Well, I just bought a new house with fantastic canyon views.

The problem is, it's on the side of a hill, and the driveway has a 14.5 degree grade to it. I'd been driving my SUV to the new house thus far, and only realized my SC 430 was scraping the front bottom of the bumper when I parked in the garage the first time yesterday.

It seems the SC has a 7" lift off the ground and sticks out about 35" from the wheels. Therefore, I don't see any feasible way to modify my driveway to a minimum grade of 11 degrees to clear the bottom, so I'm wondering if anyone out there has a hydraulic suspension added to their car?

 

you can always get air suspension

can't you go at an angle?

 

Yup.. 22" chrome wheels or air suspension, pick one. haha

 

Ha ha, yes, I was thinking of getting 22"'s, but I guess the air suspension would be a more discrete choice.

The garage is actually downhill from the street, so going at an angle didn't really help, and I'm not into trying it out too many times, since the sound of the underside scraping just hurts too much!

Does anyone with an air suspension know how much something like that would cost?

 

oh so sounds like you aer not scraping the front of the car, you are scraping the middle body of the car? that's going to be tough

i would say go for universal air suspension, better quality product. a full setup will be around 4k my guess plus install?

 

I'd say - pay whatever it costs to fix your driveway entrance. Are you really going to live someplace where visitors are going to damage their cars when they enter your driveway?

 

Good point -- especially cars with plastic valences which are likely to be torn off.

But I'm most impressed with the math, with all the distances and angles and calculations. Next thing you know, there'll be a cosine or a tangent thrown in. If I knew trig was going to serve a valuable purpose like driveway calculation, I would have paid more attention.

 

My idea's a little tacky, but it should work. You could make a speed bump for your rear wheels to go over to raise the underside of the car by a few inches. Put it about 4 feet from the lip of the driveway where it hits. When the front wheels go over it, its just like a speed bump, when the back wheels go over it, it lifts it up long enough to clear the underside of the car. I drew a rough sketch. The grey is the peak of the cement, the orange is the bump. if you make the bump steep at the beginning(like a speed bump) but keep it flat towards the peak, it should clear...

Make it out of wood if you need, metal would be better, but if its removable and able to be stored when your car doesnt need it, I think it would work.
Thats all I could do in a few minutes on Paint. Good luck.

 

HAHA great sketch!

Repaving is the ideal way to go but it will cost $$$. Pictures of the driveway will give us a better idea.

 

Wow, PVLexus, great sketch for trying to explain the speed bump. I've gotten in touch with a paving contractor to come by and suggest solutions, and he did mention a speed bump. I guess modifying the driveway would add "value" to the house anyway, so it's not a loss, and I'll probably be able to deduct from taxes too!

In any case, the SC's sitting at the top of the driveway (our garage is below street level), and I'd like to have the driveway done before winter hits, even though I'm in Austin. The ice gets pretty annoying sometimes...

 

I know, not too pro, but hey, its an effort.. But you're right. Ultimately, repaving would be the best option in the long run.
Lets see some before and after pics too..

Good luck!

 

Have you considered BACKING into the driveway? I live up a hill and can scrape if I go in forward but not if I back in. If it works, its the inexpensive solution!

 

Good idea though my Blitz scrapes, OEM would be better. I scrape only the front wind deflectors only straight in with no angle. I never would have bought our house if I could not drive into the garage. Some 2x4's may help though some may not like a permanent piece of wood in the street.