Winter storage

[phylandmac]

I'm storing a 40-foot Damon indoors on concrete for the winter. I'm considering blocking the axles with wood just a 1/2 inches lower and letting air pressure way down for the winter.

Anybody got any cautions or advice?

[wolfe10]

I'm storing a 40-foot Damon indoors on concrete for the winter. I'm considering blocking the axles with wood just a 1/2 inches lower and letting air pressure way down for the winter.

Anybody got any cautions or advice?

Welcome to the FMCA Forum.

To take any significant weight off the tires by deflating them after blocking the axles, you would REALLY have to lower PSI. And that would have the tires stored in a very "out of round"/deformed condition and basically little more than flat. That is hard on the tires.

Were you going to "lessen the load" on the tires, it would be better to use the jacks to raise the chassis and block the chassis to axles or chassis to ground-- remember SAFETY FIRST while you are under there.

Many of us also use the jacks to relieve some of the load on the tires and suspension. We take about 50% of the weight of the vehicle with the jacks-- and have done that when storing for the more than a decade. We have HWH jacks-- OK per them and we have never experienced a problem. Check with your jack manufacturer to make sure it is acceptable with your jacks.

The following is from the Michelin RV Tire Guide. Go to http://www.michelinrvtires.com/michelinrv/...ce-material.jsp. Click on "RV Tire Guide."

LONG TERM STORAGE AND RV TIRES

Unless the RV owner is a full-time RV-er, the vehicle probably spends some time in long-term storage. But what the RV owner probably didn’t know is that rubber tires age when not being used. So, if the owner must store the RV, a cool, dry, sealed garage is the best bet. Also, some storage

surfaces can cause tires to age faster. That’s why Michelin recommends placing a barrier (cardboard, plastic or plywood) between the tire and the storage surface.

Here are some other steps the RV owner can take to help reduce the aging effects from long-term storage:

1) Thoroughly clean tires with soap and water before placing into storage.

2) Cover tires to block direct sunlight and ultraviolet rays.

3) Store out of a high ozone area.

Note: When a vehicle is stored, tires should be inflated to the inflation pressure indicated on the sidewall.

Before removing the vehicle from long-term storage, thoroughly inspect each tire ��" this includes sidewalls, tread area, and air pressure. If the tires have lost air, be sure to inflate them to the correct pressure before driving.

Brett Wolfe

[tbutler]

I'm going to add just a couple of items. First of all, the information about the pressure for the tires is correct, inflate them to the maximum pressure allowed for the tires or the rims. You can only go as high as the lower of these two pressures. Taking some weight off the tires by using the motor home jacks or jacking the axles will allow the tires to be in a more nearly perfectly round shape.

Concrete is not a bad material to park on but wood (boards or plywood), plastic (a friend of ours bought a set of six cutting boards at Wal-Mart) or cardboard would all help. I've heard of using truck mudflaps for parking pads and there are also specific parking pads sold by some suppliers. The important thing here is to be certain that the full contact of the tire on the surface is supported by whatever pad you use under the tires. Do not let part of the tire contact with the surface hang off an edge. One of the worst surfaces for storing tires is asphalt. The petroleum base of the asphalt will attack the contact surface of the tire.

Finally, a common source of ozone is electric motors. If the area where you are storing your motor home is in an enclosed space that has electric motors there will be elevated ozone levels which will attack the tire surfaces. There may be other spark producing equipment that produce ozone, anything which produces an electrical spark will produce ozone.