Hey, I need advice, I now live in Az.and have 3 sets of tires/wheels,I like a different look, ever so often on my cars, so I change em, BUT here's My question,, How do I store tires and wheels not on my car, little bit of air? on wheels? like to hear from a tire expert. When I was young, all tires came wrapped in paper, not anymore, anybody know why? I have them away from SUN, but not in a climate -controlled atmosphere. so they get plenty hot.. thanks, I learn more stuff here than my 3 senior years of hi school.
Wrapped up in a bag to block as much UV light as possible, in the coolest, darkest, driest place you can find. Nothing will stop them from aging/deteriorating but doing the above will slow down the process. This is how we store our race car tires.
No we don't put any type of chemicals on them but if you feel the need to by all means for the love of god don't put any Armor-All product on them!
Actually deteriorates them. Or rather I should say, thats what many people think. I have no personal first hand proof.
This has been discussed before, but apparently it's not a good idea to stack them. I used to work in a tire shop and we stacked our tires all the time with no problems. It does collapse the sidewalls a little bit, but your tire installer will be able to seat the beads, no problem. Unless you got the room to store them upright, I'd say stack them.
Do a google search on using Armor-All products. It's been known to crack dashes, vinyl tops etc. Honestly after about 10 years a tire is somewhat iffy to be using on the road. I had 10 year old tires on my OT 70's van and they looked really nice from the outside (lots of tread left and no cracking on the sidewalls) but a bubble had formed on 1 where the tread was separating from the inside. They don't make tires like they used to; planned obsolescence. Tire companies wouldn't make money if your tires lasted forever.
Agreed. What really shortens the lifespan is petroleum-based tire shine products. A little bit of Armor-all is ok, if you insist on having shiny tires. I personally don't like tire shine, since it attracts dirt to the tires fast. Also saw many a tire with cracking sidewalls at my last job. It's best just to scrub your tires real good with Bleche-White or similar to clean them.
OK now I am learning, But I have some really neat tires, they don't make anymore, really hate to lose them.. been stacking them with paper between,
They're not going to explode or wither away in the next year. Just bag 'em and keep 'em in a cool dry place and they'll last however long they last. Depending on how old they are and how often you swap them they should last anywhere from 5-10 years from the manufacture date.
^^ Be careful, because many tire shops will not install tires older than 5-6 years, based on the DOT date code on the sidewall, due to liability reasons. Maybe you might want to invest in a manual tire-changer and bubble balancer. Not a bad idea, since the ability to mount and balance tires on your own is pretty essential.
303® Aerospace Protectant. Its sunscreen for your car. Yes its expensive but it works. http://www.303products.com/303r-aerospace-protectant-32oz.html Armor-all is the Upholstery mans best friend. I recovered some white seats years ago, told the customer do not use Armor-all. He didnt listen and within a year the vinyl had turned brown and cracked. So I got paid to recover them again.
^^^ Yes this stuff would be your best bet if you wanted to put any type of chemical on them. I was actually going to order some of this stuff awhile back but forgot about it.
I put them in individual trash bags and make sure to keep them away from electric motors in enclosed spaces- motors can give off ozone that deteriorates them fast.
I try to keep mine on a car, and put a bunch of miles on them...since they deteriorate no matter what you do. Had one come apart in the garage last year, it was just sitting there, kablooey!
I lived in Payson for 5 years and Mesa for 19 years. If you can keep them upright mounted and with a little air in them it will keep them tall and skinny. not cracked on the bottom edge.
I lived in longview wash. for 50 years, still got new tires there, at my summer home, that are 50 years old, mounted on american 5 spokes, never been outside. Thanks for the tip...
Use Aerospace Protectant 303 for a dressing, I find it at West Marine but have seen it in auto parts stores lately. Don't store them upright, they'll go out of round. Put them on their side and the paper or cardboard in between is a good idea.