Storage Tire Saver Cradle?

[John M.]

I saw a Tire Saver that is supposed to help eliminate flat spots on tires during storage. This was advertised in Popular Mechanics magazine. This is sold by Garage Pro. The web site is www.YourGaragePro.com I would like to know if anybody on this forum knows anything about this tire saver or has experience with it. Opinions on it are welcome too. I can't provide a picture of it but it cradles the tire so it is not resting on its bottom tread, but instead puts pressure on the tire above the bottom, front and back, so there is not any or much weight on the bottom tread of the tire You can view this tire saver on the above web site. Beware though, when I visited this web site I found it is not a secure web site. I also found that there were six questions submitted to this web site dating back to 2018 that were not answered. Doesn't speak well for this web site.

I thought that using this concept it wouldn't be very hard to build a similar product out of wood that would perform the same as or better than the one shown on the web site. You could tailor make it to fit the tires diameter and also make it deeper. What I envision might not be a roll-on but instead it would be a jack each wheel up, slide the cradle under tire, let tire down into cradle.

What do you think?????????????

Save the Wave ........... JGM

[Duke W.]

Re: Storage Tire Saver Cradle?

Have you ever experienced permanent tire damage due to "flatspotting"? Few have. Sitting for a long time can cause flatspots, but most will round out again once the tire warms up from a few miles of driving.

Flatspotting is more common with tires that have nylon cord, but most tires on vintage Corvettes today are cheap polyester or rayon cord "van tires". Nylon bias ply tires are very rare and only radials with a speed rating H or above have spiral wrapped nylon cap belts.

The bottom line is that these things are a solution looking for a problem. If you keep proper pressure in tires, like no less than 30 psi minor flat spots that might form over time from sitting will usually round out after a few miles of driving.

Duke

[Tom B.]

Re: Storage Tire Saver Cradle?

I would think that if you have tires that actually are susceptible to flat spotting then in would make no difference where you apply pressure against the tread surface. That pressure point would be the point of an out of round deflection from setting over a long period of time. Seems like this fix is just moving the perceived flat spot from the bottom up a little on two spots per tire. If you are really worried about flat spotting you need to store your car on jack stands so all 4 tires are off the ground with no contact to anything.

Tom

[Duke W.]

Re: Storage Tire Saver Cradle?

That puts suspension bushings at risk since they are strained in torsion with the suspension hanging free, and that's why the service manuals say to torque the suspension bushing bolts at normal ride height.

It's a lot cheaper to replace tires than suspension bushings. The whole idea that letting a car sit too long damages tires is way overblown. As long as reasonable pressure is maintained the vast, vast majority will be okay' and any initial flat spots will disappear as the tire warms up from driving.

Duke

[Joe L.]

Re: Storage Tire Saver Cradle?

Have you ever experienced permanent tire damage due to "flatspotting"? Few have. Sitting for a long time can cause flatspots, but most will round out again once the tire warms up from a few miles of driving.

Flatspotting is more common with tires that have nylon cord, but most tires on vintage Corvettes today are cheap polyester or rayon cord "van tires". Nylon bias ply tires are very rare and only radials with a speed rating H or above have spiral wrapped nylon cap belts.

The bottom line is that these things are a solution looking for a problem. If you keep proper pressure in tires, like no less than 30 psi minor flat spots that might form over time from sitting will usually round out after a few miles of driving.

Duke

Duke------


I can tell you, for sure, that Goodyear Eagle F1's will flat spot after prolonged garage sitting. I just experienced it yesterday with my 1992 after it was not driven for 6+ months. It took about 8 miles for it to smooth out.

[John F.]

Re: Storage Tire Saver Cradle?

Anyone over inflate for storage?

[Duke W.]

Re: Storage Tire Saver Cradle?

Duke------


I can tell you, for sure, that Goodyear Eagle F1's will flat spot after prolonged garage sitting. I just experienced it yesterday with my 1992 after it was not driven for 6+ months. It took about 8 miles for it to smooth out.

Those are high speed rated tires (like Y?), so they have a least one spiral wrapped nylon cap belt, and as you found out they rounded out after a few miles of driving to warm them up.

When storing a car inflate the tires to the maximum cold inflation pressure placarded on the side wall or at least 35 psi. A good tire and bead seal will only allow a loss of about 1 psi per month. Also, TP increases one psi for every 10 degree rise in temperature, so if you top off the tires when it's cold and check them later when it's warmer, pressure may actually be a little higher.

Also, some guys will "roll" the car a quarter tire turn periodically. I don't think that's necessary, but it certainly won't hurt.

Duke

[Paul H.]

Re: Storage Tire Saver Cradle?

All those cradles do is lighten your wallet. Driving is a great idea.

[Frank D.]

Re: Storage Tire Saver Cradle?

All those cradles do is lighten your wallet. Driving is a great idea.

Yup, for long term storage I'd worry a lot more about mice, gas going stale, brake fluid collecting water and the clutch sticking to the pressure plate.
(Or so a friend has told me)

[John M.]

Re: Storage Tire Saver Cradle?

Thanks for the input guys, you touched on some concerns about the cradles that had already crossed my mind. I'm going to forget about them. My car is a C4 1994 LT1 convertible with Goodyear Eagle GS-C EMT tires, front P255/45ZR17, rear P285/40ZR17. I live in cold/snow/ice/salt country in the Chippewa Valley of Wisconsin. Winter storage for a car you care about is not an option. I have owned this car for almost 20 years. In the past I have stored this car yearly for about 6 months or until spring rains have flushed the salt and calcium chloride off the roads. I park the car on a concrete floor covered with a tarp and two layers of cardboard under the car. In the past I have experienced flat spot tires when I take the car out of storage but, as Duke has said, after a few miles of driving the tires round themselves out and all is well. For the last 3 years though this car has been pretty much ignored due to pancreatic cancer and my life being turned upside-down. My priority turned from Corvettes to survival. So far so good. This year I didn't get this car out of storage until yesterday October 5, to give it some exercise before I put it right back into storage again for winter. This car was unmoved in storage this year for 11 months. Last November when I put this car in storage I inflated the tires to just below the maximum rated cold tire pressure of 44 pounds. I think I inflated them to 40 pounds, 10 pounds above the driving inflation pressure of 30 pounds. I also raised each wheel and placed four 15" square pieces of thick carpeting, rescued from the dumpster of a carpet store, under them. Yesterday when I took the car out of storage the tire pressure was still right around 40 pounds in each tire. I dropped it to 30 pounds. Driving slowly and under the 55 MPH speed limit I could tell that the tires had flat spots but I couldn't tell how severe because this car feels every bump, crack or glitch in the road. After a few miles though things settled down, and when I turned onto I-94 and took the speedometer up to 80 things felt fine.

Save the Wave .................. JGM