Garage floor anchor?

[jcmiller]

My driveway slopes down and away from the garage.  I am sometimes hesitant to test drive a car I've been working on because it might die, and I won't be able to get it back in the garage.  Thus, I think it would be handy to have an anchor on the floor that I can connect a come-along to and pull the car back into the garage.  Has anyone here set something like that up?  Thx.

[JerseyHarold]

Body shops used 'floor pots' to provide anchorage to pull chassis back into shape.  A body shop supply may be able to help you out.

[DonaldSmith]

You would probably only need a lag bolt screwed into an anchor drilled into the floor.  Back it out a bit to attach the come-along.

[TodFitch]

The house I lived in when the body was put back on the frame by the fellow who did the body work had a very steep driveway up into the garage. Or, if you prefer very steep down from the driveway. I knew that getting the non-running car up from the street and into the garage was going to be an issue.

 

So I drilled a few holes and put expanding anchor bolts into them. And I had the bolts secure the type of anchor plates used in rock climbing to which we attached a big come-along and winched the the car up and into place.

 

The anchor bolts were like these: https://www.confast.com/products/thunderstud-anchor.aspx

The bolt plates were similar to these: http://www.backcountrygear.com/bolts-hangers/metolius-ss-bolt-hanger-stainless-steel.html

And some tubular webbing used in climbing was used to make a self-equalizing anchor, with an explanation something like this: http://www.chockstone.org/techtips/equalise.htm

[jcmiller]

Thanks Tod, that is exactly what I was looking for. 

[Brent B3B]

hey JC, if it will work and if you want, I have a post with a base that you can have

the base is 10"x 7" and it is around 36" tall, if the timing was right I could even lend you a hand if needed

 

 

just a thought,

 

[rb1949]

Something mounted in the floor seems like it would get in the way more than it would be used. Unless it were close to a  wall. Get classy and install an electric winch on the back wall?

[Brent B3B]

Something mounted in the floor seems like it would get in the way more than it would be used. Unless it were close to a  wall. Get classy and install an electric winch on the back wall?

True, a lot of garages I have seen use something like that for in front of appliances ( furnace, water heater etc.)

[jcmiller]

hey JC, if it will work and if you want, I have a post with a base that you can have post.jpg

the base is 10"x 7" and it is around 36" tall, if the timing was right I could even lend you a hand if needed

 

 

just a thought,

Hi Brent - Thanks for the offer of the post and the help.  I'm going to pursue the climbing anchor plate first.  I like the idea of having it low to the ground, both to keep it out of the way and to avoid levering the bolts out.  I'll look at the wall mount winch idea too that RB mentioned, but I expect that will be rather expensive and in the case of my garage, probably even more in the way.  Plus, the direction of pull would tend to pull the bolts out of the wall.  Jeff

[wayfarer]

How thick is the floor .....and if using studs, what will you do to keep from tripping on the exposed stud when not using them?

If the floor thickness is unknown then use several small drop-in anchors, , ½" or so , and bolt a plate to the floor.  Any number of possible designs for the plate and attaching a 'ring' to it.

 

I would not trust any of my cars to a lead sleeve and lag bolt.....

 

 

...sorry for the small pic...ebay #111975966296

Edited May 15, 2016 by wayfarer

[Plymouthy Adams]

Something mounted in the floor seems like it would get in the way more than it would be used. Unless it were close to a  wall. Get classy and install an electric winch on the back wall?

classy would be quite involved I would  think, the average shop/garage wall is not in any manner designed or reinforced to withstand the dead pull of a rolling car up an incline...imagine the bracing and support network verse the floor mount....

[_shel_ny]

Dead man anchor in back yard. Run cable through garage wall. Sleeve the hole with 1/2" iron pipe to reduce wear on the wall. Use come-a-long or portable electric winch attached to the cable with a clevis.

[Plymouthy Adams]

Dead man anchor in back yard. Run cable through garage wall. Sleeve the hole with 1/2" iron pipe to reduce wear on the wall. Use come-a-long or portable electric winch attached to the cable with a clevis.

yes shel...but where is that ATTACHED to the wall as he stated....and.....what if your shop like mine, has the back wall 100 feet from the door....lol

[_shel_ny]

Presented as an alternative to attaching to the non-reinforced wall, and get a longer cable   The thought of the "dead man anchor" goes back to 1968, and a story during basic training at Lackland AFB.

[Eneto-55]

I know it'd be hard to do in existing concrete, but maybe it would be a good idea to put a hidden anchor ring right in the floor, under a steel flap flush with the concrete.  (I'm visualizing something like the flip out hammock hooks I've seen set into the walls in houses in Brazil, only heavier, of course.)  

[ptwothree]

Get one of these....

[wayfarer]

I know it'd be hard to do in existing concrete, but maybe it would be a good idea to put a hidden anchor ring right in the floor, under a steel flap flush with the concrete.  (I'm visualizing something like the flip out hammock hooks I've seen set into the walls in houses in Brazil, only heavier, of course.)  

 

Not all that difficult to do actually.......bust out a 2' x 2' section of the floor and dig a 2'-3' deep hole and fill it with concrete. Set the new hardware and wait a week before 'testing'.....who knows, you might even find some iron in the slab.

[jcmiller]

I don't know how thick it is, but the shear strength of the anchor bolts linked to by Tod is very high, even at just 1.5 inches of embedment, and I have to assume the floor is quite a bit thicker than that.  The anchors will be near a back wall, under a shelf, so I don't think I will trip on them, at least not without working at it pretty hard.

[Todd B]

NEVER assume the quality or thickness of old concrete!  I have broken concrete that varies from 5" to 1" thick within 1'.

[jcmiller]

Point well taken, but is that true even when the garage is attached to the house and the floor is all part of the same floor slab?

[wayfarer]

Good deal if you can 'hide' the studs behind a bench or something, but as Todd suggests, the concrete itself can sometimes be a problem.

 

Is your slab full of cracks?

 

Residential contractors, although not all of them, but certainly a good percentage of them, will sub out slab work to the lowest bidder who will then do what ever is needed to do the job in the shortest amount of time with the least money spent on materials he can get by with.

Generally, this means that he will form the slab for whatever the minimum thickness is and he will use a low sack mix, then on the job he will add plenty of water to cut down on labour, the 'grunt work' part. This does allow him to produce a nice flat slab but usually it is full of cracks and not very strong. Unless required by your local code, you are not likely to find re-bar, which costs money.....

[DonaldSmith]

Are we in the realm of overkill here?  We are not dead-lifting the car off the ground.  We are duplicating the force of a few strong guys pushing the car up the drive. 

 

Try this.  Put a lag bolt or eye hook in the back wall and connect the come-along there.  Put blocks behind the car's wheels.  Start ratcheting, and look for signs of stress. .  As you pull the car up the driveway, periodically move the blocks against the tires, so that if something does break loose, the car won't roll all the way down the drive.  

 

If things break loose, put in two devices, into two different studs, to cut the load in half.  Run a sling between the devices and to the come-along, and ratchet away. 

[Don Coatney]

Are we in the realm of overkill here?  We are not dead-lifting the car off the ground.  We are duplicating the force of a few strong guys pushing the car up the drive. 

 

Try this.  Put a lag bolt or eye hook in the back wall and connect the come-along there.  Put blocks behind the car's wheels.  Start ratcheting, and look for signs of stress. .  As you pull the car up the driveway, periodically move the blocks against the tires, so that if something does break loose, the car won't roll all the way down the drive.  

 

If things break loose, put in two devices, into two different studs, to cut the load in half.  Run a sling between the devices and to the come-along, and ratchet away. 

I understand what you are saying Donald but the first sign of stress may be only audible when the wall collapses. 

[Brent B3B]

Point well taken, but is that true even when the garage is attached to the house and the floor is all part of the same floor slab?

LOL, depends on the contractor and the prep work.

I bet you'll be fine JC, like I said if you need help let me know, i'll grab the rotary hammer...........

[JBNeal]

Would it be easier to go the Red Green route and duct tape an old tire to a pusher vehicle and ease it up the slope as needed?