[itwasntme]

Advice requested!

I have a 2 vehicle garage which is unfortunately pretty restricted both in terms of width and length. Although it is 3 sides open, there are 2 solid side pillars which jut into the already limited width . FUrther, as the depth/length is also limited, I am forced to back my vehicles in close to the rear wall to save them from the rains.

I currently use the parking sensors, reversing cameras and plain judgement to park my cars, BUT have messed up on rare occasions and/or in low visibility conditions. I need some kind of stopper at the end (rear wall), as well as rubbing strips for the accursed side pillars.

Has anyone explored fitting parking protection equipment like wheel chocks (portable), fixed parking stoppers, pillar guards and corner rubbing strips? I see them all over BLR's offices, MLCPs etc but rarely in residential private garages.

Any tips from anyone please? There is an amazing variety of equipment available off Amazon, Industrybuying, Tolexo, Flipkart etc. Some samples below:

Wheel chocks (portable): https://www.amazon.in/s?k=wheel+chock&ref=nb_sb_noss_2
Wheel stoppers (fixed): https://www.amazon.in/s?k=wheel+stop...f=nb_sb_noss_2
Pillar guards: https://www.amazon.in/s?k=pillar+gua...f=nb_sb_noss_1

General road safety products:
https://www.unnathi.com/corner-guard.html
https://www.roadsafetybangalore.com/...pper-Bangalore

Before anyone suggests a good old pair of bricks will do the job as well , rest assured I am fully aware of that! Lastly, a few pictures of my situation:
EDIT: Apologies for the filthy state of the garage as the recent storms have wreaked havoc with muddy water from the adjoining garden area.

[GrammarNazi]

Hang a tennis ball from the ceiling that'd touch the rear windshield such that its marking the exact spot where you should stop reversing.

This is the cleanest way, and if one wants to be even more careful and doesn't mind, keeping old car/bike tyres against the wall would help.

[itwasntme]

Originally Posted by GrammarNazi

Hang a tennis ball from the ceiling....
keeping old car/bike tyres against the wall....

Thanks but want to do it in a more professional permanent way.

Forgot to mention that we'll be replacing the soiled granite blocks with heavy duty tiles shortly. As part of that project, I want to install these conveniences; the garage is part of the facade of the villa, and looks super ugly currently.

No way I'm going to add to the ugliness with old tyres .

[Spinnerr]

OP is already aware of Wheel Stoppers that I was recommending.

[Arjun Reddy]

Wheel stoppers is the way to go. I have now used them for over 10 years.

Park the car as you would normally do, mark out the rear tyre position. Fix the stoppers accurately and secure with anchor bolts.

Also try and fix a thick rubber pad on the pillars.

[Amrik Singh]

Originally Posted by Arjun Reddy

Also try and fix a thick rubber pad on the pillars.

Long Strips of Rubber from Scrapped Truck Tyres would make perfect lining for corners of Pillars under DIY project

[Rehaan]

I can see what you might have against wheel chocks, because they are rather big and can be bright / ugly.


Small Chocks

The good news is that if you are a cautious enough reverser, you don't need massive chocks. If you go slow enough, even a sudden 1/2" rise (eg. something like a metal pipe on the ground) is enough to obstruct the car from moving further, and signal to you stop.


pic

In fact, even a drop / channel that's about 5" wide and 1/2" deep (going into the floor) might work the same way.


K.I.S.S

GrammarNazi's tennis ball trick is brilliant, but if you don't want the jugaad look of a hanging tennis ball, another simple way to do it is just to have a marker on the wall. Align it perfectly with your ORVM at the position at which you should stop. Typically you'd put this on the passenger side, since that will be closer to the wall, which will minimize parallax (variance in the car's position).

It doesn't have to be an obvious "marker" - could be any kind of wall decoration, or even a small sticker.



The advantage of this is also that you could move it easily if you change cars (something that you wouldn't be able to do if you installed wheel chocks or a gutter etc).


Hi-Tech

If you want to go all 2030 you can rig up something like BHPian chiro3110's radar parking system:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KcYRmmnmaos

Extra (Door) Protection

For saving your door edges from dinging against the wall, you can consider pool-noodles (DIY : Pool Noodled Garage - Protection for Car Doors):

[NPV]

I'd looked up the pillar guards last year, but didn't actually get to buying them , still undecided on that.

I'd suggest couple of simple/long term solutions for preventing the rear of the car from kissing the wall at the back:
1. Use old cycle tyres or thinner car tyres but fix them to the wall in a pattern like maybe the Audi logo or the Olympic rings, this way your aesthetics are taken care of

2. Alternatively, paste a rectangular strip of rubber on the wall, you can always paint some design/border around it to make it look good

3. At the rear portion of your car parking slot, raise the floor (anyways you have the plan to replace the tiles etc) by 1-2", making sure the raised portion starts where you car tyres would be when its close to the wall but not touching it, leave some buffer for stopping the car with braking though
This may not work if you change your car since the rear overhang may be different in the new car, but given your current constraint I don't think you will go for a car that's longer!

[sagarpadaki]

Since you are renovating the parking space, you can finish the last 4 feet from the wall with rough cement instead of tiles and bolt in a 6 foot rumbler strip. If you change your car, you can unbolt the strip and align it to a different location that suits the new car.

[Aakash]

How about opting for rubber foam sheets? Those are cheap to get, soft enough to protect the edges of the door from scratches and also won't damage the bumper if it comes in contact. There are self adhesive one's available online and it looks clean once you measure them and stick them accordingly.

[RS90]

Hi Sir, Since you are already re-doing the parking space, how about adding a "chajja" on the wall where your covered garage starts. This way you can increase the length of the covered parking space by a few feet resulting in your not having to back-up the car upto the last point, thus avoiding any mishap. Also, it would allow you to access the boot after parking your car. No need to halt-take out luggage-park car. Adding images of two beautifully designed "chajjas" for reference. (Images from google)

[Rocketscience]

Originally Posted by Spinnerr

OP is already aware of Wheel Stoppers that I was recommending.

These feel like the best solution and are pretty elegant as well, i have one concern though, since you want these because you want to park tight and want to avoid any mishap, the parking sensors in my experience are very helpful in that situation plus accurate as well but then again if you precisely place these wheel stoppers, they can extract the last inch of space in your garage and tightly pack the car in there, my concern however is whatever its measurement will be it would be for one particular car and it won't work with your other car, also in the case you change your car these measurements will no longer hold up, malls have a lot of margin between 2 cars and they can get away with it, but if you were to change these bolt on tyre stoppers in the future the flooring would be ruined for that spot and you will have to re-tile that particular spot at the very least.

P.S My solution in a similar situation is using parking sensors exclusively, the back of the place where i park is actually a glass door and if i mess up, it would be busted, thankfully that hasn't happened, i don't trust parking cameras at all, they do give a fair general idea while reversing but i much prefer the beep sound of parking sensors and my own judgment while reversing.

[Amrik Singh]

Originally Posted by RS90

Hi Sir, Since you are already re-doing the parking space, how about adding a "chajja" on the wall where your covered garage starts.

The idea is not bad as long as
1. It is not transparent as shown in Google image. Bird droppings and other dirt will settle down and give the ugliest view from below.
2. Steel structure with F/glass or Poly carbonate sheets is better option, but, not suitable for open spaces prone to high speed winds. These will be blown away. These should be of low height, just a little higher than the Car height and firmly grouted to floor too, if possible.
3. Poly Carbonate sheets are far more superior to much used Fiberglass sheets.

Perhaps one of the best Reverse Parking Sensor I have come across is a Rs. 10/- Rubber Doll with a Whistle that sounds when pressed (by the air passing through the reed). It is fixed on the Wall at Bumper height. The moment your Bumper hits the Doll, it gets squeezed and produces sound. Though not advisable where Dogs may come, smell and lift their hind leg.

[51morris]

Originally Posted by itwasntme

Advice requested!

I had a similar dilemma a few months ago. I have a garage parking space (a rarity in London!) which is just right for a small hatch. My 6th gen VW Polo is a snug fit in the garage. However, when I bought a bicycle a couple of months ago, the only place I could park it was in the garage. This meant, I had to park the car all the way at the back of the garage (in reverse) and park the cycle in front of the car.

While I have parking sensors and a reversing camera on the car (plus collision detection and braking), I was still paranoid about parking too close or hitting the rear retaining wall of the garage. I therefore parked the car as close to the rear wall, ensured that I had enough space for the cycle in front of the car and marked the rear tyre position out. I then had a piece of plywood nailed into the concrete floor, stretching across the width of the garage.

With this in place, I can confidently back the car up till the rear wheels hit the piece of plywood. This way, I am not worried backing the car into the garage.

[HornNotOkPlease]

Old tyres can do wonders in this situation, i have placed an old bus tyre at the concrete wall end of my garage and it works great for me, even if i slightly misjudge the length due to poor visibility the tyre saves my bumper from hitting the wall