What do you use as a parking stop/aid?

[Rorin67]

What do you use for a parking stop/aid?

Every little inch counts in my 19'Lx17'W small 2-car, so I like to use a parking stop that gets my back bumper within a couple of inches of the garage door. This morning I hung one of the pupp's tennis balls from the ceiling to act as a parking stop, but realized there has to be a better method/design for a parking stop/aid.

So, what do you use that allows for inch-by-inch accuracy?

[Random internet image showing what I did]

 

[Musicinabottle]

The back wall of my garage........... Sorry, couldn't help it! I have a large cast eye bolt that hangs down for my tractor. It comes up against the canopy signaling that the loader is about 6 inches from going through the back of the garage and into my tool room, and yes, I have poked through the wall at least once.......

 

[Miss the Pontiacs]

What do you use for a parking stop/aid?

Every little inch counts in my 19'Lx17'W small 2-car, so I like to use a parking stop that gets my back bumper within a couple of inches of the garage door. This morning I hung one of the pupp's tennis balls from the ceiling to act as a parking stop, but realized there has to be a better method/design for a parking stop/aid.

So, what do you use that allows for inch-by-inch accuracy?

[Random internet image showing what I did]

This made both me and my wife giggle. It was exactly what her Dad used to use.

 

[garagelogician]

I'm in a similar boat with my garage. I'm considering purchasing one of these. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000JHM2AU/?tag=atomicindus08-20

 

[Hilltopmasonry]

I used a powder gun to shoot a short 2x4 into the floor so I inch forward til I feel the tire bump it

I have plenty of room around my car but this Has me park at the exact same spot every time so I have plenty of room in front of the car with the work bench


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[SuperCat]

You have room to park your car in your garage? I aspire to grow up and be like you, with a clean garage, one day.
I tip my hat in respect for your accomplishment.

 

[teamextreme]

I've used the tennis ball, my G/F picks a location marker on the wall lining up with a part of the car (not too exact), my dad used the 2x4 nailed to the concrete, and at my last place I literally used the wall as a stop. My truck fit with 2 inches to spare so I drove til it touched the wall (reinforced with some wood back stop)

 

[cdestuck]

My wife.

 

[nolimits76]

This is what I used at my last place. Wasn't too bad, but every few months I'd have to adjust as it slides slightly.

But honestly, if that '67 fastback is what you are trying to park, I will store it for free.

 

[kbs2244]

I just have a spot on the wall that I match the right door post to.
It gets me to within 2 inches.

 

[lml999]

I'm in a similar boat with my garage. I'm considering purchasing one of these. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000JHM2AU/?tag=atomicindus08-20

I have two of those installed. They just aren't quite bright enough, so it's difficult to find them as you're pulling into the garage...

For now I'm using a 4x4 piece of wood on the floor.

Note to self...when working in the garage at night, compounding the kayak, when nobody else is home (other than the dog), do not take the short cut and jump over the kayak rather than walking around. invariably, one's foot will land on part of that 4x4, slip off and make you think you've broken your ankle, your hip, shoulder and noggin.

Dog chuckled for almost twenty minutes, until I picked myself off the floor and decided that the ankle was not broken.

 

[kazlx]

I don't park in the garage, that's where the machine shop lives.

 

[bdamico]

http://www.dx.com/p/red-laser-module-focused-cross-3-5v-4-5v-16mm-5mw-5942#.WtkVrS7wYuU

wired into my garage door opener so it only turns on when I open or close the garage. I aimed them at convenient spots for each of my cars. If I recall, I used an old blackberry transformer that plugs into a socket plug adapter for the garage light like this https://www.homedepot.com/p/Leviton-Socket-with-Outlets-White-R52-01403-00W/100184555 so I could keep my opener light and power the laser

 

[bdamico]

I have two of those installed. They just aren't quite bright enough, so it's difficult to find them as you're pulling into the garage...

For now I'm using a 4x4 piece of wood on the floor.

Note to self...when working in the garage at night, compounding the kayak, when nobody else is home (other than the dog), do not take the short cut and jump over the kayak rather than walking around. invariably, one's foot will land on part of that 4x4, slip off and make you think you've broken your ankle, your hip, shoulder and noggin.

Dog chuckled for almost twenty minutes, until I picked myself off the floor and decided that the ankle was not broken.

See the ones above I bought for $3 lol. Plenty bright

 

[nadogail]

I use the tennis ball on a string.

 

[coljar]

My wife used the back of my new garage a few years ago. Took the front off my Triumph Spitfire.

 

[rsanter]

I have two metal signs on the wall of the garage. Sure they are there for decoration but their placement is such that when the side mirror is between them, the truck is in the ideal spot

 

[Slednut]

No ball, just a string with a knot tied at the end of it.

 

[HenryAZ]

I use a suspended "horse play ball", even though I have plenty of room in length inside the garage. The problem is the reloading bench. If I go back too far, I've just smashed another $150 tail light assembly. Since I always back in, the horse ball give me enough audible feedback.

 

[sreeb]

I used the tennis ball for my wife's car. Should have used the 2x4 attached to the floor....

 

[Shootinok]

When I used to park my truck in the garage it was very tight. I had a pencil mark on the wall on the passenger side that lined up with the mirror. Very discreet little mark but it worked well for me. Now I park in my shop and have much more room.
I still use the mirror (this time on the divers side) to reference where it is in relation to the table saw to know if I'm in far enough to close the door.

My wife's new car has sensors that beep at her when she's close to things. That works great so she doesn't have to park by Braille.

 

[AA7483]

I have one of those laser things for my wife but I unplugged it since she prefers to park in the rain.

 

[Joe Reed]

I used to use the tennis ball thing on one side of the garage (the other side is deeper and doesn't need it), but it was too annoying having it hang down when the car wasn't in the garage. Changed it to a 2x6 taped to the floor. I painted it bright yellow to lessen the chance of tripping over it. So far, so good....

 

[MadMechMaster]

My wife's side has one of those ultrasonic parking aids. Green means keep coning, yellow you're close. and red means stop. She seems to get it.

Since I drive a F150 at over 19' and have a 20' deep garage, I use one of those 1/4 sphere mirrors at the ceiling on my side. I can line up coming in, and see where the ft bumper is to stop. about 3" front and back remaining.

 

[johninct]

Piece of wood on the floor.

 

[bigb56]

I bought one of these at Pep Boys, I have a 21 foot Superduty that I back in but I like as much room as possible to walk behind it (garage is 27 feet deep) plus my rollaways are along the back wall. This works great, I did paint it yellow to see easier.
https://www.pepboys.com/product/details/8958965/00645?quantity=1

 

[71goldss]

I’ve been using the mark on the wall method for years, and works well for me.

I’ve been in other people’s garages that have the tennis ball hanging, and I find it annoying to have the ball hanging in the way when helping to work on projects while their car is out of the garage. I guess it could be temporarily hooked back, but that never happens. I also find myself playing with it more than helping with getting any work done. Makes for a distracting little punching bag!

 

[MushCreek]

I bought a for-real concrete parking curb for $30. Once we had the location, I drilled and pinned it to the floor with rebar. That's in my wife's garage. I (sort of) taught her to back in, and it's a good thing to have something big enough to make her have to work at going through the garage wall. Her garage is big enough to accommodate different cars with the same setting.

There's a pretty good hill behind the garage, and I've often wondered about some kind of restraint system for when she reaches the age that she mistakes the gas pedal for the brake pedal.

 

[jonshonda]

The last garage door opener I bought (chamerlain) had a laser that was activated when the garage door was opened. I parked her van in the exact spot I wanted it, pointed the laser at a spot on her dash, and we had an incentive system worked out when she nailed it first try.

Let's just say it worked out good for both of us.

I would never want a tennis ball hanging in my garage, and a 2x4 on the floor seems like a dirt and water collecting trip hazard.

 

[PurpleZj]

I have two rubber speed bumps that one of my coworkers was thinking about using on the main road in front of his house to slow down speeders lol. After I talked him down from that idea he ended up giving them to me. They are a very hard rubber compound and actually stay put really well on their own as long as you don’t ram them.


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[ripperd]

I have two of these in our garage, one for my wife's car, one for mine. They work pretty good!

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000F6DNMQ/?tag=atomicindus08-20

 

[bczygan]

I park in the drive, so I use the garage door.

When I bump into the dent I put in it last time, I've gone too far.

Bill

If only one car parks there, I would install a wheel stop.

 

[CN Spots]

One more for the tennis ball. The wife's Yukon barely fits front to back and we have a an in-floor storm shelter on the other side that needs to be accessible. The parking spot has no margin for error.. The ball was a cheap, easy fix. It's set where it should touch where the rear view mirror is mounted on the windscreen. The kids like it when I play tennis with the wipers.

I don't like stuff on the floor. Just a matter of time before I tripped on it.

 

[EOC_Jason]

I back my truck (a little over 20') in and use the backup camera... There is a bumper against the wall that is the height of my receiver. I have about 2" or 3" clearance both front and back. Hehe... It's tight but it fits!

 

[LateNights]

Good old fashioned brick helps wonders.

 

[niget2002]

My wife's side has one of those ultrasonic parking aids. Green means keep coning, yellow you're close. and red means stop. She seems to get it.

Since I drive a F150 at over 19' and have a 20' deep garage, I use one of those 1/4 sphere mirrors at the ceiling on my side. I can line up coming in, and see where the ft bumper is to stop. about 3" front and back remaining.

^This. Get a half-moon mirror. Mount it so you can see the front bumper of the car as you pull in.

 

[aka Larry]

My wife parks in the garage, and like the OP, we use the tennis ball trick. If not for the ball, I'm 100% sure the either the back wall would be damaged, the front bumper of the car, the rear bumper of the car, the garage door, or all of the above!

 

[imok]

I put a round dot sticker on the wall. When I pull in and look out the driver side glass straight at the sticker I am a few inches from the garage door when closed. I am the only driver/resident at my house so it would probably not work for multiple drivers.

 

[CJ7VFR]

Piece of wood on the floor.

Me too. Once I had the car in the exact spot I wanted it, I put a 2 foot long 2x6 down on the floor and pushed it up against the drivers side rear wheel.

That determined where my car would come to rest when I backed into the garage. Then I used a grease pencil to make a mark on the garage floor around the 2x6 so I would know where it went if it got moved for some reason.

By using a 2 foot long piece of 2x6, I can look out the drivers window and see it as I back in so I know how far "side to side" I am in the parking space.

It works great, is easy to replace, it can be moved and put back into the exact spot it was in, and it is cheap.

All winners for me.

Jim

 

[77Birdman]

I have a laser pointer that i got for my door opener (Ryobi) that works great for my wifes parking bay. In my old barn my work truck just barely fit. I put a piece of 4x4 about twenty inches long and it worked perfect. No need to fasten it to the floor. I did outline it with spray paint (it was my barn after all) in case i needed to move the block out of the way to sweep or move something else around.