Dog Ramps

Solis · Oct 19, 2017

Good morning,

I require a ramp for my Springer Spaniel to allow her to enter and exit our recently ordered 204 auto ocean, yet to arrive. Can you please advise on the following points.

The height from the outside floor to the Cali floor (side door)

The height from the outside floor to the Cali step (side door)

The height from outside floor to the Cali floor (rear tailgate)

In addition, any suggestions re. lightweight, compact, telescopic dog ramps or similar diy creations. Thanks in advance.

Velma's Dad · Oct 19, 2017

Mine is a T5 SE 180 on 17 inch wheels but probably not that different to your 204 Ocean:

Side door ground to floor level - 56cm
Side door ground to step level - 43cm
Rear door ground to floor level - 54cm* (logically should be same as side-door-ground-to-floor ie 56cm but obv. depends on loading - and these are only rough measurements).

* But note that the rear bumper (height 44cm) projects quite a long way at rear (about 16cm beyond rear edge of floor)... so you wouldn't get an unobstructed run from the rear floor to the ground unless you have quite a long ramp - prob at least 100cm if it was a simple flat board. You could of course perch the board on the rear bumper but I assume you'd want to protect the paintwork somehow if so.

I think you'd be best to see if someone responds with an actual bit of kit that they use.

Cali-on-Camping · Oct 19, 2017

Velma's Dad said:
I think you'd be best to see if someone responds with an actual bit of kit that they use.

@CaliforniaCamping use one which features in this video

.

Looking at the comments, they got it from https://www.easyanimal.co.uk/

Keith Smith · Oct 19, 2017

I made one from ply and softwood. It doesn't fold but will fit on the shelf at the back when not needed. If it ever stops raining I'll take a picture of it. I no longer need it now as we lost Molly in May, but I see you are in Essex which is a but too far away otherwise you could have had it.

Keith Smith · Oct 20, 2017

The ramp is 420mm wide and 1050mm long, I've added stiffening braces underneath which are just glued on. The only difficult thing about the construction is cutting slots in the softwood sides to house the ply. You could just use thicker ply but that would add a lot of weight, as it is it just weighs a couple of pounds. The carpet is vital otherwise the dog can't get enough grip to get up even such a shallow slope and I've put foam at the top where it rests on the paintwork to prevent marking.

Solis · Oct 20, 2017

Keith Smith said:
The ramp is 420mm wide and 1050mm long, I've added stiffening braces underneath which are just glued on. The only difficult thing about the construction is cutting slots in the softwood sides to house the ply. You could just use thicker ply but that would add a lot of weight, as it is it just weighs a couple of pounds. The carpet is vital otherwise the dog can't get enough grip to get up even such a shallow slope and I've put foam at the top where it rests on the paintwork to prevent marking.

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That’s a superb idea. Thanks.

CALI FATE · Oct 20, 2017

Keith Smith said:
The ramp is 420mm wide and 1050mm long, I've added stiffening braces underneath which are just glued on. The only difficult thing about the construction is cutting slots in the softwood sides to house the ply. You could just use thicker ply but that would add a lot of weight, as it is it just weighs a couple of pounds. The carpet is vital otherwise the dog can't get enough grip to get up even such a shallow slope and I've put foam at the top where it rests on the paintwork to prevent marking.

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Good job Keith - if i gave you here weight and height could you knock one up for the mother in law

aBusAndBeyond · Oct 20, 2017

Maverick said:
@CaliforniaCamping use one which features in this video

.

Looking at the comments, they got it from https://www.easyanimal.co.uk/

Yeah as Maverick says it's from easy animal

Keith Smith · Oct 20, 2017

CALI FATE said:
Good job Keith - if i gave you here weight and height could you knock one up for the mother in law

Anything is possible but I would have thought asking your mother in law her weight would lead you to needing a ramp for yourself :Grin

Lisalou285 · Oct 26, 2017

I contacted the lovely people from the California Camping :thumb

& they kindly showed use how to do it & what was used

Solis · Oct 26, 2017

Lisalou285 said:
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I contacted the lovely people from the California Camping & they kindly showed use how to do it & what was used

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Thanks for the pictures. It’s tricky to see but is the ramp attached to the underside of the rear shelf? Can you possibly take a picture of this? Thanks.

Also what is the make and model of the ramp?

Lisalou285 · Oct 26, 2017

Solis said:
Thanks for the pictures. It’s tricky to see but is the ramp attached to the underside of the rear shelf? Can you possibly take a picture of this? Thanks.

Also what is the make and model of the ramp?

Lisalou285 · Oct 26, 2017

https://www.easyanimal.co.uk/solvit-tri-scope-dog-ramp.html

That's the ramp & yes it's a bracket attached with various pieces from b&q.
If you watch the clip in the thread above, you can see the ramp being pulled out - also on you tube one of the california camping videos goes into how they made it - see what you think

Found it:

aBusAndBeyond · Oct 26, 2017

I need to refit the ramp in the back of the Cali after we removed it so we had more space for our Europe Trip so we are going to film and put it on YouTube soon. People can then copy it (and improve it more than likely)

Solis · Oct 26, 2017

That would be super. Will be interested in that.

aBusAndBeyond · Nov 21, 2017

We finally got round to filming our dog ramp set up. Check it out and then improve on it ;-)

Solis · Nov 25, 2017

Superb. Thanks.

T3OMF · Feb 23, 2018

I took the California Camping guys design and made it our own, cheers guys

aBusAndBeyond · Feb 23, 2018

T3OMF said:
I took the California Camping guys design and made it our own, cheers guys

Looks perfect and you have some gorgeous doggies too

T3OMF · Feb 23, 2018

Cheers, might see you at the show tomorrow if you're still there

aBusAndBeyond · Feb 23, 2018

T3OMF said:
Cheers, might see you at the show tomorrow if you're still there

Unfortunately not, we were only there for the Tuesday as I have to work for the rest of the week

Lisalou285 · Feb 23, 2018

T3OMF said:
I took the California Camping guys design and made it our own, cheers guys

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That’s fab!