Tips for entry into single wide garages?

JHZR2

JHZR2

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Dec 14, 2002
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New Jersey
People are probably doing a double look… huh? Like driving into a garage?

yup.

Every garage bay door I own, and that is 14 of them in total, is single wide. That means 8-9 feet wide, roughly.

My new to me Dodge Ram CTD is 79.4” fender to fender, plus mirrors, and is 22+ feet long. It fits through the garage bays that are long enough to house it, with about an inch on each side at the mirrors. I fold one mirror in, and pull in head first. It’s still tight and stressful. It’s hard to get a truly straight shot. Add to it, the truck is MT. While it goes beautifully in low with no throttle input, Instill need to work the clutch too.

So all in all, it’s more strenuous than I’d like, because I’m always an inch or two away from damage.

So I’m looking for tips regarding the menial task of pulling a giant vehicle into a narrow garage opening. Should I be backing it in? This has crossed my mind because I have better rear view vision of the sides of the truck and the opening from the exterior mirrors than I do looking forward. Should I do something else to help me ensure that I don’t hit either side of the entrance. Maybe hang weighted strings on each side a couple inches from the side? There is very little margin of error with such a big, wide, long truck in such narrow entry openings.

Recommendations?
 
I think backing in may be more risky. You are right there at the mirrors, pulling straight in is probably easier, but alas, you have to back out later.

I'm guessing that taking out 2 doors , adding a header and a larger door, is not on the radar of options.
 
I'm having the same problem with my Tesla. I have 2 single doors and can't get a straight shot at either one. The Tesla is 2" wider than my Honda which I was able to get in and out without much difficulty. A couple of inches makes a big difference.

I use the side cameras when entering. My center screen shows a top view of the vehicle with a red mark at every too close external object (in this case the door posts); I try to keep the spaces on each side more or less even.

Backing out is actually easier. I keep a similar amount of daylight in each mirror until I get right up to the door, then do a final visual check.

I could fold the mirrors (which can be done from the driver's seat) but don't want to do that every time I come and go.

Meanwhile I don't think my wife could drive in or back out which is an inconvenience for sure.

One of my neighbours has just converted a double garage door into 2 singles rather than fix the old one or buy a replacement double door. Too clever by half. The only saving grace is he doesn't put his vehicles in the garage very often anyway.
 
A photo of garage would be helpful.

Any way just to park Ram truck at your home and not have to worry about damaging it and garage ?
 
I had manual trailer mirrors on my 3/4 ton at one time. I would pull the driver’s side mirror in and offset the truck to the left. Straight in and straight out. Later after I sold my big trailer, I bought after-market mirrors and swapped them myself. I haven’t seen a pic but if you have two adjacent doors, I would construct a large header above the two doors then cut out the center wall and install a double wide garage door.
 
Last edited:
spasm3 said:
I think backing in may be more risky. You are right there at the mirrors, pulling straight in is probably easier, but alas, you have to back out later.

I'm guessing that taking out 2 doors , adding a header and a larger door, is not on the radar of options.
Click to expand...

I find backing out to be very easy. I can see the whole length of the bed, the whole opening, and I can see the gap/space between the sides of the truck and the sides of the door opening. That’s what made me wonder if backing in would be better. Assuming I pull out straight, it’s easy enough to keep tabs on that. But I haven’t tried it/don’t know. And the building is two cars deep, so backing in and not bumping the next car is also a consideration when backing in….

The double wide door and a header/beam indeed IS a consideration. The main concerns are that a custom width door may be necessary since right now there’s a verticsl support in the Middle between both doors. Also, the doors are both very tall, old wood doors, and so getting the height and everything could also be tough. So I’m going to wait on that until materials and labor drop.
 
Dave Hess said:
A photo of garage would be helpful.

Any way just to park Ram truck at your home and not have to worry about damaging it and garage ?
Click to expand...

I could park it in my driveway, but then it gets sun and rain and birds, for a non-DD, near pristine 1996 truck the likes of which they’ll never make again. I bought it from out west to get one with no real exposure to salt or wet, it looks new everywhere I look inside (just sprayed rustproofing wax in one door yesterday). I’d like to keep it that way. I have lots of parking and buildings, it’s just using them.

Theres not much to see relative to the garages. Think a standard door (but 9’ or so), and a full-size pickup truck, long bed, extended cab, with mirrors that go out decently wide…
 
slacktide_bitog said:
Is it a mega cab? :D
Click to expand...

Here it is:

Adding another CTD to the stable

Another 96. My first one is 2wd, regular cab, and 442k miles. Love the thing but it has its limitations (Primarily that my wife and young kids can’t all go in it). And it got into a fender bender (I’m going to fix it) that started me down a path for parts and ended up finding western trucks...
bobistheoilguy.com
 
As mentioned I wouldn't back it in. Even with a midsize car like an Accord is awkward pulling it in. A smaller one like a Corolla is only slightly better. Just take it slow and never had an issue after ten years. Although my mom scraped a mirror while backing on the driver's side.
 
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spasm3 said:
I think backing in may be more risky. You are right there at the mirrors, pulling straight in is probably easier, but alas, you have to back out later.

I'm guessing that taking out 2 doors , adding a header and a larger door, is not on the radar of options.
Click to expand...


This would be something to ponder especially with this truck plus if you ever own a travel trailer or RV in the future.
 
What I have done in the past is to hang TWO tennis balls on cords suspended from the ceiling. I hang them one a couple feet in front of the other, with one few inches lower than the other. It works the same way as the runway approach indicators work on a landing strip. As you pull into the garage, just line up the two balls and next thing you know, "You're on the ball"!

It helps to have a reference point in the vehicle as well, a HUD works really well, which takes the head movement out of the equation.
And you also know that you can do this so that when the nearest ball touches your vehicle, you will be in far enough that the garage door will close without hitting the tailgate.
 
I’d add the header and get a 20’ wide door. Pulling such a long truck through a narrow door can make it real tough to even back it straight. Those tight margins are amplified with a long truck like yours. I understand your problem. My 8’ wide single door is super tight with my Raptor since it’s got overlap, casing and the seals for the garage door that take off at least 6 inches. I haven’t tried getting the truck in that one so I park in the addition upstairs garage that I had built with a 10’ wide single door. Fits in there so nicely. If I had built the main house I’d have spec’d wider doors. Tennis balls on strings are the cheapest bet.
 
Years of doing this. Full size pickup single car garage. You have to mark all sorts of reference points. Little painted dots on the floor, driveway, sides of the garage, etc. Once you have your reference points to see it's a whole lot easier. I prefer to back in, just remember to fold in those mirrors at the right reference point! I also have a positive stop on the floor of the garage for the tire. I can't back up any further once I hit that stop.
 
c502cid said:
Years of doing this. Full size pickup single car garage. You have to mark all sorts of reference points. Little painted dots on the floor, driveway, sides of the garage, etc. Once you have your reference points to see it's a whole lot easier. I prefer to back in, just remember to fold in those mirrors at the right reference point! I also have a positive stop on the floor of the garage for the tire. I can't back up any further once I hit that stop.
Click to expand...

I get the alignment of a ball, but do you have other example of reference marks?

seems the best bet until I decide about going to a wider door… which is hard to find one that isn’t either much uglier than the old original wood door, or, uber expenaive…
 
JohnnyG said:
What I have done in the past is to hang TWO tennis balls on cords suspended from the ceiling. I hang them one a couple feet in front of the other, with one few inches lower than the other. It works the same way as the runway approach indicators work on a landing strip. As you pull into the garage, just line up the two balls and next thing you know, "You're on the ball"!

It helps to have a reference point in the vehicle as well, a HUD works really well, which takes the head movement out of the equation.
And you also know that you can do this so that when the nearest ball touches your vehicle, you will be in far enough that the garage door will close without hitting the tailgate.
Click to expand...
Beat me to it...only I liken them to nautical range markers...

I also used a reflector, large dot, etc. on the wall at roughly eye level directly in front of my head in the drivers seat, Not as accurate as above, but better than nothing if the two marker approach isn't feasible.
 
I line up the passenger side using the mirror and slowly back in.
9C653D20-E481-450B-8327-B801B1B91004.jpeg
 
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