Storage Flat Spot

You could just take it around the block every month or so.

 

Can`t really do that here in northern N.E.. Too much salt, snow, frost heaves, not to mention the cold. It would do the car more harm than good. I just roll the car a little bit every so often to change the position of the tire. Worked for me for years. I did see those tire shoes and was thinking about trying them.

 

Forget the tires, if you don't run your engine and just go through the gears periodically during 4-5 months of storage, you'll have far more problems.

 

I overinflate the tires, and roll it a couple inches every month

 

If a car is stored in a normal environment a few months isn't going to hurt anything. If an engine is damaged after 4 or 5 months of being parked, it was damaged before storage or tampered with during storage.

 

Same as I. If the car has 36 PSI in the tires bump it up 3 or 4 pounds as long as the tire can hold that amount and roll the car a few inches a head every month and it will be fine.

If not, just drive the car for a few days when you take it out and just don't hammer the car around turns or spin the wheels until you feel the tires have reshaped.

 

I did not talk of engine damage. Common knowledge is to allow the fluids to get warm and circulate, and to let the belts/bearings/tensioners keep from seizing.

The human body suffers from prolonged immobility as well. Doctors don't take care of healthy people; only sick patients!

 

Common knowledge is also not starting an engine while in storage unless you're going to take it for a drive and clear everything out. He is unable to do that so starting an engine while sitting in storage isn't a good idea. A few months won't hurt anything. I've been storing my car every winter for years and nothing has ever seized, cracked or broken. Just take it easy on the car for a few days. Clear off the brake rust, add some octane boost or better yet drop the gas tank, clear it out and add fresh fuel. A school of thought on the gas tank while stored is top it off before it goes in to keep it "sealed" as mush as possible and add stabilizer. For my older cars I also massage the rubber components with grease to keep them from drying out.

The garage where I store my cars is also about 68 degrees during the winter.

 

Store car on jacks to unload tires. This however can load the suspension un-necessarily. A better, but more effort, approach is to buy a set of dollies with curved support for the tires. This is just one example.

http://www.gardenofspeedin.com/products.asp?detail=716&sub=36

I have a set of Go-Jacks, which don't have a curved platform, but the rollers don't flatspot the tires and are easy to use to lift the car up and down.

http://www.gardenofspeedin.com/products.asp?detail=738&sub=36

 

+1

 

If I were going to store a car for a while, I'd recommend lifting off the ground with jackstands. That will take the load off the suspension and keep the tires from flat-spotting. If you're worried about the weight on the suspension (which should be a non-issue), you can remove the wheels and store them in the corner away from an electrical plug (ozone) and sunlight.

Bob