lowest parking garage height
 

Hey guys, what's the lowest parking garage height you've parked in with a 4x4 X? My 2000 has stock size tires, factory 120k mile springs. I read that the factory height is 6'8" and the closest I could measure mine was 6'6" (guess I've got some sagging) to the highest point, which was the top of the roof rack and the rear air deflector. I'm going to a hotel soon in Chicago that has a height of 6'8" (fiance did the research a head of time, I found a smart one:) )

Would you chance it? Do they typically under rate the clearance even by an inch?

thanks

I'd be really careful, but fortunately most parking garages (or all?) have one of those tubes or bars set to the maximum allowable height at the entrance to the garage, you know, the ones that drag across your roof if you are too high. I have a 2003 excursion with diesel engine, with stock tires and springs, and recently started to drag it across the very top center of the roof when I started to enter. I do not know what the height is because they marked through the height markings on it. It looked like maybe they recently let the chains down and lowered it a bit, then marked through the old height. I was surprised, it seemed like it was pretty low for a parking garage ceiling.

I have a stock '03 Excursion as well. I personally never go below 7'. I like the cushion in case there are speed bumps that give you an unexpected lift. :eek:
Ex03AK

The 7' rule sounds like a good idea!! Easy to remember and should always be enough for any error. Now I have to polish the small white scratches off of the top of my roof. :-X04

BEWARE of the height of the ceiling where the ramp starts to rise. You may have clearance while on the flat but when the front end of the vehicle climbs the ramp the roof raises and may catch on the ceiling.

yeah I'm definitely going to try to get a spot on the first level, but in Chicago on the day before the Chicago Marathon that may not be likely!

i had to back down the enter ramp of a local parking garage because i did not fit. it was 6'7" and it scrapped on the sign. luckly the one across the street is 6'9" and i had no issues there.

Garage Clearance
 

My '01 4x4 V10 Ex has just under a 7' clearance. My garage opeing is 7' and it fits with a couple of inches to spare. The truck is bone stock.

You could always let half the air out of the tires if there is a delima or call and ask the exact measurements.

Remove your roof rack cross members.... (which everyone SHOULD do to save their paint!)
air down a bit if u must...
and GO SLOW.... any bouncing can raise you two to 4 inches..

Don't ask how I know :)

I would be more worried about the width and length of the Ex than the height :)
(in the event of tight turns, etc within the garage)

u might call ahead to the hotel to verify it will fit...

The top of the antenna usually hits on mine. But there hasn't been a garage that I couldn't park in. jdadamsjr has a good point that just the length of the beast is more of a concern.

If worse comes to worse, put a bunch of fat people in the Ex to keep it down. :-)

What's a parking garage? Never been in one. :-missingt

Call them, ask for someone who has worked there for a while and they will know if an ex will fit. I tried my van with a rack one time:eek:They weren't looking and I had to back out and cause a big traffic jam.

This past summer, I had to park in a 6"8" garage at the beach. I have V codes, F350 blocks and 305's. I removed my cross bars when I first got the X. Needless to say, I barely fit. I had a buddy ride up the garage with me after I dropped of the kids to watch. He said I should have plenty of room because there were Explorers with the rooftop carriers parked in there. When I first started in the garage, he said I had a few inches of clearance. I was nervous the whole week.

I just went downtown last Saturday for a gun show and fit in a 6'8" ramp just fine. It was a little tight and hit the over height tube, but make it through the whole ramp without hitting the antenna on anything. That was kind of a fluke though. I have been through other 6'8" ramps and the antenna hits on every concrete beam. I just drive really slow, and use the antenna as a gauge. If the antenna just ticks it, I am close. If the antenna flexes back more than an inch or two I am extremely close.

I do have my roof rack cross pieces, stock size tires and the sagging front end with stock springs and the 7.3L with 145K miles. Hope this helps.

Remember, those headache bars are for the lowest point of the parking ramp. It may be in a corner parking spot or a water pipe at the exit stand. You will never know till it is too late.

I work buildling high rise buildings that all have parking garages. Grant it I am speaking for new installations and not ones that have been tampered with over time, but usually whenever the designers are setting the height of the height warning bar they ride the whole garage and note the lowest hanging obstruction in the main drives of the garage. Then they take 1" off of that which is the height that the bar is hung at. Then the height that is written on the bar is actually 1" lower than that (I.E. 7'-0" lowest obstruction, Bar is hung at 6'-11" and figure written on the bar is 6'-10"), but like others have said I would call the Hotel and ask them what kinds of vehicles park in their garage.

:-X24
:-X24
:-X24

Classic!!!

My '00 Limited 4x4 PSD with Michelin LTX 265/75-16s measures a little over six feet six (to roof bow hardware) unladened, and with full tank. I recently successfully parked in the World Exchange Plaza in Ottawa. Clearance was marked as six feet six inches. Radio antenna is about two inches higher. Antenna but not bows clanked on the clearance sign. Great trepidation followed, and then I discovered that those wonderful people had set aside the main floor of the deck for FULL SIZE TRUCKS AND VANS. Littler stuff was subject to towing. No problems parking or leaving. Wide spaces, long enough for my Excursion, no fans, pumps, or other surprises mounted on the walls. Thanks, WEP!

Auto Car Wash hieght hijack
 

Sorry for the hijack, but it is very related. Especially with the salt ladden roads soiling our Ex's. I find it very hard to get a decent automatic car wash. I finally found a touchless with a 6' 8" sign and she just fits. Of course I have to fold the mirrors in. It seems like the designers (especially the newer car washes) have ignored our Kings. :confused:

Boy, did I ever find this out the hard way. I went real slow on the first ramp and the Ex fit okay so I made it fine all the way to the 4th floor of the parking garage where I finally found a parking place.

However, coming down was a different story. Thankfully, I got out and checked at the first ramp and found that there was no way the Ex would clear at that angle. I ended up having to back all the way out of the parking garage. I won't make that mistake again!

I have a 17' F250 with 6" lift + 37's and park on the fifth floor of a garage with 8 foot clearance. If my math is right my truck stands at 7'6" give or take an inch.

i lost a roof rack and damaged the rails in a garage that claimed to be 7'11''. The beam I lost my rack on was 7'3'' (my Ex has 4 inch lift). The garage was new so you would think they measured every beam correctly. I fought the property owner and they ended up paying for the damages. Now the entrance to the garage says 7' even. I don't trust the claimed height now if it's close, and especially wouldn't trust it in an old garage that has a lot going on with pipes, etc. on the ceiling (I'm thinking of D.C. and Baltimore garages).

Agreed, my antenna is about 6" above my truck, so if it hits, I slow down to a crawl and pay attention. There is 1 spot at the very top where the garage is clearly not 8' (more like 7'9" on one side, and lower on the other), where I stay to one side to avoid scraping (it's at the top before it opens up). And it's very clearly labeled 8' all the way up.

I almost had a panic attack in a parking garage recently. Antenna was bumping beams and it was crowded, people lined up behind me, yikes! This was in L.A. and my Ex is stock height! First level height going in advertised as 8'2. No prob but then going to level 2 it apparently drops to 7'! Yeah, that was scary. You know how you duck when driving even when you're inside vehicle? :-missingt