Tyre storage

A seasonal problem?

The question of tyre storage comes up for the average motorist twice a year, usually: in spring, when winter tyres are swapped for summer ones, and correspondingly in autumn, when cars are shod for winter. Sadly, some motorists run into unpleasant surprises at these times, when they bring in last season’s still fairly lightly worn tyres to the tyre fitter’s, only to learn that they are already unfit for further use. And not because the tread is worn, but because the tyre has “aged”, cracked, and can no longer provide an adequate level of safety on the road. It is exactly this kind of situation you can avoid by providing proper conditions for storing tyres between seasons.

Online and on the information boards at tyre-fitting shops you can find recommendations for how best to store wheels while they wait for the season they are meant for. But this is mostly a graphic diagram, similar to the one you will see at the bottom of this page. In fact, the temperature and humidity in the room where the tyres will be stored matter far more for how well they keep and what state they are in than the position they are stored in.

Before you take the tyres off for the season, be sure to mark each one, noting exactly where it stood and which way it was facing. If the tread is directional and the tyres will be stored on their wheels, just mark the front and rear axles. Valve caps of different colours are ideal for this (for example, black on the front wheels, green or nickel-plated on the rear). You can buy caps like these at any tyre-fitting shop for next to nothing.

As soon as the tyres come off, they must be thoroughly washed and dried, removing stones and other objects stuck in the tread pattern. After that you can treat them with a special preservative for tyres (not to be confused with colour restorers, which contain solvent and are no good for preservation). Do not take this recommendation lightly: dirt left over from the road on your wheels will noticeably speed up the tyre’s ageing.

Whether you need plastic bags for storage is for you to decide, depending on the conditions the tyres will be stored in. The one thing to note: if the tyres are stored on pressed steel wheels, the bags should not be sealed airtight, or the condensation that builds up will speed up corrosion of the wheels.

The whole article on how and where to store wheels between seasons