by "mazda616" (mazda616)
Published 01/02/2017 at 11:47
by "mazda616" (mazda616)
Published 01/02/2017 at 11:47
Tags: Nifty Amazon Finds
STARS: 4
Didn’t know how useful these would be. Our garage is a two-car, technically, but cars are bigger now than they were in 2001 when the house was built. It has been hard to judge how far forward we are pulling into the garage. Too far forward, and we couldn’t walk in front of the cars. Not forward enough, and the garage door may clip the rear bumpers. So, I used part of my Christmas gift (an Amazon gift card) and got these. Not bad. Took me about 30 seconds to install them. And they were $8.99 when I bought them, as opposed to $10.99 now.
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"crowmolly" (crowmolly)
01/02/2017 at 11:50, STARS: 8
Pretty cool... but... uh.. don’t you put them in front of the tires?
"My X-type is too a real Jaguar" (TomSlick)
01/02/2017 at 11:52, STARS: 4
I use a tennis ball on a string
"WilliamsSW" (williamssw)
01/02/2017 at 12:01, STARS: 0
Hmm, I could use these for my wife’s car...
"shop-teacher" (shop-teacher)
01/02/2017 at 12:01, STARS: 4
It’s amazing what they call a “2-car” garage, even today.
"CB" (jrcb)
01/02/2017 at 12:08, STARS: 0
We use bricks for my mum’s Mustang.
"Urambo Tauro" (urambotauro)
01/02/2017 at 12:12, STARS: 3
That’s a pet peeve of mine right there. Just because there’s enough room to park two cars doesn’t mean that there’s room to open the doors. Some of these so-called “2-car” garages require one to avoid putting anything along the walls.
If I had to put a number to it, I think I’d define a 2-car garage as being about 24 ft wide on the inside. (1.5' for shelving, 3' walkway, 6' for car #1, 3' walkway, 6' for car #2, 3' walkway, 1.5 for shelving)
"LOREM IPSUM" (lorem---ipsum)
01/02/2017 at 12:12, STARS: 0
My great uncle Neil used to have a tennis ball hanging from the ceiling of their garage with a length of rope.
When the tennis ball touched the windshield, you had pulled far enough forward.
I miss him. He really was a GREAT uncle.
"shop-teacher" (shop-teacher)
01/02/2017 at 12:16, STARS: 1
I’m with you. Some of them are just barely wide enough for a 16' door.
"mazda616" (mazda616)
01/02/2017 at 12:17, STARS: 0
Not per the directions. You park the car where you want it, then place the guards. Then, you drive over it and once you’re over it, you stop. Like a speed bump.
"mazda616" (mazda616)
01/02/2017 at 12:21, STARS: 1
Yeah. In order to put both cars in the garage, I don’t put anything along the walls. And the passenger side of my car is almost against the wall. But we can still get in the driver’s side of my car and both sides of hers. I’m fine with it since our cars are out of the elements. No windshield scraping or sub-zero cold starts. The lowest temps the garage sees are mid-30s.
"mazda616" (mazda616)
01/02/2017 at 12:26, STARS: 1
The few things next to my 6 in this photo have since been removed so I can still access that side of the car.
"facw" (facw)
01/02/2017 at 12:26, STARS: 0
Yep, seen it with ping pong balls and film canisters (though those are no longer so common I guess), as well.
"Urambo Tauro" (urambotauro)
01/02/2017 at 12:28, STARS: 1
Yeah, you gotta work with what you got. While working on my garage this year, I found myself drawing up a sketch of the garage and how to make it work best for me. Where to put things, how exactly to park, etc. It’s tight, but manageable. But if I could start from scratch, the garage would be just a few feet bigger.
"facw" (facw)
01/02/2017 at 12:28, STARS: 0
Its a little weird to consider shelving a necessity. Regardless I’d rather have it at the back than on the sides, and of course many houses have other storage/work spaces besides the garage.
"mazda616" (mazda616)
01/02/2017 at 12:34, STARS: 1
Our last home (which was our first home purchase together) had a single detached garage way in the backward, a good 30-40 feet from the house. We also had to drive though the backyard gate that kept the dog from running away in order to get to the garage. As a result, we only used it when bad weather was forecasted and it was always my wife’s CX-5 that got the pleasure of parking in there.
One of my requirements when we were looking for a new home in 2015 was an attached two-car garage because I was sick of scraping snow/ice and having bird shit on my car all the time.
I think part of the reason our garage is a bit narrow is because it’s attached. Detached ones can be a bit more freely designed. But, we are still one of the only people on our street that actually uses the garage for cars. Most people leave their vehicles (even nice, new ones) outside in the elements and then fill their garages with useless junk.
Former garage in this pic:
Current home (and garage):
"Urambo Tauro" (urambotauro)
01/02/2017 at 12:37, STARS: 0
It doesn’t have to be shelving. I just think that 1.5' is a fair amount of space to dedicate for things to go along the wall, whether it be shelving units, garden tools, boxes, crates, or whatever. It’s just so hard to keep that space totally clear.
Although, maybe bumping that up to 2' might work better for storing things like push-mowers...
"His Stigness" (HisStigness)
01/02/2017 at 13:04, STARS: 0
I used to use that for my Mercedes but when to the parking mat for both my cars as I was able to park both my cars in precisely the same spot each time, and now I can never go too far back.
"His Stigness" (HisStigness)
01/02/2017 at 13:10, STARS: 1
I looked at that one but ended up getting the whole mat which is awesome. It’s got the initial bump which lets you know to slow down, and you have to try really hard to drive over the bigger bump. I used to use a tennis ball for my Mercedes but when to this for my Golf because I back my cars in. This mat also makes it super easy to park in the exact same spot each time. MAXSA Innovations 37359 Park Right Red Parking Mat https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004MNE200/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_FCPAyb96B4TCZ
"E92M3" (E46M3)
01/02/2017 at 13:16, STARS: 1
It’s just stupid. Give me the extra 50 sq ft. Add it to the price of the house, I don’t care. I’ve personally eliminated 6 or 7 houses because even with nothing against the walls, you could not comfortably open the doors of a coupe to get out. My uncle works for a builder that builds million dollar homes, and the garages on their homes are a joke. Sure they are finished, painted/baseboards/crown molding even. But millionaires buy a lot of shit. Even if they don’t have tools they’ll want a place to store decorations, bicycles, etc.
"TheTurbochargedSquirrel" (thatsquirrel)
01/02/2017 at 13:23, STARS: 0
My Mom’s car just has a tennis ball hanging from the ceiling. When it hits the windshield you are far enough in.
"TheTurbochargedSquirrel" (thatsquirrel)
01/02/2017 at 13:24, STARS: 1
You really want a 2 bay garage with independent doors for each car. The ones with a single door tend to be kinda narrow.
"Nick Has an Exocet" (nickallain)
01/02/2017 at 13:31, STARS: 1
I’ve discovered that the sweet spot for oppos is the 3 car garage that’s actually a 2 car plus a workshop.
"Urambo Tauro" (urambotauro)
01/02/2017 at 13:33, STARS: 0
You really want a 2 bay garage with independent doors for each car. The ones with a single door tend to be kinda narrow.
Yeah, I’ve noticed that. I mean, the 16' door is fine, but having only 18-20' for interior width is a killer.
"Urambo Tauro" (urambotauro)
01/02/2017 at 14:30, STARS: 0
Not sure why the directions would call for that. Maybe they just want you to drive over it a few times to work the adhesive in a little.
"LOREM IPSUM" (lorem---ipsum)
01/02/2017 at 14:48, STARS: 0
Agreed. Seems like blipping the throttle to get over it would increase the chances of accidentally smooshing whatever is against the back wall if you happen to miscalculate... especially if you happen to be a crap driver, which I imagine a few owners of these dodads happen to be. (Present company excluded, of course.)
Maybe that South Korean Model X driver had some of these on his garage floor?
"mazda616" (mazda616)
01/02/2017 at 15:46, STARS: 0
Blipping the throttle? It doesn’t require anything close to that. I literally let off the brake and the car bumps over it at 0.5 MPH.
"shop-teacher" (shop-teacher)
01/02/2017 at 23:15, STARS: 0
I put inan 18' wide double door, instead of the standard 16' wide door. It made a WORLD of difference.