Preventing Hail Damage
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Burning Brakes
Joined: Oct 2001
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From: C.H., N.J.
Preventing Hail Damage
Is there a way to avoid damage to a vehicle from hail? I'm not talking about a Corvette, but a vehicle with a sheet metal body. We have a two car garage and three cars. One of the cars (not the Corvette) will have to be outside during a hail storm. Would an outside cover be heavy enough to prevent (or at least reduce) hail damage? I also thought about putting cardboard on top of the hood, roof and rear deck and the car cover on top of the cardboard. Any thoughts?
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How often do you have hail storms that you have to worry about damage to the car? And of course a lot would depend on the size of the hail. I would think that a really good, thick car cover would do a good job of protecting the car.
Drifting
Joined: Mar 2011
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From: Louisville KY
I looked in a couple different car catalogs. They both advertise car covers that are rated for extreme outdoor storage for under $200.00. I don't know if you can have a car port built where you live, but those $600 models like Gitusum suggested would be a good idea, combined with a car cover. I have seen people drap a blanket over their car and tie it down with a tarp on top of that as well.
Safety Car
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From: . New York
Yup, I just used moving blankets (the quilted ones you wrap furniture in), its what I had handy. We didnt get the hail we were supposed to get that storm but Im confident they would have done the job. Having had a previous incident of hail damage ($4000) on my 4-Runner, I covered it the next time they expected hail.
Burning Brakes
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Heavy blankets will help a lot. A car cover will not have enought cushion. If you think you are going to have a hail storm get the heaviest blankets you have and cover the car, The wife won't like this thought.
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Burning Brakes
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From: C.H., N.J.
Thanks go to those who mentioned the moving blanket idea. Using them under a cover should do the trick. If it saves me just once from hail storm damage (not uncommon in the Rocky Mountain area) the cost of prevention will be worth it. I'm in the Cheyenne/Denver area and I've seen many cars with hoods, trunks and roofs dented up from hail stones and it's not pretty.
Burning Brakes
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From: Metairie LA
There were pictures posted on the C6 board last spring about a hail storm that went through DFW, TX. Guy's Z06 had all the glass broken out and literal holes in the tops of the fenders, etc. Nasty stuff.
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From: This is not a Song, It's an Outburst: Or, The Establishment Blues; Sixto Diaz Rodriguez
DFW caught hell last Spring, my son-in-law in Frisco, TX sent me lots of photos...major damage...
Corvette and wifes car are in the garage, 4runner is outside, if I'm home, I'll move it under some 40/50 foot hickory trees behind the house..
I've got a few of those heavy moving blankets too, but seems when hail storms come, heavy winds come with them, but if they were to get soaked first, they might stay put.
Corvette and wifes car are in the garage, 4runner is outside, if I'm home, I'll move it under some 40/50 foot hickory trees behind the house..
I've got a few of those heavy moving blankets too, but seems when hail storms come, heavy winds come with them, but if they were to get soaked first, they might stay put.
Last edited by renegad44; Nov 25, 2012 at 07:03 PM.
Burning Brakes
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Yup, I just used moving blankets (the quilted ones you wrap furniture in), its what I had handy. We didnt get the hail we were supposed to get that storm but Im confident they would have done the job. Having had a previous incident of hail damage ($4000) on my 4-Runner, I covered it the next time they expected hail.
My neighbor has a two-car garage and only one car. If I thought heavy weather was coming I'd park the DD in his garage.
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, Thanks for your service too Brother 
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Le Mans Master
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From: South Dakota
I used to work at a company that both shipped and received finish painted car parts. Those that were packed with cardboard had a lot of damage.
Le Mans Master
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From: LAND OF OZ Kansas
Haul *** to the nearest car-wash station. We get golf ball size hail here in South West Kansas, and that is some nasty stuff. About a Month ago it hailed about 20 miles south in Oklahoma, I live border line Oklahoma and the Texas panhandled, and I doubt blankets will do much help when wet. Plus, I will pay to see anyone attempt to put a blanket on a car once it starts to hail haha.
Last edited by damilleniumboy; Nov 27, 2012 at 04:10 AM.
Thread Starter
Burning Brakes
Joined: Oct 2001
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From: C.H., N.J.