Storing your car during the winter months is a great way to keep it from getting damaged or suffering from cold-weather concerns. However, there is one problem that recurs during winter that needs to be checked regularly: deflating tires. Here's what you need to know about how the cold will affect your stored car's tires and how you can prevent deflation.

Cold Weather Will Deflate Your Tires

It might seem hard to believe, but cold weather will can your tires to loose pressure over time. This is especially true when you are storing your car, as the warmth caused by driving is often enough to keep your tires from losing excessive air. While storage will protect your car tires from the excessive wind chill that is often prominent in winter, the storage center is still likely to be cold.

However, if your car storage offers heating options, you should invest in them. This will not only keep your tires from slowly deflating, but keep other car maintenance concerns in order, such as keeping your oil from getting stagnant in your car.

How Much Air Will Your Tires Lose While In Winter Storage?

There's a general rule when it comes to temperature and tire pressure: they lose about one to two pounds for every decrease of 10 degrees Fahrenheit. While the warming of the summer (especially in a concentrated storage center) may help offset some of that loss, you may end up with heavily deflated tires when you take it out of storage.

One way to deal with this problem is to go into your storage center once a month and check on your tire pressure. If your tires are slowly deflating, you can add a little of air to keep them from ending up flat at the end of the winter storage. However, if your storage center is too far away from you or hard to access, it's not a bad idea to wrap them in a plastic coating.

Wrapping Tires While In Storage

When you are keeping your car in storage during the winter, it's a good idea to wrap them up with a polyethylene bag to keep them protected from the elements. This is particularly important in the winter, when air leakage is so common. Most storage centers won't mind these minor alterations to your vehicle, as long as you get them accepted ahead of time.

If you ever need to put your vehicle in storage like Ship Creek Storage during the winter, you can follow these tips to avoid deflated tires. This makes it easier to roll your car out when the storage season is over and keep you from suffering from extra storage fees, if you have to wait a few days to get your tires repaired.