Back-up Camera: Gorilla Tape On The Garage Floor

[lakeroadster]

Teaching An Old Dog A New Trick...

Since September I've been using the mirrors on our new Ranger pickup to back into the garage. That works but occasionally when I get out of the truck, when the drivers door is wide open, the door touches the wall if I don't get the truck centered up just right.

Our Ranger is the first vehicle we've owned that has a back up Camera.

Today I put a piece of Gorilla Tape down the center of the garage bay where I park the Ranger. Now I can get the truck in the same spot, every time. And I added another piece of tape at the back of the garage so I know when I'm back far enough.

Easy Peazy...

 

[cdestuck]

Hey, whatever works.

 

[NUTTSGT]

We have a stripe painted on the floor at the fire station. Even in the Spring/Fall when the Sun is in the right place, it's hard to see when you back into the station.


Back up cameras are nice.

 

[nadogail]

I intend to have a backup camera installed on my '99 Chevy van, at present I continue to rely on 60+ years of practice and my sense of hearing and the Bird Chirping backup alarm.

 

[alfazer]

Beats the tennis ball on a string.

 

[PugetDude]

Beats parking by sense of touch.

 

[chase237]

I was also going to add the nugget about virtually every firehouse where the rig has to back into the bay. I've worked in some houses where the margin for error is virtually none existent. The rig gets parked in exactly the same spot every time.
Paint is better than tape.


Sent from my iPad using Garage Journal

 

[SALIV8]

Nice. I would like a backup camera myself. The wife has one but my pos jeep even if it had one it would break just like everything else. Lol

 

[Voi]

I get a snow melt puddle where I would need to mark my floor so I instead put a vertical strip of tape on the wall on the passenger side. The lateral view of my 2010 Sequoia is good and it works very well.

 

[Alchase]

I use a parking laser mounted to the ceiling. Just drive in put the laser in the same spot on my dash, park in the same place every time. They work great!

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Park-Rig...MIxNHt0t7A5gIVx_fjBx3ruwZlEAQYBiABEgJOZfD_BwE

 

[HenryAZ]

Beats the tennis ball on a string.

My 2010 Tacoma is the first vehicle I've had with a backup camera. I use a horse play ball (rubber, about 10" diameter) on a rope. It gives a nice "thump" when it hits the window, but no damage because it's just an air ball. This, after destroying the right side taillight assembly by hitting my reloading bench, twice, at $140 each time to replace. Our garage is extra wide on the sides of each door (about 4ft of extra space, so backing in is a snap, except for how far.

The camera is very handy for parking at store or mall parking lots. I can back up right to the line separating two parking places. It is also real help it backing up to a bumper hitch trailer. I can put the ball under the coupler every time.

 

[Jinks]

Good thinking! I've been doing similar things for years, but just with objects already in the parking spots. For instance, we have a patterned garage floor so my wife's spot allows the backup camera to see when she's at the back of the pattern. For our van the camera shows me when I'm in as far as I can go, then I pull forward till I line up with a window edge. In the shop where I keep my sports car (with no backup camera) I back towards a tie down strap hanging on the back wall. I stop before I reach anything back there, then pull forward to align with a cabinet on a far wall. Since I vary a little side to side I wanted to protect my door edge from striking the wall when opened. I measured where it would possibly strike, cut a thick strip of old towel, & bolted it to the wall. Now I can rest the door against that & not mar the paint on the door.

 

[vavet]

We had a two car attached garage at the first house my wife and I bought together. I had a VW Golf and she had a Nissan Altima at the time. The stairs from the house into the garage were at the front of one of the garage bays, rendering it nearly useless except for golf cart, ATV lawn mower, etc...or my VW (google says the length is 163.3"). I used the old tennis ball trick and had about 2 inches to spare, total between front and back. The PO did not have a GDO installed in that bay, probably because they deemed it unuseable.

My wife now has a Sonata. While the current garage has about 2 feet of wiggle room for her car, she struggles to find the right spot and has hit the upright freezer a few times. I got her one of the ultrasonic parking aids with the red/yellow/green LED displays last year for Xmas. It works well, but requires new 4 AA batteries about every 6 weeks.

 

[taumac]

I don’t have a back up camera so to get the truck parked in the same spot I ran a strip of black duct tape on the ground and lined up the left side tires with that. It really helped because a few inches over then we wouldn’t be able to open the car doors to get in and out

 

[Organized_Garage]

I get OCD on where our motorhome and trailer are parked inside our garage and utilize the same method. Piece of tape on floor on motorhome drivers side alerts as to how far over and back I can go. Opposite side of motorhome has full line running down length of garage which allows me to perfectly lineup our trailer when that gets backed in. Same place every time.

 

[HAP]

Had the same problem in my shop. I resorted to a roll of reflective tape (I used green) as a guide for parking my boat in its designated position. I just run the drivers side trailer tire along the tape until my chock stops me.

R,
HAP

We have a stripe painted on the floor at the fire station. Even in the Spring/Fall when the Sun is in the right place, it's hard to see when you back into the station.


Back up cameras are nice.

 

[johnnyradiant]

Beats parking by sense of touch.

braille parking

 

[rburke65]

I wonder how much money these backup cameras have sa=Ed the ins. companies

 

[PugetDude]

I wonder how much money these backup cameras have sa=Ed the ins. companies

A lot more than we've seen in premium decreases.

 

[dadsEH]

Beats parking by sense of touch.

Touch Parking...? That's what tow hitches are for.

 

[Jazz1]

When i trained guys to drive semis when backing up i set a flashlight on the ground to have them set the rear wheels of trailer next to,. I'd leave the area and tell them to take their time. They never ran over my flashlight. I'm surprised curb scrubbers have not made a huge comeback or are their side mounted cameras as well?

 

[NewShockerGuy]

Love backup cameras. it's weird to me driving a vehicle that doesn't have one anymore.

I installed one on my STi 14 years ago, my Ranger about 5 years ago (had to redo it about a month ago due to the camera going bad, it's ok, ended up getting a nicer one). Retro fitted a camera to our Mercedes and also added one to my wife's Solara. Her Lexus came with it from the factory and that's nice because the lines are dynamic and move as you turn the steering wheel.

I find it 100x easier to parallel park and backup to get within an inch or two of an object behind you. I often wonder why we even have side view mirrors because those could easily be replaced by cameras. We'd get better fuel economy and you wouldn't have to worry about some idiot knocking off your mirror in a parking lot and have a $500+ bill for a replacement.

I love how on GM vehicles the rear view mirror is an entire screen/camera behind you. With how technology is I think cameras should be everywhere on vehicles, side/front. It's nice. I love being able to get right beside a curb without having to tilt the mirror down or poke my head out of the window.

On my sister's fit Honda has a camera integrated into the passenger side mirror so when you put your turn signal on to turn right you see in the infotainment system if someone is in your blind spot. It's a nice little feature.

-Nigel

 

[CraigStu]

I have a small screen in the rear view mirror so it isn't the best because of the size. Wife's 2015 Mustang has the large screen w/ the lines. That is a fantastic system. I love how the lines tell you exactly how close to the edge of the drive your wheels will be.

 

[chicken89]

On my sister's fit Honda has a camera integrated into the passenger side mirror so when you put your turn signal on to turn right you see in the infotainment system if someone is in your blind spot. It's a nice little feature.

-Nigel

my companies work Silverado High Countrys have these, great idea, until i realized that i cannot change the hvac controls or radio while i have the blinker on. so at a red light with turn signal on, i have to turn it off to change something, then turn the signal back on

When i trained guys to drive semis when backing up i set a flashlight on the ground to have them set the rear wheels of trailer next to,. I'd leave the area and tell them to take their time. They never ran over my flashlight. I'm surprised curb scrubbers have not made a huge comeback or are their side mounted cameras as well?

for my semi, i used some old 1.5' round metal poles, roughly 2' tall with bases. put red/white reflective tape on the top and the base to use as backing markers for my trailer (i drove a hospitality trl, so it had to be in a precise location). worked great the one time i got to use it. parked the trl for the Indy500, put the aids in the back of the trl with rest stuff specifically for that trl, never saw them again. now to be fair, they also removed the 6 cones and the leveling 2x6s that i had back there. never found any of that stuff either

at our shop, we can fit... maybe 26 semi trailers in the shop. nose to tail. owner refuses to put some markings on the ground inside nor outside to help backing. difficult to see into the warehouse while still outside it just to line up the trl

 

[Shadowdog500]

Before backup cameras 50 children were backed over every week in the United States. https://www.rearviewsafety.com/safety/vehicle-safety-statistics-backovers/

With some of the inattentive parents I see it don’t surprise me.

For this reason alone I’m glad they are mandated.

 

[gtae07]

Before backup cameras 50 children were backed over every week in the United States. https://www.rearviewsafety.com/safety/vehicle-safety-statistics-backovers/

With some of the inattentive parents I see it don’t surprise me.

For this reason alone I’m glad they are mandated.

I love backup cameras, though I used to dismiss the above as hype... until earlier this week when I was backing my van up and my three year old ran out of the house to see what I was doing. I caught a brief red flash from his shirt and stopped the car.

I’m buying my old Focus back on Monday and it’s getting a backup camera before I start driving it again.

 

[TylerRNEMT]

Did something similar to help get my boat in and out of the garage..... I like it as close to the far wall as possible and it is a very tight fit front to back to get the door closed.... this system works perfect! Used a similar set up when I worked at the fire station for all the engines.

Ignore the weird green balls

 

[Lassen Forge]

The tennis ball works fine until you switch sides of the garage, and the Lincoln is longer than the El Dorado...

 

[HAP]

Yep, that's how you do it...

Did something similar to help get my boat in and out of the garage..... I like it as close to the far wall as possible and it is a very tight fit front to back to get the door closed.... this system works perfect! Used a similar set up when I worked at the fire station for all the engines.

Ignore the weird green balls