What a stupid ass thing to d------What, My Beloved? I did what? When? Oh, yeh-------as I saying, mistakes like that happen all the time, so there is really no need to feel embarrassed about it.
What’s with these little cars?
When I was a teen, I managed to drive my Gran Torino over a similar kind of cement obstacle while parking on the grass by a packed restaurant for a Christmas dinner for work.
The guys razzed me about it quite a bit during dinner, but as we were leaving one of the guys did a deadlift of the stuck corner of the car enough for me to back out, saving a tow truck.
That was an impressive lift.
Yes, exactly that. But my SmartCar is too low-slung and weakly powered to get itself off of the block that is now sitting underneath it, and I don’t dare scrape or bang the undercarriage further.
I do wonder why they need to be tall enough to ground you, as they often are. It seems to me that the kind in the photo I linked would do the job, and not risk damage to a car. Is it to protect pedestrians or something?
I doubt there is a standard size requirement for parking blocks. I have seen a bunch of cars with scrapes on the plastic piece under the front bumper. Even some cracked ones. They are a menace, these things. We should revolt. OP have you got the car home yet?
Well, sometimes they are between the parking space and a sidewalk, often a sidewalk across the lot that is not raised. In that case, I think potential damage to a car is superseded by physically stopping a car that might (say) inadvertently be put in the wrong gear and hit a pedestrian.
But often they aren’t in those positions.
Not yet. Busy with stuff tonight and I will have to get AAA tomorrow, but pretty much everything I need to do (shopping, etc.) is within walking distance so it’s no problem.
I’d see if you can get a couple of guys in the shopping center to lift it for you. AAA will get it off, but will most likely drag it off possibly creating (more) damage to the undercarriage.
Throw a couple of $10 bills in your pocket before you go as incentives to help you out.
Take pictures and post it on You-tube. Msybe it’ll go viral. That would be fun.
That truck I had bought used and some prior owner had already done horrible things to the tailgate. The most recent time I did this I was close enough to home to get some wood… My current truck is NICE.
Seriously, consider jacking it up and building a support structure under it so you can lower it back down and then drive it off. You can order “Trailer Leveling Blocks” from Wal-Mart for ~$30 which are LEGO like plastic blocks meant to hold the weight of RVs. Jack the car front up(probably using a lifting point underneath the door, as long as you get the jack under the frame you’re almost certainly fine), until it’s a little higher than the top of the cement, put the blocks down under the tire. Then back the car up, VERY SLOWLY, until it’s parked on top of the concrete. Maybe have a friend spot this alignment for you. Get your brakes set, get out again, move your blocks now that you’re not on them. Put 2/3 of them right up against the concrete behind the wheels, and another 1/3 of them behind that set, so you’ve got two steps down. That keeps your front end off the top of that concrete and doing more damage by falling the whole distance in one go. If you just let it fall it’ll compress your suspension and bottom out on the concrete. Going slow down multiple steps lets your suspension stay fully extended and keeps your bumper/underbody spoiler off the concrete.
Enjoy,
Steven
I’m a bit fascinated that someone is so lackadaisical about getting their car unstuck. Outside of summer camping / backpacking trips, I use my vehicle almost every day. If it were stuck / disabled, getting it back in working condition would be a high priority for me.
It’s not that I’m unaware that some people drive very little / not at all, it’s just … interesting to see second-hand.
Are flashmobs still a thing? A flashmob of a whole crowd of people to show up and lift a car up (and do a little dance) would be fun.
Also standing by. Although I am a bit ugly & a touch intimidating, I am here for you.
I lift the front end of my VW Baja up while my friend shoves a block of wood under the skid plate to hold it up. I often do this to save the time it takes to jack it up with the jack.
I am so glad there are helpful folks in the world. Next time I am stuck I’ll drop y’all a line.
I really wouldn’t want them dragging it up and over the concrete.
Well if you’re going to wait, you might a well wait until there is a good snow, then pretend there was no way you would have been able to see the block under thr snow.
Just a thought, but given how small the car is, have you tried standing outside the car with the door open, so your weight’s off the suspension, reaching in to try to drive it off?
Velocity - the gang is right. Get some folks to help you, or do the lift and counter balance onto the ramp thing.
I am curious where this is stuck. Why hasn’t someone been after you to move it?
Are people standing around looking at it?
Any of your friends have access to a heavy-lift helicopter? Just another thought. 