly expensive type of metal, so you would have to pay a hefty price.

Plastic Car Ramps

These ramps have come a long way after a lot of trials and tribulations. In terms of design, they have evolved so much over the last few years that now they have surpassed the steely metal design. This is because some designs are simply just too difficult to recreate with metal. Take retracting and removable features, for example. These ramps allow the vehicle to be raised with the removable sections and not block the floor access to anything but the tires where it needs to be perched.

Additional features include texture on the driving surface, which creates non-slip and anti-skid ramps. These are often molded on the ramp's edge and prevent the drive from driving too far and ending over the ramp's edge. Plastic ramps are typically constructed to eliminate the space below the ramp, meaning that when you're down there working on your vehicle, the construction won't allow you to lose a tool under the ramp. They also come in a variety of sizes, so the sets of car ramps support anything from low profiled vehicles to large pickup trucks.

Now, it may seem like plastic car ramps are only a plethora of advantages. They still have their cons. One of the biggest is their cost to purchase. Plastic ramps are by default more expensive than what we explained before. Add to that the design options and the prizes can go significantly higher. The bad thing is if that you downgrade to the point of reaching the same accessible metal ram price, you get a ramp of lees quality with less almost nonfeatures.

Another thing is that, like metal ramps, they get affected by UV lights. While metal corrodes with humidity, plastic loses its strength with the rays of the sun. However, this shouldn't be a concern if you are planning on using them within the safety of your garage. Plastic can be a bummer if you like to keep your products looking good as new since the color tends to fade, and overall the plastic can crumble after too much weight is put on them. Even if you never surpass the weight limit. With constant usage, you can make the parts weaker until it finally stops working.

Conclusion

Whether you are selecting ramps for your garage at home or to have them at every moment like a handy gadget, you will have plenty of ramps to choose from. Some things you should always remember to take into consideration are quite simple. Things light the height of the lift, the width of the ramp and the driving surface of the vehicle, the design, the removable sections, and of course, the core material. Once you have considered them you'll be good. Another thing to think about is weight capacity. Many differ on this matter, believing it shouldn't be your focus but only the price and features but what's worth a ramp with many cool features if they cannot hold the weight you need. Remember that the weight determines your safety, too, so keep it in mind. We hope this helps and that you consider this before buying your next car ramp. Need more tips? Check out our website, where you will find many more related topics.