Customer Reviews

Chamberlain LiftMaster 975LM Laser Parking Assist

5 star:		(26)
4 star:		(16)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

I bought the Laser Garage Parking Assistant for my husband for Christmas and it seems to work very well. The laser is easy to adjust, and pivots completely to allow him to position it exactly where he wants it to show on the car's dashboard. Since the car doesn't always enter the garage exactly in the same position, we found that lining up the red "dot" with a line across his dash worked best. (Cross the line, you're in fine.) The laser turns on when the vehicle enters the garage and turns off automatically after allowing plenty of time for parking. It is bright enough to see well, but not blinding when viewed on the dash. It does not come on when the door is left open, i.e. when we're working in the garage, unless we trip the sensors (going in and out of the main door). It looks good too, like it is an official part of the garage opener itself and not a toy. The only difficulties we have had have been climbing up and down the ladder to make the initial adjustments - our ceiling is fairly high - and when attaching it to the ceiling. It is held in place by a single screw, which allowed it to spin around until the screw was fully seated. Not a problem, but maybe some double stick tape or something might have held it steady until it was fully mounted. But it is now very stable and secure, and we no longer worry that the car is in far enough. This was definitely a good purchase, and well worth the money.

We have lots of stuff in our garage and this helps me park our SUV in just the right place, not too far to the left or right, not too far forward, so that we can still get anything we need out of the garage. It took a few practices, but once I got the hang of it, it works great.

A siimple device that makes parking extremely easy and accurate everytime.

In our garage we have the stairs and shoe-rack built into the the stair right in front of the space of my car's parking. It was always a guessing game and backing and forwarding chore.

I have set the Red light shine on a ridge on my car's dash. I look forward to parking accurately everytime.


The wires connect to the low voltage wires on the door lifter (believe me very easy to attach). The device then attaches to the roof of your garage with a simple screw. Park your car at desired spot. Then you aim it to the car's dash where you can see the light while seated in the driver's seat.

Installation was very easy, took 25 minutes total - including adjusting the light focus on the desired spot.

Done - :) It turns on everytime you trip the sensors at the garage door.

This device is not in your way when you are working in the garage, but is there when you need it everytime. Highly recommended.

I set up the tennis-ball-on-a-string system and this one up at the same time to see which worked better. I chose this device after reading the reviews, and opting for a gadget that didn't run on batteries. The tennis ball system required me to put a screw into the garage ceiling directly above where the car's windshield is when parked, tie kite string to it, drive the car in to where I wanted it, then tie the string to the ball at the right height (I put a small screw into the tennis ball also, and tied the string to it). Total time to install: about half an hour.

Installing the lasers was complicated by the fact that I don't have a Liftmaster-brand garage door opener. Mine is an 'Access Master' (supposedly compatible with Liftmaster). I figured I'd be out less than $25 if the lasers didn't work. Each laser comes with one screw, a drywall mount, some screw nuts, and about a 5-foot long cord of low-voltage type dual-strand (one black, one white) insulated copper wire. You are expected to strip the end of the wire, then connect it up to the terminals on the opener that go to the safety sensors. Some wire strippers to take the insulation off, and some pliers to pull apart the wires would be helpful. Since I didn't have a Liftmaster, the black/white terminals weren't labeled on the opener. After a small amount of trial and error, I got the wiring sorted out. The only thing keeping the whole laser from swiveling when installed is the tightness of it's single screw. As another commenter suggested, double-sided tape or something sticky would really help. Total time to install: also about half an hour.

After aiming the laser, I could try out the whole setup. When driving into the garage, the tennis ball is in your face, right at eye level. You can see how far away it is. When you physically hit it with the windshield, it bounces. It's very obvious that you are now in far enough. No matter what angle you come into the garage, you can't miss the tennis ball.

The laser starts out as a tiny dot on the floor. I can't see it at all until it starts moving across the dashboard of my small car. The dot is small and flashes. If you drive in at different angles, the dot will be in a different place. I often don't even notice it until after I've already parked and intentionally look to see where the dot ended up. If you intentionally ignore the tennis ball, you will be driving in very slowly, stopping, looking for the dot, then driving a little more, etc.. until you see it. If the mounting is not tight, it will swivel a bit and misalign the dot. It seems to work a little better on a bigger car with a shorter dash, though you still drive slowly in stops-and-starts till you see the dot.

The tennis ball seems to be a more foolproof system. It is so simple, it can't help but be reliable and easy to use. There is no chance that it will fail due to dead batteries or a power outage, get out-of-position, or make you wonder how far away from it you are. Interestingly, when I looked for the lasers at two popular home-improvement stores, neither had it. One was selling a kit that was basically a foam ball on a string.

The laser is way cooler than the tennis ball, but if you prefer function over cool go with the tennis balls. You can also turn on your wipers when parked to give the tennis ball a whack and watch it fly all over for a bit. Take that, lasers!

I purchased the Liftmaster 975M laser parking assist specifically because it is compatible with the new Chamberlain garage door openers I installed. I considered other models, with built in motion sensors, but they required their own power source (not a problem) and turned on whenever someone walked into the garage. Because this device is connected to the garage door opener, it derives its power from the opener and uses the opener's safety sensor (the IR beam across the bottom of the garage door) to trigger the laser assist. It remains on for about a minute... ample time to park the car...after it trips the beam upon entering the garage. Because it lights up only when the safety beam is interrupted, I can work in the garage without constantly activating the laser.

Some reviews I'd read about this device suggested that the beam is too dim to be seen in bright sunlight. I can't say whether direct sunlight would wash out the pulsing red dot, but my garage faces south and receives lots of light. I had no trouble seeing the red light on my black dashboard. As luck would have it, I did not even have to adjust the laser, as it was aimed perfectly when I installed it. But since you may need to adjust the laser when the car is in position, I recommend that you position the device off-center (mine is just to the left of the instrument cluster on the dashboard. If the device were centered on the vehicle it would be more difficult (and potentially dangerous) to reach over the vehicle from the ladder.

The only shortcoming I can see is that there is only one mounting screw. Perhaps the reason for this is to allow for adjustment right and left. Once you tighten the screw, the device is fairly secure. The laser itself is mounted in a ball socket, which allows for some L/R adjustment, as well as downward angle. There is no guidance in the instructions as to the best angle for the laser, but I have mine pointed at about 45 degrees to allow for some adjustment for different vehicles.

I grew up having a tennis ball hanging in the middle of our garage. There's just something nice about having an open space now with nothing hanging there.

These were very easy to install on the ceiling - a single screw into the drywall w/ included anchor. Pull the safety sensor wires, cut, strip, twist together with the laser parking assist wires, re-insert, and you're done. No extra power source needed.

I found adjusting the beam to the exact correct location on the dash was a bit tricky. Had to pull the car in/out about a dozen times, climbing up/down and moving the ladder each time to get it right. I found it to be a little tough to make fine adjustments on the laser - applying light force to the beam it would just go back to its original location. Pushing a little harder it would move and end up beyond the target location. Of course very small movements in the laser are magnified on the car which is 8 feet below.

One trick I used to align the laser: Once you get within a foot or so where you need the beam to go, back the car out until the laser hits the hood, then place the instruction sheet across your hood. Up on the ladder, you can move the beam across the instructions sheet which is easily visible, and use the folds in the sheet as a guide. For example, if the beam needs to go 6 inches forward, you can place the instructions sheet so a fold is 6 inches forward from the beam, then go up the ladder and point the laser to the fold and you've got it.

With this laser parking assist, it is now possible for me to consistently park my car within an inch or so of the overhead garage door, thereby maximizing the space in front of the car. This is essential since you must walk in front of my car to get to my wife's car - a path frequently taken when driving my 3 young kids to their various activities. What used to be hit or miss (and believe me I'd hear about it if I didn't leave enough space there) is no longer a problem. I think that's what they call a win-win :)

Super-easy to install and it works as promised, but sometimes we have a little trouble finding the dot because it's so small.

So my SUV has a radar crash mitigation system, adaptive cruise control, and a radar blind spot warning system. My sedan has parking sensors but that just keeps me from hitting the walls. It just seemed wrong to go the low tech, tried and true tennis ball on a string route for vehicle positioning.

I have a finished garage ceiling so installation was very easy (I would recommend using EZ anchors in wallboard rather than the provided mounting hardware). I ran the wire in the attic so the installation is very clean. Aiming the laser is the hardest part of the installation. That should be a one time adjustment until I change vehicles.

While the flashing laser beam is slick (it is small, but I have no problem seeing it and I don't have pilot vision), it does lack some of the functionality of the tennis ball. You can aim your vehicle at the tennis ball. With this product you have to aim for some reference point (hopefully one that is permanently stationary) and inch up until the beam strikes the selected point on your dashboard. That being said it is an easy adaptation and at least visitors to your garage don't look at the hanging tennis ball and wonder if you still have training wheels on your bicycle.

This tool really does the trick. Easy to install (10 minutes), easy to adjust. My kind of project.

As mentioned by another reviewer, this is not a Sears Craftsman product. This does not work with my Pro Max opener. There is fine print in the installation guide stating that this is for Chamberlain openers only. Do not purchase if you do not have a Chamberlain opener.