Winterizing - getting tires off the ground

derh20 wrote:
We store our MH in a covered facility with gravel. I purchased a rubber mat, the kind you find in horse stalls, cut it down to size and placed them under all tires. I have not heard of others doing this, but it made sense to me. Comments are welcome.

Been storing mine on horse mats for years.

We store our MH in a covered facility with gravel. I purchased a rubber mat, the kind you find in horse stalls, cut it down to size and placed them under all tires. I have not heard of others doing this, but it made sense to me. Comments are welcome.

I left our RV up on jacks for 6 months in storage as we live in Europe and could not check it. Two reasons - one if the tyre pressure went down it could damage a tyre with the subsequent cost. Cost of one tyre is the cost of the jacks! Secondly unsure about this "flat spotting" people go on about with all the weight on the tyres (vehicle is kept fully loaded as we have no home to unload to here). Good to hear someone has said it is a "old wives tale" on GoodSam blog as never seen this a problem on cars.
What I did was jack the vehicle up so tyres are just touching the ground, but have no weight on. It does not risk it "falling off" the jacks and moving then. Jack stands are expensive/heavy and huge and we would need to move them to any new storage location with us. The solution I used was buying 5 hydraulic bottle lift jacks, using 1 for lifting and then placing a jack underneath just with its screw up to the correct height, which required placing wood under it. You must NOT leave it with the hydraulic ram extended as in time it will go back down due to normal small leakage past seals. Then I removed the extra jack and used it again for the next location. All 5 jacks store very nicely under my front left bench seat. Also then available for a tire change!
use the link address in my last post for photos- I can not get a post to work with the link icon :(

http://footlooserv.com/storage.htm

When parked for a long time outside, it is a very good idea to get the tires elevated so that they do not sit in water. Blacktop and gravel driveways tend to "dimple" from the weight of the motor home and therefore create a puddling condition. Jacking up the tires is ideal, but even driving the rig up on 2" tall patio blocks is good, just so the puddle waterline is below the rubber tire.

The condition is more concerning in freezing climates. You really don't want the tires to go through cycles of freezing and thawing in puddles of water, especially on the same exact spot of each tire.

If your parking pad does not develop puddles where your RV tires sit, then you are in good shape. You don't have to fuss at all in that regard. It never hurts to put the max PSI in each tire as stated on the tires which for most "E" rated tires is 80 PSI. This way you minimize ground contact and have a better chance of having enough air in the tires in the spring time to drive the rig to an air station. Tires always loose air, especially from the swings in daily temperatures along with unseasonably warm days to unseasonably cold days throughout the storage period.

I agree that the sun can damage the tires so I think covering them is a good idea, as long as what you cover them with won't hold water and introduce the rubber-in-water condition.

Thanks guys. These are great answers and will save me a few $$.

X2 I do cover them the sun will do more damage than anything else will.

If you plan to stay put for a few years, it'll save developing flat spots, but otherwise, it's an old wives tale that a few months sitting still will hurt your tires.

I've never thought it was necessary but opinions vary on the subject.

Sort of falls into the "can't hurt" but not enough benefit to motivate me!

I always try to run mine at least a few times over the winter anyway.

I may consider raising the tires off the ground if my plan was for really long term storage, but not for 6 months or so.