Public parking woes

greatmizzou · February 19, 2020

I love driving our 3500 crew cab. I hate parking it.

5000 or so miles and I still have a hard time determining front end to barrier distance. I always park far away to avoid the blatant mandatory double park. Width wise most spots seek to sneak by but length wise im several feet past the designated parking spot. So either my ass end is intruding in the driving lane or im intruding in the next spot ahead.

This was completely foreseeable and I rarely run into a problem. When I do run into a problem its, "Honey lets eat here" I say sorry no place to park here! Get those walking shoes on. Running simple errands I have to plan ahead and ensure there are places to park relatively nearby. I always park far away so parking lot warriors dont key me being double parked close to the entrances.

All in all its worth it for the RV trips we make. Just such a huge convenience lost though going from an old ext cab half ton to this behemoth. It has left me wondering if a 2019 3500 is easier to park, but it cant be that much of a difference.

I see now why crew cab short beds were so popular. Crew cab regular beds wont fit anywhere so its a big barrier for people who daily drive trucks.

pickmeup · February 19, 2020

no parking woes here with a rcsb.

Dan Forsythe · February 19, 2020

I find this is where the camera's come in handy. Use the 360 view to center truck between parking spot lines. I just traded in a 2017 F250, their 360 camera had grid lines which were even more useful as you could put the gridline over the painted line. The length can be tricky. you find out real quick where you can and cannot park!

JimCost2014 · February 19, 2020

1 hour ago, greatmizzou said:

I love driving our 3500 crew cab. I hate parking it.

5000 or so miles and I still have a hard time determining front end to barrier distance. I always park far away to avoid the blatant mandatory double park. Width wise most spots seek to sneak by but length wise im several feet past the designated parking spot. So either my ass end is intruding in the driving lane or im intruding in the next spot ahead.

This was completely foreseeable and I rarely run into a problem. When I do run into a problem its, "Honey lets eat here" I say sorry no place to park here! Get those walking shoes on. Running simple errands I have to plan ahead and ensure there are places to park relatively nearby. I always park far away so parking lot warriors dont key me being double parked close to the entrances.

All in all its worth it for the RV trips we make. Just such a huge convenience lost though going from an old ext cab half ton to this behemoth. It has left me wondering if a 2019 3500 is easier to park, but it cant be that much of a difference.

I see now why crew cab short beds were so popular. Crew cab regular beds wont fit anywhere so its a big barrier for people who daily drive trucks.

Look at it this way, much better problem than having "stage fright" in a public bathroom....

If you have not ripped off a rear fender yet, your driving skills are not too bad.

Donstar · February 19, 2020

Do you have the 8' bed? If you do then I appreciate your difficulty. I have a crewcab 1500 with a 6.5' standard bed and don't shy away from most parking spaces. However, a pickup has been my daily driver for a few decades and time has increased my comfort level. If you haven't already discovered this, backing into a parking space is much easier than driving in front first.

aseibel · February 19, 2020

24 minutes ago, Donstar said:

If you haven't already discovered this, backing into a parking space is much easier than driving in front first.

Don, you've got an extra foot of length on me and I always back in as well. Then you always know you can get out, not that someone parks too close on one side and you can't swing the front around to leave.

I would say just having a camera makes parking 10 fold easier than it used to be without. I don't have a fancy 360 camera, but with the rear view I can easily get right up to the line, or inches away from the bumper behind me.

redwngr · February 19, 2020

Previous gen 1500 crew short box is 229" (the same length as a with double cab std box; this was intentional when they were introduced)

Previous gen 1500 crew std box is 239"

2020 25/3500 std box grew from previous gen box and is now longer than the std box on a 1500.

2020 25/3500 crew std box is 250" - so about 10 or 11" foot longer than prev gen 1500 crew std.

2020 25/3500 crew long box is 266" -- so a little over 2 ft longer.

Previous gen HD and 1500's were within about 0.5" of the same length if they were same cab box.

Mine is listed as 239.5" - very close to the 239 listed above.

I'm a little careful where I park mine (prev style 2500 crew std), but overall not a big deal.

Another 10" if it was a 2020 2500 crew std box would be a pain in the but.

At 266" crew long would be a whole new ballgame.

The 2 extra feet means it won't go a lot of places.

It would be even more trouble if it's a wide hipped dually.

As always, it's a matter of matching the tool to the job.

KCJackson1 · February 20, 2020

Unfortunately, the industry standard for a lot space is 19 feet by 8 feet. At the complex I live in (which was opened in 2016), the developers adhered to that standard, much to the chagrin of myself and all the other full-size pickup/SUV owners. And with a dually, an 8-foot-wide parking space means no margin for error in centering the truck. Worse, the available garages are only 19 feet deep, so no full size truck with more than 2 doors is getting in any of those.

As others mentioned, when I'm shopping or in any commercial parking lot, I just park away from everyone and either pull through or back in so I'm facing out. That's just the only way to ensure you have enough apron for turning when you leave. As for parking garages... the only one I don't fear is the one at IKEA near where I grew up... the first floor has a full 13-foot vertical clearance. Otherwise, I don't even try unless the sign says 7' 6".

SkidooSteve12 · February 20, 2020

Big reason I wanted the front parking sensors and the normal rear camera on my LT package. Sure I would have loved the full blown camera package, but the truck I bought off the lot didn't have that. The front sensors are really handy as well as the power folding mirrors.

Just the other day I was backing out of an angled spot at the gas station and could see the vehicle behind me at the gas pump just fine, but the lady got scared and laid on the horn thinking I was going to back into her. I had the wheel cranked as soon as I was clear and it just has a big arch which apparently she didn't think was good enough in a tight parking lot.

Usually I back into a spot or park out at the end of the row. I even back into my garage because I find that easier.

jaybauman · February 21, 2020

I have recently moved from a 2015 2500HD to a 2020 3500HD, with both trucks being crew cab, standard (i.e. short) box models. While the 2020 is obviously larger in every dimension, I am not finding the overall length to be the most noticeable differentiator. The longer wheelbase plus the sharper turning capability of the front wheels are the biggest differences in how the 2020 handles much more differently than my 2015. I wouldn’t say either one is better or worse than the other, it just took me a bit of time to make the adjustment. For a period of time I was occasionally driving each, and I had a bit of challenge in tight spaces—simply because my muscle memory wasn’t synchronized with the 2 respective vehicles. Now that I’m driving the 2020 exclusively, I find it no more difficult to park in tight spaces than I did with my 2007 1500. In any case, I do try to park away from other vehicles simply because I’m not wanting door dings in my brand new baby.

redwngr · February 21, 2020

Curb-to-curb turn diameter:

2020 3500 crew std box - 51.8'

2011-2017 2500 crew std box - 51.5'

The turning spec's are pretty close.

Sniperdan · February 22, 2020

2 hours ago, redwngr said:

Curb-to-curb turn diameter:

2020 3500 crew std box - 51.8'

2011-2017 2500 crew std box - 51.5'

The turning spec's are pretty close.

Where did you find this info? I would like to know the curb to curb turn diameter of the 2020 crew long box

redwngr · February 22, 2020

21 minutes ago, Sniperdan said:

Where did you find this info? I would like to know the curb to curb turn diameter of the 2020 crew long box

Fleet order guide.

2020 25/3500 crew long are 57' on 20 or 22's

Chevyguy85 · February 22, 2020

Just take the extra time. Back in wherever you can. I rarely go downtown so that's pretty much the only place I'd have to parallel park. I think in my short 18+ years of driving I've had to parallel park maybe 5 times. When I do I just park the rear(s) on the curb and carry on. Parking garages are fun, especially at the court house where they force you to pull in forward so they can go around and scan plates. Having a hitch on adding another 1.5 feet just means I'll stick out farther when I can't shove the rear into the bushes. 22 feet from nose to ball isn't bad. Have someone stand at the front end or put a pole up and practice learning front distance that way. With time you'll get the hang of it and then you can have your passengers freak out a little like I do thinking I'm going to hit something when I know I've got at least 2 foot of clearance. Rear distance I just back the hitch into it if it's solid or I cheat and use the backup cam. Dang thing has made me forget how to tell where my back end is, I should disable it so I learn how to drive again.

Dunn · February 24, 2020

On 2/19/2020 at 1:38 PM, Donstar said:

Do you have the 8' bed? If you do then I appreciate your difficulty. I have a crewcab 1500 with a 6.5' standard bed and don't shy away from most parking spaces. However, a pickup has been my daily driver for a few decades and time has increased my comfort level. If you haven't already discovered this, backing into a parking space is much easier than driving in front first.

yep. I been backing into parking spaces for almost 20 years now.....even the new 1500 is much much bigger than my old tundra.....and HD trucks are friggen enormous....I live at the beach where everything is tight and cramped....I have standard beds always have and will.....8ft bed be nice but good luck parking it anywhere I live

but yeah back it in whenever you can