Garaging the T@b

Tracygraves1

anyone have any trouble fitting their tab in their home garage? We like the tab because we can avoid storage costs.

LARK

Hi Tracy....Hummmm. I have the same last name. Anyway, yes usually it is a height problem. If you search on this site for "Room in the garage" you will see the adventures that some of us have encountered. Do you know the height of your garage opening? Mine was 83.5 and the T@B is 89" tall. Do the search, if we can help just ask the question.

mickietucs

Okay Lark & Tracy -- I also have the same last name (Graves)....are we in the Twilight Zone?

LARK

Wow! What are the odds?

Tracygraves1

LARK said:

Hi Tracy....Hummmm. I have the same last name. Anyway, yes usually it is a height problem. If you search on this site for "Room in the garage" you will see the adventures that some of us have encountered. Do you know the height of your garage opening? Mine was 83.5 and the T@B is 89" tall. Do the search, if we can help just ask the question.

Thanks I found that post. I'm waiting to get the garage door height from my husband. In crossing my fingers we have an abnormally high door!  

manny

Hi, Tracy...  most garage doors heights are 7' ft. (84")  ...  I enlarged my opening to install a 8 ft. door.. had to get new garage door ..wife picked out new door looks great.  T@B is safe and secure inside.. I was going to build a big shed in backyard.. to much trouble to get tab back to front to go on trip..  this  in garage just hookup and go..    I hope u solve your problem ..Have a great time camping...M@nny & Teresa    2015 T@B -L Max   tv..  2008 Honda ridgeline

Allie

Most garage door openings are 7'.  Some are 8'.  When house hunting, I told the realtor that the garage HAD to have an 8' garage door or it was a deal buster.  Keeping the camper in the garage saves a lot of wear and tear on the body from sun, rain and cold, less chance of theft.  Plus, it makes it easier to pack when getting ready for a trip.

Trum@n

Great to have it in the garage to play with between trips!

Tracygraves1

Ugh, our garage clearance is 82". Storage is going to cost $1200 a year. We're there any solutions that cost under $2000? Noticed the room in the garage thread didn't talk money.

LARK

Tracy, here is what I had written:
" I had the same problem. I measured the drums and frame clearance on the tab an came up with 11". I went to Northern tool and purchased trailer rims that were 12" and had the same bolt pattern. I use a floor jack/power driver (to remove lugs) and wood supports to change out the tires to the smaller rims. My tab went from 89" in height to 82". I also have to remove the A/C vent from the top to clear the opening. It is a hassle that takes me about 45 minutes to do the change over but I know it is safe/warm/and dry. I plug it into the house current and keep the battery topped off. Also saves me money not to store it elsewhere. Hope this helps."
All together probably spent around $180.00 without power driver which I already had.

Tracygraves1

Hmmm the rims on northern tool look to be 189 each. I much be looking at the wrong thing.

LARK

Yep. Just trailer rims, no tires.

RollingLagrima

Uhhh, so you are wheeling the T@B in on its itty bitty rims, or are you saying you bought smaller tires to go on the smaller rims at an additional cost above the $180? Totally confused here...  

LARK

Sally, to lower the tab to fit into the garage I had to remove the 14" rims and tires and replace them with 12" RIMS (no tires) so the height would be lowered in order to fit into the garage. And yes, it rolls just fine to push it into the garage. I also had to modify the front jack so it would lower 5 more inches (but that info is in another post with pictures). When I roll it back out to go camping, I have to remove the rims and put back on the 14" rim and tire that come with the tab. Hope that clears your confusion.

Krista

Lark,  You were very helpful when I was asking about this back in April.  When my husband and I (along with the service people at the dealer) measured the T@B, it was decided that it would most likely not fit even with the changes you suggested.  The reason is the backing plate near the drums is too low. We also noticed the sewer pipe is under the tongue area and very close to the ground.  I'm not sure I'm explaining this correctly but we spent a couple of hours there and were uncertain and decided to pass until we had a better solution IF it didn't fit.   We were looking at a T@B Max S 2015, and I thought it might be helpful to ask you what T@B year and model you had.  The service people said there were some changes to the brakes that may make it not work as yours did.  

Thank you! Krista

RollingLagrima

Thanks LARK. Makes sense to me now. I was (and still am) having a hard time visualizing pushing the T@B into the garage on metal rims. Is this a struggle at all?  Glad it is working for you!

LARK

First of all if I had the choice "to do or not to do", I would not go through this. My wife had to have the T@b and fell in love with it on the lot. There were other people their looking at it and she told me she loved it and didn't want anyone else to buy it. That being said, we have the 2015 S Max and I think it has the AL-KO axle. I'm not sure what you mean by "backing plate" but there is a metal L shape bar that runs  lengthwise along the axle drum. I measured from the center of axle to the bottom of the L shape bar (frame) and it was 11". That is why I purchased 12" rims. As for the sewage (grey and black) pipes they are about 2" off the pavement because of the additional 5" I took off the front jack. I suggest to wait for the better solution!

Sally- It's not terribly difficult. My entrance to the garage is flat. I have seen other posts here that people use a motorized dolly to back it in the garage because they have an incline.

This is temporary until I move to my house on the lake. Then she will be in a proper garage!

Tracygraves1

Argh, I don't think this is going to work for us. I fell in love with the tab hoping to spend more of the unit and none on storage. Now I am torn between saving by getting a 19' trailer since the storage cost will be the same and we will have more features.

Mouseketab

We built a completely separate garage behind the house, as we park both cars in our house garage. Best thing we ever did. Lots of room to put all the extra "stuff" that we bring with T@B. We also now have a riding lawn tractor and a handy place to keep our patio furniture cushions really extending their life span. The T@B Clamshell kitchen is now often our backyard bar for grillin out parties With all our camping chairs and patio furniture, we can seat 30+ people outside, but only 12 inside

Leeh22

By the pure luck of the building gods our garage door is eight feet.  Didn't ask for this when we built our house twelve years ago and didn't even think about it until we started looking at T@Bs last fall.   We have a three car garage and still face the task of figuring out how to empty out the third bay so we can get both vehicles in before winter.   But oh so nice to have the T@B inside.   And a bonus we never considered, a tiny air conditioned bedroom in the garage.  Even the northwest is having crazy hot weather already this summer.   And not many have built in air conditioning!

bobandcarol

nine foot doors work only if enough floor space...cars first, John Deere next for snow clearing...I should have added another bay--the boat and the Orange Crush have to live outside under covers..

twocutes

My garage door is also too low for the T@B to live in the garage.  I park mine at the top of my driveway or at the street mostly on my property.  I don't have too much risk for theft, but do worry about exposure to elements.  I love that Mouseketab can enjoy backyard parties!

Allie

An 8' opening is 96".  A 7' opening is 84".  T@B advertises the height to be 92".   A full 8' garage door is more than adequate to fit the T@B thru. 

DennisHemingway

Trum@n  I agree, It helps when you can leave everything hooked up ready to go bright & early.       

twocutes

DennisHemingway - So jealous of the garage setup!  Love the tongue box.  Where did you get it?

DennisHemingway

twocutes, Home Depot.  http://www.homedepot.com/p/Lund-36-in-Flush-Mount-Truck-Tool-Box-9436WB/202892675#specifications