Low car, steep drive. How to avoid an "oops" moment.
Discussion
I am hoping the PH wisdom will be able to help me with something. My driveway is in two parts - a fairly steep incline (let's call it 3m long, rising just under 80cm ish) followed by a flat area. I also have some low slung cars. The front spoilers on the cars can just (just!) about handle the initial incline but I quite often rub the undertray as I go over the lip from the incline to the flat area. I'm looking at lowering that lip as a longer term solution but was wondering if anyone else has managed a workaround for anything similar.
I should mention that the first part of the drive is shared with a neighbour, we both travel up the incline before pulling off onto our respective flat drives, and so I can't really do very much with that part. People have suggested I put out rubber matting at the lip and that looks like it might at least stop the nasty grinding noise but will mean the car grounds out more often (although with less / no damage?). Does anyone have any other suggestions aside from buying a sensible car?
I should mention that the first part of the drive is shared with a neighbour, we both travel up the incline before pulling off onto our respective flat drives, and so I can't really do very much with that part. People have suggested I put out rubber matting at the lip and that looks like it might at least stop the nasty grinding noise but will mean the car grounds out more often (although with less / no damage?). Does anyone have any other suggestions aside from buying a sensible car?
lambosagogo said:
I am hoping the PH wisdom will be able to help me with something. My driveway is in two parts - a fairly steep incline (let's call it 3m long, rising just under 80cm ish) followed by a flat area. I also have some low slung cars. The front spoilers on the cars can just (just!) about handle the initial incline but I quite often rub the undertray as I go over the lip from the incline to the flat area. I'm looking at lowering that lip as a longer term solution but was wondering if anyone else has managed a workaround for anything similar.
I should mention that the first part of the drive is shared with a neighbour, we both travel up the incline before pulling off onto our respective flat drives, and so I can't really do very much with that part. People have suggested I put out rubber matting at the lip and that looks like it might at least stop the nasty grinding noise but will mean the car grounds out more often (although with less / no damage?). Does anyone have any other suggestions aside from buying a sensible car?
Not sure there's a huge amount you can do. Logically:I should mention that the first part of the drive is shared with a neighbour, we both travel up the incline before pulling off onto our respective flat drives, and so I can't really do very much with that part. People have suggested I put out rubber matting at the lip and that looks like it might at least stop the nasty grinding noise but will mean the car grounds out more often (although with less / no damage?). Does anyone have any other suggestions aside from buying a sensible car?
-modified the drive
-get a different car
-make current cars higher with a better ramp over angle. Either slightly taller tyres or maybe something suspension. I thin you can buy air bags that you fit inside the coil springs that you can inflate to lift a car up to go over road humps and similar. But it might just be cheaper to soft out the drive.
As you go over the crest, if you build up the drive at the top and then have it drop gradually back down, that may stop the grounding. i.e. You have the front wheel still going up, but at a slower rate then the rears, until you get to the point where grounding isn't an issue and then you can drop back down again.
Reversing on might help - it's the only way I can get mine into the garage. Actually tore half my splitter off on a driveway on Friday - all fixed with nylon bolts which shear off to prevent fibreglass damage. Might be worth protecting the car by fixing a guard onto the underside of the chassis...
lambosagogo said:
I am hoping the PH wisdom will be able to help me with something. My driveway is in two parts - a fairly steep incline (let's call it 3m long, rising just under 80cm ish) followed by a flat area. I also have some low slung cars. The front spoilers on the cars can just (just!) about handle the initial incline but I quite often rub the undertray as I go over the lip from the incline to the flat area. I'm looking at lowering that lip as a longer term solution but was wondering if anyone else has managed a workaround for anything similar.
I should mention that the first part of the drive is shared with a neighbour, we both travel up the incline before pulling off onto our respective flat drives, and so I can't really do very much with that part. People have suggested I put out rubber matting at the lip and that looks like it might at least stop the nasty grinding noise but will mean the car grounds out more often (although with less / no damage?). Does anyone have any other suggestions aside from buying a sensible car?
Actually just thought of another idea.I should mention that the first part of the drive is shared with a neighbour, we both travel up the incline before pulling off onto our respective flat drives, and so I can't really do very much with that part. People have suggested I put out rubber matting at the lip and that looks like it might at least stop the nasty grinding noise but will mean the car grounds out more often (although with less / no damage?). Does anyone have any other suggestions aside from buying a sensible car?
When you say undertray I assume you mean between the front and rear wheels?
This happens as your ramp over angle for the vehicle isn't good enough for the angle of the slope. If you placed some rubber road humps at the top of this break over angle they would lift the front of the car up and offer more clearance for the rear wheels to crest the ridge (and the same when going down). It'd be annoying having a road hump to go over, but I suspect you are going slowly anyhow when it scrapes. This wouldn't be ideal, but should be cheap and easy to do. All you need is to position the hump in the right place for your wheelbase and make sure the hump is long enough to avoid the problem (and not so high that it then too becomes an issue.
300bhp/ton said:
When you say undertray I assume you mean between the front and rear wheels?
Yes, that's right. I think the actual scrape occurs just behind the front wheels - it certainly feels like it's happening right underneath the driver / passenger seats.I like the idea of the mini road humps and they should be fairly easy to find. Someone in my office just mentioned something similar along with possibly getting some wooden F1-style skid boards made up to take the brunt of any scrapes. Time for some Google-fu I think.
edited: Forgot to say thanks for all the suggestions so far. Even the one that suggested getting more air...
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