Great parking job

novaderrik wrote:

RealMiniDriver wrote:

Secretariata wrote:

RealMiniDriver wrote:

Trans_Maro wrote: ...remove all four valve cores and leave three taped to the windshield.

I have to remember that one.

Berkeley that. Nobody has 2 spares...

True, but all four REALLY drives the point home. Less malicious and passersby get to enjoy it, too:

what if that guy was just trying to squeeze in between 2 cars that were parked in their spots kinda goofy because it was the only space big enough to fit the car, and what you see in that pic is what was happening after the other 2 cars left their spots?

call Vegas and find out the odds that that is actually the situation here

Will wrote: My MR2. Not my F250. I was there first.

IIRC, tailgates are removable without tools. I would have had a new one.

I'm not offering any excuses for the guy, but I drive a similar F250. The turning radius is somewhere between that of a freight train and a log truck.

Most parking lots are laid out much too tight to maneuver with a vehicle of that size. I usually choose to park in the far nether reaches and walk, but that is not always possible.

Without seeing the space to the row of cars behind, I have to reserve a bit of judgement. It might have been the best he could do.

Where I live, 50% or more I'd vehicles are trucks and SUVs. It gets pretty frustrating on a daily basis seeing parking lots laid out like everyone is driving compacts, just to meet some stupid local parking regulation that makes no sense.

Again, I'm not letting him off the hook.

agree with Paul ... still doesn't excuse the F250 driver .. but look at how little room the car to the left of the truck left him ( it's pretty much on the the rt. side line

SVreX wrote: I'm not offering any excuses for the guy, but I drive a similar F250. The turning radius is somewhere between that of a freight train and a log truck. Most parking lots are laid out much too tight to maneuver with a vehicle of that size. I usually choose to park in the far nether reaches and walk, but that is not always possible.

Having gone from a volvo with a 30foot turning radius to the Rover which turns slightly faster than the box truck I used to drive.. I can see that.

Still does not forgive the driver of the 250

EastCoastMojo wrote: That's the kind of E36 M3 that motivated me to keep a valve core removal tool in my ashtray.

A stealthier way is to put a ball bearing in the valve cap. Nice, slow leak. Not that I've ever done it.

bravenrace wrote:

EastCoastMojo wrote: That's the kind of E36 M3 that motivated me to keep a valve core removal tool in my ashtray.

A stealthier way is to put a ball bearing in the valve cap. Nice, slow leak. Not that I've ever done it.

Certainly, but there aren't enough ball bearings to keep up the fight around here.

SVreX wrote: It might have been the best he could do.

Then he shouldn't be driving a vehicle that big. I used to drive a full-size van, and could park better than that, blindfolded.

Its all ball bearings these days.

Full sized vans turn much tighter than an F-250.

A full-sized GMC Savana has a turning radius of 43.7'.

An F-250 Super cab long bed 4x4 needs 59.72'.

SVreX wrote: Full sized vans turn much tighter than an F-250. A full-sized GMC Savana has a turning radius of 43.7'. An F-250 Super cab long bed 4x4 needs 59.72'.

Then learn to back into a space not drive in forward. It stuns me how America is allergic to backing into spaces. It's far far easier to get in backwards, safer too as when backing up you can see into the space, and when pulling out you can see into the lane. Safer for you, safer for pedestrians and kids and much easier to get into a spot square. Once I’m benevolent dictator, those ‘Do not back into parking spaces’ will be outlawed instantly. In fact the only place that going in to a space forward will be allowed is at hardware stores and the like where you legitimately need significant access to the rear of the vehicle.

The vehicle and it's turning radius are irrelevant. Whatever you drive, it's your responsibility to drive it and park it correctly. No excuse for what that guy did other than lack or caring or lack or brains. I have a crew cab dually and I've never been forced to park that way anywhere.

In reply to bravenrace:

Tell that to a tractor trailer driver.

Any person with a basic understanding of civil engineering knows vehicle size and turning radius have EVERYTHING to do with parking lot design.

Since parking lots are designed by people with civil engineering knowledge, they have to maintain some level of responsibility for poorly designed parking lots.

wbjones wrote: agree with Paul ... still doesn't excuse the F250 driver .. but look at how little room the car to the left of the truck left him ( it's pretty much on the the rt. side line

does not matter...find another spot, or drive a smaller car. You chose to drive a behemoth (I understand, some occupations require a worktruck), but that doesn't mean that your choice in vehicles should become my problem.

Rare has it been the occasion where I find myself in a parking lot where the back 40% of the lot isnt wide open. Sorry you drove a rolling continent to the grocery store, but please dont force me to practice gymnastics in order to get into my car because you didnt feel like walking 27 extra steps to avoid being a real dick.

Once at university two cars parked so close to me that I could barely open the door. First I cracked the driver's side door, rolled down the window and tossed my stuff in. Then I considered doing a Dukes of Hazzard but there was no way that was going to work. So eventually I cracked the door open and let the plastic guard no the door rub on the other car, and contorted myself into the 8" gap in the door. Bystanders applauded.

You can get into a Sammy from the back, which is handy when idiots block you in, and also when two idiots both park far off center, you can squeeze in between them and block both of them in

I am not disagreeing the guy may be a dick.

I am merely pointing out that we have no idea if he is based on the evidence presented.

You OH guys might want to try driving a truck around FL before you offer your criticisms. Full parking lots with no spaces and tight designs are normal in some places.

I was going to point out even I could have gotten in and backed that MR2 out easy. That's acres of room considering what I've been left in similar situations. I also live in Truck HQ, so everyone has one and half of them can park great. The other half not so much.

SVreX wrote: In reply to bravenrace: Tell that to a tractor trailer driver. Any person with a basic understanding of civil engineering knows vehicle size and turning radius have EVERYTHING to do with parking lot design. Since parking lots are designed by people with civil engineering knowledge, they have to maintain some level of responsibility for poorly designed parking lots.

I was a tractor trailer driver. You park your vehicle where it fits. He could have backed up, straightened out, and pulled in straight. They can't make slots in a parking lot big enough to fit a tractor trailer, as that wouldn't be practical. I have many vehicles, from a CRX to the aforementioned crew cab dually. I park all of them differently depending on the vehicle. He could have done the same thing, but didn't. It's not the parking lots fault, it's his.

SVreX wrote: I am not disagreeing the guy may be a dick. I am merely pointing out that we have no idea if he is based on the evidence presented. You OH guys might want to try driving a truck around FL before you offer your criticisms. Full parking lots with no spaces and tight designs are normal in some places.

First, it still doesn't make the F250 drive right. If the lot he wants to park in is full, go to a different lot and use those strange appendages bellow your beer belly to get to where you’re going. If he wants to cry that then he has to carry his smoked sausage and Budweiser a ¼ mile back to his car, leave it at the berkeleying checkout, every decent sized store has a loading lane.

Second. There’s no such thing as a tight parking space in this country, Florida or otherwise. The rest of the world laughs at the subdivision sized plots that get called parking spaces here.

In reply to Adrian_Thompson:

True.

The rest of the world also doesn't drive F-250's.

Why do people keep referencing a grocery store? The pictures are obviously not a grocery store- probably a ball park.

We can't see the rest of the parking lot. We have no idea if it is full, if the lanes are narrow, or otherwise. What we CAN see is that the width of the space is not much wider than the truck.

But the internet has made us all experts, so lets all be dicks and criticize someone for something we know very little about.

Will wrote: My MR2. Not my F250. I was there first. There was about 8 inches between my door and his running board. I had to fold in my mirror to get past his rear fender lip. For what it's worth, my car isn't lowered. The roof comes up to the top of the door handles on that truck.

In reply to Flight Service:

I'll be sure to have these made.

And no matter how close the next row is the driver of the truck could have backed in and been straight.

I drove 23' of crew cab, long box, manual steering and brakes 60's Dodge truck as a daily driver for years and have no sympathy for the driver of that cream puff baby truck.

Of course while driving the aforementioned truck it was easy enough to fix other drivers' parking errors with a gentle application of force applied to a wheel via a tow strap.

Also, if the OP had backed into his primo end spot, so his door was on the no-car side, the whole thing would have been a nonevent.

SVreX wrote: In reply to Adrian_Thompson: True. The rest of the world also doesn't drive F-250's. Why do people keep referencing a grocery store? The pictures are obviously not a grocery store- probably a ball park. We can't see the rest of the parking lot. We have no idea if it is full, if the lanes are narrow, or otherwise. What we CAN see is that the width of the space is not much wider than the truck. But the internet has made us all experts, so lets all be dicks and criticize someone for something we know very little about.

It doesn't matter what or where, he did a E36 M3ty job. He could have got it in square by backing in and while tight on either side, people could still have got into their cars. Learning how to park should be part of drivers ed/test.

I’ve been here coming up 20 years and have never seen a tight parking space here, but then I’ve only seen 36 states, so there is a chance. I don’t’ consider myself a great parker, but people over here see me as a parking god. I can eye up a spot on the side of the road and parallel park in a single movement, no shuffling, friends and family often toss me the keys to park. Yet when I go back to the UK I can be humbled. A couple of years ago when back out rental car was a Vauxhall (Saturn) Astra (ugh ugh ugh). A small car no problem. We went to York one day and were looking for parking, narrow lanes and narrow spots. After driving around the lot a couple of times I found a spot, next to the pay and display dispenser so it had a small railing on one side and a car on the other. After three attempts to back in I gave up and spent another 5 mins driving around until I could find another spot. I was humbled when I got back to pay and found a Land Rover LR3 in the spot I’d given up on.

The bottom line is the guy could easily have parked better in the spot he chose, but didn't. I'm not sure how some of you guys feel justified in defending him because his truck is big. That's nonsense. All he had to do was back up and straighten it out, but he CHOSE not to. I have to do that frequently when driving any of my trucks. ITS NO BIG DEAL, so whatever reason he didn't do it is no excuse, IMO.