I know everyone loves a tesla. I haven't got a clue what they are but i used to use a hanging tennis ball to judge when to stop the car in the garage!
This Guy has a really narrow garage door opening - well what a surprise!
this is really helpful stuff for people with tiny garages - that would be us then right?
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GARAGE PARKING SIDE-TO-SIDE ALIGNMENT AIDS
I have a really narrow garage door opening, and the driveway is slightly curved on the way in. The Model S is so wide, I'm always a bit concerned about scraping the mirrors on the way in. Right now I try to line up the driver's side mirror with a few inches of clearance, and then I (usually) know I'm good to go on the right-hand side. Anyone have any clever parking aid solutions similar to the old tennis ball on a string trick? I need some thing or a parking technique that will help me align correctly side-to-side *before* the front of the car goes through the garage door.
CoreyM | AUGUST 18, 2013
I'm in the same situation you are. I ordered the parking sensors with the hope that it'll tell me the clearance as the nose is about to enter the garage. If the implementation is like the European one shown on YouTube, then it'll tell the closest distance, but not the distance on each side. But even then I'm hoping I'll just be able to figure out the range that means I'm more or less centered going through.
Since I don't take delivery for another few weeks, I can't tell you how well this works or not.
J.T. | AUGUST 18, 2013
Someone mentioned a paint brush on the left side. If his mirror hit the bristles on the left side he was good to go on the right side.
cybrown | AUGUST 18, 2013
Isn't it too late once your mirror touches or doesn't touch the bristles??
nickjhowe | AUGUST 18, 2013
I use this ceiling mounted laser unit ($27) instead of hanging tennis balls to know how far in I am, but if you put it in the right place you could also use it to line up against something in the car to know whether you are lined up correctly...
J.T. | AUGUST 18, 2013
@cybrown the bristles can be placed ahead of the entrance. Just keep the car straight once you know you're good.
diegoPasadena | AUGUST 18, 2013
As nickjhowe, I use the lasers. If you're more concerned with your accuracy when you pull into the garage, you can aim it at your hood right at the opening so you can still adjust. I have it pointed to the top of my dash so I know when I'm in deep enough. Width is not so much of an issue for me.
wcalvin | AUGUST 18, 2013
Most of these suggestions depend on the driver being in a standard head position. Not reliable.
Hang a small ball where it will pass through the outside rearview mirror and the window if you are at the correct margin. Hang it there when the front of the car has sufficient margin and you have a 2D fix.
Or just observe how close that mirror comes to the door frame on a successful try that has enough right side clearance.
For alignment, nothing beats stripes defining the slot, viewed in outside mirrors or rear camera, Keep the distance constant.
If, however, your turning circle and aisle width doesn't allow a straight-in approach, then you must straighten out after entering the parking space. In that case, use the left mirror to see that left stripe and gauge when to cut back to center. Hanging ball helps here too.
tchsurg | AUGUST 18, 2013
I am in (or will be in 2-3 weeks) regarding the width issue. Have been brainstorming. Thought about the laser and centering it on the center of the hood as I enter the garage. But my car is red so I'm not certain a red laser would show up on my red hood! Aligning it on the dash is great for the depth, but doesn't help with the side to side. Have thought about hanging a ball on the lower portion of the garage door so that by the time the door is completely open, the ball is dangling at the entrance. however, it may be swinging to much to be accurate. :(
cybrown | AUGUST 19, 2013
I don't tend to like balls or other things touching the car as I pull in. One thing I've though is that I could hang a ball at the entrance on the right-hand side. I'd hang it so that if the right-hand side of the nose touches the ball, there is *not* enough clearance for the mirror. Then I just pull in and make sure the ball doesn't move, and look out the left side for driver's-side clearance. However, the problem is that the string will hit the passenger-side mirror as I pull in. I'm going to measure the real clearance today and see if I can just eyeball it from the driver's side.
Captain Ducman | AUGUST 19, 2013
At work we use these everywhere in the world except here in the USA, where we still use humans.
Probably cost prohibitive for residential use :)
The older version of these would be much like the marine version...
The marine range marker would be very easy to adopt for a garage (scale it down considerably of course). One stripe on the back wall and one stripe mounted a foot or so off of the wall, when they are lined up, so is the driver.
More.....http://www.teslamotors.com/en_HK/forum/forums/garage-parking-sidetoside-alignment-aids
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