Question: how to protect car from hail damage?

Post by **98T5** » 10 Apr 2013, 10:21

If you're at home, I say a Tarp is the best way.

There is no way to protect from Hail when your out and about unless you can find covered parking during the storm.

Post by **cn90** » 11 Apr 2013, 09:32

I am just wondering if you know the hailstorm is coming, you can attach a Tarp to the house and the other end tied to the vehicle's wheels. If the Tarp is angled at 45 degrees, it may be able to "deflect" most of the hail.

Here is a sketch of my idea: does this sound OK?

: Tarp.JPG (27.85 KiB) Viewed 1306 times

Post by **JDS60R** » 11 Apr 2013, 12:54

I've been handling hail claims for 25 years now and have seen lots of methods. My favorite was a gentleman outside of Omaha Nebraska in a town called Freemont who attached a fort of blow up mattresses to protect his RV. "10 years and no dings" were his words. I have always wanted to make a car cover that inflates for folks who experience this as you could keep it in your trunk and blow it up in about 5 minutes with a pump

Post by **jimmy57** » 11 Apr 2013, 13:15

I am in a hail prone area. I have seen lots of attempts made with some successful. The carpet idea was tried by a neighbor and with hail you almost always get high winds with hail. His car had paint damage from a storm where he tried carpet protection and the long pile side down still scuffed almost everything it touched. The inflation thing has the same risks as you'd have to put it on a clean vehicle and then not have any airborne dirt and sand or you'd damage paint.
Roll down mesh awning type contraption works but I guess I was assuming an apartment building free standing solution.

Post by **xHeart** » 11 Apr 2013, 14:14

cn90 wrote:I am just wondering if you know the hailstorm is coming, you can attach a Tarp to the house and the other end tied to the vehicle's wheels. If the Tarp is angled at 45 degrees, it may be able to "deflect" most of the hail.

Here is a sketch of my idea: does this sound OK?

Tarp.JPG

It does, but need a procedure with dimensions, materials, cost, and source?
In your proposal, the tarp can be hung at the start of hail season, and removed, folded and put away without taking away the character of this old house.

jacobharding · Post by **jacobharding** » 11 Apr 2013, 19:57

There is a company which has a force shield currently in the development stages. I was lucky enough to have witnessed a working prototype earlier this year at a car show. The prototype they have now requires 1.21 jigawatts and has to be powered by a small nuclear fuel rod in the trunk. They claimed it could also be powered by a flux capacitor, but I think that is ridiculous. They are however hoping to have a safer 12 volt version as early as next year.
The final product will have a live feed from NOAA and will automatically activate to your specific preset conditions.
Honestly all the hailstorms I have witnessed came out of nowhere and, unless the car were already covered, it would be to late.

Post by **rspi** » 12 Apr 2013, 03:13

The problem with hail is usually the short notice. We had some last Sunday with NO notice. A friend of mine has a totally different view of hail storms... his family pulls all of the cars out of the garages and gets new paint jobs.

Post by **abscate** » 12 Apr 2013, 07:31

Flux capacitor solutions sounds feasible, but I'm balking at the technical aspects of a live NOAA feed....LOL

Post by **jblackburn** » 08 May 2013, 11:22

Saw this the other day and started laughing. Hey, might work though.

http://www.hailprotector.com/

Post by **abscate** » 10 May 2013, 09:38

Now THAT is a lawn grub problem....

Question: how to protect car from hail damage?

Re: Question: how to protect car from hail damage?