Tire Storage?
- Thread starter ET16
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They are mounted on rims / wheels ?
Originally Posted by ET16
I'm putting some tires away and see that there are various recommendations as to best practice. Some say put tires in black plastic bags, also reduce pressure.
I've never done any of this.
They should be stored in a dark cool place. I guess the black plastic bags could take the place of a "dark place" also they should be stored "flat"
I'm putting some tires away and see that there are various recommendations as to best practice. Some say put tires in black plastic bags, also reduce pressure.
I've never done any of this.
They should be stored in a dark cool place. I guess the black plastic bags could take the place of a "dark place" also they should be stored "flat"
I've been storing mine (tires on rims) horizontally, stacked on top of each other. I don't bother reducing pressure. I usually don't put them in plastic bags, because sometimes they are still a bit wet, and I want the moisture to be able to easily evaporate. They sit in a climate controlled storage unit or my basement.
Maybe I am just lazy. Maybe it is a good idea. I store mine upright between the fence and storage shed. It is in shade there pretty much all the time. Moist area so it doesn't dry things out badly. Tires are out of the way and unseen by anyone. There is two feet between the fence and shed so it is a perfect place to roll the tires in and keep them for the winter or summer depending on the tires being stored there.
I store mine over-inflated-- have had a couple partially unseat the bead, perhaps just due to corrosion, and then come back a "leaker" when pressed back into service.
I like to pick a real crisp late fall day with the dew point at about 10'F so I can fill them with the most dry air possible.
I like to pick a real crisp late fall day with the dew point at about 10'F so I can fill them with the most dry air possible.
I store the regular tires in my breezeway since I only use winters for about 3.5-4 months.
The winter tires are stored dry in the basement packed in black garage bags.
I usually leave full pressure in them so it amounts to about 35-40psi in the winter tires.
I stack them on their side in 1 stack 4 high and have cardboard rounds I place in-between the tires.
I dont usually clean the wheels and tires... however the extra lug bolts and lugnuts get a soaking with wd-40 or boeshield t-9 in a double ziplock bag.
otherwise they can rust(esp the aftermarket ones)
These were 3 year old winter tire lugnuts from tirerack.. forgot to spray them when I put them away and... poof.
The winter tires are stored dry in the basement packed in black garage bags.
I usually leave full pressure in them so it amounts to about 35-40psi in the winter tires.
I stack them on their side in 1 stack 4 high and have cardboard rounds I place in-between the tires.
I dont usually clean the wheels and tires... however the extra lug bolts and lugnuts get a soaking with wd-40 or boeshield t-9 in a double ziplock bag.
otherwise they can rust(esp the aftermarket ones)
These were 3 year old winter tire lugnuts from tirerack.. forgot to spray them when I put them away and... poof.
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Drop the pressure to 15psi. 1st choice is to hang them, next choice is to store them upright, last choice is stack them. If you stack them, rotate the bottom to the top regularly.
When I did the summer/winter thing I had a wheel and tire stand. Keeps them off the ground and off of each other. Casters so you can roll them around if you need to. My stand came with a bag that went over the set. I stored them at half pressure
From a tire engineer's perspective:
Storing tires:
1) Store then standing up - that is on their tread. No, they won't flatspot, because the load on the tire is so tiny! if you can't store them standing up, try to only stack them 2 high.
2) Don't adjust the inflation pressure. Adding air always adds oxygen. It would be best to add only the minimum amount, so do that just before putting them back into service.
3) Store them in the dark, away from sources of oxygen and ozone - electric motors, etc. Oxygen and ozone attack rubber.
4) Moisture isn't as big of a problem, but avoid standing water.
5) Storing in a bag is a good idea, especially if you can fill it with nitrogen.
Storing tires:
1) Store then standing up - that is on their tread. No, they won't flatspot, because the load on the tire is so tiny! if you can't store them standing up, try to only stack them 2 high.
2) Don't adjust the inflation pressure. Adding air always adds oxygen. It would be best to add only the minimum amount, so do that just before putting them back into service.
3) Store them in the dark, away from sources of oxygen and ozone - electric motors, etc. Oxygen and ozone attack rubber.
4) Moisture isn't as big of a problem, but avoid standing water.
5) Storing in a bag is a good idea, especially if you can fill it with nitrogen.
4WD
$50 site donor 2025
The industrial sized trash bags (fit steel drums) will go over most tire sizes and are cheaper than the fancy storage covers that don't always cover insides and outsides of the tire …
Originally Posted by CapriRacer
Storing tires:
2) Don't adjust the inflation pressure. Adding air always adds oxygen. It would be best to add only the minimum amount, so do that just before putting them back into service.
Is there any merit in reducing the pressure (e.g. down to 10-15 lbs.) ? I was under the impression that the damaging oxygen molecules migrate through the tire (toward the outside lower pressure area) and storage at a reduced pressure would also reduce this migration. Is this incorrect or just so insignificant that there is no real benefit to reduce the tire pressure?
Storing tires:
2) Don't adjust the inflation pressure. Adding air always adds oxygen. It would be best to add only the minimum amount, so do that just before putting them back into service.
Is there any merit in reducing the pressure (e.g. down to 10-15 lbs.) ? I was under the impression that the damaging oxygen molecules migrate through the tire (toward the outside lower pressure area) and storage at a reduced pressure would also reduce this migration. Is this incorrect or just so insignificant that there is no real benefit to reduce the tire pressure?
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Originally Posted by Cressida
Originally Posted by CapriRacer
Storing tires:
2) Don't adjust the inflation pressure. Adding air always adds oxygen. It would be best to add only the minimum amount, so do that just before putting them back into service.
Is there any merit in reducing the pressure (e.g. down to 10-15 lbs.) ? I was under the impression that the damaging oxygen molecules migrate through the tire (toward the outside lower pressure area) and storage at a reduced pressure would also reduce this migration. Is this incorrect or just so insignificant that there is no real benefit to reduce the tire pressure?
Here's the way I see it.
When you fill a tire with air, the oxygen immediately starts to migrate out. Oxygen migrates out faster than the more prominent nitrogen. Over time, the percentage of oxygen inside the tire is less than the atmosphere.
Caution: Science Ahead!
The law of partial pressure of gases states that you can treat a mixture of gases as though they were individual gases. That means that the air inside the tire will try to leak out and each gas will act independently, so the oxygen (with its smaller molecule) will leak out faster. Eventually the oxygen level will be the same as the atmosphere ~ 3 psi.
So the question on the table is: Is it better to let a tire put away for the winter to sit with whatever oxygen level is in the tire, then refill just before use - OR - to reduce the pressure, then refill it with 15 psi fresh air (and 21% oxygen).
Some things to think about: The amount of oxygen in a tire pressurized to 30 psi is about 3 times what is if it were at zero psi. Reducing the pressure to 15 psi only changes that to half.
So to solve this problem, we need to know how rapidly oxygen migrates out of a tire. A Google search yields a study by Consumer Reports that tires inflated with air lost 3.5 psi in a year, where tires inflated with nitrogen lost 2.2 psi - a difference of 1.3 psi. Let's assume that 1.3 psi is all oxygen (a bad assumption, but it makes the math easier)
********* At this point, I realized that the math was starting to get complicated and I wanted to think about this for a while. I'll post back when I've done the math! **********
Originally Posted by CapriRacer
Storing tires:
2) Don't adjust the inflation pressure. Adding air always adds oxygen. It would be best to add only the minimum amount, so do that just before putting them back into service.
Is there any merit in reducing the pressure (e.g. down to 10-15 lbs.) ? I was under the impression that the damaging oxygen molecules migrate through the tire (toward the outside lower pressure area) and storage at a reduced pressure would also reduce this migration. Is this incorrect or just so insignificant that there is no real benefit to reduce the tire pressure?
Here's the way I see it.
When you fill a tire with air, the oxygen immediately starts to migrate out. Oxygen migrates out faster than the more prominent nitrogen. Over time, the percentage of oxygen inside the tire is less than the atmosphere.
Caution: Science Ahead!
The law of partial pressure of gases states that you can treat a mixture of gases as though they were individual gases. That means that the air inside the tire will try to leak out and each gas will act independently, so the oxygen (with its smaller molecule) will leak out faster. Eventually the oxygen level will be the same as the atmosphere ~ 3 psi.
So the question on the table is: Is it better to let a tire put away for the winter to sit with whatever oxygen level is in the tire, then refill just before use - OR - to reduce the pressure, then refill it with 15 psi fresh air (and 21% oxygen).
Some things to think about: The amount of oxygen in a tire pressurized to 30 psi is about 3 times what is if it were at zero psi. Reducing the pressure to 15 psi only changes that to half.
So to solve this problem, we need to know how rapidly oxygen migrates out of a tire. A Google search yields a study by Consumer Reports that tires inflated with air lost 3.5 psi in a year, where tires inflated with nitrogen lost 2.2 psi - a difference of 1.3 psi. Let's assume that 1.3 psi is all oxygen (a bad assumption, but it makes the math easier)
********* At this point, I realized that the math was starting to get complicated and I wanted to think about this for a while. I'll post back when I've done the math! **********
I'm back and figured out an easier way to figure this out.
If I have 2 tires that I am going to store - one at 30 psi, and one a 15 psi. They both start freshly mounted. That means that the 30 psi tire initially has 6.2 psi oxygen and the 15 psi tire has 3.1 psi oxygen. That would seem to be a big advantage in preventing oxygen degradation..
Based on Consumers Reports study that over the span of a year, air filled tires lost 3.5 psi where Nitrogen filled tires lost 2.2 psi, that means that 1.3 psi was oxygen that was lost,
So assuming that I store the tires for 4 months, then refill the tires back to 30 psi for 8 months, then reduce the 15 psi tire back to 15 psi for storage, then refill both back to 30 psi: At the end of the second storage period, the internal oxygen pressure would be 4.97 psi for the 30 psi tire and 5.44 psi for the 15 psi tire. That's an advantage of about a half a psi for 30 psi tire.
Assuming I do this repeatedly, the advantage for the 30 psi grows.
But I haven't accounted for the time where the pressure is reduced in storage (and the amount of oxygen pushed through the tire during that time). So during the first storage, the oxygen in the 30 psi tire is 3.1 psi higher, almost the same when refilled and put back into service, and 4.7 psi vs 2.5 psi during the second storage (a difference of 2.2 psi). - and since the storage period is half as long the time in service, it's that same as the 30 psi tire being exposed to 1.1 psi more oxygen.
So there does appear to be a bit of an advantage to reducing the pressure. But I wonder if the reduced pressure makes for flatspotting during storage. I think not, but I have no experience with this.
Thanks to Cressida for challenging me on this. I learned something new today!
If I have 2 tires that I am going to store - one at 30 psi, and one a 15 psi. They both start freshly mounted. That means that the 30 psi tire initially has 6.2 psi oxygen and the 15 psi tire has 3.1 psi oxygen. That would seem to be a big advantage in preventing oxygen degradation..
Based on Consumers Reports study that over the span of a year, air filled tires lost 3.5 psi where Nitrogen filled tires lost 2.2 psi, that means that 1.3 psi was oxygen that was lost,
So assuming that I store the tires for 4 months, then refill the tires back to 30 psi for 8 months, then reduce the 15 psi tire back to 15 psi for storage, then refill both back to 30 psi: At the end of the second storage period, the internal oxygen pressure would be 4.97 psi for the 30 psi tire and 5.44 psi for the 15 psi tire. That's an advantage of about a half a psi for 30 psi tire.
Assuming I do this repeatedly, the advantage for the 30 psi grows.
But I haven't accounted for the time where the pressure is reduced in storage (and the amount of oxygen pushed through the tire during that time). So during the first storage, the oxygen in the 30 psi tire is 3.1 psi higher, almost the same when refilled and put back into service, and 4.7 psi vs 2.5 psi during the second storage (a difference of 2.2 psi). - and since the storage period is half as long the time in service, it's that same as the 30 psi tire being exposed to 1.1 psi more oxygen.
So there does appear to be a bit of an advantage to reducing the pressure. But I wonder if the reduced pressure makes for flatspotting during storage. I think not, but I have no experience with this.
Thanks to Cressida for challenging me on this. I learned something new today!
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