Many moons ago I knew a fellow whose wife had trouble parking in their garage. So he fastened a 'speed bump' to the floor where the front tires would touch. The purpose was so his wife could pull sufficiently into the garage so the garage door would close but not deep enough to allow traversing in front of the car. I have used a rope suspended from the ceiling to accomplish the same purpose but Advance 40 years and I'm going to be renting a garage where I can't fasten a rope to the ceiling. I imagine a photo cell would do but can't find one on Amazon. So, Where to find a suitable material for a 'speed bump' which would do the job on parking the car yet wouldn't present a hazard when walking around absent the car? The SB was about 2" high and 4-6" wide and material looked to be rubber or equivalent. All ideas generously accepted.
Lay a 2x4 where the tire would stop, then put masking tape around it to mark where to put it back. That way you know where to have it, and you can move it to avoid tripping over it
ultrasonic park sensors work well. https://www.amazon.com/Striker-Adjustable-Garage-Parking-Sensor/dp/B00W9EBF0Y
Hello, You had the right idea with the drop string. If there is no absolute access to the ceiling, what is wrong with attaching a nylon cord from wall to wall high enough so that a tall guy won't snag his/her head. Then from the simple cord, drop a line like you did before and attach a small red plastic piece. When the car window hits the plastic piece, then that is the correct spacing to close the garage door and have room in front. NO FUSS, NO BOTHER AND NO COST. To keep things simple in our garage for the past 50 years, a simple string and a red plastic piece hangs from the ceiling. (RED PLASTIC PIECES FROM HOT ROD MODELS WORK WELL) when you get a new car, the string can be adjusted to fit the new front windshield arrangement. So, how does one know where or if you are centered in the garage space? Make sure the preliminary set up has the small plastic piece hitting the windshield directly in front of the center of the steering wheel. Jnaki Those speed bumps are fine in a huge garage with plenty of space. But like the car washes, when does one know if you are on top, dead center, in front or the backside of a speed bump? It is a bump of some sort and there is always a guessing game. The simplest solution works well for all vehicles and you were on the right track with the string.(now, just add the small red plastic piece for contact noise and alignment) We once had a huge three car garage with enough room for a full size row of tall cabinets in front of two station wagon/SUV in the two stall, parking areas. I put in a small piece of wood on the floor to use as a parking warning before hitting the cabinet doors. (saw a fancy sample at a car show) It never worked well, because a driver could not tell when to stop on the piece of wood. The ceiling was very tall and I just had to use a taller ladder to attach the drop down string and red plastic piece. Those hokey stop light lighting up devices, just made things look awful and cheesy, too. It was hard not to try and teach an older dog newer tricks... The drop down string has worked well for all of these years... and on any size hot rod, station wagon, sports car or truck. Back when our son started driving, the same drop down string worked well for him. So, many years later, in his own garage, there are two drop down strings for each car in the stalls. If you have to have a commercially made garage "thingy" for parking, there are several versions of bumps, lights and even a stop sign on a skinny pole glued to the floor. (Something else to whack with the bumper.) But, if you or your wife/daughter/son have depth perception difficulties, those items will not work well. That is why the noise and close up sight of the drop down, string, windshield contact seems to be the best solution.
A tennis ball on a string just touching the windshield works great. All it takes is one thumb tack in the ceiling.
Home Depot and others have 4’long orange fiberglass rods for marking driveways. Drill a 5/16 hole in the concrete put the rod in and when the front of the car hits the rod you know to stop. When your done a little concrete patch will fill the hole. Ron
- on amazon there are other similar parking mats by Auto Care Products (smart parking mat) that are long enough that once a tire rolls onto mat it will not slide and does not require any type of adhesive or drilling holes - have tried the hanging tennis ball but, ends up in the way when car not parked there
tennis balls on string here-no issues except when grandkids try to swat it around when a car is not in the garage. My neighbor has some of those parking deals with the bumps etc but they slide when it gets hot here.
If you don't have any cats to tie to the bumper or other small pets or children to worry about, you can scoot the garage door opener "eyes" up on the track so it is bumper height, run a wire off of it to a light in front of the car that you can see when you pull in. The sensor sends an "open" signal when the door is blocked so the light would be off until you are sufficiently in. All you need is a bit of wire and a light, even a battery powered light will work to lessen he disturbance to the rental. This assumes there is a garage door opener installed.
I use a short piece of 3 1/2 x 3 1/2 “ angle iron (18”) laid on the floor to pull up to. On a piece of carpet it won’t slide and puts the car in the same spot every time.
Not much to contribute over what's already been mentioned but this reminds me of a guy I knew in the early seventies, he bought a front engine digger "roller" but didn't consider his garage space. With the front tires against the back wall; the garage door came down right at the parachute/push bar mount area. What's a guy to do? he backs the car in and gets out the Sawzall and makes a little opening in the wall and builds an enclosure just big enough to give the parachute its own little "laundry bin".
Tennis ball on a string for 45 years...but I still put a tire stop because I believe she would still drive until she hit the washing machine.
I use the ball on the string but I back my DD into the garage. The string is attached to the garage door and comes into position when the door is opened and contacts the side mirror when the vehicle is in the right spot and swings out of the way when the door is closed.
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