flat spotting tires

[anthony magsanay]

Good day, all. I am scheduled to have surgery on Friday that will incapacitate me for about six to eight weeks and PT for another three months.In order to avoid flatspotting my new tires would it be good enough to just have my wife roll my car back and forth in the garage or should I put the car on jack stands for the duration? Thanks to all, and have a happy holiday

[Matthew Devereux]

Hi. I store my cars all winter and have never had issues with flat spotting. However, this is what Tire Rack says https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech ... ?techid=42
It seems to be that if it occurs it will most likely it will be temporary.

[Adam Wright]

I think it takes years for this to happen. The times I've had cars where this happened was when they had sat for 5 years or more. Like Matthew, my cars sit all winter in the same spot.

[Jim Alton]

If you mean have your wife PUSH the car back and forth, ok. But starting the engine for one minute every week is very, very bad. You get lots of contaminants--especially water--in the oil on startup. You need to get the oil hot and keep it hot for a while to get the contaminants out.

Don't get paranoid about never doing a 5 minute trip but definitely don't make a habit out of weekly short runs.

Leaving the car up on jackstands might be bad. Some say it's hard on the shock absorbers. I know my car will leak gear oil from the left axle boot.

Two things you can do:

Run the tire pressure up to the inflation limit (likely 44 psi but read the sidewall).

Put something under the tires:

• Porsche Classic Tire Pillows
• Race Ramps FlatStoppers®
• Griot's Garage Flat-Free Ramps
• Or, just get some thick carpet scraps and put a layer or two under the tires.

[Emil Wojcik]

Keep the tire pressure up where it should be and let the car sit where it is. With modern tires you won't have any issue with flat spots. My MG sat for almost 20 years without moving an inch without even the slightest sign of flat spots although the tires were obviously toast due to age.

[Craig Richter]

I think flat spotting was a bias ply tire thing. With the introduction of radials this problem went away.

[Geoff Fleming]

You might inflate the tires about five pounds higher than normal but I wouldn't worry about flat spotting after such a short period.

[Mike Wilson]

The consensus is don't worry about flat-spotting. More importantly, here's to a speedy recovery!

Mike

[David Jones]

Worst case I ever had of flat spotting was on a Winnebago back in about 1985. Park overnight and for the first 5 or 6 miles next day it felt like I had square wheels. Once warmed up they were OK. I had tires on my boxster for a while that did the same thing but in a minor way. I could feel it for the first mile or so then once warmed up they were OK again. Never had that issue with any of my 356 tires.

[anthony magsanay]

Fellow members, thanks to all who shared their thoughts about flatspotting my tires. I guess I'm just a little paranoid. Again, thanks and Happy Holidays

[Martin Benade]

Rayon tires were the main culprit of this, a type long forgotten.