dirleton

I'm pretty much sold on the idea of winter tires with dedicated rims and will be taking Tire Rack recommendations into consideration (Michelin Ice 3 is highly rated elsewhere). One thing I do wonder about is options for storage of the set not being used currently. Covers, pads, totes??????????? What are people doing and/or what is best? Thanks.

ceb

Wash, dry, wax wheels and protect tires (Aerospace 303). Once completely dry I put them in bags and stack them on top of each other, separating them with the cardboard discs you got with your Tirerack order.

Tires must be stored out of sunlight to prevent UV damage and dryrot. I've never had a tire that required replacement due to damage during storage using this method - and I've been doing this for about 30 years.

NBP04TL4ME

ceb has got it covered -

carbonTSEX

Why not run your factory wheels on winter tires and dedicate a nice set of rims and tires for summer?

I swap wheels all the time and like mentioned above: wash, dry and wax if you have it. I personally presoak my rims with sonax to remove as much debris and grime from the inside and outsides. Wash and dry afterwards. I wax as well even though they are all in new condition and I do tires shine my tires to keep them moist. Mine are then bagged and stacked (with cardboard in between) in the heated shed. Never had any issues but I do recommend once swapping back to your wheels that are stored to always check tire pressure. Even if they are still fine afterwards.

Sculldog3

I do upwards of a dozen coats of zaino clearsealon the rims, great for winter weather, hit them again pre-storage with one or two. Have also run xi3's for three seasons, great tire.

andysinnh

Maybe I'm just an old-school, hardy New Englander who's been doing this since the 70's, but I don't go quite to the extreme others have shared here when storing my winter tire/wheel combos. Yes, I make sure they're clean of salt/sand before storing them for their season of non-use, and I try to put a light coat of wax on the alloys from time to time..... After all, most of my winter sets are steelies with wheel covers.

For me, it's about stacking them in the cellar and making sure they're aired up and out of the way so I don't have to keep moving them around Below is a picture of 3 of my 4 stacks I took about a year ago just as an example. So you can bag 'em if you like. Or separate them. Or Zaino them 18 times. At the end of the day, the winter wheels/tires get used thru sand and salt and get banged around to do their job - so I keep them serviceable. And the summer rims/tires tend to be in good shape before storing them - and clean/dry before stacking is the ticket.

YMMV.

andy

dirleton

Where did the nice spacers come from?

dirleton

"Why not run your factory wheels on winter tires and dedicate a nice set of rims and tires for summer?"


Can't speak for others but I'm just fine with dedicating the factory wheels as a nice set for summer.

NBP04TL4ME

Looks like straight cardboard trimmed round to fit between :

I am using my OEM "waffles" that came with the car for my winter set up with Blizzaks and years ago found some 8.5" A-Specs (which are also OEM) for Summer driving with Michelin Pilot Super Sports.

andysinnh

A couple of cars back I bought a wheel/tire combo from TireRack.com and when they ship the tires they have those covering the inside and outside of each wheel/tire combo and have them stapped on. I just kept the cardboard and use them only on the top to keep junk from falling on the stack and damaging the rim. I don't use them between the tires - just rubber on rubber :-)

andy

thisaznboi88

iTrader: (7)

I store my outside under 2 tire covers. First one are black individual covers and the second one is a white cover that is UV protective and goes over all 4 tires. I have no room inside of my 1bedroom apt

dirleton

Any recommendations on a wheel wash product? Something to get all the brake dust/crud from the backside?

mrgold35

I did the HyLoft 01031 Folding Storage Loft, Sliver, $45:

Amazon.com Link

Amazon.com Link

It can adjust to 32-48 inches wide, hold 300lbs, I put it up alone with a drill in about 10 mins, and you can also hang bikes off it. This is assuming you have wall and floor space. I ended up installing two units in my garage.

NBP04TL4ME

Did you replace and/or upgrade the mounting hardware? A few of the reviews talked about failure because of the hardware. How long have had yours or how long have you been using them?

rosen39

When I take off the snows in the spring, I'll clean with Griot's Garage Wheel Cleaner, a soft brush on the outside and a wide stiff brush on the inside of the rims. Then a coat of wax.

mrgold35

It has been about 2 - 2 1/2 years since install. I used the stud bolts supplied (6 total I think), found the center point of the stud with a stud finder, pre-drilled the holes, and the rack seems to doing its job. Maybe the negative reviews might have been because the person was off of center or missed the wall studs? I don't need winter tire combo for the southwest; but, I use the rack for my OEM rims and spare tires storage for the TSX and RDX. I have my old MDX Adv rims sitting on the floor.

The rack in the corner has 5 RDX OEM size rims on it. The closest rack has 3 TSX rims, TSX full size spare on OEM rim, RDX full size spare on OEM size rim, and MDX donut spare.

I just wash the tires/rims and put them on the rack. I use to switch out my summer rims with OEM winter rims; but, it has be +5 yrs of an extremely dry winter around here (less trips to mountains for winter vacations).

ceb

I was in Santa Fe this past weekend and drove down to ABQ on Sunday at 4am for the Balloon Fiesta. Amazing.

mrgold35

This year was the first time they were to fly every morning (up to 600 balloons). I was in the area on Sunday morning heading to La Luz trail near the foot hills due east of the balloon park to hike and take pictures.

NBP04TL4ME

Sounds good, but you might want to take a look and check the hardware anyway. Some of the comments/descriptions said that the bolt heads snapped off. Of course this could be because they were overtightened or any number of other reasons but there was more than one complaint about the hardware. One individual had the bolts fail and the rack sent the contents down on the back of his car.

mrgold35

I took a closer look at the lag screws and each rack has a different grade strength marking on the hex bolt heads. The one in the corner has no markings on the head (grade 2, lowest strength most likely). The other rack has 3 radial lines on the head (grade 5, about 50% stronger than grade 2). I'm willing to bet the failures came from the weaker bolts and too much TQ on the power drill; especially, if they didn't drill a pilot hole first. It would be easy for someone to purchase from Home Depot and upgrade to the 3 or 6 radial line lag screws to ensure max strength for installation.

NBP04TL4ME

Sounds good. I just know I would be pretty pissed off if I had four or eight tires/rims fell off the wall and damaged my cars or anything else below them.
I've toyed with the idea of getting some sort of racking but have always kept the my off season tires in the basement.