Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Something old, something new

My Wrangler died and I have replaced it with a new ride, a larger, more "grown up" Jeep Commander. I now have such amenities like power windows, doors with detents (not web straps) and the like. It is longer and wider than my Wrangler was, so I must align myself with the garage door with a two point turn before going in (as opposed to just a simple turn into the garage I could do with the Wrangler).

One nice feature is that it has an RF proximity detector on the back that alerts me if I am about to back into something, and that keeps me from running into the Red Tips as I back up for my approach into the garage. Hooray, technology!

But I've been having trouble judging the length, and I stop before I'm in far enough for the garage door to close. Hmmm, no high tech solution built in. So I hung some fishing line with a bobber on it so that the bobber taps up against my front windshield when I'm in far enough. The line and bobber were handy, and the ability to slide the bobber up and down the line made it easy to "calibrate."

So I have a RF proximity detector for not backing into the trees and a bobber on a fishing line for getting all the way in without crashing into the front of the garage.

Scoff at at no solution that works.

2 comments:

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Techquestioner said...

My husband used a piece of masking tape on the side wall, which he aligns with the passenger side window. That works great unless there is a passenger in the front seat, which forces him to ask said passenger to lean forward so he can see the tape.