Short people Tall vehicles

If you're that small and possibly lightweight (assuming less than 100lbs), can you just climb up on top of the car, or atop the front and lean along the windshield area?



Another thought: you might be able to find generic roof-rack (e.g. for surf boards - these go about $100-300) to fit suv's and suburbans, put a plank on them and then climb on top of those. Perfect view of the top and far safer than a ladder. Otherwise, go with Zoran's advice and just ignore it...
 
If a car was that large and I felt unsafe about being on a ladder or platform, I would just use something easy to apply like AquaWax so there's at least some protection up there. Even at my height, I have to really lean to get to the middle of the roof on a normal sized car. So considering the OP is only 5'1, I would hate for them to hurt themself.
 
jedovaty said:
If you're that small and possibly lightweight (assuming less than 100lbs), can you just climb up on top of the car, or atop the front and lean along the windshield area?



Another thought: you might be able to find generic roof-rack (e.g. for surf boards - these go about $100-300) to fit suv's and suburbans, put a plank on them and then climb on top of those. Perfect view of the top and far safer than a ladder. Otherwise, go with Zoran's advice and just ignore it...
Click to expand...



Am pretty athletic so I weigh closer to 140lbs. Darn muscle.

I'm probably going to try to find a spray wax of some sort. Not only does my brother own a surburban but so does a good friend and her handicapped husband. I tend to clean up a lot of their vehiles.

Am glad I found this forum you guys give great advice.
 
jedovaty said:
If you're that small and possibly lightweight (assuming less than 100lbs), can you just climb up on top of the car, or atop the front and lean along the windshield area?...
Click to expand...



As in, touching the paint? I don't see how somebody could climb onto a roof rack and I'd worry about marring...no way I'd want to climb on a vehicle's hood :grinno: and I'd treat the rest of it the same way.



littlemissGTO- Glad you're finding Autopia helpful. While the sturdier platforms are kinda pricey, they're a bargain compared to a potentially life-altering injury.



BlackElantraGT- I find that I use the platforms for all sorts of jobs that I used to do without them. Now that I'm used to having them around, I wonder how I ever got by without them. Being able to carefully and easily inspect things from that downward angle has given me a new perspective (oops, lousy pun :o ) on the horizontal surfaces.
 
The platform you guys are referring to definitely looks like the thing to get. I just have a feeling it won't change much for me because I don't work on a flat driveway. Nothing I've used so far has made me feel completely safe. But that can be said about anything. Maybe I'm just overly cautious, but I've come really close to hurting myself really bad more than a few times. You know what they say, the bigger they are the harder they fall. =)
 
BlackElantraGT- IMO "overly cautious" is often twit-speak for "sensible" :D I've known people whose lives were ruined by falls and I take the issue life-and-death serously..



The Bauer work platform *is* stable, even at an angle or when the legs aren't on an even surface. You could always put some even better friction material on int to make sure you won't slip.



Sorry, I realize that sounds like a hard-sell, and being raised up that much doesn't solve all *that* much of the problem, but I'm just blown away by how much I continue to appreciate those platforms. I'm probably gonna buy some more of them so I can have two on each side of the Yukon XL (and the minivan too for that matter).
 
You get get atop the surf rack without touching the paint - and to make it stable, you put a wood plank to stand/kneel on it. However.. I suppose the rack itself will have to touch the car/paint in order to be placed on it.



Maybe get some scaffolding you can drive the car under :)
 
I'm pretty familiar with roof racks. In a past life I was a bicycle mechanic. Had some experience intalling them. If I did that there would still be some issues getting the polisher under the plank.

I do like the way you guys think though.
 
wrap the edges of whatever platform you are using with foam pipe insulation. (The black foam stuff) it usually comes in 4' lengths it is slit down one side and you can hold it in place with eletrical tape, that way no risk of marring
 
In Junebug's perfect world - he just won the billion dollar powerball lotto and has a detail shop fit for Robin Leach to feature. It has a platform that raises and lowers the whole vehicle so it's always at just the right height. Nice dream huh!
 
my mom has a suburban and my dad has an f350, im 15 yrs old, 5'8" i get a ladder for the top, your best bet for the hood is to climb up and stand on the front tire
 
One of these might work - Cosco Max Work Platform Step Stool #11-880-PGY

see Amazon.com: Cosco Max Work Platform Step Stool #11-880-PGY: Home Improvement for a picture. Just make sure it has enough steps to get you up where you want to be.



I have an older version of this and it is very stable, provides something to grab, and has a nice platform for resting stuff like pads, wax etc. Just be sure the little work table is all the way up. I didn't lock it in one time and dropped a large glass globe (about 15" diameter) on the basement floor.



RG
 
i juust remembered what I could use in the shop. A Little Giant ladder system with aluminum plank between the 2 framed ladders that come out of that ladder system. Darn i could have used thAt last week when i did my fathers supercrew! RANDAL
 
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