Are old garage products and plastic car ramps safe to use?
Decades-old garage cans often lack expiration dates, making it impossible to know if they should be used or discarded. With structural items like 30-year-old plastic car ramps, people fear the material will crumble from age while they are under the vehicle. This uncertainty drives them to simply buy new replacements out of safety.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
Found another way around this?
Share your steps and trade-offs so fellow engineers don't have to reinvent the wheel. No account required.
- 1discarding the product without using itDid this help you?
- 2searching for expiration dates or manufacturing codesDid this help you?
- 3Placing jack stands under the car as a backup in case the ramps fail.Did this help you?
- 4Giving the car a good shake to test stability before getting underneath.Did this help you?
- 5Buying new ramps just for the peace of mind.Did this help you?
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“Are 30 year old plastic ramps past their use-by date?”source ↗
“I suddenly had a fit of mortality, imagining them crumbling from age while I’m under the car.”source ↗
“Honestly, I’m just going to buy new ones out of safety. But I’m curious if the old ones are actually dangerous.”source ↗
“I've had this can in my garage for like, 15 years. I'm sure it's older than that. Is it still safe to use or should I discard it? There's no expiration date on it from what I can see.”source ↗
Where this came up
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