Hail Proof Car Cover | A Complete Guide to Make A Hail Proof Car Cover

Extreme weather can damage our properties, including cars that often find a place outside the house. One of these conditions is a hailstorm, which sends down solid-circular pieces of ice from the sky. Hail is as dangerous as it sounds and can damage your car’s body and smash down the windshield and windows. The most obvious way to tackle hail is to park your vehicle inside your house or under a shade. But most of us are not blessed with a dedicated parking space, so we have to look for other ways to protect our vehicles. Among these is building a hail cover to protect your vehicle.

How to Make a Hail Proof Car Cover

Today we’ll tell you how to make a hail proof car cover, the types of covers, and when to prepare them to protect your vehicle.

Can Car Covers Protect Against Hail?

Before we jump into our hail proof car cover guide, we feel obliged to answer one question. Do car covers worth spending your money on? These covers are only beneficial if you don’t have a garage or carport to park your vehicle during hail. Yes, they are helpful during a long drive where you expect to be on the road for an extended period. You can carry the cover with you.

You can find various hail proof car covers in the market that promise to protect your vehicle against any scratch or damage during the hailstorm. However, just the cover (low-quality ones) may not be sufficient for your car. For a low-quality hail proof car cover, you might have to complement it with blankets, mats, bungee cords, and similar material to ensure protection.

The quality varies from cover to cover. Some covers retain an inner fleece liner and a weather-resistant exterior, while others have multiple layers to fight extreme weather conditions. Conclusively, these covers indeed protect against hail, as most of them are capable of handling small hail and strong winds.

Types of Hail Proof Car Cover

A hail proof car cover comes in different qualities. Therefore, you must be familiar with all of them before purchasing or deciding to make one yourself. Let’s glance at the four most common hail proof car covers:

1. Fitted Car Cover

It is one of the most common hail proof car covers. It slides over and latches onto your car through elastic bands, taking the vehicle’s shape. It is lightweight and portable so that you can take it with you on your drive.

When making one of your own, ensure you have the correct measurements from every side of the vehicle. The thickness of the cover should depend on your preference and the material available. Ideally, it should be four layers of fabric thick to make it the best car cover for snow and rain.

If you’re going to purchase it from the market, don’t let the looks fool you. Some thin-layered car covers, solely made for UV and dirt protection, may look the same.

2. Umbrella Car Cover

As the name suggests, this hail proof car cover fixes your car and offers protection in the form of an umbrella. It secures your car against hail damage even when you’re driving, as it doesn’t impede movement.

When building the umbrella cover, measurement is vital. Make sure the umbrella covers the whole car to avoid any damage. Choice of material is also crucial; an ideal top must-have military-grade fiberglass for optimum protection. The quality of the stand must also be top-class. It should mount on the car properly to withstand 30mph winds.

However, this hail cover has some shortfalls. It only offers protection from the top and ignores the sides. It makes the vehicle vulnerable to damage from hail striking sideways. You may end up spending extra on another hail proof car cover to ensure complete protection.

3. Portable Carport

This hail proof car cover provides an enclosed area for your vehicle during a shower. It tends to be durable than other tops but can be expensive. The design suits perfectly for people without a garage, making it the best outdoor car cover for snow while also being portable.

This hail proof cover can be tricky and tedious to make. You need to take correct measurements of the car’s height, length, and width to make an accurate frame and use high-quality fabric to guarantee protection. The cover must also weigh at least 170 pounds to prevent blowing away due to wind.

4. Inflatable Car Cover

When you seek protection against small to heavy hailstorms, the inflatable cover is the best car cover for snow and ice. It inflates into a bubble to offer a cushion against hail pelting down on your vehicle and protect it from any damage. When uninflated, you can also use it as a standard cover.

This hail proof car cover is difficult to make, as it includes the installation of fans to keep the air moving and retain the inflated form. However, you can purchase these inflatable covers from the market. Most of them come with a part and labor warranty.

When to Prepare Your Car Cover?

What good is a hail proof car cover when it does not pull over the vehicle when the hailstorm arrives, right? That’s why you should know exactly when the vehicle cover needs preparation. Most weather applications alert you when a hailstorm is heading your way.

However, if, for some reason, you can’t receive these alerts on your smartphone, keep an eye open for a dark gray or black sky, as it may indicate prospects of hail. The brewing of hail also gets certain when there’s a quick drop in temperature and thunderstorms clouds and lightning appear in the sky.

Bottom Line

Just as you need the best car cover for heavy snow when the snow arrives, you require protection against hail. Hail can be more detrimental than other weather conditions because solid ice pieces pelt down from the sky. Hail-proof car covers are ideal for tackling damage, and most of them are portable to allow protection on the go. While you can purchase these covers, you can also make them based on the designs we discussed above. Just make sure you spend some time determining the best car cover for snow and hail for your vehicle.

FAQs of Hail Proof Car Cover