A measurment needed!

This is not to interrupt anyones football games or go outside in the cold snowy weather.  As some may know we are starting
to look at used 2551 & 2552 PC's.  One of the the obstacles we have is being able to fit it in our driveway.  Its 10' wide and
32' +/- long to the back of the house.  The problem is there is a deck off the back of the house that extends out almost 10' into the
driveway.  The deck is on the second floor.  The bottom of the deck is 100" of the pavement.  Soooo..we are trying to figure out how
much of the front end of the PC we can fit under the deck.

We know, I think, the E450 cutaway chassis in 92.5" long (bumper to the cut off point) and 80.5" to tallest point of roof from
pavement.  The nearest 2552 is more then 500 miles from us that I know of.  My guess is that we might be able to get 5 to 5-1/2
feet under.

I have attached a diagram showing the existing measurements and the "MYSTERY" measurement (approx) that we are looking
for.  Any help would be appreciated.   Thanks

Hi hutch42,

All E350 models stand 3" lower than E450 models.  We own an E350 so I subtracted 3", working with 97" instead of 100".

The 97" mark is approximately just above the B+ cap front-facing amber driving lights or about 6.0 feet to the front bumper.  That is as good as I can approximate.  To play it safe, I would subtract a half foot making it 5-1/2 feet of PC you can park under your deck.

The diagram you sketched out and your estimate is quite accurate.  Figure on 5-1/2 feet.

When it comes time, I would anchor something like THIS into the driveway to bump your front tires against to stop your PC at just the right place to get you consistently comfortably close to the deck without making contact to it.

Be mentally prepared to watch squirrels jump to-&-fro between deck and PC.

Ron Dittmer

Be mentally prepared to watch squirrels jump to-&-fro between deck and PC.

or small children...

Ron---Hope you did not get cold or snowed on doing this!  Looks like my estimates were pretty close I guess.
Good suggestion on the bumper for front wheels.  I was also thinking about a foam safety bumper for the bottom
of the deck joists.  Neighbors & wife would love the black and yellow strips fitting in with the landscaping decor.

The other (sort of anal) thing I was thinking about is renting a 20' U-Haul for a couple of hours.  Its overall dimensions
are within inches of the 2551...including the distance from the front to the cap overhang. The other part of the formula
is that our back alley is only 16' wide.  With a 35'-36' turning radius it could be tight maneuvering.

Not to worry about squirrels, they are scared off by the family of raccoon's that would have two ways to access our deck now.

Thanks for your help.

Hutch42

Ron---Hope you did not get cold or snowed on doing this!

Neighbors & wife would love the black and yellow strips fitting in with the landscaping decor.

Hutch42

Our garage is heated right now to a warm 70 degrees, so no inconvenience at all.


Those bumper are also sold in some colors.  I linked you to the black with yellow stripes but pick the one HERE that blends in best at your home....Gray White, Yellow, Blue, or Green.

I would definitely pad the edge of the deck. I've also seen garage helps where they hang a tennis ball so that it touches the front window when you have gone as far as you should. You could probably hang one a joist or two back on the deck. CAREFULLY park the rig where you want it under the deck then hang the tennis ball so it touches the front window of the rig a bit sooner than the OOPS-should-have-stopped-point. In theory you would pull in slowly, the tennis ball would contact the glass and you would stop, perfectly positioned without ever touching the deck.