Door Ding Protection Options

[GoldenRivet]

I had my truck detailed, and now in certain light i can see all the door dings. the damned thing is pock marked - all 4 doors. people have no respect.

I hate people who have no regard for the belongings of others.

I am to the point of bolting 1/4 inch plate steel with goth punk rocker style half inch spikes welded on at half inch intervals on all 4 of my doors.

the options for door ding protection are STUPID and lacking and they look tacky.

anyone have any ideas?

my truck is solid black, and with the grill guard and side steps i will be putting on this summer - the black steel with spikes thing would actually look really mad max-ish and i think it would look cool as hell.:haha:

Im seriously considering it.:stare:

when someone door dings my truck i want it to look like their car door has been in a fight with a navy seal dog.

[krashkart]

I don't have any solution to the door-ding problem. But going along with your idea of steel plate and spikes (and to borrow an idea from a friend) I think you should complete the look by kicking out the windshield and replacing it with chainlink fence. :D

Just think of all the extra protein you'll get on the highway. Yum! :yeah:

[Torplexed]

I'm thinking a simple bumper sticker stating in big red letters: DANGER, THIS VEHICLE PACKED WITH HIGH EXPLOSIVES should do it.

[Sailor Steve]

Truck? Did you say truck? A truck should have dings, and dents, and rust, and mud and grime. It sounds to me like what you want is a sissified city-boy sports car that only looks like a truck.

It needs to look like it's been workin', boy! :O:

[GoldenRivet]

Truck? Did you say truck? A truck should have dings, and dents, and rust, and mud and grime. It sounds to me like what you want is a sissified city-boy sports car that only looks like a truck.

It needs to look like it's been workin', boy! :O:

Its brand new... its the first vehicle i ever purchased myself brand new LOL

yes its been covered in mud, dirt, dust and lord knows what else, and its been off the path of asphalt a time or two, but if i had my choice, i wouldnt have it all beat to hell and back :DL especially since it has not even seen it's second birthday.

I'd like to drive it for a long time - and keep it running and looking good until the last piece stops moving before i have to pony up the cash for yet ANOTHER new car :-?

[tater]

My last truck was used, and there was liberation in that, I have to say. I was of the mind that if someone dinged me and I could tell it was their car, I'd just swing my beater door wide and do worse to them. Myself, I never ding another car in any other situation. Never. I hold the door for the kids so they don't, either.

My new Rover I'm sort of protective of. Road dings, etc are not a problem, but some idiot who cannot even manage to stay evenly between two static lines in a parking lot? Grrr.

OT, but have you noticed that virtually anyone who feels the need to back into a parking space is a useless, clueless driver?

If I ran things I'd have the meter maids drive through parking lots ond ticket anyone outside of a 10% error in staying exactly between the lines. if you can't do that, you're a real danger among moving traffic.

[GoldenRivet]

what drives me insane is these guys who drive these huge pickup trucks and they dont know how to park them so they are half in one space and half in another.

and its always when the parking lot is filling up.

[Betonov]

Truck? Did you say truck? A truck should have dings, and dents, and rust, and mud and grime. It sounds to me like what you want is a sissified city-boy sports car that only looks like a truck.

It needs to look like it's been workin', boy! :O:

No no, you just described a Renault Clio :DL

[Sailor Steve]

No no, you just described a Renault Clio :DL
On the other hand I'm the guy who, when he put a new engine in his '65 Chevy panel truck, hauled the old one to the refurbishing shop and the new one home in the back of his Mustang II hatchback. :D

Not much is sacred in my little world.

[Armistead]

I agree, I got so mad the other day. I was well on my side of the white line and a lady pulled up almost next to me, about 4 kids piled out hitting the hell out of my truck with both doors, one put a big dent in it. I got out and angry, but matter of fact said she would have to pay for it. Next thing I know I'm being blasted by this black lady wearing a blonde wig, somehow it was my fault that the car next to her was too close to the white line so she had to pull up beside me. I couldn't even get in a word.

I called the police..I wish I didn't do it in front of her..she pulled out and parked in another space.. She totally denied it happened, even gave the cop a fit..

In the end it didn't matter, she had no insurance.....

[Betonov]

http://a3.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/61884_162676973744828_100000075783694_539459_29638 85_n.jpg

Observe the image of my car. The black plastic line on the side, is a dent protector. I even deliberately tried to make a dent with a number of cars, to check how effective it is and it even worked against an SUV. Any door will hit that plastic before it hits the metal.

Just a suggestion, maybe you can put something on that works the same way

Oh, one more thing. Any dents visible on this image are because of impacts with local flora and fauna

[Penguin]

My car is also as old as Rivet's truck and I can't understand why new cars don't have these protectors on the doors anymore. All my previous ones had them and it's not that other drivers are getting smarter...

I am to the point of bolting 1/4 inch plate steel with goth punk rocker style half inch spikes welded on at half inch intervals on all 4 of my doors.


This would actually look cool, but don't get those sissy 1/2 inch spikes, get some real ones:

http://img42.imageshack.us/img42/9949/pickelhaubemair116.jpg

[UnderseaLcpl]

Sadly, putting spikes or steel plates on the side of your truck would likely violate a number of Texas vehicle safety statutes, not to mention the liability if your ever got into an accident and either of those things damaged another person's car or (God forbid) injured them.

The best ways to prevent door dings are also the most practical:

1)Don't let anyone else drive it.
2) Don't park next to other vehicles, or even near where other vehicles might park. One can always use the exercise gained by walking from the back of the parking lot, anyway.
3) In situations where reasons 1 and 2 are not practical, employ a cheap, used, economy car or truck that you don't care about. One can be bought for less than the price of fixing multiple door dings, and you'll save money on gas.


If you really want to get creative you could sell advertising space on the sides of your truck to friends with businesses, provided that you insist upon 1/8"-thick magnetic signboards and strategically place them in areas likely to be dinged. If you don't have friends with businesses, go make some. Your realtor is a good place to start. Play your cards right, and you may even be able to earn a small commission by acting as a representative for whatever business your signs endorse.

[AVGWarhawk]

1. Never park at a Walmart parking lot if it can be avoided.
2. Never park between or next to a beat up car. The owner does not give a crap about his or others vehicles.
3. If at all possible park out at the very edge of the lot. Usually the slouches who care very little for others vehicles look for the spot closest to the store....even taking handicapped spots if it fits the bill(illegally to boot). Refer to #1 Walmart parking.
4. At the grocery store, do not park next to the cart corral in the lot. People push carts halfway from the corral in hopes it makes it into the chute often going in to cars. Not to mention wind taking carts across the lot.

[UnderseaLcpl]

1. Never park at a Walmart parking lot if it can be avoided.
2. Never park between or next to a beat up car. The owner does not give a crap about his or others vehicles.
3. If at all possible park out at the very edge of the lot. Usually the slouches who care very little for others vehicles look for the spot closest to the store....even taking handicapped spots if it fits the bill(illegally to boot). Refer to #1 Walmart parking.
4. At the grocery store, do not park next to the cart corral in the lot. People push carts halfway from the corral in hopes it makes it into the chute often going in to cars. Not to mention wind taking carts across the lot.

Also applicable, though somewhat superfluous.

[GoldenRivet]

Well for starters... 1/4" plate steel with spikes is overkill.;)

so yeah, besides- the cost involved in doing something like that would probably pay for a lot of dent removal.

Chances are i wont do anything except be more mindful of where i park - but sometimes you dont have a lot of choice - and other times you can't predict whether or not someone will park next to you while you are away.

i just think it is ridiculous how some folks out there have no respect for the property of others.

[AVGWarhawk]

Also applicable, though somewhat superfluous.

Yeah...tell my wife.....:doh:

[UnderseaLcpl]

Well for starters... 1/4" plate steel with spikes is overkill.;)

so yeah, besides- the cost involved in doing something like that would probably pay for a lot of dent removal.
I figured as much. After all, one does not become a pilot or a flight instructor without a basic understanding of the concept of liability statutes.

However, I also understand the need for people to vent from time to time about disrespect of their property, amongst other things. I simply do not understand how people can be so self-absorbed as to damage another's property and then just walk away, especially in the presence of liability insurance. Call such actions what you will, or blame it upon what you will, but I find that simply anticipating such behaviour solves a lot of problems, even if I don't really understand it.

Chances are i wont do anything except be more mindful of where i park - but sometimes you dont have a lot of choice - and other times you can't predict whether or not someone will park next to you while you are away.

People never park in the back of the parking lot unless they are mindful of dents to their vehicle, in which case they are unlikely to dent yours. Should it transpire that they are forced to park in the back, it might behoove one to shop on different days or times, or convince one's significant other to do so. The benefits are significant. In addition to avoiding vehicular damage from inconsiderate people or shopping carts, one can also avoid long lines. I prefer to do my shopping at 0400 or so, when the lot is empty and all the goods at my local 24-hr Wal-Mart have just been restocked.

i just think it is ridiculous how some folks out there have no respect for the property of others.

As do I, hence the tips.

Not everyone has the forward-thinking and considerate mentality that you do, GR. They don't think like you do. They're just working stiffs, often with children they must be responsible for, who have their minds on other matters that they deem more important than consideration of your property. I'd hardly be surprised if they considered the presence of your vehicle as an annoyance due to its width or parking position rather than blame themselves for being blind idiots. That's just how many people are. They didn't become genitors of the most successful and advanced species on the planet by being considerate. Consideration as we understand it is largely a product of society, and when the luxuries afforded by society fall short, they naturally revert to a selfish mentality, a natural product of sexual selection. Better to anticipate their actions then react to them in a forum where you can't really change anything other than the minds of a scant few who visit this particular forum.

Yeah...tell my wife.....
That shouldn't be difficult. Assuming that your wife is female, she is likely governed by typically female behaviours as defined by human sexual selection pressure, which is to say that she seeks a dominant position over other females.

Given that, you simply need to change her mentality to accept the obvious rationality of parking her car far from the entrance. Just rationalize it by gently suggesting that she is embodying physical fitness by walking so far and that doing so makes her better than other females. Employ such a concept with a modicum of emotional sensitivity and she'll dance like a puppet. All you really have to do is make her think that she's demonstrating better behaviour than other females, and evolutionary biology does the rest. Very simple. Very straightforward.

[AVGWarhawk]

That shouldn't be difficult. Assuming that your wife is female, she is likely governed by typically female behaviours as defined by human sexual selection pressure, which is to say that she seeks a dominant position over other females.

Given that, you simply need to change her mentality to accept the obvious rationality of parking her car far from the entrance. Just rationalize it by gently suggesting that she is embodying physical fitness by walking so far and that doing so makes her better than other females. Employ such a concept with a modicum of emotional sensitivity and she'll dance like a puppet. All you really have to do is make her think that she's demonstrating better behaviour than other females, and evolutionary biology does the rest. Very simple. Very straightforward.

I did not have to do any of that. I simply advised her if she did not want her $41,000.00 Mercury Mountaineer destroyed it is best to park between a Mercedes and Porche. If she can not locate that right spot she is to move further out. Sometimes she asks me if I want to park my KIA next to were I plan on pulling in!!! She has the idea. She looks now for that pile of crap car and parks on the otherside of the lot from it. She likes her vehicle and wishes to keep it as clean and dent free as possible :03:

[Bilge_Rat]

I am slightly paranoid about door dings. I found the best protection was to park in protected spots or away from other cars.

I work in an office building with 5 floors of parking, but only use the same 5-6 spots, all protected on both sides by pillars and away from heavy foot traffic.

When I have to park elsewhere, I try to park where there are fewer/no cars and away from heavy pedestrian traffic.

It of course means I have to walk more (not a bad thing :yep:) and it drives my wife nuts (she likes to park IN FRONT OF THE MAIN ENTRANCE!!! :o), but my now 4 year old car has NO dings..:up:

[longam]

Put a 12" lift kit under your truck and rise above the reach of others doors. :D

[FIREWALL]

I can see it now John. You'll find some nice body side molding that compliments your truck.

And some ditwad will come along and t-bone you. :-?

[UnderseaLcpl]

I did not have to do any of that. I simply advised her if she did not want her $41,000.00 Mercury Mountaineer destroyed it is best to park between a Mercedes and Porche. If she can not locate that right spot she is to move further out. Sometimes she asks me if I want to park my KIA next to were I plan on pulling in!!! She has the idea. She looks now for that pile of crap car and parks on the otherside of the lot from it. She likes her vehicle and wishes to keep it as clean and dent free as possible :03:

And I'll bet her Mountaineer looks damn good next to those POS cars. Different approach, same general concept.... more or less. However one goes about it, it is a recipe for success. Nicely done, AVG.:salute:

As I said, its simply a matter of imparting the proper perception upon your significant other.

[GoldenRivet]

I can see it now John. You'll find some nice body side molding that compliments your truck.

And some ditwad will come along and t-bone you. :-?

That would be about right.

I saw a truck similar to mine at wal mart the other day. Had a six inch lift kit on it, a snorkel apparatus, roof rack... and the bottom 1/3 of the vehicle was rhino lined all around.

probably not a bad idea