Backing Into the Garage Trick

[TromboneAl]

Any of you with backup cameras with guidelines might like this system, which I'm overly proud of:

 

[Alan]

Nice Al, I like it.

I am much more low tech. I have plenty of room on each side although the aerial display of the car showing clearance on sides and back is very useful. My problem is that I need to be within 9" of the back wall to give plenty of clearance for the garage doors to close. I have a plastic cap dangling on a string from the roof of the garage. I reverse slowly back until the emergency action brakes (EAB) stop the car about 18" short of the wall, then I slowly reverse back until the cap touches the rear screen. (The car is a Prius which is a hatchback so the dangling cap is never a problem being so far back in the garage).

However, I do really like your visual guidance system.

 

[Sue J]

You're having a good time with your new toy!

Nice, simple trick if you back into a garage. My Corolla has a back-up camera with guidelines like that but I never back into the garage.

In the video the back up camera is displaying even when the driver is going forward. Mine only shows when you're in reverse.

 

[Montecfo]

I simply pull in.

 

[W2R]

Very nice, Al!

I don't really need it, though, since I have a very oversized two car garage with almost nothing in it but my Venza and the trash can. So I have 10-20 feet of extra space on either side of the Venza. I don't back into it, but go in forwards instead.

I turn on my headlights when driving into the garage (no matter the time of day) so that I can more easily tell when I am getting close to the back wall. That's a little trick my late mother taught me and it works nicely for me.

 

[ponyboy]

I dont have a back up camera yet im still able to back a truck into a small garage. No tricks required.

 

[Ronstar]

Nice system! I'll have to try that sometime. I don't think I have ever backed my truck or car into the garage. So I might have a problem backing in regardless how well the guidance system works.

 

[TromboneAl]

You're having a good time with your new toy!

Nice, simple trick if you back into a garage. My Corolla has a back-up camera with guidelines like that but I never back into the garage.

In the video the back up camera is displaying even when the driver is going forward. Mine only shows when you're in reverse.

So true about playing with the new toy. It's embarrassing.

I turned on the rearview camera when driving forward because otherwise it showed my location.

 

[calmloki]

Parking as a full contact sport. Parking by braille? Auditory alert system (crunch)?

We have hanging doodads to run into, but they aren't helpful if we change cars and a sloping windshield makes stopping a bit inexact. Liked the auditory sensors on the BMWs and really have become a fan of the backup camera in parking lots. Find that it helps our relationship - I've been the driver 98% of the time but got doctor instruction to not drive for 3 months, so the gal is the driver and I "help" with suggestions about her parking and everything else. She has taken to putting the car in reverse to see how the car is aligned with the parking lines, which is way better than me commenting on it.

 

[wolf]

IMHO, not good idea to back, gas powered vehicle in enclosed garage. When you start
up engine to leave, lots of exhaust gas/crud fills up the area.

Pure electric, no problem.

 

[misshathaway]

That is clever!

 

[Jerry1]

As was mentioned, with a gas powered car, I don’t feel comfortable backing into the garage. I do like the lines and all with you system for backing up, but I don’t know what I’d do in a garage without a fishing bobber hanging from the ceiling telling me when to stop.

 

[Winemaker]

While working underground, reflective tape was always used to mark changes in clearance. I have a table in the back of the garage with a piece of the tape on the corner; I just keep it in my side view mirror. A wooden block on the floor prevents me from going back too far, but my string with a wine bottle cork on the garage door is the marker on the hood.

 

[braumeister]

One of my favorite gadgets is a rubber mat with two raised bumps on it. Place one on the floor where you want one wheel to be and as you drive over the first bump you hit the brake and your tire comes to rest between the two. I have one for each of our two cars in the garage and they work like a charm. Around $15-20 at many auto parts stores.

 

[Walt34]

We always back into the garage because the line of sight is shorter over the hood when leaving than out the back window (especially with the pickup truck) and one is more likely to walk in front when getting in. That gives an extra look to the exit path. Neighbors frequently have very little ones around, which they do watch carefully, but I want to be careful around them too.

The Honda backup camera has lines denoting "distance to go before crunch" and that works fine. For the pickup, I picked a wall stud to line up the driver's side window frame with. It's worked for 17 years so far.

As far as the exhaust goes, yeah, don't inhale.

 

[GravitySucks]

When I hit the plastic trash can I'm good.

 

[pb4uski]

Interesting trick but I have never backed into my garage at any of our 3 homes.... it is a mystery to me why anyone would do that.... seems to me that there is a lot more to go wrong compared to driving in and backing out.

 

[pb4uski]

One of my favorite gadgets is a rubber mat with two raised bumps on it. Place one on the floor where you want one wheel to be and as you drive over the first bump you hit the brake and your tire comes to rest between the two. I have one for each of our two cars in the garage and they work like a charm. Around $15-20 at many auto parts stores.

I have an orange tennis ball on a string calibrated to hit the windshield when the vehicle is in the right spot.... ony thing is that if the cars are out of the garage then the hanging ball can be a nuisance.

 

[Winemaker]

Interesting trick but I have never backed into my garage at any of our 3 homes.... it is a mystery to me why anyone would do that.... seems to me that there is a lot more to go wrong compared to driving in and backing out.

We never realized it when we bought our house, but one could not back the Coup de Ville or the latter, Sedan de Ville out of the garage to drive back up the driveway. Especially, when there was a 3rd car parked at the back of the driveway. Both kids, DW, and myself, could out drive anyone, on any day. And parallel park.

Our driveway is also on a grade, so we always wanted to drive up the driveway especially in the dark or inclement weather.

 

[pb4uski]

I guess that I can see that... all of our garages have had flat entrances.

Getting into my current garage is a bit tricky in that it requires a 90 degree left turn from the bottom of the driveway into the garage... I nail it 9 times out of 10... with that one time I need to back up and straighten out to drive in.

 

[SecondCor521]

Interesting trick but I have never backed into my garage at any of our 3 homes.... it is a mystery to me why anyone would do that.... seems to me that there is a lot more to go wrong compared to driving in and backing out.

I haven't either, but maybe if a person is concerned about bugging out quickly in case of a forest fire? I could see that being T-Al's reasoning...or it could be something completely different.

 

[donheff]

I would probably wreck the car trying to figure out the line placement. My garage is so short that I have a tennis ball hanging that I bump up against the windshield to mark when the compact SUV is close enough to the interior wall that the door will close. That leaves about 3 inches of clearance, I just pull in until the collision avoidance slams on the brakes and then ease forward until the tennis ball touches the windshield. The joys of old houses.

 

[Badger]

I have a rear bumper protector on my 2020 Santa Fe hitch that is visible on my camera. It is the same width as a 2x2 rubber mat on the floor that I line it up to.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/GO-RHIN...gRDCLN-42sZFHNC9JsBoCU_EQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

https://www.walmart.com/ip/1-2-Inch...ickid=Ql4SFhzTixyOR3AwUx0Mo3YSUknRYr1siyAszc0



Cheers!

 

[BigBob]

Interesting trick but I have never backed into my garage at any of our 3 homes.... it is a mystery to me why anyone would do that.... seems to me that there is a lot more to go wrong compared to driving in and backing out.

we have very limited width space in our 2 car garage. Backing my truck in allows me to hug the wall and have more space for the drivers between the vehicles.

 

[pb4uski]

we have very limited width space in our 2 car garage. Backing my truck in allows me to hug the wall and have more space for the drivers between the vehicles.

So one vehicle is driven in and the other is backed in? Perhaps you need a bigger garage!