How to Stick This to the Garage Floor?

[target2019]

On my side I use a visual mark. For example, there is are shelving units, and I simply drive past the vertical corner, and make sure my passenger side mirror is a certain distance beyond.

On her side, I have an orange pig hanging from overhead. When windshield almost touches pig, you're good.

 

[street]

I have a small line on the wall of the garage out the side window where I need to stop the outfits. I just look out the side window to see when I'm even with the mark I'm where I need to be. Nothing on the floor no hanging strings with balls from the ceiling and works great.

 

[nvestysly]

Tennis ball from the ceiling for me.

The tennis ball method has worked well for us for nearly 30 years. With that approach I don't have anything on the floor that I'm going to stumble on when the car is out of the garage.

On Edit: Just watched the video on the retractable tennis ball. That's definitely a cool method! We have a two-bay garage. The tennis balls I installed are in fixed positions and do not move up/down/retract. Guess my approach is kinda boring but it works.

The tennis ball method very precisely locates the vehicle. We wanted the most room possible in front of our vehicles to allow for a limited shop space. I can tell when DW parks the vehicle too far into the garage. She likes to touch the ball then go another few inches. I just touch the ball and stop. Get the ball in the right position (for a given vehicle) and the stopping location is within fractions of an inch - repeatable every time.

 

[Jerry1]

Just watched the video on the retractable tennis ball. That's definitely a cool method! We have a two-bay garage. The tennis balls I installed are in fixed positions and do not move up/down/retract. Guess my approach is kinda boring but it works.

I thought that retracting tennis ball idea was cool too. Then, I realized that most often if I’m in the garage and doing something where I’d want the ball out of the way, that I’d most likely have the door open and the ball would be down (in the way). Oh well. I’ll stick with my fixed position indicator.

 

[pb4uski]

... The tennis ball method very precisely locates the vehicle. We wanted the most room possible in front of our vehicles to allow for a limited shop space. I can tell when DW parks the vehicle too far into the garage. She likes to touch the ball then go another few inches. I just touch the ball and stop. Get the ball in the right position (for a given vehicle) and the stopping location is within fractions of an inch - repeatable every time.

If it makes you feel any better, my DW can't get it right either.

 

[TromboneAl]

Here are just four of the aluminum-foil balls I have hanging for guidance.

Both vehicles are sometimes head in, sometimes back in, and I like to get them just right so that the kayak can drop into the truck, and the doors can open without steric hindrance.

This, however, is a common problem (and is the reason they are attached with a breakaway binding (the tape)):

I like the retracting tennis ball idea, but walking into them is not a problem.

 

[braumeister]

Both vehicles are sometimes head in, sometimes back in, and I like to get them just right so that the kayak can drop into the truck, and the doors can open without steric hindrance.

Well, that was a new one on me so I had to look it up.

Steric hindrance is a consequence of steric effects. Steric hindrance is the slowing of chemical reactions due to steric bulk. It is usually manifested in intermolecular reactions, whereas discussion of steric effects often focus on intramolecular interactions. Steric hindrance is often exploited to control selectivity, such as slowing unwanted side-reactions.

Steric hindrance between adjacent groups can also affect torsional bond angles. Steric hindrance is responsible for the observed shape of rotaxanes and the low rates of racemization of 2,2'-disubstituted biphenyl and binaphthyl derivatives.

Boy, when you say you're particular about where to park your vehicles, you're not kidding!
Most of us aren't quite as fussy about a molecule's width here or there.

 

[Telly]

Most of us aren't quite as fussy about a molecule's width here or there.

Some of us are greatly concerned about torsional bond angles, even out in the garage.

 

[Retired Expat]

https://www.amazon.com/Tkach-Enterprises-Park-Ranger-Amazingly/dp/B073VVN92H?SubscriptionId=AKIAILSHYYTFIVPWUY6Q&tag=duckduckgo-d-20&linkCode=xm2&camp=2025&creative=165953&creativeASIN=B073VVN92H

This is what I'm using. Stick it on the wall and drive in until you see alignment. Nothing on the garage floor to trip over.

Wouldn’t that be a different stopping point depending on who is driving? DW has the seat so far forward I can’t get in the car!

 

[Murph]

Idea

I just pick a spot on the wall next to me when I am parked in the perfect spot. Next time I pull in I turn my head 90 degrees and pull forward until I’m looking at the same spot. No spot? No problem. Use a small piece of tape.

 

[misanman]

Wouldn’t that be a different stopping point depending on who is driving? DW has the seat so far forward I can’t get in the car!

I'm sure that would be the case. I'm really the only one that parks in my garage's #1 space with the lawn mower and the work bench. DW parks in the roomy #3 space so it hasn't been an issue for us. Adding a second one is a possibility if we had the need.

I think TromboneAl said sometimes they pull in forward and sometimes they back in. Seems to me that would be an issue for almost any solution unless you just "safe side" it so that either way works.

 

[TromboneAl]

I think I used the wrong version (and too much) of Liquid Nails. I finally gave up, pulled it up, and will continue to use the hanging ball method for driving in forward, and watch the screen until it says 28" for backing in.

 

[travelover]

I’m tellin’ ya, check out the ceiling mounted laser parking aids. An ingenious application and no stubbed toes.

 

[NW-Bound]

^^^^ I have to say, the lasers are the least intrusive, and not too expensive either.

 

[braumeister]

I think I used the wrong version (and too much) of Liquid Nails. I finally gave up, pulled it up, and will continue to use the hanging ball method for driving in forward, and watch the screen until it says 28" for backing in.

Sorry to hear that. I have the same kind of floor bumper, and I drive over it every day. Hasn't budged in three years.

 

[aja8888]

I’m tellin’ ya, check out the ceiling mounted laser parking aids. An ingenious application and no stubbed toes.

I have had the lasers in my garage for years. Best and easiest.

 

[NW-Bound]

Spurred by this thread, I installed my own laser guide for parking inside my garage today. To add my post, I had a heck of a time finding this thread (had to use the search engine on Google Chrome), and it says the thread is 415 days old. Yeah, but my memory is longer than that.

I remembered seeing laser parking guides being mentioned here, and recently ordered some laser diodes on Amazon to make my own. It's just a high-tech equivalent of a tennis ball on a string, meaning to allow driving the car into the garage just deep enough to clear the garage door. This allows more space in front for walking.

The laser diodes are $6 for 10 pieces. It does not take long to concoct a ceiling mount for it, and to wire it to a 5V charger of an obsolete phone. I plug the charger into the lamp socket of the garage door opener, and this minimizes the on-time of the thinggy to save power, and to have the laser last longer. Of course, it is also a very convenient wiring. The diode can run directly off 5V, but I found that dropping the voltage and current a bit by a 100-ohm resistor in series still left plenty of beam brightness. This also helps it last longer.

The diode body is smaller than a pinto bean, and is hung on a piece of copper wire. The copper wire allows easy bending to point the laser onto a chosen spot on the car dashboard. I put a small sticker there on the dashboard as a reminder.

 

[mountainsoft]

I installed my own laser guide for parking inside my garage today.

You can park accurately, but it'll burn your eyes out!

Seriously, awesome creativity. I used to be able to do that kind of thing (associate degree in electronics), but it has been so many years I wouldn't know a resistor from a transistor anymore. It really is true, use it or lose it...

 

[NW-Bound]

If anyone wants to duplicate this, these laser diodes are class II (eye safe). They are the same type as used in laser pointers or laser levels used in construction.

For $6, you still have 9 spare laser diodes to play with when you are done with the parking app. Or you can buy the Chamberlain laser parking guide for $25.

PS. I just now learned that these diodes have an adjustable lens. The one I mounted happens to put out an acceptable beam as is, so I did not have to do anything with it. I will play with the remaining diodes to see what they do. Don't know what I will use them for.

 

[ERD50]

Spurred by this thread, I installed my own laser guide for parking inside my garage today. ...

That is awesome! Got a link for those laser diodes?

We move in a few weeks, I just have to do this in the new house. I never got around to doing the tennis ball thing in the current home, but this is so much cooler, and nothing hanging around getting in the way. And so high tech!

Even with the class II rating, I know DW will freak out that we might burn out the g-kid's retinas, but since it is only on when the opener light is on, kids should be out of the area anyway.

-ERD50

 

[NW-Bound]

OK, I thought it would be easy to find on Amazon, so did not include a link.

This is what I bought: https://www.amazon.com/HiLetgo-10pc...aser+diode&qid=1617415735&s=hi&sr=1-1-catcorr

There are several other deals by different sellers, and they look like the same thing. For $9 instead of $6, you can get 20 diodes instead of 10.

PS. I just mount the laser diode at the end of a 14-gauge copper wire using a short piece of heat-shrink sleeve. The heat-shrink sleeve is clear, so does not show up well in the above photo. The other end of the copper wire is bent around a #6 screw to mount to the small L bracket. Two long screws mount the L bracket onto the gypsum ceiling. Can't be simpler than that.

The wires of the laser diodes are very fine. I used two pieces of very small heat-shrink tube to cover and reinforce the solder joints connecting the diode wires to the wires going to the phone charger, whose phone connector was snipped off.

The light socket adapter to which you plug the phone charger is available at Home Depot for $2.69.