I plan to store my car on jacks.

Questions:

What is the procedure to set up the jacks, rear or forward first ? Does it matter ?
Where should the jacks be located ? I bought the Michelins jacks (2 tons) at Canadian Tire.

Should I buy a commercial jack to lift the car or one side at the time is enough ?

Should the tires touch the ground ? What tire pressure ?

How do I remove the battery ?

Thanks.

 

u should place ur jacks under the chasis part of ur car... and i think the wheels r best to be off the ground cause if u put presure on it on the same spot for a long itme(through winter i assume) it might deform... and u can just disconnect ur negative terminal side of ur battery...

 

Thanks for the reply.

Can you be more specific regarding the location of the jacks.

what do you mean with the chassis. Is it the same place where we would put the jack if we had a flat tire, or somewhere else ?

thanks

 

um i can't be more spacific as i don't have an 8.... but just put the jacks on something that is hard and solid... not the shaft that drives the wheels tho....

 

there are a few threads on this, just search around

but there is more to this then just disconnect the battery and put it up on jack stands...

you have to deal with the possibility of infestation...so covering up tailpipes, etc. it is a pain in the ***...plus you'll want to fire the thing up every few weeks

 

if you're putting it away for more than 4 months, try to change fresh oil before you store it and then when spring comes change the oil again even if you haven't run it (maybe not if you use synthetic since I hear those don't oxidise as quickly?).

 

The Mazda service manager told me to disconnect the battery if garaged for extended periods, fill up the tank to full if garage is not heated. He did not mention jacking up the car but I did change the oil.

Question: someone once told me, if tires get flatspotted after storage, just take the car out on the highway, run it at 150 kms for an hour and it usually cures the problem. Any truth to this?

 

I've heard that is how it was on the older tires...and probably on really really cheap tires of today...but decent to high end tires (includes our stock ones) have reinforcement materials (even steal reinforcement) that once bend out of place so dramatically will never be the same...plus you could throw off the alignment if the spotting is really bad...but I'll do some research and get back to you

 

aha! an rx8club advertiser saves the day:

"Flatspotting can be temporary (the tire will round out as driving warms it up) or in the most severe cases, permanent (in which the tire's memory effectively destroys its ride quality). A flatspot's severity is often a function of the tire size, internal structure, load, ambient temperature and time."

"Tire flatspotting would be most noticeable when beginning to drive a vehicle that has been stored incorrectly (with the weight of the vehicle pressing down through the tires to the ground). When storing a vehicle for more than a few weeks, it is best to drive the vehicle until it is thoroughly warmed up and then immediately put it up on "blocks" after arriving at the storage location. Doing this takes the load off of the tires completely. Not doing this on a vehicle that will be parked for a few months runs the risk of permanently flatspotting the tires."

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tirete...atspotting.jsp

 

this is why i love this club, i learn something new every day.

 

They are just trying to sell more tires...

If you are storing your car just for one winter, you don't need to jack it up.
Just pump your tires up an extra 10 psi, fill the tank, disconnect your battery (which will need to be recharged before you start again), and don't forget where you put the keys!

If you are storing for a matter of years, you need stands, but it would be better to position them so the weight of the vehicle is still on the suspension. If you lift the vehicle up so all the weight is off the wheels, the shock absorbers will be at full extension. I don't know if this will cause damage, but just the fact that the shocks are at full extension worries me that when you finally lower the vehicle back down you might get excessive stiction, or leaking seals or something.

Just my professional opinion...