IDEAS For Assiting the wife pull into the garage

17 years ago

We finally have a home with a two car garages...two single garage doors. My wife was use to driving a 96 RAV...VERY TINY. It was parked outside as we had no garage. Now we have a newer home and an 07 RAV and trouble! She is having trouble getting used to pulling in and out of the garage. She chipped her mirror once and is starting to think the vehicle is too big. I can't even imagine the cost of dumping a car less than a year old. Also, there is not much out there with AWD much smaller than the RAV. To get in the garage you must pull in and hang a left, its a little tight. Are there any gadgets or anything that can be of some asssistance for her. She truly has trouble knowing when her car is aligned to pull straight in. I suggested folding in the mirrors but I know I use my mirrors to judge as I pull in and use them to back out. I know it sounds silly...but is there help out there. One person suggested I bag the 2 separate garage doors and put in a single large one. I am not sure what that would cost AND I am not sure that little 1 foot spacer wall separating the two opening could even be removed.

Comments (5)

cowchaser
17 years ago
you could place those tire stops on the floor that are sold at bigbox stores and tell her to just line up with those and drive right onto them. Place a small white stripe on the drive for her to see and tell her to stay between the lines.
toomuchtodo
17 years ago
Would she have to hang a left if she used your side?

Something that might work regardless is to have either her or yourself pull up to the open door and stop when the mirrors are at the door opening and see how much clearance there is to both mirrors. If it's a couple inches or more than your all set.

Remember that distance and have her practice pulling in and out using just one mirror as a guide (preferably the driver's side). Just have her drive in / back out just enough to clear the mirrors until she feels comfortable with clearing the doors.

When she feels comfortable with that step, have her continue the process pulling in all the way and backing out using just one mirror. It's a lot easier judging something with one mirror rather than looking back and forth between mirrors.
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brickeyee
17 years ago
If you really want to go extreme you can fasten 2x lumberflat to the floor a few inches outside the wheels to make a guide track. It will not really steer the car, but provides a warning if you are not betwen the boards.
Tapcons work fine for fastening.
Round over the inside top edge to prevent tire punctures.
A tennis ball on a string that just touches the windshield in front of the driver when fully 'in' works well for depth.
ron6519
17 years ago
Have her practice driving in the opening. Have her stop when she gets to the mirror, get out and look at the clearance on each side. Once she sees how close she can get on one side safely she should be able to pull in easily. Backing out is the same process, just a little trickier. When I pulled the Surburban into an 8 foot garage I moved the mirrors close to the truck. Does the Rav have that capability? I don't think you can get too much smaller than the Rav in a SUV.
Ron
als_garden
17 years ago
just buy a reflector like on driveways and mount it dead center where shes suppose to be at when shes in. have her line up the center of the hood to the reflector. we did this on our doors when our kids were driving..hope this helps.....Al