Arhhh hail, may need car covering

Apu · Postby **Apu** » Fri Feb 17, 2012 9:15 pm

Yes I did mean put it on before the storm hits AND how long does it take to throw a cover on the car? Much faster than you can get in it, get it out the driveway, and look for shelter!

PaulF · Postby **PaulF** » Fri Feb 17, 2012 9:16 pm

Entice, I don't think you understand the situation in question. At my house, for instance, there is not enough room to have all of our cars in a garage or car port. There is no other shelter nearby. Our only choice, should a hail storm approach, would be to cover the cars up and then head inside before it hit. Sure, if the hail has already started and it's dangerous to go outside then you don't risk your own safety, but what could possibly be wrong with planning ahead?

Entice · Postby **Entice** » Fri Feb 17, 2012 9:24 pm

OK I get it.

you can plan ahead to stitch up some blankets cardboard and foam, but you cant plan ahead to park it somewhere else?

here's a thought.

Purchase a 3 x 3 or 6 x 3 m foldable gazebo shelter, and pop it up and tie it down.. and perhaps dont even raise it to full height....(half height will suffice)
Takes less than 10 minutes to erect.

oh, and you you have a party/barbeque and are afraid of inclement weather, you can use that too to shelter from rain or sun!

I'm sorry, but perhaps it's just me that has a bugbear with blankets over cars in the middle of hailstorms....

Postby **NitroDann** » Fri Feb 17, 2012 9:35 pm

Those gazebos dont survive storms lol. Not a good idea.

Think woolen blankets are the best idea. 5 bucks from vinnies. Throw em over, the rain will hold them down and will protect 100% from hail.

Dann

PaulF · Postby **PaulF** » Fri Feb 17, 2012 9:43 pm

Entice wrote:you can plan ahead to stitch up some blankets cardboard and foam, but you cant plan ahead to park it somewhere else?

A car cover can be done months in advance and stored until it is needed. It is not always practical to move multiple cars "somewhere else" (Where exactly? The nearest undercover car park, 15 minutes away? With all three cars?)

A gazebo might be okay, if:
A) you have room to erect it,
B) the storm doesn't tear the gazebo to shreds, and
B) there's no wind in the middle of your hailstorm (blows hail sideways and car gets hit anyway).

Kikuchi · Postby **Kikuchi** » Thu Feb 23, 2012 12:53 am

Not 100% safe but if theres a hail storm, I'd drive it under a tree. Now I know that there are chances of lightning striking the tree, but I'd take the chance over certain hail damage.
Obviously don't drive it under gumtrees or the like (those brittle ones that always break during storms), cause your more likely to take a branch to the car instead.

Also: should a storm be coming, I'm certainly not driving it to the nearest shopping centre or underground carpark, cause then I'm stranded there till the storm is done... Unless I'm on the road already in which case I would definitely look for something of the like, but otherwise, a couple of thick quilts anchored to the car sounds like a good plan to me. and cheap.

crum · Postby **crum** » Thu Feb 23, 2012 5:10 am

I'm a Paintless dent remover by trade and actually specialise in hail damaged cars. If there aren't too many dents or they're really shallow you may be able to get it repaired for less than your excess

Apu · Postby **Apu** » Thu Feb 23, 2012 6:08 am

The important question us where are you based crum?!

Pamex · Postby **Pamex** » Thu Feb 23, 2012 1:14 pm

We use blankets at our place. They've always worked fine. Entice, why don't you like them? The only thing I could think of against them is the possibility of scratches... but you'd have to be pretty special to be that rough in placing them/ taking them off.

It would actually be nigh on impossible to move some of our cars to a sheltered location. I'm particularly thinking of the BMW 328i which has town apart suspension and is now not registered. :-D We still need to protect it though, as it is in awesome condition other than being lame.

We have five cars in the driveway, and I have one in the garage, so it would be pretty unreasonable to move them all. Plus the only nearby location we could find shelter is at the pumps at the servo over the road, however I'm not sure how they'd feel about us restricting access to the pumps because we have the area full of our cars. The closest undercover access where you wouldn't be in the way is a 5 minute drive so is unreasonable with that many cars.

The former housemate had a gazebo to cover his car. It was properly secured. Shame it blew away in the massive winds Melbourne had some time back. :wink:

Also, the only gazebos that are big enough and strong enough to stop hail cost quite a bit, and to secure them properly they need to be there permanently to be honest. My lovely landlord is wonderfully accommodating... but I think filling her front yard with a heap of gazebos would be pushing it to be honest.

hks_kansei · Postby **hks_kansei** » Thu Feb 23, 2012 2:01 pm

But surely if we can plan ahead and have blankets ready we can also plan ahead and buy a warehouse to hide the cars. :roll:

Blankets $20
Cheapest Gazebo $100
Gazebo that will actually protect from hail $300

The main issues are

a: where else do you park it? if I had access to a garage or carport I'd park it there all the time.
b: it's not known exactly when the hail will hit, I'm not going to abandon my car a couple of km away just in case there's some hail.

zero00 · Postby **zero00** » Thu Feb 23, 2012 2:57 pm

Supercheap

Medium size fits NB fine, weight down with a couple of old tyres, has 4 straps that clip underneath from side to side, I think brand is 'Autotechnica' about $230 - takes 3-4 mins to fit but try getting it back to the size it was coming out of the carry bag!!

NO WAY!!

If using as a 'daily drive' throw a few old blankets/doonas/etc into the boot just in case, and perhaps check BOM and listen to radio forecasts instead of head banging music!! So many I talk to say 'Oh!! didn't know we were going to get a storm!!!'

jojoeffe · Postby **jojoeffe** » Thu Feb 23, 2012 7:11 pm

Um yeah. As the housemate I am categorically vetoing gazebos. It will *ruin* the carefully cultivated "crack-house" ambience I am endeavouring to perfect.

Seriously - we have 6 cars. I don't mind them around the house but I would have to pretty much cover the whole out-door area around the front of my house to provide shelter from the three or four hailstorms a year. Anyone wanna quote me that carport? It seems better value than re-wiring, right?

It was lucky there wasn't a car under the gazebo when that storm hit. It was well secured by the guy ropes (I do good knots) but the poles had come adrift and it was flogging violently. I imagine poles prolly make good dents, too.

And trees. Don't get me started. Street trees are generally trimmed back, so they dont overhang the roadway, anyway. There are no trees in my front yard anymore - the one that blew down on my previous house-mate's car felt the wrath of a bow saw as he chopped it into small, fire-place-sized pieces. That was in the same set of storms.

So I reckon it's blankets. Yeah they aren't pretty. But I don't wear a ball gown to mow the lawn, either.

zero00 · Postby **zero00** » Thu Feb 23, 2012 9:16 pm

Jojoeffe

Know the feeling!! 4 cars here and only a double garage! It's that time of the year here now, storms almost every day with forecast saying 'large hail' etc and you see the sky going from grey to black in your city office tower, knowing its a 45 min train north then a 20 min drive to home!

So, 2 in the garage and I think I can fit 3 with a squeeze, one under the hail cover and #4 in an undercover parking station [free!!!!] 5 mins from the rail station!! If it hits I stay at the parking station until I know it's clear and pray the hail cover does the job!!

To stop the flapping in high wind, tyres placed on the bonnet and boot and the garbage bin hard against one side!! So far so good!!

I'm pricing the installation of 2 poles in the front gardens with hooks attached above the roller door with a removable trampoline style clip on spring loaded cover, remove when OK or clip on with impending storm/s!! First quote? $4500!!! [Council wants $900+ just to say poles are secure!!!] I think NOT!! That was for a permanent installation but I want temporary so as not to ruin the ambience of my home

Scour your local area for places you can drive quickly to, like a carwash, shopping centre etc

Apu · Postby **Apu** » Thu Feb 23, 2012 10:03 pm

Just use Dynabolts! No need for poles - 2 in a wall, 2 in the ground and you've got a lean-to shelter for the car...but you need a long tarp though.

See my garage thread - I built a low profile shade cloth shelter that's stood up to sone pretty strong winds, but no hail yet. Just need a longer piece.

jojoeffe · Postby **jojoeffe** » Thu Feb 23, 2012 10:39 pm

I have always wanted to use dynabolts for something

but I have a weatherboard house and brick on sand paving. Pamex parks on grass (I'm trying to kill it anyway).

An idea for your sheets/foam - perhaps sew pockets for the foam? you'd need to sew pretty close to stop there being gaps a hailstone could hit through, or perhaps (thanks hks_kansei) use a couple. Then the foam would stay in place.