Rear hatch hits garage door. What are you doing?

[DarkSideGTI]

Our garage isn't small by any means, but when we open the rear hatch it will hit the open garage door. When loading/unloading I try to either back out of the garage first or close the garage door. I of course don't always remember though and sometimes when I open it, it will hit the garage door and I want to try to avoid scratching it up.

I have come up with two possible solutions. The easiest one is to add some padding to the area on the door the hatch hits in order to reduce damage. The other is to try and figure out a way to limit the amount of travel the rear struts have in order to make the hatch not open all the way, but then I'll need to watch my head around it.

 

[Big Daddy K]

I've seen some use a cord clipped onto the strap and the D-ring to limit the travel. I wish I had that problem... my Runner lives in the driveway.

 

[J Rod]

I had a customer recently with this exact problem with their T4R. They used a thin limiting strap and added them to the rear lift gate so it would only open so far.

 

[aelarson]

Simple and cheap!

 

[salong53]

I just back in the garage.

 

[TOYO74]

Is it possible to pull farther into the garage? Our 4R has to be "just right" to prevent this. Moving forward just a few inches makes it work for us.

One of my neighbors with a 4R has a shorter garage--he backs in to avoid hatch-garage door conflicts.

 

[flyrv9]

I had the same problem. I got a rubber stall mat from TSC and cut a strips about 2" wide and replaced the thin rubber door seal at the bottom of the door that was torn anyway due to freezing to the ground. I attached it with screws after drilling pilot holes.

If you do this, have a helper there with an ice pic. Insert the ice pic in the newly drilled hole, right when you pull the drill out, and don't remove it until you are right there and ready to insert the screw. The reason is the rubber will close around the hole you just drilled and you won't be able to see it! I used clamps to hold the rubber strip in place until I got all the screws in. I used sheetrock screws that countersunk themselves in the rubber; however any sheetmetal type screws would probably work. The mat is about 3/4" thick and is heavy. When I open the rear hatch it just bumps into the rubber. The mat was about $35 as I remember. The mat is also heavy and hard for one person to manage. A truck will help too. To cut strips I used a circular saw and adjusted the blade to cut very shallow and made several passes increasing the blade depth a little each time. I used a board to keep the saw in a straight line. This will screw up your blade; so use an old or cheap one.

 

[parrotheadmp]

I have to back into the garage. I can't open the rear hatch at all if I pull straight in....

 

[WUKILLABEEZ78]

I just back in the garage.

Me too... I am able to open the hatch fully(even when the garage door is down) in my garage if I back in.

 

[Preston8114]

Pipe Insulation

I spent a year trying to get my wife to unload the 4R before pulling into the garage. She ended up scratching the paint on our 2012.
Now I have a piece of pipe insulation across the bottom of our garage door.
It doesn't interfere with the garage door going up and down, and when out of the garage, the rear hatch opens to normal height.

 

[DarkSideGTI]

Is it possible to pull farther into the garage? Our 4R has to be "just right" to prevent this. Moving forward just a few inches makes it work for us.

One of my neighbors with a 4R has a shorter garage--he backs in to avoid hatch-garage door conflicts.

I put some shelving in that limits how far we can pull in. And it's my GF that drives it so backing in isn't really an option. :lmao:

 

[gus7o]

I took a pool noodle and slit in half and attached it to the bottom of the inside of my garage and it would hit the hatch door safely.

 

[unsub1]

I'm a carport-dweller with the same issue. I initially used a (not-cheap) product meant for carbon fiber mountain bike frames called Shelter tape in the area where my hatch hits the edge, on the carport. The pipe insulation mentioned about would be a lot more practical.

But then I finally acquired the allusive Gobi ladder so I don't really sweat it anymore.

 

[916T4R]

Glad to see I am not alone with this annoyance. I keep a towel in the back and throw it over the hatch and slowly let the hatch raise till it is in contact with the garage door (buffered with said towel of course). the way our garage is laid out, its the best I have short of putting on a limiting strap, which I am hesitant to do given I am 6' 3" and would probably bang into the hatch then and be even more annoyed. hahahaha.

 

[DarkSideGTI]

Glad to see I am not alone with this annoyance. I keep a towel in the back and throw it over the hatch and slowly let the hatch raise till it is in contact with the garage door (buffered with said towel of course). the way our garage is laid out, its the best I have short of putting on a limiting strap, which I am hesitant to do given I am 6' 3" and would probably bang into the hatch then and be even more annoyed. hahahaha.

I have considered taping some towels to the garage door where it hits. It's not on the edge of the door.

 

[arehman11]

Our garage isn't small by any means, but when we open the rear hatch it will hit the open garage door. When loading/unloading I try to either back out of the garage first or close the garage door. I of course don't always remember though and sometimes when I open it, it will hit the garage door and I want to try to avoid scratching it up.

I have come up with two possible solutions. The easiest one is to add some padding to the area on the door the hatch hits in order to reduce damage. The other is to try and figure out a way to limit the amount of travel the rear struts have in order to make the hatch not open all the way, but then I'll need to watch my head around it.

I just unload before entering the garage. Luckily our house that is being built at the moment has 8' tall doors and high lift tracks. On a side note, my wife is wanting an S3 to replace her 1 series. How do you like it? I am hesitant with getting another german car as the BMW has started falling apart around 90k miles. She doesn't love the IS350 otherwise it would be a no brainer.

 

[DougR]

I took a pool noodle and slit in half and attached it to the bottom of the inside of my garage and it would hit the hatch door safely.

I used black foam pipe insulation in 6 foot lengths. It's already cut and slips onto the garage door metal U channel stiffening brackets (if present). Home Depot has it for insulating 1/2, 3/4 and 1 inch pipes. I think I used the 1 inch size. Measure the depth of the metal channel and select a size that seats the foam plenty deep on the metal channel. Inside diameter of the foam opposite the precut should touch the metal channel. The rear hatch touches the foam every time I open it. The foam tube stays in place. If it didn't I'd use caulk to hold it. You might try the self sealing pipe insulation that costs more but you'll have to clean off any dust on the metal before installing it. I used the non-self sealing type and it has stayed in place for 5 years.

 

[4RN4FUN]

From another T4R/Audi household I must say nice choice of rides OP!

My GOBI ladder protects the tailgate when I pull in straight. Maybe an excuse to get a mod...


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[JPOVS]

I back in.
I like to start my day going forward.

 

[WallyT4R]

http://www.toyota-4runner.org/attachments/5th-gen-t4rs/295724d1525283596-rear-hatch-hits-garage-door-what-you-doing-4runner.jpg

Simple and cheap!

This...I also have a two tiny bungee cords going from the line to my Rago fab molle racks so when I close the hatch the cord doesn't get caught out of the door. works great!