Is it better to have the car leveled when doing an oil change, or would it be ok having the front up using a ramp?

Gonna change the oil this weekend and I have to go on ramps to remove my splash guard. So I will either:

A) Get on the ramp, to remove splash guard, go back down, do oil change, go back up the ramp to put back the splash guard, and back down one last time.

B) Get on the ramp, do the oil change, and go back down when finished.

I prefer B for the easy/laziness but I figure I ask the trusty folks here with more experience. I'm not sure if all the old oil will come out with option B.

 

I just use a floorjack and jackstands to do oil change with the front end up...

Albeit its a little more tedious with a exhaust wrapped EL header that I gotta put a plastic bag over so it doesn't get soaked while draining as modding my oil filter wrench so I can get to it...

 

Car does not have to be level for oil change.

I use jacks and jack stands on the front only. Unless you need to get all four up, just the front is okay.

 

Yea just use a floorjack and jackstands..

 

Just jack it up and put it on the stands front up.

There are way too many things that could go wrong on ramps, and I know you Steak.

 

I have done the following and have never had problems:

1. Ramps in the front and jack stands in the rear.
2. Jack stands on all 4 corners
3. Lift (preferred method)

 

I hate ramps. And I do know that my 2002 WRX on STi struts and springs has enough clearance that I don't need to lift the car at all.

 

Ramps suck.
I remember the first time I used ramps on my old Sentra and scraped the bottom of the car. Wasn't even low.

 

I thought about using ramps but Im too paranoid that the car will fall off when Im driving up. Plus I dont have anyone else that could spot me while driving up. I just did my oil chang on my car last week and heres what I did;

I used the factory spare tire jack to get the passenger front side up high enough for me to work under the car. I didnt use my floor jack because I didnt want to bend the pich weld.

I put a jackstand next to the jack for safety.

This should give you enough clearance to get under the car to work.

 

Just drive half your car up a curb (driver side on curb) I've been doing that for a while.. Then you never have that fear of your car rolling off of anything onto you.. It works... Just do it quick before local pd see you parked that way...

 

Ramps are worthless.

Jack / jack stands

Car does not have to be level to drain the oil, but should be when refilling the oil. However, if you know how much it takes you don't need to level the car to refill.

 

Thanks for all the replies. jack and jackstands can be pricey and i dont know if i would trust my life on cheap ones.

We used my rhino ramps for my last oil change (and fumoto install) because the garage was slanted downwards so the car was almost leveled on the ramps. This time, i have a leveled garage and i was more concerned about not getting all the old oil out.

Ramps i know are not ideal, but after installing my catback i only need to get under the car for an oil change, so i guess its good enough for me.

 

Meh, ramps are fine. I use them all the time. Just kick them under the tires and drive up. As long as you're wheels are straight you're not going to fall off the sides. And they have lips on the front and back so once up your car isn't going anywhere.

Drive up. Drain oil, drop filter, spin filter on, pour in 4.5 qts, done. Takes five minutes.

 

Make sure to put chucks under the rear tires if you use ramps.

 

I use ramps, never had any issues. Of course because I've never had a car that was too low for ramps.

Seriously though, what's the big issue with ramps though? They work fine for me.