Hail -is there anything you can do to protect your car?

[Sun Boy]

Hi All,

We have just been hailed on again. Thankfully no damage at our place but broken windscreens and severe damage to vehicles down the hill.

If your car is uncovered when hail is approaching is there anything you do to protect it (other than park it under cover!). Anyone tried blankets etc?

Cheers

Sun Boy

[Marcus73]

Blankets may possibly help soften the blow otherwise the wife and kids with umbrellas


Sent from the machine that goes..... Bing!

[Sun Boy]

But will the wife and kids survive this.......?

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-11-16/massive-hail-buckets-down-on-qld-sunshine-coast/5096926

Cheers

Sun Boy

[Pirate_Pete]

Live in a proper state that doesn't  get hail the size on golf balls. ? ? ?

[Jeepers Creepers]

At least with hail when ya camping, you have extra ice for the beer.

[bushbandit]

Back in the late 80s when i purchased my Brock Commodore no one would insure it and if they did they wanted an arm and a leg i was so paranoid about hail i used to have a boot full of blankets.Now we are lucky to have Shannons. 

[Bird]

If your car is uncovered when hail is approaching is there anything you do to protect it

If your car is undercover theres no problem... if its not, you have insurance.

[Robin Miller]

Hi Sunboy

One thing to think about is that some cars suffer more than others  and like many things its a compromise.

For example GU Patrols are significantly more stable than say equivalent  Toyotas  and one part of the reason for that is that bodywork steel is thinner making the car lighter ,  great for stability but bad for hail damage.

Other thing you can do is keep the car well polished with something like Nu-Finnish.

[D4D]

Other thing you can do is keep the car well polished with something like Nu-Finnish.

This is a classic, how does that stop hail damage?

[Sun Boy]

This is a classic, how does that stop hail damage?

Maybe the hail slides right off......

[Swan2014]

There is a caravan up the road from us with a cover on it saying "hail proof". 

[Jeepers Creepers]

There is a caravan up the road from us with a cover on it saying "hail proof".

Its called a garage.... 

[Robin Miller]

Maybe the hail slides right off......

Pretty close analogy guys but not quite.

Most of the hail doesn't hit a car directly at right angles where it would be stopped immediaetly and deliver its energy into the car panel.

It mostly strikes at an angle - In engineering terms  the force of impact can be analysed as two vectors one force in direction of car panel and the other at right angles - if the surface is more slippery then the component of force at right angles will cause object to move itself more or less in line of lesser resistance.

Classic example is when you throw a flattish rock across a dam , if angle is shallow enough the rock will skip across the water and hit opposite bank and hence little energy is lost in first contact.

So shining up your cars till water beads it will reduce impact force - but don't drive past an inviting garage !

[D4D]

So shining up your cars till water beads it will reduce impact force

Thanks Robin your comments are always good for a laugh

[Jeepers Creepers]

Thanks Robin your comments are always good for a laugh

I think he's onto something....

What say you coated your car in teflon like a frypan, the eggs/hail would slip right off.

My new business, is a mobile teflon coating service for cars and 4WD's. Once the magic formula is sprayed on, and being invisible once applied, the only way you'll be able to tell its been done, is by the $500.00 invoice you have, which i might ad, was paid for in cash prior to the job being done.

OK, in an orderly fashion, please commence to form a line up to have this treatment done.... come on, no pushing, i'll make sure you all get done. 

[Nomad]

Don't think polish would have stopped these yesterday.




I was with the kids at Sunshine yesterday totally oblivious to all of this...........Could see the storm off Maroochydore though.

[UIZ733]

Pool noodles and tarp?

[firefox]

Well, not that I have used it yet but I did drive through very very small hail yesterday, I have purchased a plan for protecting the rangerover. also have insurance.

Option 1 is under the awning.

Option 2 I purchased an additional c-gear floor mat. If you put this over the car, it sits over the roof rack and then drapes over the rest of the car. I would peg down all 4 corners so it's tight and would provide I think significant protection. I've set it up on my car, and worked out the only touch points of the material are bullbar and roof rack. The only negative is that you have to be carefully putting it over the car, so not scratching the car. The material is so strong I think it would easily withstand large hail.

[Diesel Power]

One guy I worked with in Adelaide used thick sheep skins which he had on the floor of his lounge room to protect his Statesman.
I don't think the hail was 50 mm in Diameter though, around 25mm from memory.

[Chesapeake]

We had a hailstorm here in about 1990 with golf ball sized hailstones.Heaps of cars written off,and a few people caught out by the insurance asessors trying to finish off panel damage by belting their car with a golf ball in a sock .They could see the pattern of the woven sock in the paint.
It set up all the plumbers in town for life as nearly every house had a new roof,and secondhand roofing iron was plentiful. Where I worked at the time we had cars written off ,Xe falcons,Commodores and parked in the middle of them was an old Morris Minor.It only had about 6 decent dents in the roof.Guess the metal was thicker when they built them.

[Marcus73]

So shining up your cars till water beads it will reduce impact force - but don't drive past an inviting garage !

Ok, so I do have a little experience in this field and I would have to just add my thoughts on this theory..... Bollocks!
By all means prove my opinion wrong, maybe video a rock being hurled at your nice and shiny car sideways so that we can all see how little damage it does.


Sent from the machine that goes..... Bing!

[Rumpig]

all i will say on the matter is...don't get a large thick blanket to cover your ute windscreen with, and then secure it inside the closed doors to stop it blowing away....the blanket acts as a wick and sucks the water through the closed doors and fills the floor pan of your vehicle...apparently   

[03GV]

Nufinish aparently helps in car accidents too

[Pog]

all i will say on the matter is...don't get a large thick blanket to cover your ute windscreen with, and then secure it inside the closed doors to stop it blowing away....the blanket acts as a wick and sucks the water through the closed doors and fills the floor pan of your vehicle...apparently   

Sound like you could be speaking from 1st hand experience Rumpig!

[Bird]

Nufinish aparently helps in car accidents too

Its true.. I saw a fully loaded b-double hit a Smart car head on and it just deflected off to the side.