Big Dually Tight Garage Door Need Ideas

[NotOrganized]

Here is the issue. I have a 3 car garage 24' deep. One door is 16ft wide and the other has a 103" wide opening. I am getting a late model F350 dually. 22+ feet long, 96" wide. Garage is actually around 33'7 deep by the time you figure door clearance. Easy answer is park on the side with the big door. Problem with that is we use the other vehicles more and the truck would basically require opening the garage door to walk around it.

Bottom line, I am looking for creative ideas for getting the truck in and out the small door without scraping the fenders on the door opening. Fender width is 96", Door opening is 103. That leaves 3ish inches per side clearance. I have parked a full size truck in there for years. Mirrors are 96" wide so I just take it easy when pulling in or backing out. Rear fenders won't be as easy to adjust side to side.

I have been thinking of something like at carwashes to force the tires into alignment. Any clever ideas out there?

 

[Mark_17]

Paint lines on the floor for you to follow and back it in.

 

[Renchi]

Back the truck into the garage. The 3" of clearance on each side will make it easy when you can use the side mirrors to watch the fenders.

 

[bradpac]

I agree with backing in. Easier to line up and also once you get the fenders in you have a little more breathing room.

You could bolt some kind of alignment plate to the driveway outside the door to get you aligned going in, but unless you're going to move it a lot with different drivers it would **** to have a piece of steel track sticking up out of your drive way to trip over.

 

[Kevin54]

No simple fix for that other than widening the opening.

 

[CombatNinja]

Just smash the fenders flat with a hammer. That way it will look like every other dually pickup on the road.

You could not pay me to move a truck in and out of my garage with only 3" of space per side on any kind of regular basis. I would just park it on the other side. I am confused, first you said the garage is 24' deep and then you said 33'7". Which is it? I think you meant 24' and this giant truck would basically be a giant obstacle with hardly any room to get around it.

 

[joe_padavano]

All dually pickups are 96" wide. Mine is actually a skosh more, because I have oversize tires and wheel spacers. I routinely back into narrow parking spots with no issues. Practice. I'll second what Renchi said - backing in is easier than pulling in.

Of course, you still need to pull out...

The reality is that you're making this a lot harder than it really is. I've been driving a crewcab dually in traffic and parking it as needed since 1988.

 

[StreetGLi]

As my life coach says. Just be better. You've got enough room.

Side Note* I'm pretty sure he's just a homeless guy that works at the ski shop I go to, but his advise is solid.

Sent from my LG-H873 using Tapatalk

 

[NotOrganized]

Lots of good ideas. I could open the door up about and inch on each side. Backing in does seem easier. If it gets to be a problem, I have plenty of space to park it in my RV shed. That's where it will spend a lot of time with a truck camper on it anyway. Just prefer parking in the attached garage during the winter. Thanks!

If I could design something like a drawer you could pull out then park on and retract it, I would be set. LOL

 

[shelteredV]

Honestly, 3" a side is a football field IMO. My truck is 99" wide going into a 104" opening daily and it doesn't faze me. I installed one of these for a client and they love it. Maybe that'll work for ya-

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00213KVV2/?tag=atomicindus08-20

 

[XRlifer]

I've got about 6 inches on either side of my shop door. I back my crew cab in from an angle using the saw cuts in the floor as a guide. Pulling out is simple. As Duckface said, once you do it a few times it's pretty routine. I don't even turn the lights on at night when backing in. The wife doesn't watch lol

 

[In2toys]

mirrors

 

[Jlbc212]

There's plenty of firehouses originally designed and built for horse-drawn fire apparatus that are still in service housing much larger, wide fire trucks. As others have suggested, back in. We painted a bright, white line on the floor perpendicular to the door opening. The driver aligns the outer edge of the rear tire with the white line. I would cringe when I saw a driver looking rearward with his head out the driver's door window instead of just using the side mirror. Thankfully, no fire truck driver that I'm aware of got his head smooshed at the overhead door frame. We did have lots of smashed doors, but that was most often from doors getting closed before the truck was completely pass the door opening as the truck exited the building.

 

[finn]

My dually lives outside until the snow flies.

Then I back it in and it stays there until spring, unless we hook up the fifth wheel to escape winter for a few months.

It’s a big, clumsy vehicle, not suited for a residential garage. I knew that when I bought it. I deal with it. Complaining about not fitting in the garage is like complaining about its fuel economy.

 

[GaryM909]

I drive in and have a ball that tells me when to stop. I have about 3" on each side. I then have to exit the garage, walk around the rear of the truck and then I can close the garage door. I have been doing that with my dually or my single wheel pick ups for over 20 years

 

[MushCreek]

It depends on the driver, of course. My wife backs her little RAV4 into her garage, and misses by a couple feet. I've seen it parked on about a 30 degree angle. That's with mirrors AND a back-up camera. I put in a concrete parking stop so at least she hasn't created a rear garage 'door'.... yet.

 

[CombatNinja]

I hear ya, MushCreek. My wife dailies a Miata and I swear to God she comes within 2" of smashing into the garage wall with the front of the car on a daily basis. This is in a garage that is 26' deep. There is literally 10 feet of space behind her car to the garage door when she does this. I don't even bother asking her why anymore...

 

[Fueler]

Been there. The answer is Verrry Carefully. Oh, and fold your mirrors in after getting the back end inside. or else.

God willing you will get used to doing this after a while. Piece of cake then.

 

[slowTA]

Since no one else has said it yet... convert to single rear wheel?

 

[Homerr]

Reading the first post I was thinking of the car wash style rails and backing in, then I saw the end of your post where you mention them. I still like the idea.

 

[rburke65]

Sorry NotOrg......I’m no help. Backup camera, tennis balls...?

 

[Falthead]

My garage door leaves less than two inches on each side for my mirrors. Always pull straight in, slowly when the mirrors get close. Once they are in I don’t even look back at the rear fenders. Just pull up straight. After a couple of times, your a pro.