Ramps - length of ramp and also tyre width

[PurpleLizC789]

I know there are lots of discussions already on ramps but I couldn't find the answers! I have 2 questions:

(1) If we buy short ramps (as they take up much less room in the boot) will we also eliminate the potential damage that could be caused by accidently driving over the top? I gather that if the longer ones flip up in this situation they would damage the van. We're looking at the Fiamma level pro level ups. I can imagine that the risk of going over the top is greater with a shorter, steeper ramp (especially with DSG gearbox as there is a bit less control than if holding on the clutch).

(2) When I look at the Fiamma ramps the instructions indicate that tyres must not be wider than the ramps (and indeed should be 10 mm shorter on either side). We've ordered all season 235/55 tyres, so I think this means they are 23.5 cm wide and the Fiamma pro short ramp is only 17 cm wide. On the other hand, even the larger ramps look like they would be 20 or 21 cm. What do other people do and is this really a problem?

 

[tobyprivett]

I rang the club shop and they sold me some level chocks that fit in the blank space by the under seat drawer. They are perfect. I wouldn’t overthink it.

 

[PurpleLizC789]

Thanks - those are probably the longer ones which we were hoping to avoid to give us more space (we've specified the extra drawer so we won't have the load through space under the seat drawer), but good if you think tyre width may not matter. Perhaps the instructions are overly cautious.

 

[Stu@rt]

One of those Marmite subjects, as I am sure you have read. Some won't travel without them and will spend ages obsessing over tiny gradients and others have had their vans years and never felt the need. You may decide you don't need them #justsaying

 

[66tim99]

I'm the only one in our van who cares - I sleep up top generally and don't like sleeping with my head towards the back of the van, and can't sleep well if my feet are above my head. Yes, I could turn the van round, but then the outlook or sliding door side might not be optimal, so I usually carry the short Fiamma ramps which work really well with my 18" Springfield wheels (think they are 235 width?).

PS @Stu@rt you must buzz a little bit?

 

[Nick from Bath]

I’m another one that doesn’t like to sleep with my feet above my head, although my other half isn’t the least bothered so doesn’t get the need for levels.

I use a set of Fiamma Level Up Jumbo levels that originally got used with our Landrover. Seems easy to get on and off of with the Ocean so far. Not the smallest to pack away but at least they’re a solid rectangular package in the boot that the other stuff can be fitted around.

 

[Dave Lowe]

I bought some fiamma ramps about four years ago ... Never used them but they look very good in one of my sheds ... With other kit unused ...

 

[dspuk]

I know there are lots of discussions already on ramps but I couldn't find the answers! I have 2 questions:

(2) When I look at the Fiamma ramps the instructions indicate that tyres must not be wider than the ramps (and indeed should be 10 mm shorter on either side). We've ordered all season 235/55 tyres, so I think this means they are 23.5 cm wide and the Fiamma pro short ramp is only 17 cm wide. On the other hand, even the larger ramps look like they would be 20 or 21 cm. What do other people do and is this really a problem?

It is a problem, or was for us. We had these ramps and used them every so often to game the display and get as close to 0 as possible.

We then had a puncture from them at the lakes as the narrow ramp coupled with the pressure on the side and a stone in the tyre caused a puncture.

We managed to get it repaired with a Holts tyreweld kit, get home, throw them in the garage and never use again.

After that we take the display with a pinch of salt. Reality is we have been 2 degrees either way and it’s not made any difference. With a shuffle on most sites you can get good as damn it.

Some swear by them. We swore at them. Never needed since, likely never needed at the time.

 

[chockswahay]

We have carried ramps in the last 3 vans (2 before this were Fiat Ducato) and used them when we thought necessary (actually when we had a gas fridge it was more important for the fridge!)...... then of recent date we have been in places where they would not be able to make much difference or it was simply inappropriate to use them.................... surprise surprise! we slept just as well. We do still have them (the yellow Fiamma ones) and carry them in the space where the fold up chairs go in the rear door so they don't take up any real space really.

I think they are a placebo some of the time and lead to worry about 'what if I don't level the van?" for most of the time!

The only real issue is head up or down?...... and it would take quite a lot to make a massive difference.

Sleep easy and don't sweat the small stuff

 

[BristolCali]

If you drive over the level pros they don’t hit the van.

 

[Kernowboy]

I know there are lots of discussions already on ramps but I couldn't find the answers! I have 2 questions:

(1) If we buy short ramps (as they take up much less room in the boot) will we also eliminate the potential damage that could be caused by accidently driving over the top? I gather that if the longer ones flip up in this situation they would damage the van. We're looking at the Fiamma level pro level ups. I can imagine that the risk of going over the top is greater with a shorter, steeper ramp (especially with DSG gearbox as there is a bit less control than if holding on the clutch).

(2) When I look at the Fiamma ramps the instructions indicate that tyres must not be wider than the ramps (and indeed should be 10 mm shorter on either side). We've ordered all season 235/55 tyres, so I think this means they are 23.5 cm wide and the Fiamma pro short ramp is only 17 cm wide. On the other hand, even the larger ramps look like they would be 20 or 21 cm. What do other people do and is this really a problem?

You’re over thinking this. A set of Thule ramps or similar is all you’ll ever need. Don’t worry about tyre width etc.and you won’t go over the top unless you try really, really hard.

 

[vbk1975]

I know there are lots of discussions already on ramps but I couldn't find the answers! I have 2 questions:

(1) If we buy short ramps (as they take up much less room in the boot) will we also eliminate the potential damage that could be caused by accidently driving over the top? I gather that if the longer ones flip up in this situation they would damage the van. We're looking at the Fiamma level pro level ups. I can imagine that the risk of going over the top is greater with a shorter, steeper ramp (especially with DSG gearbox as there is a bit less control than if holding on the clutch).

(2) When I look at the Fiamma ramps the instructions indicate that tyres must not be wider than the ramps (and indeed should be 10 mm shorter on either side). We've ordered all season 235/55 tyres, so I think this means they are 23.5 cm wide and the Fiamma pro short ramp is only 17 cm wide. On the other hand, even the larger ramps look like they would be 20 or 21 cm. What do other people do and is this really a problem?

We carry a set of the Brandrup ramps, because they are in two parts, I find them a lot easier to store. We have 4 storage boxes in the boot and these ramps slot in the gaps between the boxes. They are very robust.

 

[PurpleLizC789]

Thanks everyone for so much useful advice. We hired a van in the summer and did use ramps a few times on sloping fields - as others have said, we were worried about sleeping head down (and didn't always want to turn the van around as we wanted to face the view), but these were huge to store.

I think we did realise, as people have said, that it was too easy to get obsessed with achieving near 0 on the levelling gauge and it really isn't necessary. We did decide to ignore a certain amount of sloping by the end of our trip - sounds like we could experiment a bit more with sleeping head down and see if we really do notice it.

Thanks for the reassurance on driving over the top and it sounds like we shouldn't worry about tyre width then, which is good news.

Can't wait to get our van now and get out in it (we have a new one on order). Let's just hope they've fixed the problem with the leaking pop top!

This forum is incredibly helpful for so many things, especially for someone completely new to the world of campervans. It is definitely another of the advantages of buying a VW.

 

[PurpleLizC789]

It is a problem, or was for us. We had these ramps and used them every so often to game the display and get as close to 0 as possible.

We then had a puncture from them at the lakes as the narrow ramp coupled with the pressure on the side and a stone in the tyre caused a puncture.

We managed to get it repaired with a Holts tyreweld kit, get home, throw them in the garage and never use again.

After that we take the display with a pinch of salt. Reality is we have been 2 degrees either way and it’s not made any difference. With a shuffle on most sites you can get good as damn it.

Some swear by them. We swore at them. Never needed since, likely never needed at the time.

Oh that is worrying about the puncture - not what you needed on your holiday! I get what you're saying about just not using the ramps! I think on balance we will risk the shorter, narrower ramps for easier storage but also take on board what everyone is saying about whether or not they are actually necessary - we'll have to experiment with sleeping head down by just a few degrees and see if it really is a problem for us (and if it is then we will have ramps available).

 

[dspuk]

Oh that is worrying about the puncture - not what you needed on your holiday! I get what you're saying about just not using the ramps! I think on balance we will risk the shorter, narrower ramps for easier storage but also take on board what everyone is saying about whether or not they are actually necessary - we'll have to experiment with sleeping head down by just a few degrees and see if it really is a problem for us (and if it is then we will have ramps available).

You’ll honestly never notice.

 

[66tim99]

You’ll honestly never notice.

I seem to be in the minority, but I do! Really interesting to hear how most don't feel it, but if the van is 2 degrees down, and I have my head lower than my feet, I sense it and sleep badly.

 

[Paul G - 2022 Ocean]

We have the long 2-level grey Fiamma ramps. They are a pain to store and carry due to size, and we also have the 235 tyres which overhang the edges. Have used them for the first time on our 2022 Ocean this week as we were nose down and tilted to the left. After driving to the second level of the ramp we were still 1.5 degrees nose down. The view was in front of us and the awning had already been pitched on the awning space so didn’t/couldn’t turn van around. Anyway, being nose down was fine for sleeping as we sleep downstairs with heads at the back, and our son was in the awning. Didn’t really notice the 1.5 degree slope until it came to getting up out of the passenger seat that had been swivelled round. As someone else said you can shuffle the van around to get a more favourable level readings but if you’re attaching a driveaway awning then that won’t work (we never attach awning now when also using the van to do day trips so the awning is usually stand-alone).

I’ve never worried about the tyre width, I just made sure the tyres were central on them. And I did drive over one of them when blindly trying to improve on 1.5 degrees but didn’t cause any damage. I had these ramps with a previous manual T5.1 camper and they were harder to climb than in the DSG Ocean despite the better clutch control that the old van had, so I put that down to possibly the traction control system on the DSG Ocean.

One tip though, once level on the ramps, and if you then decide to turn the drivers seat, somehow apply the foot brake before releasing the handbrake because despite having the DSG transmission in Park, the transmission brake does have a bit of play in it and the van will rock slightly either back or forth, and if you are right on the edge of perfection, you’ll be back to square one, or will fall off the ramp, or tip the ramp and have an unstable set up so have to start again.

And if you go touring in the Van during the day you’ve got to do it all over again when you get back to site. So….as others have said, they may not be worth the effort and space and you probably can live without them. I think I might learn to do so on future trips.

 

[Baldrick]

We have two sets of ramps as we also have wide tyres. A real pain as sometimes they're not used and are a big waste of valuable space, but in soft conditions we've seen one sink and lean at such an angle we were pleased there were a pair under each wheel.
Sometimes unnecessary as others rightly point out unless you’re cooking or forced into a leaning pitch and end up black and blue from being continually ‘encouraged’ back to your side of the bed all night. It depends on your preferred camping style, formal flat (heaven forbid anyone parks the wrong way round) vs small and friendly type campsite field.

…Air suspension is the future albeit, a massive birthday present

Everyone ends up with a shed full of ‘that was a waste of money for us’ perhaps a future club weekend meet swap opportunity

 

[Paul G - 2022 Ocean]

We have two sets of ramps as we also have wide tyres. A real pain as sometimes they're not used and are a big waste of valuable space, but in soft conditions we've seen one sink and lean at such an angle we were pleased there were a pair under each wheel.
Sometimes unnecessary as others rightly point out unless you’re cooking or forced into a leaning pitch and end up black and blue from being continually ‘encouraged’ back to your side of the bed all night. It depends on your preferred camping style, formal flat (heaven forbid anyone parks the wrong way round) vs small and friendly type campsite field.

…Air suspension is the future albeit, a massive birthday present

Everyone ends up with a shed full of ‘that was a waste of money for us’ perhaps a future club weekend meet swap opportunity

Ha ha yes! Should be called Multi-Cali’d Swap Shop ! (For those that remember)

But you touched on cooking which I forgot to mention, so if you do cook in the van, then levelling can be important to avoid hot pans/ridge monkeys sliding on the hob and potentially tipping. Even with a ridge monkey with its raised sides and enclosed cover can be tricky on slopes to stop spills over the side, especially if it’s grease/fat/oil, and even more so if it catches a bare flame, so stay alert and keep a fire extinguisher handy. Or cook outside!

I suppose the advice here is don’t take ramps during spring/summer where you can more than likely cook outside, but take them in autumn/winter when you probably can’t. Each to their own though.