By Brian Turner
“Watch your door!” is the most oft-heard command from drivers to passengers when getting out of almost anything on four wheels in today’s public parking lots. If you’re confused as to why these spaces seem to be getting narrower and shorter – while our rides are getting longer and wider – you’re not alone. Here are some answers.
First, public municipal spaces aren’t really getting smaller, as almost every bylaw that controls them haven’t been updated in decades. But private spaces are another matter altogether, and as land costs increase in popular urban areas, developers are using tighter spacing.
The nine-foot width that most towns and cities use as a guide is seldom used on private lots, such as in shopping areas. Add to all this the crash diet that auto sheet metal has been on for the last decade or so, and you have a perfect recipe for door dings. So why are so few vehicles offering any type of protection against them?
Rest in peace, factory side mouldings
We have to look back several decades in vehicle design to find those body-side mouldings that adorned just about everything on the roads. Some were chrome, some body-coloured. Most were metal, but some were plastic or rubber, or a combination of both. No matter which, they all served a purpose: to reduce the risk of scratches and small dents that occur in parking lots. Today, many auto purists bemoan the idea of adding some tacky garish stick-ons to their artfully crafted body lines. But what’s worse: how a moulding looks, or how the door looks when it’s full of dents?
Adding your own
Self-adhesive side mouldings are available in rolls and a variety of colours and profiles from a number of suppliers, including Canadian Tire among others. Good-quality products are priced below $50 for rolls long enough to easily cover one vehicle. If chrome finishes seem too garish, opt for matte black, or choose from producers that make a wide variety of solid colours, such as Trim Guard.
If you’re worried about your installation skills, try setting a guideline on the doors using an auto-paint-safe masking tape. Remember to allow for clearance between the door molding and other body panels at the hinge end when installing a thick protector. This may require either setting back the starting point an inch, or cutting a tapered edge onto the moulding if possible.
Don’t let your guard down
The door-edge guards that you may see on some vehicles aren’t really for protecting your ride from others, but to protect those areas from your own actions, such as opening your door into your garage wall. If you don’t want to use them on your vehicle, consider using some pool-noodle foam on the wall. And any time you get out of the vehicle, watch your door!
