Storing Tyres

[Tim Falce]

I've just bought a couple of new tyres, they will be at least 2-3 years old but unused and still with the labels on, and I probably wont be using them for a while as the set I already have don't seem to wear that quickly.
What's the best way to store them to avoid them hardening or cracking? My options are in a shed, in my loft or outside.

[tristancliffe]

Cool, dry and dark are the best places. Ideally (but only for nitpickers) not stacked.

So it depends how dark and dry your shed is, and whether it has space for 4 tyres not stacked (unless you aren't a nitpicker). In which case use the loft.

[jerryk]

quite right you dont want to put anything in a shed with all that tanning in the wood, dreadfull. The only thing worse is a wooden shed with a concrete base.

[Tim Falce]

So leaving them in the stables on a concrete floor with water buckets in them is not a good idea then.

[jerryk]

Originally Posted by falcemob

So leaving them in the stables on a concrete floor with water buckets in them is not a good idea then.

no thats spot on it stops the buckets falling over. you could always plant them up with taters until you need them , get a nice crop of early's.

[Adam43]

I found in the house and covered was quite good. Mrs A wasn't too happy, but I managed to keep it up for a few months as we were moving house.

Always kept tyres stacked, for practical reasons. What is the issue with stacking them?

Generally I keep them in a dehumidified garage.

What are people's thoughts on pressure to leave them on. I've just left them at normal tyre pressures. Does that make any difference? Only comedy theory I can come up with is a desire to keep a good seal.

[Mr.Jingles]

I was always told if they were track (not road) tyres to cling-film the treads to prevent oil loss from the tires AND protect the soft rubber from picking up any crap?

[jerryk]

both i am sure very sound methods but you won't get a good crop of early taties that way

man goes to the docs with a strawberry growing out of his head
doc gives him some cream to put on it

[ubrben]

Put them in a black bag and store in a cool dry place away from any sorces of ozone - i.e. electrical equipment.

The moisture thing is key. Even if you use dry air or nitrogen you may have moisture within the tyre itself, and this can cause excessive pressure rise no matter how dry the gas is.

Ben

[R59]

Originally Posted by falcemob

So leaving them in the stables on a concrete floor with water buckets in them is not a good idea then.

Tim, that's a splendid idea, however, when your 16hh Friesian mare decides it's a good idea to stand on it..... doesn't do the sidewalls a lot of good.

Realistically - a stable temperature, not too cold, not to hot, somewhere around 60F, not too humid, and not too dry, and dark.

I have some lovely sun-dried Dunlop Wets. Done about 20 laps of Silverstone National, now totally sh*gged with the sidewalls split due to them not wearing Factor15, or raybans.


Rob.

[kjw]

Interested to know how Dunlop store their stocks of race tyres. How long do they keep them before they are sold and in what conditions they are kept. They must have some sizes that don't sell and just sit on the shelf for a while. Do they destroy the old stock or sell it of at a discount price? Never seem to see discounted race tyres.

[Jeff 8]

I store tyres off the rims in the black bags they come in (well the Dunlops and Yokohamas do, Avons don't) and wrap the surface in cling wrap. I also do this with my wets on the rims between race meetings.

What's the issue with concrete floors?

Jeff

[Tim Falce]

Originally Posted by Jeff 8

What's the issue with concrete floors?

Jeff

That was a wind up as I have just laid a concete base for my new shed/workshop but on a serious note a few years ago I put some tyres in a cellar and when I checked them a year or so later something from the floor, possibly lime, had eaten a neat round hole in the tyre that was on the floor.

[greenamex2]

I keep mine in the loft. It's dark, dry and at a fairly consistent temperature.

[Jeff 8]

I was wondering is it better to store tyres on their sides or upright? I have quite a lot of tyres at the moment, as I have bought up for the season, also some different sizes, brands and compounds for some tyre testing and they are taking up a lot of floor space. There are more coming too as I still need wets and am tossing up between Avons or Yokies or get both and test them at wet practice days or clubbies.

Jeff

[EdLeake]

Wrap just the contact patch in clingfilm and not the whole tyre as you could catch moisture and 'sweat' them.

Pitch black and cool, stacking is fine so long as it's just 1 tyre on top of the other, don't stack higher than 3 because even this little weight can crack and deform the lower/supporting tyre.

Keep them out of sunlight is key.

In the right circumstances tyres will last for years and years in storage.

[tristancliffe]

Brian Davies from Avon told me that the idea of clingfilming the tyres is bulls**t, and it's just make the tyres go off many times quicker. And he didn't agree with scraping the tyres with a hot air gun either.

[R59]

Unless you've coated the tyre in "Grip" or similar..... whoops, shouldn't cast nasturtiums about people using compound softeners should I ......

[Jeff 8]

Originally Posted by tristancliffe

Brian Davies from Avon told me that the idea of clingfilming the tyres is bulls**t, and it's just make the tyres go off many times quicker. And he didn't agree with scraping the tyres with a hot air gun either.

I was told the same about the clingfilm by a tyre guy at the track on the weekend, well not the going off quicker but that it is a waste. Funny as the tyre place that grooved the tyre wrapped it.

As for the heat gun I used to do this but was told each time is another heat cycle, so shorter life.

Jeff