Do car covers protect aginst small to med size hail?I have no indoor parking and got some small hail today and just want to know if any covers help aginst hail.I know big hail will cause damage so its the smaller stuff I am wondering about.

Any one have a good brand of cover to use one that fits ext cab trucks well?

 

up to marble size hail there should be no problem with you vehicle having damage...i am sure it could but it usually takes a bit larger to do any noticable dents. i would not get one just for this purpose, and would not worry much at all if its the smaller stuff that you are worried about.

i think car cover acually hurt more than they help...most people tend to put them on nightly. the problem with putting them on is that they are put on a dirty car, yes even a clean looking car can have surface dust. as it sits overnight the wind blows and causes the cover to flap in the breeze and cause the paint to be rubbed from where the cover is sitting on the vehicle. then you have the task of putting on and taking off the cover, which again rubs the dirt sitting on the surface to be dragged against the paint causing scratches.

 

A good thing to do if you're worried about hail is to get a moving blanket and put it o'er top of paint and either bungee it down or close it in the doors. The hood is a little more tricky, but under a car cover for the occasional hail storm would work well. You may need to layer if it get into the size of a baseball, but the theory is that the blanket softens the blow by expanding the area to which the same amount of force is applied (much like a bulletproof vest.) But, as troberts said, you can induce swirling, so it's only gonna be worth it if the potential to induce swirling outweighs the potential for hail damage.

 

Well I am also going to be heading over seas for a while and want to cover it up while im gone.Bird crap on the paint for several months cant be good.So If one type or brand is better for hail that is the one I would buy.

 

I don't think a cover will help one bit for hail, I had one (Covercraft, I believe)and it was very thin. I'll never use another one outdoors again. The wind hitting it rubbed the clear real thin in two spots. It also didn't breathe as well as promised, after storms or even morning dew the dampness rose underneath the cover and left a light film. It did however do very well keeping the car cool and dustfree. Just my two cents.

 

When I was at school...my truck was constantly covered by my parents (I think its a truck...it likes the outdoors lol) but it did help (it has actually a good ammount of padding on the top and where the hood is...and it locks so it does serve a decent purpose. I never use it when i'm home because its my daily driver...but when I go overseas for 3 weeks commin' up I will be covering it. It hailed while I was at school and I to this day still believe my cover saved my truck.
~Phil

 

Depends on type of car cover and size of hail, I suppose.

Generally, I would not think that a car cover would offer much protection against hail. Maybe the thicker Evolution type covers might offer some protection.

I use my car (truck) cover mainly to protect against the sun and prying eyes...

 

I have used car covers on my last 3 pickups and one on my wife's car. All car covers will offer equal protection against small beebee size hail. Bigger hail is iffy, and a cover will not do well with golf ball size hail.

I now park in my garage, but I used Covercraft covers that I initially could order from the Factory in Okla. However, they now use only franchised outlets, which are many. The more you pay for a cover the better the texture of the cloth that meets the car paint, and, the more resistance to sun the outer cloth has. As far as rain protection all car covers will wick rain water in a short time.

I stored by wife's car in my drive way for a year for family reasons. I used a Covercraft then also placed one of those large blue, inexpensive tarps over the Covercraft for water proofing. Then I weighted the blue tarp down with inexpensive bar bell weights. Tying down or weighting down is a must as even slight wind will billow a blue tarp. The blue tarp will last approx 14 months before the sun has taken its toll. Have some duct tape on hand for tempo repair of sun created cracks in the blue tarp. My Covercraft covers would last approx 2 years under my sun, which goes from winters @ 30 degrees to summers at 110 degrees.

For dust find an industrial size tumble washer. Many clothes wash outlets have the bigger tubs for blankets and such. Wet wash with no soap. Then place in a dryer to take only the excess water out. Do not fully dry in the auto dryer. While damp spread the cover out over chairs, props, patio table, what have you to air dry. Even this air dry process will cause approx 1 inch of shrinkage to the overall cover, but has to be done only about once per year.

If you are storing for a year or so a car cover with the blue tarp is the way to go.

 

I've read thru this thread and I think I'm gonna splurge on the Covercraft which is $458.95. Does anyone know of any place to find this cover a bit cheaper? Also, has anyone else had any experience with this cover? The reviews look pretty good. My truck only gets driven on the weekends, other then that, it sits in the drive way and gets abused by squirels, birds, tree sap, etc. I'm so sick of washing the truck on the weekends and by the time the next weekend comes around the truck looks HORRIBLE. It would be nice to come home on a Friday and pull off the cover and head out in a nice clean truck. Sorry for the rambling, but if anyone has anymore information about this cover I'd appreciate it, bout to purchase it tonight.

 

Try www.autoanything.com JC Whitney may also carry some covers. Also try these guys: www.buyautotruckaccessories.com