Proper Winterization Procedure

Curious to know what people do to their cars before storing

1) Fuel stabilizer? Yes/No
2) Over inflate Tires? Yes/No
3) Purchase wheel chocks? Yes/No (To park with handbrake off for long periods of time)
4) Wheel cradle? Yes/No (To prevent flat spots)
5) Plug in battery tender Yes/No


Anything else I am missing? Just curious to know what the consensus is

 

1 yes
2-4 no
5 yes
I also shut the battery switch off in case the power to the battery tender fails

 

If plug in battery tender AND shut off battery switch, how does the battery tender charge the battery. ... unless your battery tender is directly connected to the battery poles themselves which is not advisable.

Steve

 

1. No
2. Yes
3. No
4. No
5. Yes




Sent from my EGP008 using Tapatalk

 

1. No
2. No
3. No
4. No
5. Yes

6 - Car cover

 

Same!

But drive it occasionally - weather permitting.

 

Why not connect to battery directly? Please elaborate.

 

Do you guys park with the handbrake on?

After looking up proper techniques some even put cling foil around the wiper blades to prevent sticking.

 

You really want to use fuel stabilizer. Those who don't are just risking having a whole tank of moisture ridden fuel gunk up their lines and engine. Your car will start much smoother if you use the stabilizer regularly on a stored car.

 

Stored all my cars every (20+ years) with the battery tender connected driectly to the battery...whats the issue?

 

I do this every year for too many to count.

Full tank premium fuel with the CORRECT amount of fuel stabilizer
Fresh oil
Battery tender
Cover exhaust inlets (rodents)
Car cover
Never had a flat spot even on Bias Ply repo tires on the corvettes
Dont start it, let be until you are ready to pull it out.

 

I do have to use Flatstoppers on one of my cars. For some reason the Goodyear Eagle F1 GS D3 tires on that car love to get flat spots. They eventually work out after a while, but its annoying so I use the Flatstoppers and the tires ride well when I do. Never had that problem on any other tires.

Oh yeah, good tip from Meister above to do an oil change before you store it. Clean oil means less dirty stuff settling in there.

 

Any particular brand recommended? I use Stabil in my lawn equipment, but have never used it in my car. Is there something that's better suited?

 

I use Stabil 95 liters for the F430 tank. It seems like it had the best reviews.

 

Yes, the tender is connected directly to the battery terminals. I assume it is not advisable due to danger of short, but there is a fuse in the line.

 

Absolutely NOT.

I like to park on 4 patches of old carpet. Four squares of 2" SM foam is even better (it takes on the exact shape of the tyres).