Car Storage

[mgenin]

I'm going to be storing the car (95 Lumina) for 8 months while at school. I want to preferably jack the car off the ground to protect the tires. Under the front control arms seems ok, but where would you put jack stands on the rear? The only place I can see is below the joint where the trailing arm meets the knuckle, but I dont think that the car should sit on that single bolt for a long time.

 

Has anyone stored their car on jack stands? Is it important to keep the suspension under compression, or is it ok to let the wheels hang and just jack it from the rocker panels or elsewhere on the frame?

[J]

I would NOT jack the front up on the lower control arms thats for sure

[Andrew]

I would NOT jack the front up on the lower control arms thats for sure

no way. i really wouldnt worry about your tires honestly. they wont flatspot.

 

what other prep are you doing?

[Euro]

Yeah having it on the ground won't be that big of deal. What else are you planning on doing to store it?

[19Cutlass94]

leave it on the ground, and put a car cover on it. Also, either run it dry of gas or put some kind of stablizer in it. Cause in 8months of sitting gas will go bad...

[1990lumina]

If you're worried put 45psi in the tires and leave it be. If you want put some stabilizer in the gas...I've never worried about it and have never had any issies.

[GP1138]

If you really really hate leaving it on the ground, put jackstands under the lateral links on the body side in the rear, and on the framerails (not the pinch rails) in the front.

[19Cutlass94]

Only thing about putting it on jackstands, is ive heard somewhere its not good to leave the suspension like that. I could be wrong in saying this though

[rockfangd]

I would NOT jack the front up on the lower control arms thats for sure

x2 big nono also it is bad to leave the tension off the suspension. for an extended period of time. my best tip is irish spring soap inside the trunk, airbox, interior, and under the hood. mice cant stand the smell and it wont reek like mothballs. as for the tires just place the tires on short 2*6s or put the psi around 40 to 45

[Psych0matt]

ive heard parking on wood helps fight flatspots. I did it, it worked, but the car also got moved a few times, so it really only sat like a month at a time.

 

do not leaving it up or anything, just let it sit how it would normally. cars spend their whole life resting on the suspension anyways, it can't be good to jack it up or anything for an extended period of time. just park on wood, or put steelies on for the time, and put some gas treatment, and mouse traps/mothballs/soap around it, and your done.

[1990lumina]

Mothballs don't fucking work..it's a myth that's been proved wrong @ my farm on MANY occassions.

[Psych0matt]

you probably have a crap ton more mice than most people do, too.

 

I haven't had a problem here, or at my parents house even, and I didn't even put anything in it, and my parents live out in the middle of nowhere. I've heard dryer sheets work, but I can't comment from experience

[1990lumina]

I'm sure it's just when it's cold enough here the mice don't fucking care what it smells like lol..they'll go wherever...one of our sheds had enough mothballs in it that when you opened the door you almost got knocked out by the smell, and it was also full of dead mice (apparently they had been there all winter judging by the "remaining" pieces of the mice)

[mgenin]

For the past 2 winters I've stored my Lumina for 8 months straight. I bought a 22$ car cover from ebay ( money well spent) even though it was in a garage. I inflated my tires just over 40 psi, I disconnected the battery, added fuel stabilizer, then filled the tank up to the top. I also changed the oil beforehand. Durring these 8 months I drove it once to give it some exercise. I also put a cup full of baking soda and placed it inside the car, it absorbs moisture keeping the interior of the car fresh. Closed all the windows and doors.

 

Who ever said to run the tank dry, thats a bad idea, you could damage your fuel pump, and thats damn expensive. Fuel stabilizer works, no problems there.

 

The reason why I was thinking about jacking the car, is my old set of tires had shifted belts in them and I started noticing vibrations a month after taking it out of storage. Dont know if it was related or not. Also, i just put a new set of tires on, and want to keep them in good shape. But I will visit the car every few months and give it a drive when I can, or at least roll it a few feet.

[CSI_MuNkY]

Don't jack it up! The lateral links and trailing arms in the rear and control arms in the front all have preload set in the bushings. You can see it for yourself by pushing the arms down and watch them spring right back up....

If you jack it up and leave it on stands that long your going to effect the preload. If you don't reset it, by loosening off all the bolts and tightening them with weight on the car, then you will run into issues with the bushings. According to the research I did, when you sit the car back down on the messed up preload the bushings will be forced to rotate more than they are designed to under load. This will cause premature break down of your bushings. Now if you have all Poly bushings (which I'll put lots of money on that you don't) then you would be fine because Poly bushings don't preload the same way. My rear end is all poly, but I was unable to find ANY poly bushings for the front control arms, so I had to set the preload when I changed them.

 

Make sense?

 

Jamie

[Euro]

we store our Monte SS for probably 7-8 months outta the year. All we do is add fuel stabilizer, change the oil beforehand, put a blanket over the passenger side door(just in case my aunt opens her car door too far), roll up the windows and put a cover over it. We come over and start it at least once-twice a month and whenever it's nice out and salt/snow free we drive it.