NOT HAPPY

[dimi]

Okay so im looking around to buy my first home (which is actually going to be an appartment), and i have found this one that i Want (their is no other words for it I WANT IT)

Problem: The drive way that enters the underground parking lot is not the flatest drive way in the world.

My fto currently has a dc lip molded onto the front bar so its just pretty much the lip which is lower than the standard ride height.

Okay the problem is i can't get into the carpark cause the front bar will not allow me too (its too low)if u catch my drift, and the car has not been lowered.

So as u can c im in a bind, SO I NEED SUGGESTIONS.

Originally the plan was to fit the kit lower it and chuck on some wheels, well if i move here thats definetly out of the question.

Lets say i dont lower the car but put a set of 18's on it, ive heard this will actually raise the level of the car, dont know by how much but it will def go up. Am i right in thinking this will raise the car by an inch, logic behind this is that if the standard 16's are pretty much the same as 17's will 18's actually raise it an inch????????

So if any guru's out their know stuff about stuff then let me know because at the moment im stuffed.

lol, lucky i checked this before buying the place>

[kazbah]

Might sound a dumb question - but any chance you can back in?

[dimi]

yeah i can, BUT, will that make a difference , just thinking does the actual level of the car change compared to going in front ways.

I guess its got to do with time it take the front tyres, to cancel out the angle of the car so that the front bar could glide over.

[dstocks]

No there is something in that.

Because you are going downhill, the front of the car will dip slightly (as more weight is on the front, thus reducing your clearance. If you go down backwards and you have more clearance at the back, this will still happen but seeing as you have more clearance to start with, the end result should be better.

[dimi]

i guess thats a start, any more suggestions people, i guess i might have to go their and reverse down into the parking section of the building.C what happens

[dimi]

does any one know if 18's (with out lowwered springs) which actually raise the car and if so by how much

[FTO338]

Is it the entrance that causing the problem or is it the driveway (if your car park is multilevel)

If it’s the entrance, you can write a letter to the council & ask them that you don't want to damage the road/footpath, therefore if they can kindly re-do it. Don't tell them it damage your car, as they won't give a rat, but if you tell them it causing damage to their own property (e.g. the road or footpath) then they will fix it. My friend did that, so that’s how I know.

Now if it’s the driveway, then you just send an email to the Body Corporate, & tell them the driveway is damaging your car, don't tell them your car is lowered or have extra body kit, just tell them it’s standard. I got one of my property's driveway fixed within two days of my email.

What ever you do, don't just ring them as most body corporate will claim they don't recall any phone calls & have no record of it.

[Slither]

It will depend on what size tyres you put on with the 18's

The wheels will be bigger by an inch but i'm betting you will be running a much lower profile tyre, at least you should be, so your ride height won't increase by an inch

As for the driveway, are you taking it straight on?
Driveway's are all about angle, my ride height is rather low and i'm yet to find a driveway i can't get in and out of. The bigger the angle the better

[dimi]

its a the actually drive way so yeah the body corp deals with it, they could tell me to go and get stuffed, i haven't even bought the place, dont really want to cause a scene, Yet, anyway.lol

Gonna give the reverse ing buiness a go and then maybe take it from their, poor front bar, i dont think its gonna like it.

[SchumieFan]

HYDRAULICS baby yeah!

sorry, not very constructive, any chance of entering on an angle?

[dimi]

not really, its really f**cked cause not only is it steep its narrow also, so their is no angular technology which can b used. but yeah if u have some hydraulics u not using at the moment could i have them, cheers

[rnbboi]

Ive seen some driveways thingy have like these steel/metal floors that they lay on the ground.

So its sorta like < onto the driveway. Get my drift lol?

Im probably mistaking the driveway your talking about, but thats my $$ for the day

[dimi]

I didn't fully read slithers reply before, mate i like your moto of The bigger the angle the better , but my front bar is not made out of steel, its only fibreglass, maybe u could pass on some of your angular evasive techniques.

Btw its pretty narrow so their is not much angle happening, maybe a bit, be lucky to b 2 cars wide

[indyfto]

Yep, Slither has the answer I believe. You should be able to make it in/out of 95% of driveways if you know how to approach the driveway at the right angle. I have a really bad (steep) driveway here and when I had the FTO it could only ever be driven up from one specific angle from one side and reversed done on the other. I had to individually place each wheel onto the driveway one at a time - thereby actually using the wheel itself to raise the car up. Kind of sounds obvious but it works in reality. I needed to drive almost parallel with the gutter (std QLD 45 degree angle stormwater gutter) and steer into the gutter so to speak slowly so that the front drivers wheel would mount the kerb then progressively steer into the driveway allowing each wheel to mount the gutter separately. Of course I needed to use a fair bit of the nature strip to pull this off. Very hard to explain this in words. This is unfortunately what you have to put up with with a modified car. Bear in mind that mine was only 102 mm off the ground at the front too...My suggestion is that you try the angle concept numerous times with someone to act as a spotter for scrapes. That's what I did and it took me nearly half an hour much to the amusement of the neighbours but it could be done with perserverance. Good luck though

[dimi]

okay so does reversing down into the carpark woek better than going in front ways, also how wide was your drive way this one can fit maybe (and a big maybe) 2 cars could squish in thats how wide it is

[dimi]

i do have angular technology cause my previous car was low, but this drive way is pretty yuck, though, i will try to conquer it, i guess lucky i have to take to back to dmd the get it fixed anyways so their is no better time to try then now i guess

Will 18's raise the level of the car, it will look like a 4wheel drive wont it, if i dont lower it after putting them on???

[Dr_Jones]

Sorry if you said already but have you scraped or do you just think you will. I thought I'd never get in my driveway but I do it everytime and haven't hit it yet. Get yourself a spotter and see what happens. If you can fit two cars side by side you should be able to do it. It's hard to tell without seeing it though.

[dimi]

yeah its tough one, def have to do the spotter trick, could be quite funny though i dont even live their yet and already the people their are gonna think im a freak.lol either that or it will make for some good conversation with the blonde bombshell i saw that will be one of my neighbours.

THANKS FOR EVERYONES SUGGESTIONS, i will def let u know how it goes, prediction, it'll probably b well u guys were right, the angle reverse thing was the ticket, OR, i failed and the front bar will have GONE to bodykit heaven,( their is such a place u know).

[Dr_Jones]

With a spotter you shouldn't damage it. My neighbours always stop and watch me go down the driveway if they are outside. Puts so much pressure on me.

[indyfto]

In my instance I could only ever make it up going in normally (not reversing) and backing down again. You should only ever attempt reversing if going in normally will not work as the weight of the engine at the front of the car will always be heavier than the rear. That means once on an angle the front will naturally want to drop closer to the ground. Here's a quick dodgy representation of my driveway. Doesn't look that steep in the pic but trust me it is when you have only 100 mm clearance! Note the patchy grass to the right of the driveway from driving over it constantly