Parking Assist/parking Aid

[BoostAddiction]

I just changed out most of the cars in the Garagenous Zone, and the new ones are both longer than their predecessors.

The 2 parking slots dedicated to the daily drivers are not very deep, and I've aggravated the situation by putting a drill press and a press/brake/shear in front of them.

All that means I need to become much more precise about pulling in enough to clear the door in the back, but not too far in front, to avoid the tools there.

In addition to having to be more careful about the front/rear positioning, I also want to help with side-to-side positioning, so opening doors is less of a gymnastic exercise when one car is too close to the other.

So what have people done and liked in terms of devices to help drivers park in just the right place?

I don't want hanging tennis balls, have tried the yellow plastic wheel stops and didn't like them, and even had a kind of laser once long ago.

What works best for the fellow GJers?

 

[Beemer533]

If you don't mind something on the floor, this would work:

http://www.calcarcover.com/product/13/172/ParkingSpot_Diamond_Plate_Aluminum_Parking_Mat

Otherwise I would troll Amazon for a good laser...

 

[SLYDIT]

im about to make some ultrasonic parking sensor traffic lights for my garage using an arduino board. pretty electronics intense but you can buy consumer versions..

(skip to 1.40 )

 

[soj]

This works for me. The base is 1/8" plywood, (32" X 12") the first crossbar is 3/4" thick X about 1 1/2" wide, it is to let you know you are getting close to the double 2X4 stop. You can feel the tire go over the 3/4" piece, then just let it roll against the 2X4s. No need to tape it to the floor like the aluminum or plastic ones in the above post. The key to it not moving, is the tire locks it in place when it is on the 1/8" ply before it pushes against the first crossbar. I can just pick it up when using that area to work in. The black angels marked on the floor let me put it back in the exact same spot.

This works well for a rear drive vehicle. A FWD might tend to push it back when you start to back up. Never tried it, everything I have is RWD.

-JP

 

[BeachBoy]

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000F6DNMQ/ref=mp_s_a_1_2?qid=1418040789&sr=8-2&pi=AC_SY200_QL40

I have this and they work very well.

I park 1" from the door and have as much space I can in front.

I find this one better than the "single" bumps as you know when you get on the mat with the first bump and you are always at the exact same spot between the bumps.

 

[BillK]

Boost,
I think I would rather have something hanging from the ceiling rather than something on the floor to trip on when the cars aren't in the garage. We have a plastic flower on a string that my Wife uses. Her 84 Riviera is longer than the Tahoe

 

[TAMPAGT07]

I use the old tennis ball... My wife has the tennis ball also...(The ball doesn't stop her, but the workbench does...)

 

[soj]

I use the old tennis ball... My wife has the tennis ball also...(The ball doesn't stop her, but the workbench does...)

Another reason to put something on the floor that will be hard to ignore. Just don't glue or tape it down so you can move it when it is in the way.
-jp

 

[wssix99]

I tapped a cheap laser in to the light bulb power of the garage door opener and used that beam to line up the car as I pulled in. (You can also do the same thing, shot across the door opening to tell when your bumper is clear of the door.)

 

[1clean4runner]

What kind of new cars moved in?

I like this one: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000JHM2AU/?tag=atomicindus08-20

 

[PugetDude]

The drill press and press/brake/shear will make excellent hard stops.

 

[38Chevy454]

The one homemade by soj, or the purchased one by BeachBoy both seem to be an easy solution. Simple enough to lift it up out of the way.

 

[SALIV8]

i just set a couple bricks on the floor for the rear tires.

 

[CRF8]

SALIV8
how do the front tires get over the bricks?

 

[soj]

SALIV8
how do the front tires get over the bricks?

He backs in???

 

[rburke65]

I will bet a car can drive over a brick!

 

[BoostAddiction]

What kind of new cars moved in?

New Audi S6 and a Jetta Sportwagen TDi, replacing the former Touareg V10 TDi and a Boxster S.

Audi is fast, the VW is slow, but I am getting an indicated 40+ MPG pretty much everywhere I go. Not such good mileage in the S6, but a different kind of car.

 

[SALIV8]

He backs in???

lol, yup.

 

[Stevie-Ray]

Only in the last month has this become a problem for me. Just got a new Flex, and kinda want to keep it clean and out of the snow. Parking it next to my Lightning with all the **** included in the garage from the move has become a daily ritual, so far, of folding the mirrors, pulling it betwixt the L and the far left side of the door, of course favoring the door, turning the wheel slightly to the right when I get in halfway, and then lining up my eye with the second bubble of the level that's sitting on my work bench. Cleaning out the garage IS NOT going to start with the bench.