sllydderrr

I went downtown Calgary tonight to the Ranchmen's Club. This hoity-toity old building has a small underground parkade. The sign at the entrance states 6' of clearance. I figure I'll ease in and see. My shortened antenna shaft hit the raised entry door at a point about an inch down from the top of the antenna shaft. I figured no problem as I had left the antenna tip about 2" higher than the cab as a "feeler". No problem getting in.

I squeeze the truck around a corner and start down to level 2. Gently, gently... my antenna hits a concrete bulkhead at about 3.5" down the antenna shaft. I stopped, e-braked and got out to look. If I had gone about four inches farther forward my roof would have hit the ceiling.

It was fun backing out of the tiny parkade with Lexuses and BMWs attempting to get in.

It seemed logical to me that the entry door would be the point with the least clearance. Not a point 200' farther in. Has anyone else experienced such silliness? Are there not rules about stuff like that?

Thanks for reading.

I wonder if this will end up linked from that "Most Common" thread of which I'm so fond?

Harps

Nope not yet and not looking forward to my first experience, BUT I love Ranchman's.
Spent a month in Calgary and had a few great nights there.

VoiceOfReason

Older buildings = not so great engineering. Even modern buildings can be screwed like that with a lazy designer. How many times have you seen beautiful new roads put in, freshly paved and painted or even interlocked, only to have the utilities come in two weeks later and hack it to **** because of someone's lack of foresight...

Then again the engineers way back when probably never envisioned the tanks we drive now either!

BobLobLaw

I had this same experience this morning. It was an underground parkade 4 levels down. I got to to P4 and a new bar saying 6 ft clearance. Entrance was 7'6. But at least there was a sign unlike yours.

eye.surgeon

FYI from a former Canadian...

parkade= parking structure.

beauwulf

I've taken my truck into a few parkades in Calgary and some are pretty nerve-wracking with my full height antenna constantly thwacking off beams & pipes & whatnot. One on 6th Ave. has an exit where you have to turn 90 degrees onto a ramp, and if you don't swing wide you'll end up wedged under a concrete beam...
That's the main reason I've still got the stock antenna, I need all the warning I can get.

I don't know about rules, but it's certainly best practice to have a "visual aid" to illustrate exactly what that minimum clearance is. Like a bright yellow bar hanging at the same height before the door, so you've got room to change your mind. The door itself isn't usually going to be the minimum, even inside doors tend to be around 7'.

sllydderrr

Hmm. So it is. So it is.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parking#Parking_facilities

BobLobLaw

Has anyone measured the height of their truck? Living in a city I should probably do this. Guessing might end up bad.

HCFX2013

Getting rowdy at ranchman's on a Wednesday night? Sheesh..

Chinook is the same way. The old south parkade fit my 150 for the first 100 feet within an inch, but when I got to the ramp to go up I wouldn't fit due to the front wheels being at higher elevation on the ramp. Stupid!! Hilarious part is that I duck when going under concrete cross-beams as if that's going to make a difference whether my roof gets ripped off or not.

24packman

Try Raleigh parking, 9ft entrance, 7ft exit. It gave me hell in my old lifted truck.