I am storing away my 5th Gen Prelude (this applies to any car though) for the winter (6-7 months up here in Canada). I did all the maintenance I could think of. My only concern is the suspension.

I usually put my car on stands, to avoid the tires getting flat spots from sitting in the same position for so long. This leaves my suspension (stock atm) fully unsprung for this period of time.

I would like to hear the pros/cons of having the car on stands as opposed to sitting on the ground. Basically, am I doing more harm than good by lifting it up? Please elaborate.

 

out of curiousity, what have you done for precautions? Drain gas tank, etc..

 

Actually, no, I filled up the tank to the top, put octane stabilizer in it. I put fogging oil into all the cylinders (to keep the seals from drying). Oil changed.

Cleaned her out, jacked up on stands, and wrapped from underneath with a plastic sheet to keep moisture from creeping too much in, as well as other junk from the other cars driving into the garage.

 

i m thinking storing my car this winter too.
is it better to start the car few times a week, or maybe drive a round in the parking lot ( i m living in a condo) rather than just do all the other things??

 

In my opinion (and many other people's) most of the wear on the engine and vehicle as a whole is done when you start it up from the dead.

If you make the proper preparations, that will only be done once, in the spring. Doing it every two weeks damages it the same way, just over and over.

To do all the things above (in a garage) takes less than two hours. You can read this site for more info: http://www.porschenet.com/winter.html

 

No replies eh? Must not have too many northern members

 

since my car is stored outside, i'll have it on jackstands because i dont want my car to be so close to the grass underneath. Airflow will be good enough to keep humidity off of it.

 

Mine just sits in a garage. I'm stupid.

 

if you are going to leave it for a long time, and have rubber or poly bushings and don't have shitty tires to put on it, you are kind of in a catch-22.

storing it on your good tires will make them unhappy.

storing a rubber/poly bushing at full droop will make it unhappy.

here are some ways i've dealt with this-

jackstands, under the control arms. tires are off the ground, suspension is loaded. done.

or

get some steelies with (hell, or without) crappy tires, leave it on the ground and forget about the cheapo tires. feel free to place them on car skates to make shuffling around the garage easier. store your wheels and tires bagged in the basement.