Driveways & speedbumps

Rick Parker · #1 (**permalink**) 10-30-2003, 03:10 PM

Any of you guys have difficulty scraping the oil cooler opening while getting in and out of conventional driveways or on speed bumps in parking lots? What have you done to help eliminate the problem?

Rick

mr0077 · #2 (**permalink**) 10-30-2003, 04:07 PM

Rick, only thing I've found that works is to go across the speed bump at a fairly steep angle so one of the front tires gets to the bump first, just ahead of the scoop...it raises the scoop as the tire rises over the bump. Same thing seems to work on sharp driveway angles...

SPEEDEAMON · #3 (**permalink**) 10-30-2003, 04:27 PM

Ken's right. I have a steep driveway and I always take it at an angle ingress or backing out. I just came home to find a new speed bump has been installed down the street. It looks high so I will have to tread carefully. If the bump ends near the gutter I usually put one wheel on the gutter and the other on the bump. Same result as taking it at an angle.

Shin

B. SMITH · #4 (**permalink**) 10-30-2003, 04:28 PM

AT 5 MPH MOST COBRAS WILL BOTTOM OUT. THESE SPEEDBUMPS SHOULD BE ILLEGAL. EVEN MY TRANS AM SCRAPES SOMETIMES.

I HEARD THAT SOME MUNICIPALITIES HAVE BEEN SUED AND SETTLED. THESE SPEEDBUMP COMMANDOS ALL DRIVE CAMRYS OR ACCORDS, ETC. WITH NO REGARD TO OTHERS WHO DRIVE A LOWER-SLUNG, SPORTY STYLED AUTOMOBILES.

WE WILL HAVE TO CARRY PICK-AXES IN OUR COBRAS IF THIS GETS ANY WORSE.

B. SMITH

David Talton Jr · #5 (**permalink**) 10-30-2003, 04:37 PM

I would follow what the others have been saying about the driveway. But, when it comes to speedbumps in parking lots, bend the law and drive through parking spaces. Just slow down, and act like your parking, then proceed

We shouldnt have to have our cars torn up, just because some people dont know how to drive with control and at respectable speeds (in parking lots that is, the highway is another thing)

Mr.Fixit · #6 (**permalink**) 10-30-2003, 04:54 PM

Hit them at an angle, and very slowly. If possible, avoid them completely. I had a friend buy a new corvette, he later found out he couldn't drive it into his driveway, I laughed at that because I couldn't even pull my chevelle into his driveway, and he knew that before he bought his car.

mr0077 · #7 (**permalink**) 10-30-2003, 04:54 PM

David, I see a LOT of cars parked adjacent to a speed bump in the middle of NOWHERE, with the only apparent objective and benefit to keep people like us from driving around the bumps...but, if we drive around the bump, didn't it accomplish its objective (to slow us down)?
There have been some speed bumps in Houston that mysteriously got graded flat during the night...

SPEEDEAMON · #8 (**permalink**) 10-30-2003, 04:56 PM

I once met a Doctor who lived high on the hills above Malibu. He had house with a great view, an astonishing beautiful young girlfriend and a Ferrari F40. The car had only 150 miles. Thats because he came home one evening to find the city installed a speedbump 100ft down the street from the cul-de-sac he lived on. He eventually had to sell the car. He was devastated but he still had his young goddess.

Shin

CRZN427 · #9 (**permalink**) 10-30-2003, 07:11 PM

Don't try this at home, I only heard about it, I would not recommend that anyone try this, I will deny saying this if asked about it later but I heard once that about five gallons of diesel fuel spread out over the speed bump, ashpalt style, will render it into a pile of loose dirty gravel overnight..

ToyCollector · #10 (**permalink**) 10-30-2003, 07:23 PM

Shin, I'd have a crew scrape the crap off the speedbump every Thursday night or try other techniques that may described here or elsewhere

It is getting ridiculous out there, the people installing these think everyone now drives an SUV.

Doug I · #11 (**permalink**) 10-31-2003, 01:01 PM

Anyone thought of a legal action against the city/county/etc for building a deliberate road hazard ? They can (and have) been sued for leaving potholes unrepaired etc - so it should also work if they build a deliberate hazard. These cars are unaltered from the design - so they should be able to be driven over all speed bumps - if they build it to high it isn't our fault - it's theirs.

Speed bumps in a parking lot are easy - there is no law (least here in La) saying you have to drive in the lanes marked. They have no legal standing in defining a roadway. The only legally binding markings are the fire lanes. Apart from that legally you can drive where you like and park where you like.

just my thoughts
regards

hodgey · #12 (**permalink**) 11-04-2003, 01:18 PM

I dont have a scraping problem anymore because I installed a Rancho 4 inch lift with spring shackles on my car and took a hacksaw to the lower front valance. I call it my rolling bunkbed now, because I can sleep on it and under it! Pillow not included.

Wayne Maybury · #13 (**permalink**) 11-04-2003, 01:40 PM

We don't have many speed bumps up here but we have 4 way stop signs at almost every intersection. I don't know what's worse, stop signs or speed bumps.

Wayne

Maricopa · #14 (**permalink**) 11-05-2003, 08:30 AM

Hmm, funny how they seem to install speed bumps on the streets where Cobras and Ferraris live

We have 'em too but they're the low, wide kind. We really needed them to tell the truth, mostly because of soccer moms and BMW dricing yuppies blowing through the 25mph residentials at 45mph (while talking on the cell phone of course) I agree they're a PITA but most of the time residents have them put in for a good reason.

Mike

Ron61 · #15 (**permalink**) 11-05-2003, 11:24 AM

The best method is to drive around them if possible and if not then use the angle method. They have 2 of them over by a friends house about 100 feet apart and one is so high that even if you stop and creep over it at an angle it will hit the oil pan and anything less than 10 inches off the ground. It is a ridiculous thing even for a speed bump and I know of two transmissions that have been messed up because of it and also one Cobra owner had the drain plug ripped out of his oil pan. I drive around it as there is room and a set of tracks where a lot of people do the same. Even my 1965 Comet will scrape the frame on it if I go over it above 10 MPH. If I lived on that street, and it is a private drive, that thing would be gone.

Ron

jpk · #16 (**permalink**) 11-05-2003, 12:02 PM

Where I live, there are people whose sole reason for living is to make driving an automobile as unpleasant an experience as possible. Speed bumps, barriers, roundabouts, ad nauseum. They call it "traffic calming". My current registration renewal fee for the year is over $1,000.00, and I still have to put up with this crap! Not only do the speed bumps sometimes scrape my bellhousing, but they somehow cause my horn to activate while I go over them. All of my cars do this, and I can't seem to locate the cause. Damn!!

joe kennedy

Dan Stryffeler · #17 (**permalink**) 11-05-2003, 12:45 PM

Never seem to hit the speed bumps, but I've pulled on top of a half dozen or so @#$% concrete parking stops. (Always impresses the people walking by... the only thing worse is grinding reverse gear when backing into a spot at a car cruise - Ugh!)

My own fault, I've had to learn to stop well short of them.

The other problem is when you back out and see a spot of coolant or oil that you are not quite sure wasn't there when you pulled in.

- Dan

flipper35 · #18 (**permalink**) 11-05-2003, 01:33 PM

My flywheel cover hits more than the front end. Most of where I drive the center of the speed bump is open for drainage so I put a wheel on each side and stradle the opening. Unfortunatley I know some people responsible for the speed bumps. One place got so bad the put a chain across the lane so you have to come in one side or the other and couldn't drive to the other side. Made me drive three blocks out of my way to get to the right side, or walk a long way. The walk isn't bad unless you have something to carry. Ironically, one of the people responisible for the chain, now lives there.

John S Peterson · #19 (**permalink**) 11-05-2003, 02:42 PM

We May have to resort to driving on the sidewalk.....

Jmar · #20 (**permalink**) 11-05-2003, 07:51 PM

They installed 5-6 new ones at my school last fall. I put one side over the curb and on the side walk to get clearance over some of them. I have and under -car exhaust so it's the part that rubs if I'm not careful. I'm beginning to like the diesel fuel treatment.