Auto auto parking two in a pack rat garage?

[Danglerb]

I have two BIG door coupes I need to park inside my pack rat filled with shelves garage. I can't make enough room to comfortably open the doors enough to get in and out inside the garage. Anybody know of some kind of powered system to move a car in and out of a tight spot in a garage on a regular basis?


*** Notes

Garage floor is almost flat with just enough to drain water out the door, but driveway drops about 1' in 15', so powered is essential.

Both cars are the same model with 225/16 tires in front, and a touch less than 6.25" ground clearance. Nose of the cars, wheels to door hinge, is sufficient for all the mechanism to be inside the garage, but barely.

I am really serious about doing this, getting both cars in the garage is a very high priority, and previous experience makes the needed space for opening the doors beyond current practical options.

 

[jmlcolorado]

I have two BIG door coupes I need to park inside my pack rat filled with shelves garage. I can't make enough room to comfortably open the doors enough to get in and out inside the garage. Anybody know of some kind of powered system to move a car in and out of a tight spot in a garage on a regular basis?


*** Notes

Garage floor is almost flat with just enough to drain water out the door, but driveway drops about 1' in 15', so powered is essential.

Both cars are the same model with 225/16 tires in front, and a touch less than 6.25" ground clearance. Nose of the cars, wheels to door hinge, is sufficient for all the mechanism to be inside the garage, but barely.

I am really serious about doing this, getting both cars in the garage is a very high priority, and previous experience makes the needed space for opening the doors beyond current practical options.

I've never heard of such a system, but to get the cars in, maybe a winch bolted to the floor could drag them in, then block the tires?
That's the best I can come up with.

 

[dumper]

the only way to deal with a problem like this is to remove and/or reduce the number of shelves, then everything else falls into place.

 

[pmiranda]

I'm guessing you don't have room for a 4-post lift or you wouldn't have asked this question. I know they have parking dollies that pick up a wheel with two arms so maybe you could get a set of those and make it easy to push one car right to the wall to make room to get in and out of the other.
Otherwise I imagine you'd like some sort of platform that can move side to side. Either a bunch of rollers or a fluid bed would make the friction low enough for a gate opener to slide it.
Hang on, I just googled up this... No idea what it costs.
http://www.spacesaverparking.com/platforms/park_platform.html

 

[Danglerb]

the only way to deal with a problem like this is to remove and/or reduce the number of shelves, then everything else falls into place.

Its more likely the number of shelves will increase, with a monster on the right side bridging from the middle of the garage over the top of the front of the right car parking area to the shelves on the right wall.

BTW when I say "shelves" I am talking one step below pallet rack commercial racks 18" to 24" deep, 3' to 8' long, and 6' to 10' high. The bridging unit might actually be some of the smaller pallet rack type to allow the bottom shelf to be 4' high and still be stable.

 

[fringeofinsanity]

Sounds to me, you have to go up. But you really didn't give much details. Garage space measurement, vehicle measurements, height available.

I've seen a number of ideas, from labor intensive to super silk. But, the ole standby, the wheel dolly is consistently the easiest, most cost effective choice, IMHO.

http://www.carguygarage.com/jawhdo.html

 

[omr]

They're a little pricey but an electric powered pallet jack would do the trick.. You might have to add some rubber blocks so you could lift the car by the rear axle, but that shouldn't be too much of a problem.

 

[Danglerb]

I'm guessing you don't have room for a 4-post lift or you wouldn't have asked this question. I know they have parking dollies that pick up a wheel with two arms so maybe you could get a set of those and make it easy to push one car right to the wall to make room to get in and out of the other.
Otherwise I imagine you'd like some sort of platform that can move side to side. Either a bunch of rollers or a fluid bed would make the friction low enough for a gate opener to slide it.
Hang on, I just googled up this... No idea what it costs.
http://www.spacesaverparking.com/platforms/park_platform.html

Wow, those are serious bucks. The smaller ones that look a bit like a forklift mechanism are apparently common in Asia.

I have a Scissor midrise lift on the left side, and early plan before doing a bunch of measuring was to replace it with a two post, but we have sectional doors with a large storage area above the door. Its about 96" up from the floor, the full width of the garage, about 6' deep with just less than 4' to the ceiling, and FULL.

That plan was to move as much as possible to the right side of the garage, then put the least driven car on the lift. Vertical clearance is VERY tight, but backing the car in, and raising it up so the hood was VERY close to the bottom of where the garage door retracts to, should leave enough room to slip the other one under it. Less than an inch of clearance.

*** Caveats; very costly, buy a new lift, potentially change the garage door mechanism to a MUCH more expensive much more vertical style, messing with the above door shelf. Assoc wanted architectural approval of all of it.

*** Fall back plan, carefully push the right side car in an out as needed, and pack the right side around the car to make space on the left side.

 

[Danglerb]

Sounds to me, you have to go up. But you really didn't give much details. Garage space measurement, vehicle measurements, height available.

I've seen a number of ideas, from labor intensive to super silk. But, the ole standby, the wheel dolly is consistently the easiest, most cost effective choice, IMHO.

http://www.carguygarage.com/jawhdo.html

Something like that tops my list, but ...

Needs to be powered due to slope of the driveway the car needs to start and end sitting mostly in the driveway.

Powered means it also needs some kind of track, maybe a groove in the floor to guide it. Big question, will just one front wheel be enough, or will I need both to keep it straight?

Crude drawing below. End of travel I would have a half the height of the roller end stop and ramp. Rollers close enough together tire doesn't touch the bottom or floor. Some kind of power drive to the front roller. Guides on the bottom that go into some kind of track.

 

[SteveCh]

There are elec. winches available to pull planes into the hangar. The ramps up to the hangar door are almost always sloped a bit to keep water away from the hangar. The winches are bolted to the concrete floor at the rear of the hangar, long cable with a hook is rolled on a reel turned by the elec. motor. There is a switch to operate the motor and it has a long cable. You can walk out to the plane holding the switch and operate the winch while guiding the nose wheel of the plane to steer it inside. Works slick and not too pricey. Friend bought a used one for $180 and we installed it in two hr.

You would need to devise a way to steer the car, if you can sit inside and use the steering wheel, great. If not steerable, then a dolly for the front wheels or two small ones, one for each front wheel. These things make it very simple to hangar a plane solo.

 

[Crank]

Why not consider a winch and some go jacks, you can the push the car sideways if need be.
Regards

 

[Matt M PA]

My late father had a winch set up in the back of his hangar to pull the plane in. For some reason, his plane at the time didn't have a way to connect a Robotow.

Which makes me wonder if the OP has considered a Power Pusher. A local shop here uses one all the time on vehicles that are inoperative.

 

[vartz04]

What is on the shelves. I'd be throwing stuff out or selling it before spendingmoney on this contraption

 

[wssix99]

There are companies that make heavy duty slide-out truck trays that will hold this kind of weight. http://www.800toolbox.com/gorilla/gorilla_slide.htm

Maybe if you called up one, they could custom make a version to slide your car in/out of your garage?

 

[gesoffen]

How about a shed to store all the shelf stuff in? Thats bound to be a lot cheaper than any powered dolly...

 

[dandan111]

So you need to park two cars in your two car garage? It always going to be a pain. Put a shed out back for storage and get rid of the shelves.

 

[bczygan]

They make winches for pulling airplanes into T hangars. I have one bolted to the floor in my hangar. With enough steel cable and big enough drum for the cable, and proper gearing, it's easy to slowly winch things in. And it sounds like gravity will help you remove them if the winch has reverse. If you want to guide the vehicles path precisely, I would obtain some aluminum channel of proper length and install bolts in either end that will go into holes in the concrete floor. Then you can lay out the channel when you want to guide the travel, and store the rails at other times.
The winch too, could be installed only when needed and could be placed inside OR outside the garage, anchored temporarily into the concrete with a sheave at the far end of the garage for the cable to run through. Chocks could be similarly anchored for safety. Winch could also be mounted on the back wall with a sheave redirecting it at the floor. Get what I'm getting at?

Bill

 

[pmiranda]

If you want to guide the vehicles path precisely, I would obtain some aluminum channel of proper length and install bolts in either end that will go into holes in the concrete floor.

Hmm... inch-perfect parking every time... Interesting even without the winch... especially for pulling onto a lift or ramps. I have a target box on the floor for where I want the rear wheel to be (just pop open the door and poke your head out to see where you are) but this would get it right on the first try every time. I would worry about other folks in the household just driving over the guide channel and causing damage.

 

[R6 Racer]

I didn't read all the responses, so sorry if its been stated already. But by building some sort of mezzanine over 1 full bay of your garage you could potentially create lots of floor space for your behemoths. One of my neighbours has done this in their 3 car garage. Looks kinda cool seen from outside, when their garage door is open.

Or I could come down there & take one of them off your hands... problem solved!

Good luck
Steve

 

[Stuart in MN]

If the driveway is fairly flat, why not just push it in or out by hand?

 

[mtwaterguy]

If the driveway is fairly flat, why not just push it in or out by hand?

*** Notes

Garage floor is almost flat with just enough to drain water out the door, but driveway drops about 1' in 15', so powered is essential.

 

[mgilde13]

Why not try and locate the track that is used in the car washes that pull your car through? Company's that service car washes should be able to point you in the right direction.

 

[justanengineer]

How much $$$ you got? How about a set of robotic machinery skates? With a wheel lift attachment they would let you carry each car.

I think A_PMech needs a set for moving his toys about.

 

[Too_Many_Tools]

Put up a small shed next to your garage and move anything you can carry into it so you have space for the cars.

FWIW...this is how hoarders get to where they are...keep bringing stuff home while the available space is nil.

I would recommend that this spring you take everything out of the garage and then replace it based on what you NEED to keep...what is left over after the garage is full (in a normal way) is up for sale/donation/trashed.

Good luck.

 

[Too_Many_Tools]

For a cheap powered tow for vehicles, take a hard look at what stores use to move masses of shopping carts around...I see them at Walmart/Target all the time.

They are an electrical powered geared down towing cart..I have one I bought surplus and works great for moving heavy stuff within the shop...BUT...I suspect you do not have the room for the tow cart considering the request.

 

[Richard D]

Just curious, what's a big door coupe?

 

[Danglerb]

I have a mezzanine sort of, many in complex have the same a giant shelf width of garage about 6 ft deep over the door. Its full, the red car grew as I parted it out, but a black one replaced it.

Condo, means no shed, nothing outside except a few "patio" things in a tiny area behind the unit.

No way to steer either, it needs to be "wife proof", just push a button, in and out, so no to a winch.

Just curious, what's a big door coupe?

These two, but all 4 passenger two doors tend to have WIDE doors. I can't get my long legs out of the front seat without about 2 ft open to the side for the door.

Garage immediately after a massive clean up required to give contractors space to install a sectional door. 3rd pic is the right side, ceiling is 12 ft, unseen rear wall have the big shelves, with smaller stuff on right wall. Other stuff inside the house and in storage eventually need to go into the garage as part of a BIG reduction, but most of it will take time to get rid of (check, try to sell, try to give away, toss).

 

[GTVSaviour]

Are you involved in some sort of charity collection for computers past their useful lives? I may be out of line (probably am) but most of the tech equipment I see from those photo's is for the skip........ you'd get a load of space back in no time just from the behemoth monitors!

I think you need a real hard stock-take..... good luck.

My garage is full of detritus from 'a friend' and I'm struggling to work or get in at all too - you need to clear the place - even a winch or automated system will get to be annoying after a very short while.

 

[Matt M PA]

I can relate...due to the shape of the doors in the older Vipers...they have to open all the way for me to get in or out.

I have an old friend that's a broadcast engineer. His building is unbelievably packed with old equipment that at one time was very valuable. Some of it, like the 2" machines are still earning their keep running transfers.

I too recently wrestled with getting rid of old gear that we haven't used in years to get some space back.

My attached garage is 19x19 with one big door. What I do is pull the car on the right straight in...and back in the car on the left. I have one of those LED things to tell me when it's time to stop when backing the one car in. I've even placed some tape on the floor to follow when backing the car in so I don't hit the wall. This way, I can open both drivers doors enough to get in and out. The passenger does are close to the walls.

 

[fringeofinsanity]

Buddy, when you said big door coupe, I was thinking like a 32 ford or an old merc. These are daily drivers no?

You could rent a storage for all those shelves for the next 20 years for what it would cost you for a labor intensive daily ritual, one that you already stated the wont work, because of your wife.

No offense, but either purge or store elsewhere. Make life easier, not harder

 

[Danglerb]

I have a 10x30 x $289/mo storage unit with 1/3 more of my junk, 1/3 from each of our parents passing.

For sure I do have junk, but none of it has a big sign on it saying junk. Top shelf on the 3rd picture are new old stock sealed Apple computer repair parts, some are junk, some are well worth selling. If you run older systems, and many collectors do, they ONLY work with monitors that support standards not found on any new monitors. So to run old Apollo Unix system or Sun computers I have to have compatible monitors.

Both of the Porsche 928's are "pleasure use only", our daily driver is a Lincoln Continental, which the association will not issue a parking permit for until we have two cars parked in the garage.

BTW those are OLD pictures, I have a LOT more stuff related to keeping the two Porsches happy, plus almost a car's worth of spare parts.

*** Most likely thing is that my black car gets carefully rolled in and packed around, its mostly a track car anyway, too fast for safe around town use. Squeeze enough space out to park the Silver car with a spot to open the door enough to get in and out.

 

[Danglerb]

PowerPusher looks very interesting, original application is to move cars, with versions good up to 50,000 lbs and 20% grade, but its not a good fit for what I want.

I don't need battery power, its going to have easy access to AC power for its limited path.

Looks expensive.

I'd like automatic hookup and release to make it practical, the power pusher is still a two person (one steering, applying brakes) job.

Still looking at how it works gives me a lot of confidence that I can make what I want to work.

 

[Too_Many_Tools]

I have a 10x30 x $289/mo storage unit with 1/3 more of my junk, 1/3 from each of our parents passing.

For sure I do have junk, but none of it has a big sign on it saying junk. Top shelf on the 3rd picture are new old stock sealed Apple computer repair parts, some are junk, some are well worth selling. If you run older systems, and many collectors do, they ONLY work with monitors that support standards not found on any new monitors. So to run old Apollo Unix system or Sun computers I have to have compatible monitors.

Both of the Porsche 928's are "pleasure use only", our daily driver is a Lincoln Continental, which the association will not issue a parking permit for until we have two cars parked in the garage.

BTW those are OLD pictures, I have a LOT more stuff related to keeping the two Porsches happy, plus almost a car's worth of spare parts.

*** Most likely thing is that my black car gets carefully rolled in and packed around, its mostly a track car anyway, too fast for safe around town use. Squeeze enough space out to park the Silver car with a spot to open the door enough to get in and out.

ALL the computer parts could go...ALL of them.

 

[JakeKohl]

I have a mezzanine sort of, many in complex have the same a giant shelf width of garage about 6 ft deep over the door. Its full, the red car grew as I parted it out, but a black one replaced it.

Condo, means no shed, nothing outside except a few "patio" things in a tiny area behind the unit.

No way to steer either, it needs to be "wife proof", just push a button, in and out, so no to a winch.



These two, but all 4 passenger two doors tend to have WIDE doors. I can't get my long legs out of the front seat without about 2 ft open to the side for the door.

Garage immediately after a massive clean up required to give contractors space to install a sectional door. 3rd pic is the right side, ceiling is 12 ft, unseen rear wall have the big shelves, with smaller stuff on right wall. Other stuff inside the house and in storage eventually need to go into the garage as part of a BIG reduction, but most of it will take time to get rid of (check, try to sell, try to give away, toss).

That looks like a lot of low value things clogging up your lifestyle.

 

[omr]

The math seems simple here.

Will the stuff clogging up your garage make you or save you money?

If so, will it cover what you are going to spend on some contraption that will allow you to ''Auto Park'' your cars?

If not, throw the **** out instead of removing money from your bank account.


Imagine you needed to sell everything in the garage to buy your ''Auto Park'' if you sold it all then you wouldn't need to ''Auto Park''..lol

 

[Steevo]

This is a no-win situation.

 

[wssix99]

Fortunately, (or unfortunately) my wife is old enough to have used and respect a Dictionary. Every time discussions come up regarding putting something other than a car in the garage, we just open up the good book.

ga·rage (ga-räzh') n.
1. A building or indoor space in which to park or keep a motor vehicle.

shed (shed) n.
1. A small structure, either freestanding or attached to a larger structure, serving for storage or shelter.

self-stor·age (self' stôr'ij) adj.
1. Of, relating to, or being a commercial facility in which customers can rent space to store possessions: a self-storage warehouse.

 

[fringeofinsanity]

My wife once made that same argument. I agreed with her, then said lets also look up the definition of sole ownership and that I'd be glad to pull my truck inside... was all she could respond with....lol. I'm happy to let her have the extra space, but don't push your luck is my stance. Just be happy with what ya got