Storing tyres properly between seasons
4 min readBy Wheel Fit
The short answer: clean them, mark which corner each came from, and store them cool, dark and dry. Tyres on rims can be stacked or hung; tyres off rims should stand upright.
Before they go away
- Clean them. Brake dust, road salt and grit all attack rubber over months. Warm water and a brush; skip the tyre-shine products, which can contain solvents.
- Dry them completely. Trapped moisture against a rim causes corrosion.
- Mark each one with its position — chalk or a sticker saying NSF, OSF, NSR, OSR. This lets you rotate sensibly next season instead of guessing.
- Check tread and date now, not in six months. If a tyre will be illegal by the end of next season, you may as well know before you store it.
How to store them
| Type | Position |
|---|---|
| On rims | Stacked flat, or hung from a rack. Do not stand them on the tread for months. |
| Off rims | Standing upright, side by side. Turn them a little every month or so to avoid a flat spot. |
Where to store them
- Cool and stable. Heat accelerates ageing.
- Dark. UV is one of the main things that degrades rubber.
- Dry, with some airflow.
- Away from electric motors — freezers, compressors, generators. Motors produce ozone, which attacks rubber. This is a real effect, not folklore.
- Away from solvents, fuels and oils.
- Off a bare concrete floor if you can; a pallet or board is enough.
A garage or shed is usually fine. Outside under a tarpaulin is not: the tarpaulin traps moisture and the temperature swings are large.
Bags: yes or no?
Opaque tyre bags are good if the tyre is completely dry and clean first, because they slow evaporation of the oils in the compound. Sealing a damp tyre in a bag does the opposite of what you wanted.
Deciding when to swap
Temperature, not the calendar. The usual guide is around 7°C sustained — see winter, summer or all-season. In practice most people swap to winters in late October and back in March or April.
A second set of wheels
If you swap every year, mounting each set on its own wheels pays for itself: swapping complete wheels is quick, and you avoid the cost and the bead wear of taking tyres on and off rims twice a year. It also means it can be done at your home rather than at a garage.
