jack stands yes or no while in storage?

JamesP

JamesP

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Since I'm new to this not sure if I should have my car on stands or not.. I waxed her, hooked up battery tender, added fuel stabilizer. Now I'm hearing that if I don't put it on stands the suspension will sag if it stays in storage on the tires. Anyone help me with this and tell me if my 2016 z51 would be better off lifted off the suspension.
 
JamesP said:
Since I'm new to this not sure if I should have my car on stands or not.. I waxed her, hooked up battery tender, added fuel stabilizer. Now I'm hearing that if I don't put it on stands the suspension will sag if it stays in storage on the tires. Anyone help me with this and tell me if my 2016 z51 would be better off lifted off the suspension.
Click to expand...

James I much prefer dollies which will help stop flat spotting of the tires.
Many places have them at a good price but I got mine on sale at Princess Auto (they also deliver for a decent price).

On sale until Nov. 29

http://www.princessauto.com/en/detail/powerfist-2-pc-vehicle-dollies/A-p8535924e

Cheers
Colin.
 
Hey James.
I had an old Camaro that I put on Jack Stands for a winter. The things I noticed was instead of weight on the suspension, now the suspension was mashed against the bump stops, so it's not like the suspension just hangs freely. There was also a lot of weight hanging over the front end as the stands were behind the front tires. And lastly, if storing your car on it's tires is bad for the suspension, what about all the cars on the road that don't go in storage? They're on their suspension 24 hours a day 365 days a year. So, with these thoughts, I figured I would just keep the car on the ground from now on. As for the tires, I've never had an issue but like Colin's idea of the dollies.
 
I get no flat spotting, run flats tend not to flatten out , very strong sidewalls. I do put 42 lbs of pressure in them before storage. Never put a car on jacks for storage. I store it
in a attached , unheated garage. We have no issues with mice but my car cover is tight over the exhaust anyways.

My routine has been put stabilizer in the tank, make sure you drive it enough to mix it in, fill the tank. Wash it, top up the tire pressure, turn the side mirrors in, put
a cover on it and say goodnight until next April. I do put a battery tender on it every couple of weeks until we head down south after Xmas for the winter. Then I disconnect
the battery for a couple of months.

Spring time , starts no problem tires are fine.
 
I've always just parked my cars. Back in the old days, tires would flat spot and it would take a few short miles to smooth them out. I have never noticed it with radial tires. As for the springs, well, the car sits on them all the rest of the year, so any sagging will happen regardless. With the spring rates in Corvettes, I can't imagine any appreciable sag even over the life of the car. Steel wool in the tail pipes and Bounce dryer sheets everywhere. Works for the car and the cottage. Haven't had a mouse problem in years.
One more thing. Gas stabilizer in the gas tank.
 
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With my old Camaro I went through the hassle of putting the car on jackstands (2 under the K-member and two more just in fron tof the rear trailing arms), take the tires off and bring them inside, change the oil etc...
These days, change the oil if I have done a lot of driving, back the car onto some polystyrene blocks to keep the rubber off the concrete, plug in the battery tender and cover the car. Then over the winter I will pat the car and tell her how many weeks are left until spring
 
Wow. lots of good advice.. I'm planning on installing splash guards and rockers so will place some polystyrene blocks under the tires when I do those.. tires are filled with nitrogen and tire pressure seems good.. as for rodents , its in a nice heated garage attached to my house, haven't had any visitors but I do have a cat who seems to do a good job at keeping flying and crawling critters away lol. As for 12cents talking to the car I do that daily , letting her know that el nino will bring sunny days soon.
 
My garage is REALLY tight for storage so getting a jack under the car to raise it to jack or dolly it would be impossible. While I agree that the sidewalls for run flats are strong, my concern is the temperature of the concrete floor. I keep the air temp above -7c (lower than that and I have read that the tire rubber can crack) and drive the car on top of high density foam ramps called flat stoppers.

One place you can get them is on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/PBMA-Flatstoppers-Tire-Supports/dp/B001O1EEVU

In addition I do the usual wash, wax, stabilizer etc.
 
JamesP said:
Since I'm new to this not sure if I should have my car on stands or not.. I waxed her, hooked up battery tender, added fuel stabilizer. Now I'm hearing that if I don't put it on stands the suspension will sag if it stays in storage on the tires. Anyone help me with this and tell me if my 2016 z51 would be better off lifted off the suspension.
Click to expand...

You'll be fine, better to leave the car on its wheels than have the whole suspension sag on its bump stops.
 
JamesP said:
Since I'm new to this not sure if I should have my car on stands or not.. I waxed her, hooked up battery tender, added fuel stabilizer. Now I'm hearing that if I don't put it on stands the suspension will sag if it stays in storage on the tires. Anyone help me with this and tell me if my 2016 z51 would be better off lifted off the suspension.
Click to expand...

I put mine on rubber mats, Walmart $12 and no issues with the suspension. I've read about this many times. Maybe older cars had that problem??
 
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