Clearance bar issue

[New Washdog]

Hello Fellow Washers!
I recently had new clearance bars installed. I have found that vehicles that approach the pay station slowly do not feel it when they contact the bar!
Anyone else have this issue? If so what can be done to improve the feel of impact, add weight to the inside of the bar?
Thanks in advance!

 

[OurTown]

I don't know but it would be nice to make flashing red stop lights come on if they hit it.

 

[Waxman]

First off; awesome looking wash!!

I would put a 'hard stop' in after the clearance bar. I'm thinking a double 2"x 8" will do it. Why not protect your investment???

YES, if you have cameras and they smash your nice equipment you can 'go after' their insurance, file a police report, take up your time doing so, and all-the while lose revenue if your equipment is damaged / down.

I'm planning to install a hard stop to protect my investment. The first clearance bar is a warning. The second, hard stop, insures that the ignorant customer does not put my equipment 'O.O.O." because of they 'figured' it would be ok to drive in ANYWAY!!!

 

[New Washdog]

I don't know but it would be nice to make flashing red stop lights come on if they hit it.

I had the same thought.

 

[Eric H]

Quite honestly, I was counting on you to come up with an effective solution!
My only clearance bar is across the doorway. I followed the instructions in WW’s installation manual. It certainly leaves a lot of responsibility on the customer.
I think you and I had a conversation about using a toilet flange cut in half to create a saddle for a PCV pipe to sit in. When the customer hit the pipe it would slip out. The issue here was that the pipe would have to lift an inch or more to fall out of the saddle.
I think a solid bar across the door would be the only effective way to keep overheight vehicles out. My concern here is how it effects the operation of the Vinyl door if it comes out of the track

 

[New Washdog]

First off; awesome looking wash!!

I would put a 'hard stop' in after the clearance bar. I'm thinking a double 2"x 8" will do it. Why not protect your investment???

YES, if you have cameras and they smash your nice equipment you can 'go after' their insurance, file a police report, take up your time doing so, and all-the while lose revenue if your equipment is damaged / down.

I'm planning to install a hard stop to protect my investment. The first clearance bar is a warning. The second, hard stop, insures that the ignorant customer does not put my equipment 'O.O.O." because of they 'figured' it would be ok to drive in ANYWAY!!!

Thanks for the compliment!

I believe there was once a more rigid stop on the building and all it did was damage the block it was attached to. And as I said you really can't feel the impact of the hanging bar when approaching slowly and I would rather have someone feel the impact with no significant damage to a vehicle.

I have thought about mounting notched out toilet flanges and a PVC pipe that would become dislodged at the entrance of the bay. Hopefully the PVC bouncing around would give the customer notice to stop.

 

[Waxman]

I'll post a picture of mine when it's in place.

 

[MEP001]

I would put a 'hard stop' in after the clearance bar. I'm thinking a double 2"x 8" will do it.

I used a doubled-up 2 x 12 with 6" tall letters.

 

[OurTown]

Although it would cost more to build I would rather have a heavy duty arch instead of attaching a stop to the building. A 16 year old girl hit the block and brick end wall of our shopping center doing about 5 MPH in a Honda mini van and it cost about $67K to repair. That was about five years ago before construction costs went bonkers. It would not be nearly as expensive for a car wash building repair but I'm just illustrating how much damage can happen even at slow speeds. The arch would be totally sacrificial but you could still run your wash after removal waiting for a new one. Hopefully it tears the effing eff out of their vehicle.

 

[Waxman]

Mine is going to be a freestanding arch with the hard stop built into it.

 

[ICEMAN]

Absolutely do something free standing. I once had a truck bay, when it was time to get rid of the trucks I put in a nice studded wall and covered with aluminum. First truck ran through it. Next tried a steel bar anchored to the block wall, they hit that and ripped out the wall. After fighting this for awhile, I finally just raised the price and that got rid of the trucks for good...so simple. After they were gone wall went back in and it was turned into a normal height self serve bay.

 

[MEP001]

Absolutely do something free standing. I once had a truck bay, when it was time to get rid of the trucks I put in a nice studded wall and covered with aluminum. First truck ran through it. Next tried a steel bar anchored to the block wall, they hit that and ripped out the wall. After fighting this for awhile, I finally just raised the price and that got rid of the trucks for good...so simple. After they were gone wall went back in and it was turned into a normal height self serve bay.

I made the bay hose so short that the gun wouldn't touch the floor in an attempt to keep them from washing outside the bay. I was hoping it would get rid of them, but it didn't.