Boards under tires

As full timers with a lot of stuff, we had no room to store boards. We used flexible cutting mats under our tires when parked for more than a week or so. Cheap and easy to store. They don't address the pavement depression issue but that wasn't a problem in any of the places we stayed.

EV2 wrote:

Effy wrote:
Rolling tires under weight keeps the oils moving, flexes them and keeps them in good shape. The worst thing for any tire is to sit, drying out and hardening. So your argument is moot because it's apples and oranges.

How often should the oil be changed?:h

I replace the oil in my tires every season.

I have't used boards or covers for 18 yrs of Motorhoming and change tires @ 6years and never had any tire problems.

Effy wrote:

DutchmenSport wrote:
Simple question to answer your question? Do you park your family car on boards? Why not? You just answered your own question.

However, reason why you SHOULD use boards for your RV.

1) If you are parked on soft ground, like sand, grass, or dirt. It helps keep the tires from sinking in the ground. When it rains, the ground softens and the tires begin to sink. Pulling out of a hole might be difficult, or even cause you to get stuck and need a tow truck to wench you out. If you use boards, the tires will never sink in the ground. The board may, but the tires will not, always insuring you are able move the camper freely.

2) If you are parked on asphalt. The weight of the camper and not moving the camper at all in heat, can cause the asphalt under the tires to soften and result in the asphalt having dimples where the tires sat. If you use boards, the weight of the camper is distributed over a wider area and will not cause the asphalt to dimple.

3) If you are parked on a solid surface (asphalt or concrete) and it's prone to flooding, boards under the tires may help raise the camper higher than the water, keeping the tires dry.

4) Boards under the tires help level the camper side-to-side.

If it was bad for tires to be sitting directly on concrete, asphalt, dirt, grass, or sand, then ALL of our vehicles are in SERIOUS trouble.

Simple, you drive your car often and keep the tires moving which is good for the tires. That's why you don't do it on your car. If it sat for months, it's an entirely different scenario. Rolling tires under weight keeps the oils moving, flexes them and keeps them in good shape. The worst thing for any tire is to sit, drying out and hardening. So your argument is moot because it's apples and oranges.

We only use boards to level, so usally one side has boards. We don't use rear jacks as we don't mind the flex in the 5er when moving around unless the springs receive all movement the tires do flex and are not static loaded.

One thing to make sure is the boards are wider and longer the contact patch of your tires. This will help to prevent damage to the layers and bands that make up the tire.

I always store on gravel, I get 10 years out of most tires, which some posters say is impossibly long, but I've never had a flat and observed only slight cracking.
My understanding is continuous heat is the prime cause of the tread cracks, followed by continuous water and underinflation. This would be indicate gravel is best, and meets my personal experience for the very limited information that provides, and boards should minimize heat problems on ashfault as well as moisture when the surface is soil but likely still not as good as gravel in a wet environment.
For what's it's worth a guy who sells used tires told me he figures it's almost all inflation that leads to structural cracks, he would not buy a tire that was let sit with significantly low pressure which he says is easy to spot even if reflated. He was talking extremely underinflated and car tires, which is not the same i'd hope anyway, but a tire that underinflated long enough for it to be visable probably means a car that sat around a lot....

Back in the day when most cars had frames it was common to store them long term on concrete blocks topped with wood. The vehicles were then supported on the frame. That way it was easy to maintain level and take the weight off both the tires and the suspension. I don't see that much any more but hey, do whatever works for you. Crawling under or working on vehicles suspended this way was always discouraged.

Chum lee

Effy wrote:
...The comparison you made has no real correlation....

OK, let me explain. Sometimes word can be confusing?

Simple question to answer your question? Do you park your family car on boards?

For almost everyone, the answer is "no!"

Why not?

Because we move our vehicles too often, and parking on lumber is just about ridiculous.


You just answered your own question.

What IS the answer I was expecting, logically? use lumber if you are not moving your vehicle/or camper over a long term period. Why? Especially for those reasons cited (1, 2, 3, and 4).

But, even with that? how many park their cars on lumber long term ... say at long term parking lots at Airports, in storage if you're a snowbird and leaving a vehicle parked (North or South in the USA) ... somewhere for 6 months? Being deployed in the military and your car sits in storage? Does anyone put their cars on boards, even when parked long term? I don't think so.

Is parking on boards REALLY necessary for RV then? Really? No. But we do it because of other underlying reasons.

Sorry for the confusion. Hope this helps.

DutchmenSport wrote:

EV2 wrote:

Effy wrote:
Rolling tires under weight keeps the oils moving, flexes them and keeps them in good shape. The worst thing for any tire is to sit, drying out and hardening. So your argument is moot because it's apples and oranges.

How often should the oil be changed?:h

Wouldn't it still be equally as bad for the tire if it WERE sitting on a lumber, and the tire never moved during this time? Your's is the mute argument. It's not the surface the tire sits on that degrades a tire, it's the fact the tire does not move and sits in one spot. This is the number one reason why tires dry rot. ... The type of surface they sit on has little or no affect. It's the lack of mobility of the tire that degrades it (that and direct sun light).

It's moot, not mute.

Anyway, yes some surfaces can have degrading effects as mentioned on tire manufacturer's websites. I think a link was posted below from Michelin. I agree not moving at all is the number one reason as mentioned in my other post. Your comparison of putting tires on boards was to a tire not moving for 6 months to a daily driver. It seems you obviously know the difference as you just said it yourself. Putting boards under a daily driver is worthless, putting them under a tire that sits for 6 months has value in defending against degrading surfaces as mentioned by the tire companies themselves. The comparison you made has no real correlation. they are different - as reiterated in your own comment. So I don't know if you are arguing for arguments sake but I am not sure what other point you are trying to make.

And I am not sure if you're trying to be funny about the oils or not - it's hard to tell - but yes tires have oils in them which react better when exercised.

EV2 wrote:

Effy wrote:
Rolling tires under weight keeps the oils moving, flexes them and keeps them in good shape. The worst thing for any tire is to sit, drying out and hardening. So your argument is moot because it's apples and oranges.

How often should the oil be changed?:h

Wouldn't it still be equally as bad for the tire if it WERE sitting on a lumber, and the tire never moved during this time? Your's is the mute argument. It's not the surface the tire sits on that degrades a tire, it's the fact the tire does not move and sits in one spot. This is the number one reason why tires dry rot. ... The type of surface they sit on has little or no affect. It's the lack of mobility of the tire that degrades it (that and direct sun light).