Ramps That Work

Dwight Frye

I did the first oil change on my 370Z yesterday at a little over 1200 miles. I bit the bullet and refilled with the expensive Nissan ester oil and used a Mobil 1 Part # 110 filter. The 110 is slightly longer with a little more capacity than the Nissan factory filter and the #108 Mobil 1 that the cross ref. book calls for. I plan on switching to Redline synthetic at around the 5K mileage mark. The oil was pretty black considering it had only been in the car for 1200 miles. No problems removing the filter as some have reported. I think I used about a half quart of oil during that period but am not 100% sure as I don't know if the factory fill was up to the high mark on the dipstick. I did remove all 16 bolts to get the shield out of the way but with an cordless screwdriver and socket it wasn't a big deal.
I had a set of ramps that I used with my G35 Infiniti and was concerned about clearance as I have the Sport Model. No problems at all, drove right up with no scraping. I dug the box out of the rafters if anyone is interested in the brand. They are made by AutoPro, model 23405. I can't remember now where I bought them, but it was one of the chain stores like Kragen, Chief or Autozone. They are made of heavy ABS plastic and have a 15 degree ramp. One tip, my garage floor is epoxy coated and pretty slick. The ramps want to slide forward even if I wedge them under the tires first, so I bought an inexpensive rubber backed bath mat at Walmart, about 36" long. I cut it in half lengthwise, put the section rubber side down under each ramp and it keeps the ramps from slipping.