I dont plan on driving my car for the winter, am I going to do much damage to anything from just parking it in the garage and not driving it for 3-4 months?

 

i store mine in the garage from late sept till april. i havent had any problems with it other than the battery. i put a cover on it also.
hope this helps

 

There are a number of things you can do.

First, if possible, don't start it at all until waking her up for next season.

An oil and filter change would be good prior to hibernation.

You might want to seal the tailpipes (from mice).

Put her up on jack stands (sub-frame positions) so as not to flat-spot the tires, this also releives the compression on the springs.

Car cover would be a good idea as would be a fresh wax job.

Gas tank should be as full as possible (the less headspace in the tank the better, it helps to slow the degradation of the fuel by not allowing as much fuel to go to the vapor state).

Others will probably post additional things

 

Put some Sta-bil in the gas tank, it will help to keep the gas fresh so the car will start right up in the spring. If you don't put the car on stands, over-inflating the tires to about 40psi should help prevent flat-spotting.

 

Agree with all of these ideas! Especially with the Sta-bil. Had not thought of the tail pipe covers. Sharp! We are a little over the top here. We also remove tires and wheels and store them in the back of the heated laundry room. Stacked on pieces of cut carpet placed between them after the Armorall. Plus will remove battery and place up on a wood shop shelve with battery maintainer connected. Do the complete wash, wax, detail, the leather protector and a little oil on anything that could possibly get rust to form on it. Place the car cover on it and then its Sleepy-time for the Stang.

 

I am doing just about all of this to my Roush this weekend I also heard to put small pieces of foam or something under your wiper arms to keep the blades off of the glass.

 

You mean you have wiper blades on the car?
1st thing i'm doing to my stang is removing the wiper arms. Haven't used wipers on my truck for 15 yrs.

Anyone have any experience with one of those "bubbles" that you store the car inside? It's like a small air dome that has a fan moving the air at all times. Supposed to deal with moisture.

 

I don't agree with putting stands under the subframe to relax spring compression. I'd put them under the rear axle and frt lower control arms if possible. Here's why; when rubber suspension bushings are installed they are torqued at normal ride height so they are not sitting twisted at ride height. If you let the suspension hang freely the bushings will now have a twist induced into them for however long the car is stored. I would think over long periods of time with ageing they may form premature cracks in the rubber material.

 

I stored mine last winter from October 30 to the end of March. Never had a problem. Started the mustang every Saturday though just to charge the battery and get the vehicle fluids moving. This winter it will be more of the same with the exception that Santa Claus has bought be a car cover.

 

yes I have wiper blades I drive my car to work. I dont have the liberty to have 3 cars well I do but my 2nd car my wife drives and that is a 06 GT. I drive my Explorer sport in the winter.

 

You don't need to put the car up--these tires don't flat-spot like the old bias ply tires did. They get a temporary flat spot even sitting overnight, but it works itself out in a couple miles. Just over-inflate the tires so they don't run low over the winter and cause cracking or dry-rot. They will lose pressure over the winter. I filled them to the max pressure on the sidewall-39 psi. I also had a rubber mat to store the car on to guard against moisture from the floor and my brakes didn't have any rust on them, even after sitting for months.

 

And get a nice indoor style cover to protect it.

 

And a "smart" charger for the battery...

 

I don't agree regarding lifting the car. Springs do not wear out from being compressed. This has been a hot debate in firearm communities regarding the storage of loaded magazines. There are reports of fully loaded 1911 magazines kept since WWII that smoothly fed the cartridges into a 1911 almost 60 years later. Springs wear out from frequent cycling.

 

What's a winter? Got the car out yesterday and even had the top down and no A/C on. It's finally getting good! In fact, I took the whole next week off just to ride in the car and I plan to go to lunch at hooters EVERY day but Thursday.


Monday I'm having my garage floor epoxy coated. should look good for the Stang Museum.

 

Most of us would like to say "What's a winter?" With those temps you are a very lucky mustang owner.

 

Wow some of us are truly blessed living in areas that hardly see winter and we are able to enjoy our cars year round.

 

drive it all year round! it's a car!

 

Good to see another Winnipeger. Good tip. Last year I stored my Red Fire jacked up only about 1 1/2 inches, just relieving some tension on the springs, but not to extend the struts to allow them to leak in the extended postion. Tires were still on the cement (parked on rubber carpet tiles). Battery was removed, car was covered, dryer sheets spread around the tires to repel any rodents, and exhaust pipes plugged with copper scouring pads too.

Hope to see you on the street next summer,
Len.