Tire/Car storage advice needed

JoeF · 12-17-2003, 03:40 PM

I will be storing a 930 long term, possibly up to 2 years.
The car has new 18 inch Michelin Pilot Sports on it.
I am concerned that this long term storage might ruin the tires by causing flat spots. I have taken care to put an extra 5 lbs. of air in each tire. The car does not run, ( I would rather not talk about it) , but I can move the car back and forth a couple of feet in the garage as often as needed. I have been told that these extra precautions may not be enough to prevent flat spots.
I would rather not buy an extra set of rims and cheap tires just to store the car on. Do those tire cradles work? Should I consider putting the car up on blocks or jacks to take the weight off the tires? Any suggestions would help.
JoeF

chrisp · 12-17-2003, 05:11 PM

Don't know how much info you are looking for but here's my list

Take some weight off the suspension. Put it on jack stands. Keep the nushings from taking a set.
Spin the wheels every few months to keep the grease moving.
If there's fuel in the tank drain it. I think things like sta-bil will only preserve it for less than one year.
Turn over the motor every few months.
Pull out the battery. If it's dear to you then trickle charge it. If it's not then plan on buying a new one in two years. With no battery you can manually crank the motor over or reconnect the battery when you want to turn it over.
Change the oil.
Rodent proof it. Rubber gloves over the exhaust pipes and intake (remove them when you crank the engine). A couple of mouse traps around. Keep 'em well stocked. The other option is to car bag it with a bag that the car fits inside.
Clean and feed all of the leather and vinyl.
Make sure the parking brake is off.
If you end up leaving it on the ground put 45 lbs in each tire. On top of that you could jack the car every month or so and rotate the wheels 90 degrees and then put the side back down.
If it's near any electrical motors (heat pump, forced air blower, etc.) the ozone is bad for the rubber products. This is where the car bag may be good to have as well.

Too bad you won't be able to drive it for this long.

Zeke · 12-17-2003, 06:36 PM

Probably would hurt to push the clutch in from time to time. Especially when cranking. They like to get stuck in long term storage.

Put fresh oil in motor and crank it to circulate.

JoeF · 12-18-2003, 03:10 AM

Guys,
Thanks for the advice. I wont be able to crank the motor, I am mostly concerned about the tires and suspension. I will go ahead and increase air pressure to 45lbs.
Chrisp, when you say take some weight off the suspension by putting car up on jack stands, do you mean lift car completely off ground or just take some of the weight off the suspension?
Also, anyone using those tire cradles, do they really work?
JoeF

RoninLB · 12-18-2003, 03:53 AM

a few years old P sheet has the winter storage tire psi at 55psi

chrisp · 12-18-2003, 04:31 AM

Whichever you prefer. I always like to let the suspension and jackstands share some of the load. I put my jackstand under the torsion bar tube in the rear, not uner the spring plate caps. Probably just a personal preference thing but I prefer a chassis contact point as opposed to a suspension contact point.

If you have a low set of jackstands you should be able to end up with the chassis a few inches off the ground and the tires touching.

In the front, it's hard to explain, but there is a seam just foward of the footwells where the wheel well starts to come in, the forward wall of the cockpit and the sills all meet. Put the jackstand there. It's right along where the weldseam is. I like to straddle the seam but it requires having something to space the jackstand away from the chassis and straddle the seam.

If you use the tire cradles (I have no experience with them BTW) then you should be able to fit jackstands under the car and keep the wheels on the ground.

If you want to do the wheel rotating thing (keeping the grease moving) then just lift the enitre car off the gorund so you can spin the tires whenver you want.

jmohn · jmohn's Garage

It has been suggested that putting the car on jackstands is not a good idea as rust tends to form on the exposed shock rods. I would assume the tire cradles will be of some benefit, but so is moving the car every 2-3 months -- your choice.

Jerry M
'78 SC