What do you steep driveway poeple do?

I used to have that problem at my old house-- my 911 would scrape every time, unless I did it exactly right. The 911 would actually scrape at the back, not the front!

In my case, I guess I solved it by 1) accepting that the back of the 911 was going to get scraped, but also that it was an easy to replace part, so someday I'd just replace that piece, and 2) buying a new house.

Sometimes you can improve the situation a little with a strategically placed piece of wood, but that's a bother for sure.

 

Are you comming in striaght on or at a little bit of an angle...say 45 degrees to the rise/bump/slope?

The new place we just moved into has a little trough between the street and driveway. I scrape the 308 if I hit straight on, but comming in at an angle is no problem.

 

Try getting an asphalt or concrete contractor out to price regrading and making the transition area for the driveway slope longer to effectively decrease the approach angle of the driveway at the street. Instead of a hard angle rise at he street edge you should have a 4-6% approach for the first 15-20 feet, then steeper, and gradually go back to level at the top of the driveway. A permanent solution is best in this case, and you might be surprised how little it might cost. If you are redoing a driveway section that is 12 feet wide and 30 feet long (40 square yards), it should cost in the range of $2-3k. Local contracotr prices will vary, but on large jobs asphalt paving runs about $15 per square yard, so in a large commercial parking lot it would cost about $600 for an area 12x30. If the problem is a 'dip' to form a kind of swale, you might be able to put an overlay of asphalt or concrete and provide a culvert type drainage pipe or a trench grate to still accommodate the drainage requirements.

BT

 

Either way, this is still much less than repairing front and/or rear skirts every year.

 

I am looking for a house, one of the requirements is that the driveway has a low angle of entry. Too much trouble to deal with later.

 

Don't use driveway approach angle as a reason not to get a house, but do consider if there is a way to repave the driveway as necessary.

Funny story: I used to use two by fours at the front of my parents driveway so my TR wouldn't rub when I went to their house. Mom got so annoyed, that she got the driveway repaved and had the entrance angle lowered so my TR wouldn't rub.

How we measured the angle: We used a full piece of plywood at the wheels and angled it up till it touched the spoiler, measured the approach angle and made the driveway a couple degrees less.

 

You don't repair them every year, only when you go to sell either the car or the house!

 

this is what i did
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I saw a picture of a small air bag lift gizmo someplace, don’t remember where now, but it had an Eibach springs decal on it so figured they made the things.
The whole thing was about 3 inches tall, and fit between the top of the spring and the upper shock spring plate where the spring would normally mount. The caption with the pic mentioned that you’d use custom springs and ride height adjustable shocks, and that the air bag would raise the front of the car approx 2 inches when activated. When not activated the bag collapsed and the unit acted just as a spacer between the spring and shock, so basically had no effect on ride or handling.
Some time later when I was thinking of lowering my car, I thought these things would be just the ticket for driveways, etc., and called Eibach. Unfortunately, they said they didn’t manufacture this unit, or anything similar.
But someone makes them, and maybe this description will ring a bell with someone here, because the only thing keeping me from lowering my car is my driveway!
Good luck, John

 

You had an inground pool put in your driveway? Shweet! But what's that gotta do with your car?

 

Ever consider off property storage facility?

 

why did you buy that house? you must have known it would be a problem.

 

There are some situations where the driveway length is too short, so repaving would not be a solution. I think using the driveway angle is a good crtieria for chosing a house, no different than wanting a pool, or a fireplace, or that den. The last thing I need is to have to rip up a new home to add any of those "wants".

 

Obviously, you are far more important to your mother then I am to mine! Even if I knew where the bodies were buried in the backyard, it still would not get me 1 square foot of concrete poured in her driveway!

 

I enter mine at an acute angle and then turn sharply in the opposite direction.
This allows one wheel to start up and raise the nose. Ehen the turn is made, the other wheel starts up and raises the other side of the nose.

Jim

 

Have a driveway that is quite steep, probably around 40 degrees or more(required special permit from city for construction).
For my 328, I enter from about 45 degrees, which seems to do the trick; never scrape anything.
Go slow, check it out, you'll probably be ok.

 

Then you've answered your own question. You approach entering and exiting your driveway the same way you would a speed bump, you go really, really slow.

I'm the only one who can get my Challenge car cleanly in and out of the driveway at our shop. Everyone else scrapes the nose. Why? Because they are impatient. And that's no excuse for banging up a Ferrari.

That being said, my husband and I are considering ripping out half of the driveway at our new house for this very reason. Hel! I can't get my Mustang out of that driveway without it scraping just a bit, no matter how slow I crawl. There's no way the Mondial or the '65 Fastback is going to be any easier.

C.

 

I too have a realy steep driveway. I like notoboy's post. Great idea.

My method is to find an angled approach that does not cause a rub. My case is uphill entry, so the problem is not going up, but down. For that, I simply exit the same way I enter, which is at a sharp angle. If u enter down hill, consider backing in. The overhang is much less on the rear.