Got tired of guessing if I was in far enough
11-04-2013, 05:39 PM
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Join Date: Aug 2013
Location: Lawrenceville, GA
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Got tired of guessing if I was in far enough I thought this would be the right section because for those of us fortunate to have a garage, mine is not that deep, it was a simple idea that has made my work area in the garage more efficient and easier to maneuver in.
I wanted to park "Notsilver", my 2002 A4 Z28, in the perfect spot in the garage everytime, quickly and easily; far enough in to clear the garage door, far enough away from the side wall to not hit the door edge when fully open, not too far in to hit the other car in the garage, enough room in front to work on the front or back-in and work on the back.
After a few maneuvers, I got her in just the right spot. I measured the distance from the side wall to the front tires, and from the side wall to the rear tires (really, I am that OCD) and I was perfectly parallel from the wall. The clearance by the door was just enough to clear the bumper and gave me plenty of room to work by the back wall. In far enough...
I had made some drive-on ramps from some scrap wood to allow me to (1) get my non-low profile jack easily under my lowered car's lift points, and (2) not have to jack the car up every time I wanted to get under it just a bit. I know I could have bought some ramps, but every ramp I looked at either would not accommodate my low profile or were too expensive based on what I knew I could fabricate. BTW, I use a piece use drawer liner under the pedestal to keep it from sliding on the floor.
So I measured out a rectangle on the garage floor around the front tires the size of my ramps, got myself a roll of masking tape and taped the outline on the garage floor. The tape is easy to remove for future fine tuning and can be replaced when it wears out.
The current lift is 4 1/2", still low but enough to allow me to lay under the front or back and have decent access. Also, I can now get my jack under the lift points easily. The ramps are in two sections, the "ramp" and the "pedestal." The ramp is movable to allow access to the lift points, the pedestal has the wheel chocks attached to the end to make sure I do not drive off the end.
Now all I have to do is lay the ramps in the outline, drive the car onto the first level, make sure the tires are centered, then slowly drive until I hit the wheel chocks. Quick, easy and safe...
I wanted to park "Notsilver", my 2002 A4 Z28, in the perfect spot in the garage everytime, quickly and easily; far enough in to clear the garage door, far enough away from the side wall to not hit the door edge when fully open, not too far in to hit the other car in the garage, enough room in front to work on the front or back-in and work on the back.
After a few maneuvers, I got her in just the right spot. I measured the distance from the side wall to the front tires, and from the side wall to the rear tires (really, I am that OCD) and I was perfectly parallel from the wall. The clearance by the door was just enough to clear the bumper and gave me plenty of room to work by the back wall. In far enough...
I had made some drive-on ramps from some scrap wood to allow me to (1) get my non-low profile jack easily under my lowered car's lift points, and (2) not have to jack the car up every time I wanted to get under it just a bit. I know I could have bought some ramps, but every ramp I looked at either would not accommodate my low profile or were too expensive based on what I knew I could fabricate. BTW, I use a piece use drawer liner under the pedestal to keep it from sliding on the floor.
So I measured out a rectangle on the garage floor around the front tires the size of my ramps, got myself a roll of masking tape and taped the outline on the garage floor. The tape is easy to remove for future fine tuning and can be replaced when it wears out.
The current lift is 4 1/2", still low but enough to allow me to lay under the front or back and have decent access. Also, I can now get my jack under the lift points easily. The ramps are in two sections, the "ramp" and the "pedestal." The ramp is movable to allow access to the lift points, the pedestal has the wheel chocks attached to the end to make sure I do not drive off the end.
Now all I have to do is lay the ramps in the outline, drive the car onto the first level, make sure the tires are centered, then slowly drive until I hit the wheel chocks. Quick, easy and safe...
11-04-2013, 06:11 PM
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Location: Bucks County, Pa.
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COOL! 
I know that MOST HATE them, (as well as the early C4 'disc' wheels), but those 'turbine/veggiematic' wheels actually look OK on 4th gens.
I like the early 'discs' even more though, since it is an inexpensive way to get a WIDER 16" wheel on our cars (vs. a light, custom drilled/made aftermarket wheel), albeit slightly heavier than our OEM stuff.
I know that MOST HATE them, (as well as the early C4 'disc' wheels), but those 'turbine/veggiematic' wheels actually look OK on 4th gens.
I like the early 'discs' even more though, since it is an inexpensive way to get a WIDER 16" wheel on our cars (vs. a light, custom drilled/made aftermarket wheel), albeit slightly heavier than our OEM stuff.
That title reminded me of my teen years when all of us dudes wondered about that 
