The proper way to store your ride for winter
- Thread starter 64 AAR Valiant
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kazooom
Well-Known Member
X2 Drive it
ramenth
Gratis persona
Anyone thought of adjusting their brakes all the way in? Keeps the shoes from wanting to freeze to the drums. Or pushing the pistons all the way in the calipers?
Cars the sit for a period of time have a habit of only having a clean spot on the rotors where the pads touch and the rest of the rotor wanting to pick up a little rust. Same way with the drums.
Just wondering if anyone pops the drums and lightly oils them to keep this from happening. Or oils the rotors. Just throwing this out there for off property, cold storage.
And if you are using off-site, cold winter storage, might want to think about fogging the engine.
Cars the sit for a period of time have a habit of only having a clean spot on the rotors where the pads touch and the rest of the rotor wanting to pick up a little rust. Same way with the drums.
Just wondering if anyone pops the drums and lightly oils them to keep this from happening. Or oils the rotors. Just throwing this out there for off property, cold storage.
And if you are using off-site, cold winter storage, might want to think about fogging the engine.
ramenth
Gratis persona
oiling the drums and rotors? Thats a good one. That's right up there with these....
Hey, wiseass, I was talking a light oil with something along the lines of cosmoline or a light rust inhibitor. You know, the **** that comes on 'em new, so they don't rust in the box, waiting to be installed. The **** you need brake cleaner to get off and just a wipe of a rag.
Sure the hell beats getting rust pitted and or have the pads or shoes make nice grinding noise that you think is metal to metal the first time out in the spring.
Had a lot of customers who were snowbirds come into the shop in the spring time to have the brakes checked out. Makes a godawful noise as the pads are cleaning the rust off the rotors after a winter time of sitting. I asked this after decades of experience of working on other people's **** that just sits for months at a time.
Now, you done making fun or are you gonna answer the question seriously?
Buttmonkey. You stole my answer. lol
Dont think I would do oil. Would probably forget and move it... It would be nice to be able to coat it with something that would burn off and not affect braking so no need to clean them before using it again.
ScampMike
Despicable Damn Yankee
Drive it.. huh? That's all great IF it's an option. But lets just pretend you have a car with saaaay 400-500hp and 4.10's and a shift kit 727 w/a deep stall converter and MT ET Street Radials and paint you care about... that you won't even drive in the rain... :twisted: OP was asking about your prize - not your beater.. "How do you protect your prize during the cold?"
I WAS taking you seriously. And after decades of my own experience working on cars I think putting any kind of oil/grease on your rotors or drums is absolutely as bad an idea as any of the jokes I posted.
The light rust that forms on the drums or rotors over the course of a winter is gone after a couple miles. It doesn't hurt the pads or shoes, and if someone asks you about their squeaking brakes that's exactly what you can tell them. If the car sits long enough for the surface rust to actually pit the rotors or drums then what you need to do is sell the car, because you haven't driven it in several years and you're going to have to do a lot more to get it road worthy than cleaning up the drums and rotors. You're not going to get pitting rust serious enough to damage a set of rotors or drums over the course of a single winter, I don't care where you live. If the rotors and drums are rusting that badly the rest of the car is swiss cheese.
I have light rust form on my rotors after every single rain, usually at least a couple times a month during the winter. My cars get driven in the rain and half of them are outside year round. Doesn't hurt anything. Putting any kind of light oil or grease on a set of rotors/drums will ruin a set of pads/shoes immediately if it's not removed before driving, and in the case of disk brakes if the pads aren't backed off it will contaminate the pads even if the rotors are just spun through the calipers. No thank you.
And I did answer the question, I drive my cars year round. Rain, snow, whatever. I drive them. My '74 is the latest model car I own.
I drive it. It's not my beater. My Duster makes 400+ hp, has a 4 speed and 3.55 gears, and has summer performance tires on it year round. While it doesn't have a show quality paint job, it does have a paint job I "care about" on it, even more so when I finish getting the rest of the car painted. It is my prize, and like I said above- I drive it in the rain, in the snow, in the cold, all of it. No, I don't usually see snow in my cars more than once a year. If I did I would invest in a set of winter rims/tires, not park my cars.
Walker434
Well-Known Member
I drive mine year round with that bill of goodies..... Right up to the point where you said paint I care about. I also don't drive it every single day just enough that I don't have to worry about "winterizing" it. I am also lucky enough to live in a part of the country that allows me to do this.
Yes you people that don't have to deal with salt are lucky. Around here it's so bad that sometimes it's like driving on gravel they put so much down. So I guess if you don't care about replacing sheet metal every couple of years then you could drive a car year round here.
ir3333
Well-Known Member
don't store on jack stands...it will keep your control arm rubber bushings distorted all winter.
...then you'll wonder why those cheap rubber bushings in the front end didn't last.
...then you'll wonder why those cheap rubber bushings in the front end didn't last.
ScampMike
Despicable Damn Yankee
well, as with most things - it's all a matter of perspective.. for ME, I keep the fuel topped off as much as possible, start it at least every two weeks, run some fuel treatment through the system just in case, keep the battery charged up - car is inside the garage period. Also, as I previously mentioned, I grabbed up a set of under tire car dollies which I will leave the car on while there is snow on the ground here... so I can move it around if I need to.
ramenth
Gratis persona
Actually, no.
If you had the experience you say you have the first thing you'd realize is that not all the areas of the country are built the same.
Around here we have some very steep grades that go on for miles. Just in a five mile radius from where I'm at we have a 7% grade that goes for a mile and a half and a 10% grade that goes on for almost two miles. There's some here, when you get back into the dirt roads areas that are steeper and longer and a helluva steeper and short. That kind of has a habit of heating up brakes and can lead to a lot of rust in a very short period of time of sitting, especially for your average driver who doesn't think to use the transmission to hold them back on the hills and either rides the brake pedal all the way down the hill or waits to the very bottom and spikes the brake hard.
The rotors I was talking about replacing on my customers' vehicles had sat for just a few months, not years, and were one complete ball of rust. It didn't matter if they were NAPA's premiums, Advance's Wearevers, Wagners, or AZ's Duralast. I've even seen the lesser rotors start coming apart after just a few months of sitting with chunks of metal flaking off due to rust. And let me reiterate that for you: that's after just a few months.
Of course, the ones that are coming apart will come apart no matter what you do to them. If the rust is embedded that deep no ounce of prevention will be a cure.
It's because of this experience I asked to begin with.
As for the rest of the statement and not wiping off cosmoline, you're also presuming that people are stupid and wouldn't wipe it off. Forgetful, yes, but the words you're using and the air of superiority you're taking, makes it sound a lot like people are stupid. You're also presuming that this storage is for antiques.
So, get off your high horse, realize that others have experience different than yours and questions are being asked based on that experience. Of course, your's may vary, but your experience isn't the experience of everyone else. And after 25 years of being paid to do this **** I've seen a lot that's a new experience. Not everything is created equally and shouldn't be treated that way.
You also keep remind us that you drive your's in the winter as if that's some kind of badge of honor to be worn. Yeah, we get that. Good for you. Some people live in heavily salted areas (something you keep ignoring for some reason... oh, that's right, you live in a area with no salt, so therefore, everyone else must, also, that your experience versus other's kind of thing, again) and 1) Don't want to have to deal with the salt 2) Have cars that have a lot of horsepower that makes winter driving impossible and 3) Don't want to run the risk of having some idiots slide through stop sign in a storm and get t-boned because that a-hole in a 4x thinks his 6000# truck will stop on a dime in an inch of snow, wiping out years of work in an instant.
Alright, I'm tired of this. I've been doing this for over 25 years too. Yes, that means I started before I was 12, but I did. I was working in my old man's auto restoration shop doing bodywork, and learning how to drive my '56 Austin Healey.
I'm aware of what other parts of the country look like. Yes, you have mountains and snow, I get it. Obviously, you're NOT aware that California has the same thing. There are plenty of 7% and 10% grades here, it's not just the beach and 70* weather. If you'd ever been skiing in California, you'd know that. My family lives at 3,500 ft. I used to commute up to 6,500 ft for work for several years. No kidding, there are mountains and snow. My parents house is 45 minutes from a ski resort that has a base elevation of 8,000 ft (Kirkwood). It's also 3 miles down a dirt road.
I don't know where your customer is getting his rotors, or storing his car. If metal is flaking off the rotors after just a few months he needs to find a new place to park it. Or just drive the damn thing, because if his rotors are that bad after just a couple months then driving it in the salt won't be any worse for it than what he's doing now. It's a chemical reaction, if it's working that fast on the rotors its working that fast on EVERYTHING.
As far as your excuses for not driving
1. You're driving a car in the salt anyway, might as well have fun
2. Yes, I have a high horsepower car too, 400+, and winter driving is not impossible, I do it every winter
3. I drive in California, so believe me when I say you haven't cornered the market on stupid drivers. If you won't drive your car because of what might happen to it then you should just sell it. It's a car, they're meant to be driven
And yes, I DO take it as a badge of honor that I drive my cars year round, and especially that I don't even OWN a car newer than 1974. I love driving my cars. I love driving them whether it's 110* and sunny or 20* and snowing, and I have absolutely done both and will do so again. I really enjoy driving the 3 miles on dirt out to my parents during the winter and coming back with globs of mud all over my roof, especially when I get to drive up next to some 4x4 guy with a muddy truck. I don't enjoy washing all that mud out of all the nooks and crannies of my car, but hey, it's what you have to do.
As far as salt goes, if we started using it here I'd have the bottom of my car and wheel wells rhino-lined and keep driving. I would, and I don't care if you believe me or not. Nothing lasts forever, that's why they make replacement sheet metal.
By all means, go back to talking about tanks full of Stabil, dryer sheets and whether or not you should put the car on jackstands. I will be driving mine, because that is where my experience comes from.
Snow
Getting the christmas tree...
Driving my '56 Austin Healey near Mt. Shasta, part of a 2,160 mile round trip to Silver Star, BC. I was 17 at the time...
Mountains!
Donner Pass, overlooking Lake Tahoe. Less than 90 minutes from home, and a frequent trip. Corners and steep grades...
Donner pass again, in the winter (kind of a weak one though, only a few feet of snow). This is in a '71 F100, but I was towing a trailer to pick up a load of old hemi blocks. I was parked in traffic control because some guy spun out on some ice and blocked the highway.
I'm aware of what other parts of the country look like. Yes, you have mountains and snow, I get it. Obviously, you're NOT aware that California has the same thing. There are plenty of 7% and 10% grades here, it's not just the beach and 70* weather. If you'd ever been skiing in California, you'd know that. My family lives at 3,500 ft. I used to commute up to 6,500 ft for work for several years. No kidding, there are mountains and snow. My parents house is 45 minutes from a ski resort that has a base elevation of 8,000 ft (Kirkwood). It's also 3 miles down a dirt road.
I don't know where your customer is getting his rotors, or storing his car. If metal is flaking off the rotors after just a few months he needs to find a new place to park it. Or just drive the damn thing, because if his rotors are that bad after just a couple months then driving it in the salt won't be any worse for it than what he's doing now. It's a chemical reaction, if it's working that fast on the rotors its working that fast on EVERYTHING.
As far as your excuses for not driving
1. You're driving a car in the salt anyway, might as well have fun
2. Yes, I have a high horsepower car too, 400+, and winter driving is not impossible, I do it every winter
3. I drive in California, so believe me when I say you haven't cornered the market on stupid drivers. If you won't drive your car because of what might happen to it then you should just sell it. It's a car, they're meant to be driven
And yes, I DO take it as a badge of honor that I drive my cars year round, and especially that I don't even OWN a car newer than 1974. I love driving my cars. I love driving them whether it's 110* and sunny or 20* and snowing, and I have absolutely done both and will do so again. I really enjoy driving the 3 miles on dirt out to my parents during the winter and coming back with globs of mud all over my roof, especially when I get to drive up next to some 4x4 guy with a muddy truck. I don't enjoy washing all that mud out of all the nooks and crannies of my car, but hey, it's what you have to do.
As far as salt goes, if we started using it here I'd have the bottom of my car and wheel wells rhino-lined and keep driving. I would, and I don't care if you believe me or not. Nothing lasts forever, that's why they make replacement sheet metal.
By all means, go back to talking about tanks full of Stabil, dryer sheets and whether or not you should put the car on jackstands. I will be driving mine, because that is where my experience comes from.
Snow
Getting the christmas tree...
Driving my '56 Austin Healey near Mt. Shasta, part of a 2,160 mile round trip to Silver Star, BC. I was 17 at the time...
Mountains!
Donner Pass, overlooking Lake Tahoe. Less than 90 minutes from home, and a frequent trip. Corners and steep grades...
Donner pass again, in the winter (kind of a weak one though, only a few feet of snow). This is in a '71 F100, but I was towing a trailer to pick up a load of old hemi blocks. I was parked in traffic control because some guy spun out on some ice and blocked the highway.
jimt1971rr
Well-Known Member
What's this Winter you refer to? Oh yeah! It's when the temp. dips into the 60s! Gotta love living in So. Cal.
ScampMike
Despicable Damn Yankee
ok ok - lets relax - it's ALL a matter of perspective - and I KNOW you two (72bluNblu and ramenth) see that because you've essentially said it, just not in so many words as they say. I put mine up because - 2008 Silverado (yeeeaaah, a Chevy..) 4x4 - that's my perspective. 4 wheel drive with heat - as opposed to a rear wheel drive race car with no heat.. :twisted:
Store the old classic, drive the 4x4's in the winter
I once had to put chains on the back of my 71 challenger daily coming back from a ZZ top concert when I was in college.
I once had to put chains on the back of my 71 challenger daily coming back from a ZZ top concert when I was in college.
1970Duster
Well-Known Member
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Lol, I knew I stole that answer from someone!
Yes I love my heated seats in the Jeep. Can't beat a warm ***!
I've had my days driving an old Mopar in the winter. Water dripping on your foot, sub par heat and wipers, slipping it in neutral at red lights so the alt can keep up with all the electrical drain. Sure sliding around when you want to is fun but not when you're trying to get to work.
Yes I'll take the 4x4 any day!
I put mine away in the garage. I keep it 65 degrees all winter.
I still gotta detail the Shelby before I put the cover on it.
I still gotta detail the Shelby before I put the cover on it.
Took my 2wd out one afternoon with the wife and son, hit black ice, there was no snow when we left. Old steel hurts.
Took my 2wd out one afternoon with the wife and son, hit black ice, there was no snow when we left. Old steel hurts.
Ouch!
Everyone ok?
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