Lude Generation

I've got a set of 17" wheels that I'm waiting to get refurbished and fitted with tyres (whenever I get around to it ).

I was thinking of keeping my OEM 15" wheels and tyres however I'm worried that storing them for any length of time will damage the tyres.

I thought it'd be useful to keep a set of winter wheels, so how does anyone else store their winter wheels and tyres?

air out and normal room without direct sunlight, you can hang them or stuck on each other ( re-stuck them every month )

The wheels I've currently got on my daily that used to be on the on the project before I parked her up, I kept inside the house for a good year and a half. They started off in the under-stairs cupboard on their end as they held their pressure, and then they moved up into the spare room where I kept them stacked 2 tall. Needless to say keeping them in the house probably isn't ideal for most

The rest of my wheels that are worthy of use (The OEMs from my project lude and the Aerodeck) I have stacked in one of my sheds (literally 8 tall) The lude ones had been stacked 4 tall for probably about 2 years previously, and the addition of the 4 Aerodeck wheels has probably been for about 6 months (Since I've had a sort out.)

None of the wheels have shown any signs of perishing from simply being in a shed. I've not covered any of them as I feel they should be aloud to breathe. Stacking 8 tall probably isn't ideal, but the likelihood that I'll ever actually use them again is slim. The lude ones I'll just use for moving the lude around if I need to. The Aerodeck ones are on top and I'll only ever use those for the MOT.

I've seen people build a rack for wheels before, utilising 2 horizontal wooden beams to sit them in, but I always see that as a bad idea as simply sitting the wheels on two narrow edges can't be any good for a prolonged period of time. At least if they're laid flat, the weight is spread around the whole circumference. Or hang them on padded hooks from the rim themselves.

jozefsan wrote:air out and normal room without direct sunlight, you can hang them or stuck on each other ( re-stuck them every month )

I'd only recommend taking the air out if you're hanging them (ie with no pressure whatsoever on the tyre).

Cheers guys. I was worried that stacking them would cause the tyre to compress, or hard spots to form. May just stack them in a corner, just swapping the order occasionally throughout the months.

I vaguely remember reading that you should bag them?

JayJay wrote:Cheers guys. I was worried that stacking them would cause the tyre to compress, or hard spots to form. May just stack them in a corner, just swapping the order occasionally throughout the months.

I vaguely remember reading that you should bag them?

Really depends on the enviroment. You don't want the tyres drying out, but then you don't want the rims to corrode in too much moisture or extreme temperatures.

Stacking and rotating is the best/easiest method. As I said, once the weight is distrubuted you shouldn't have any issues.

Nothing wrong with racks that I know off, why would race teams, F1, tyre fitters all use racks?

Unsure about wrapping, I've seen wheel covers but they look like a breathable material, I'd say as long as the environment is ok, just leave them open to breathe - and as Jozef says not in sunlight, it will dry them up and crack the rubber over time.

nucleustylzlude wrote:Nothing wrong with racks that I know off, why would race teams, F1, tyre fitters all use racks?

Race teams because they're there only for a short time, and tyre fitters, purely because it's just the tyre... No extra weight of the rim.

Of course if the rack was designed to "cradle" the wheel, then that's a whole different story

I'd disagree. Can't see how a tyre with alloys and air in will damage being stored on a rack system?

Thousands of these racks are used everyday by tons of people, including just enthusiasts and track dayers, I've never heard of any problems.

I think it will come down to how long they sit in the rack. Sans rim/air the time can likely be a LOT longer than a tyre that's inflated with a rim in the middle.

In essence, I think you are both correct. Now hug.