When my friend, Jim, stores his vehicles for the winter he parks them so each tire is on a piece of plywood so the tires are not directly on the concrete. When I store my car for the winter I park so that the tires are directly on the concrete. Jim says that he heard once that when your tires are on concrete for a long time something in the concrete is bad for the tires causing them to become damaged. So, putting the tires on a piece of plywood creates a barrier and saves the tires. I have heard that if you store your tires on cold dirt ground the moisture from the ground can cause damage to the tires. Does anyone have the facts regarding these ideas? Just wondering.
The problem is not the surface tires sit on (concrete or wood) but getting flat spots from sitting for an extended period of time. I’ve seen “U” shaped brackets that you park your car on and they distribute the weight of the vehicle over a larger area. Not sure if they work or not. There must be at least one nice day a month during the winter you can take the car out for a drive.
Tires don’t care whether they’re on concrete or wood. Jim is wrong.
You only asked about tires.
Tires don’t care…Neither do batteries…Just pump the tires up to maximum pressure so if they slowly deflate (most do) it will take much longer for them to go flat…(not good)…
Back in the old days, tyres were a lot different. There is no reason to not park on concrete or to worry about flat spots with modern tyres. <div><br></div><div> Note: after an extended time parked, you may feel a flat spot for a few miles. Just take it easy and bring them up to speed slowly the first time. </div>The tires would be stored lying flat or upright. I stored my tires on concrete stacked on top of each other. The bottom tire only supported the weight of 3 TIRES, not 3/4 of the weight of the car, as is normal. The only effectwas a black ring on the concrete, which can be removed with CLR.
There are as many tire myths floating around as there are tire brands. The best for your tires is to store them in the dark (no sunlight) and a cool place. Heat and ozone are the worst enemies of rubber.
Some years ago a survey party found a Worldwar II military truck buried in the sands of the Sahara desert. The tires were completely covered with over 4 feet of sand. Miracuously, the air was still in them and there were no cracks.
Rubber rots over time, no matter where you store it or what you store it on. The rate at which it rots depends on a lot of factors, moisture being one of the major ones. Both concrete and wood will have some moisture content, possibly greater than the surrounding air.
The best thing thing for long term storage of the tires would be 4 jackstands.
Hey Doc, you say you have one tire supporting 3/4 the weight of the car normally? That tire must wear like CRAZY!
To the OP, the tires don’t care what they’re in contact with. If you friend Jim feels more confident putting them on plywood, he should do so. You ahould put them on whatever you feel comfortable putting them on.
Sory, Mountainbike, I meant 1/4 of the car’s weight!!!
Somebody told the OP’s friend an old wives tale regarding tires (hmmm…if it is automotive lore, is it an old husband’s tale?). Hopefully the OP does not subscribe to this type of pseudo-science.
OP–Please ask your friend if he places a knife under the bed when he is in pain, in order to cut the pain in half. That would have the same validity as his tire beliefs.
;-))
Put the car on 4 jack stands, tires are suspended in mid-air not touching anything.