Getting a wide car safely through a narrow garage door,

[Pan Pan Pan]

Anyone had the problem of regularly getting a car through an up and over garage door where (if positioned centrally / correctly) there is perhaps 30mm clearance on either side between the door frame even with the mirrors folded in?
The issue is that with regular use, it may only be a matter of time before the car is caught on one side of the door or the other as also there is limited maneuvering / lining up space in front of the garage.
I wondered if there was a way of putting down temporary guide rails outside the garage, which `channel' the car into the correct position to avoid scraping it on the door jambs?
The idea of cr*pping myself nearly `every' time I have to put in, or take it out of the garage is not exactly appealing, and leaving it outside the garage is not an option as the insurance is based on it being kept inside the garage at night.
Once the car is in the garage, space is still a bit tight, but not so much of a problem, but the spec/dimensions for the car appeared to indicate, that it would get through the opening with room to spare (and with the mirrors out) which now seems not to be the case.
Just wondered if anyone else had had this problem and how they might have got around it.
Getting a new door, possibly face fixed, (rather than between the reveals) to the front of the garage might be an option, as it would give another 100mm of clearance, but I am thinking would not look very tidy.
Any advice would be appreciated.

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Meridius said:

Change the insurance to parked on the street? Probably cheaper and easier than repairing a scrape or fitting a new garage door.

Quite possible, but then I would be cr*pping myself about the car being stolen, crashed into, keyed or any other damage caused by others.
Some time ago my sister popped into my place for a few minutes, and came out to find her car had been substantially keyed, so parking in the street really is not a viable option.
Nor is moving somewhere else!

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talksthetorque said:

Reverse in.
Judge the gap down both sides with side mirrors.
Keep the gap even.
You might also find it helps to dangle a rope in the centre of the garage, and paint a line on the back wall to keep you straight in your rear view mirror, as well as in the centre of the door frame.

Unfortunately the car wont go through the gap with the mirrors out, so that is not an option. The annoying thing is that the vehicle dimensions appeared to show that the car would fit even with the mirrors out, as the dimensions on the spec sheet, appeared to include the mirrors. but now its seems that even with them folded, the vehicle only `just' fits between the door frame, and I do mean `just'

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Matt UK said:

Ask your husband to park the car for you

Funny but not helpful, I think you should get your coat!

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ChemicalChaos said:

I used to regularly get a discovery into a garage door with about 6" clearance on each side.
Reverse in slowly having aligned the car properly with the aperture. Use the mirrors to keep the gap even each side until the drivers door is level with the opening, at which point fold the mirrors in and use the bonnet to keep the gap even (though with 3/4 of the car now inside you shouldn't be having to adjust the steering angle any more).

Job jobbed

Thanks for the suggestion, but I just don't have the luxury of 150mm of clearance at the side (think about an inch and a quarter - 30mm max on each side) the space in front of the garage is also limited so that with the car just outside the garage there is perhaps 1.5 metres between the end of the car, and a brick wall. (don't you just love these house designers) so relatively little room to align the car straight before driving forward between the door jambs.
I can do it, but it takes a while making sure the car is `perfectly' aligned before moving between the door frames (Not helped by the shape of the car`s body where parts of it cannot be seen but only guessed at from the drivers position), which is quite frankly a bit tedious.
I had thought about using finished timber rails approx. 50mm 2 inches high, which could be slid out from the garage to `channel' the car into the correct and very limited position, but have not yet thought of how to mount them onto the garage.

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Fastpedeller said:

Pan Pan Pan said:

leaving it outside the garage is not an option as the insurance is based on it being kept inside the garage at night.

Did putting it in the garage reduce the premium though? Strangely it seems that insurance can be more expensive if the car is kept in a garage rather than on drive. I guess the statistics show that high value cars (kept in garages) get stolen. Other cars (not kept in garages) less so? Strange, but believable - anything can be proven with statistics!

Given what some low life scum did to my sisters car, that is not an option I would like to take, even if the insurance premium was the same, or even cheaper. It also seems a bit daft having a perfectly good garage (albeit hard to get into) standing empty, whilst leaving the car in the street where it could be more easily stolen or damaged by low life scum.

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Mr Ben said:

Although not a daily problem I faced the same issue with my weekend/fun car. Did my head in to the point i didn't want to use it in the dark.

Bit the bullet and replaced with a Horman sectional door. Secured directly to the brickwork of the garage either side thus negating the need and therefore removing the timber frame which the old up and over door was fixed.

Increased gap either side by 3 inches and a better door.

Might work in your circumstance too.

Regards

Mr Ben

Thank you for your comments. the car in question is (like yours) not my daily driver, but it is my pride and joy, so when I do use it I do have `some' time to mess about making sure it is perfectly aligned, but by the same token I really don't want to scrape the sides either, and putting it in the garage in the dark (where you lose the light from the headlamps once the car is between the frames) is currently not very appealing at the moment.
The Horman sectional door sounds interesting, because if I could get rid of the up and over door frame between the jambs, it would give me another 100mm / 4 inches of clearance which would do me. Are they a UK company, do you have any contact details for Horman?

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rek said:

If the back wall of the garage is clear could you put a mirror up high angled down so you could see your reflection as you drive in... Maybe even like the ones you see on roads where a driveway or entrance has a restricted view. (Not sure of the name.. Convex/concave?)

Thank you that is another good idea. a mirror at the end of the garage on both sides would allow me to check the clearance between the unseen part of the cars body, and the garage door frame, (not least by the amount of light squeezing through the tiny gap between the side of the car, and the garage door frame) PH comes through yet again.

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a11y_m said:

Is retrofitting electric folding mirrors to the car an option? Reverse in most of the way using mirrors to line up, then fold them in at last possible moment.

Not to boast, but I reverse my VW T5 LWB van into garage with 2" to spare either side, although that includes the mirrors still being out. What I'm trying to say is the mirrors really help me align it as I enter, so if you can a way to keep using yours til the last second then it might be the solution. Even pausing partway and manually reaching over to fold them if electric folding isn't an option.

Thanks again. it seems that mirrors may be the answer, but mounted on the back wall of the garage, and angled so that I can check the 30mm clearance between the door frame and the parts of the cars body that cannot be seen from the drivers seat. the mirrors on the car are the manually folding type, so unfortunately I don't have the luxury of being able to fold them in/out to clear the garage door frame whilst I am still in the car, and with the car between the garage door frames, I cannot get out of the car to fold them in/out manually.

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Rostfritt said:

Have you considered getting a smaller car? Perhaps an Austin 7?

When I can find one that can do 0-62 in 5.5 seconds and 175 mph, then perhaps I will

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Fastpedeller said:

I like the channeling idea - If you had a V shaped trough on one side, bolted into the floor with an extension piece which is the length of the wheelbase and clips on outside of the garage (if that makes sense), then all you would need to do is get the wheels in the trough, let go of the steering so the trough guides it, and drive in. Remove the external part and place it under car and shut the garage door.... Hmmm how do YOU get out of the car though?

Hi fast pedaller. As posted earlier, once in the garage (whilst still a bit tight), getting out is not so much of a problem, as it is only really the width of the brick piers at either side of the garage door, plus the width of the garage door frame which cause the constriction,
Getting out is of course helped by me having the physique of a cut down racing snake!

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raceboy said:

I'd look in to different design doors that give an extra few inches to the opening, this is what I looked into but I also had the problem of not being able to get out the car once it was in the garage.
Luckily I found this out before I bought the car by getting the salesman to bring it round to see if it fit as a condition of sale....it failed, I'm currently looking for a new house with a double garage to solve the problem.

That's the trouble with being a petrol head, if the house, or her indoors cause any problems for our wheels, they have to be let go!

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Funk said:

How has no-one yet asked what the car is? I'm curious; care to share PPP?

I may let on, but being a bit cheeky thought I might leave that fact hanging for a while

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PorkInsider said:

ChemicalChaos said:

I used to regularly get a discovery into a garage door with about 6" clearance on each side.
Reverse in slowly having aligned the car properly with the aperture. Use the mirrors to keep the gap even each side until the drivers door is level with the opening, at which point fold the mirrors in and use the bonnet to keep the gap even (though with 3/4 of the car now inside you shouldn't be having to adjust the steering angle any more).

Job jobbed

With all due respect, 6" clearance on each side is what's known as "a fkload".

I don't think I've ever garaged a car with anywhere near half of that to spare.

I can understand OP's issue here. One of my previous cars allowed around 40mm each side with the mirrors out and I managed to catch one of the mirrors on one of the the garage door arms, which levered the door down onto the bonnet.

Porkinsider Looks like you know exactly where I am coming from, the problem is the clearance is so small, I have the feeling that even when taking great care to get the thing lined up perfectly, a day will come when I don't quite do it perfectly enough, and will consequently scrape the side of my P&J. which will really p*ss me off.

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richs2891 said:

I have this issues as well, wide, car, tight garage and driveway that on an angle to the garage. I always back in a I find it easier.
I ended up with two pieces of finished timber that fit the full length of the garage on the inside of the tyres, to line the car up,
Also have two reflective lines on the end wall of the garage that I know I have to have to line the outside edges of the interior mirror up with. Found this easier than getting the line in the middle of the mirror.

Have to reset them when I swap cars but not an issues. Also wrapped the door frames in cloth for a bit of extra protection.
I'm going to have to replace the garage door with a roller on as the height clearance is too low to get one of my 4x4 in. This will make it easier as should give me an extra 5cm per side.

The mirror idea is good will look at those today

I am thinking the best options would be to get some wooden guide rails not unlike the little
kerbs used on the Eurotunnel trains, which keep cars aligned, and away from the carriage sides, they are only about 50mm high (and seem to work well without damaging tyres / rims) combined with a pair of mirrors fixed to the back of the garage at eye level and angled so that I can see the gap between the sides of the car, and the garage door frame on each side.
The problem is the shape of the sides means that the outermost edges / widest part of the car, cannot be seen (and only guessed at) from the drivers seat.
The only question about the rails, is how to fix them to the garage and driveway in front of the garage, so that they have the correct alignment every time, but which also allows them to be easily removed once the car is through the up & over door, and slid into the garage until required again. I just wanted to say thanks for all the replies, (including the tongue in cheek ones!

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forzaminardi said:

Without wanting to sound like I'm trying to be funny, I think the answer to your question is simply "be careful". Either you're confident enough at maneuvering your car to get it in or you're not. If you're not confident about it, don't do it.

With just 30mm of clearance on each side of the car, and not much maneuvering room in front of the garage to get it millimetre perfect `every' time, I think it will just be a matter of when, not if, I scrape the side of the car on one of the door frames.
I have been getting the car in and out of the garage for some time now, but I am guessing (so far) with more blind luck than judgement, but it is a bit tedious, and not really a viable option at night. I was looking for an automatic way of getting the car lined up perfectly and in exactly the same place to get it in and out safely every single time.

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Superhoop said:

Pan Pan Pan said:

Funk said:

How has no-one yet asked what the car is? I'm curious; care to share PPP?

I may let on, but being a bit cheeky thought I might leave that fact hanging for a while

No car details in your profile, but it does say you're from Essex, so I'm guessing that whatever it is, it's white

Yup! just like my socks, but the ankle chain is still gold though! white gold that is!

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robinessex said:

Remove pillars at entrance. You can borrow my SDS drill if you want.

Thanks for the offer, but unfortunately the front piers are hefty and formed in steel reinforced brickwork, but since they are a major structural element of the garage holding the roof up, removing them or reducing their designed cross sectional area is probably not going to be a good idea.

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paulwirral said:

V8RX7 said:

Obvious solutions:

Get a roller shutter door - fix it behind the pillars gaining the 100mm - from £700ish on Ebay.

Or go the whole hog and increase the opening size before buying a new door.

Theses two suggestions are the only sensible options . Roller shutter more expensive to buy but cheaper to fix , increase the door size is more labour but cheaper materials .
Roller type should be done in half a day by someone competent .

Again thanks, but a roller shutter will just cause another problem, because as described in the post above, the front piers to the garage are steel reinforced brickwork, and because they represent a major structural element of the garage, they are also very deep. If I had a roller shutter running down the inside of the piers, it would give me an extra 100mm of opening width. which would be more than enough for my needs, but owing to the depth of the piers doing this would lop about 450mm off the available length in the garage, so then the car would not fit lengthwise. The real problem of course is that the garage is just too small to take anything larger than a small hatchback. but knocking it down, and building a suitably designed / sized one is I am afraid not really an option for me.

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paulwirral said:

Just re read that , I know what you mean now , is there not enough room at the front to mount a roller shutter on the front of the wall and get someone to build a couple of brick pillars up either side and box the top in ?

Hi Paul. As noted above, the main problem could be trying to squeeze a big ish car into a garage which was clearly only meant for a very small hatch back. The front piers are a major structural element to provide stability to the walls and are 450mm x 450mm. Putting a roller shutter on the inside face of the piers would solve the width problem, but would give me problems with the length of the garage. With the front of the car virtually touching the back wall, the inside face of the garage door is only about 50mm from the rear of the car, so taking off 450mm (the depth of the pier) off the available length would have the roller shutter coming down onto the back of the car.
I wanted to keep the car in there, (as technically it `should' have fitted OK) as it seemed daft having to park on the street, whilst having an empty, dry garage sitting there doing nothing, but I may be up against a unworkable problem with this one.