Do you have a small garage, large vehicle, a new driver, or maybe you're chronically in a hurry? If any of these are true, it's possible that you (or another driver...ahem...not me) has either bumped the wall or scuffed a bumper with the garage door when it door came down. Both are frustrating and cause extra, unnecessary repair work. I've put a list of our favorite parking helpers together, most are inexpensive and easy to install, all will save you repair headaches in the future.
1. Tennis Ball
Starting with the least expensive, the tennis ball that hangs from the ceiling. Pull your car into it's safe spot, take *measurents, pull your car back out. Install an eye hook in the ceiling from your measurements and hang the string with the tennis ball attached, leave some extra so you can make adjustments once the ball is in place and voila, parking assistance! If you'd rather have it retract when the garage door is down, Instructables.com has some clear directions on how you can accomplish that.
*From the front of the garage to the point of contact on the windshield, from the side wall to the point of contact on the windshield.
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Tips for Parking in a Garage
2. Parking Target
Probably one of the easiest to install is the Parking Target. This product comes with double sided tape, but we all know that's not usually a long term solution for many things, so if you have unsealed concrete, or really want to make sure your target doesn't move, construction adhesive will do the trick. Pull your car into it's safe spot, mark the spot on the floor where your front tire hits, back out, and adhere it to it's new home. Pretty low tech and simple, but works great.
3. Stop Sign
There are plenty of versions of the garage stop sign available, many have mixed reviews. The upside of this one is there is no installation, just drop it in it's place. The downside is, some reviewers say that they're unstable and they fall over, making them useless, but another possibility is user error. Great product if you're in a rental home that doesn't allow things to be permanently attached to the ceiling or floor.
4. Laser Parking Assist
For the gadget geeks, the Laser Parking Assist. There is an almost unlimited selection for laser parking assist, but what is wonderful about some of these is that they work with your garage opener system. While you don't need to have an automatic garage door opener for most of them, it is a nice feature if your garage door opener is newer. The systems work by pointing a laser light from the ceiling of your garage to a sensor that is attached to your dashboard or directing a bright laser light to location you determine is your safe parking spot. Most systems don't need to be hardwired in, but do need access to an outlet.
5. Wall Bumper
The wall bumper is less of a parking aid, more of a save your car door/garage wall product. You could use it to help park if you want to estimate by letting your mirror line up with the edge of it, but I don't think it's quite as accurate as some of the other options. For those super tight garages that leave little room to open your door and shimmy out sideways, this is a great little product. Open your door to a rubber stop instead of making continuous dings in your drywall or scratching the edge of your car door. Simple enough to install, some require screws, some have double sided tape. I like the screws since most garages have unfinished drywall and nothing sticks to that except scuffs.