I need help :(

[Raven5000]

I have a one car garage that is really tight. Most of the time im ok. But I just scuffed the hell out of my right front fender with a bunch of white paint. Has anybody tried some kind of tire guide so u go straight in and out of the garage.If so pic please. I would like something so I can feel if I'm off on my approach going into the garage.

 

[Doug_G]

With the auto-tilt side mirrors I find it pretty easy to back into parking spots straight and centered by lining up on the painted lines. Maybe this would work for you?

 

[Raven5000]

Backing out is good never have a problem but pulling in is usually when i hit if i hit

 

[ElSupreme]

In general it is much easier to back in (assuming you can see and know how) to spots than pulling in. As you can swing your nose around in the open aisle way, not the constricted parking spot. Lots of people with big pickups do this.

 

[Raven5000]

This is a garage door opening on a steep incline. Not going to work for me. Maybe if we had parking guide on our rear view camera I might be able to do this. Model S Should come standard with these as well as parking sensors but oh well I love the car.

- - - Updated - - -

I can back into parking spot just fine but not a garage door opening.

 

[JakeP]

I literally hung a 4' roll of carpet along the length my garage wall, covering the concrete block. Protects against any sideswipe, and much more commonly, door-opening impacts.

 

[Crispix]

I've done this will all my cars: I hang a string from the ceiling with one of those squishy stress squeeze balls hanging at the end to weigh it down. Hang the string so that the ball will just barely touch your windshield right above the center of the steering wheel in the exact right parking spot.

Then, whenever you park the car, just aim the center of the steering wheel to the hanging ball and stop the moment it touches. Perfect landing every time.

 

[Doug_G]

Might be better to hang it dead center in front of the driver. That way he won't have to judge the parallax.

 

[Trnsl8r]

Might be better to hang it dead center in front of the driver. That way he won't have to judge the parallax.

Isn't the driver usually behind the steering wheel?

EDIT: Well those of us that are married may disagree...

 

[Raven5000]

Soory i shouldve better described whats going on. Im scraping the sides of my car on the opening to my garage. Inside the garage is fine. If that makes sense

 

[Sparky]

Soory i shouldve better described whats going on. Im scraping the sides of my car on the opening to my garage. Inside the garage is fine. If that makes sense

Sounds like something like this would be ideal; Nissan's 4-camera virtual overhead parking assist. It uses cameras and distance sensors to image process an overhead "view" of your car and the objects immediately nearby. I think the 2013 LEAFs have it as an option. Don't know if there's an aftermarket solution.

http://www.nissan-global.com/EN/TECHNOLOGY/OVERVIEW/avm.html

 

[PhilBa]

I've pondered this over the years and thought about several ways.

The idea for one solution can be gained by looking at the tracks they use for car washes (the kind that drag your car through). Basically, little raised guide rails on the path to the perfect parking spot. They probably don't have to be more than 1/2" high and you can feel when the tires run over them.

An ultrasound sensor approach is another. Have sensors on each side wall that can tell you if you are centered. Probably cheaper than the 4 camera approach suggested. Might need multiple per wall to handle angled entry.

If it's possible, maybe have mirrors on the back wall that allow you to see where the wheels are. Paint guide lines on the floor.

 

[wraithnot]

Sounds like something like this would be ideal; Nissan's 4-camera virtual overhead parking assist. It uses cameras and distance sensors to image process an overhead "view" of your car and the objects immediately nearby. I think the 2013 LEAFs have it as an option. Don't know if there's an aftermarket solution.

http://www.nissan-global.com/EN/TECHNOLOGY/OVERVIEW/avm.html
View attachment 24846

It sounds like the best solution for you would be to mount a sensor on the guide track for you garage door- no need to have it on the car if you're only worried about hitting one particular stationary object.

I'm sure someone makes a commercial sensor like this. But if you're a DIY type, you could always try something like this: Arduino Basics: HC-SR04 Ultrasonic Sensor Just hook it to a loud buzzer that sounds the alarm at some pre-set distance. You could also go low-tech and just mount a mirror somewhere in your garage that you can see from the car and that will give you a good view of the distance between the edge of the door and the car. If a mirror won't work, a security camera and a monitor mounted to the garage wall should also do the trick.

update: looks like I should have typed a little faster. PhilBa beat me to the punch with most of these idea.

 

[yobigd20]

You need guides like used in the battery swap demo. skip to 0:55 and watch the tesla drive up exactly aligned due to the guides.

 

[Lloyd]

I built guides like this to keep an airplane centered in the hangar. We have only 3" at each wing tip.

 

[Doug_G]

Isn't the driver usually behind the steering wheel?

EDIT: Well those of us that are married may disagree...

LOL misread the OP...

 

[MichaelS]

Sorry to hear about your mishap. it's very frustrating when that happens. I've had a kumquat tree next to my driveway jump out and scratch the hell out my car.

I don't have the severe space limitation you have, but I've installed a couple of high power laser parking pointers. There is one nice bright one on Amazon that costs about $65. It's expensive, but comes with two lasers. I point one to hit the dash as I just pull in the garage and the second one is the final spot. I line it up with the edge of the dash. You would need to find a good spot to line up laterally. It's been very helpful for me. I have a twisting driveway that is hard to get in and out of. It took me over a week after I got the car to drum of the courage to even try to park it in the garage.

Good luck.

 

[Beaker]

The local body shop told me the most common repair is to the hips (aka rear quarter panels around the rear tires) because folks fold the mirrors and think that the mirrors still stick out the most when in fact it's the rear quarter panels.

It might be wise to leave the mirror out and proceed very slowly.

 

[jerry33]

If you have paint armour then you can just replace the paint armour when it happens (in addition to the other suggestions on prevention).

 

[pilotSteve]

I built guides like this to keep an airplane centered in the hangar. We have only 3" at each wing tip.

Very neat solution Lloyd. Are these commercially available or was it DIY project? btw love the PC12!