How/Where do you store your summer/winter tires ?

[tpollauf]

OK. Several of us GenVibers have TWO sets of tires for our Vibes. Now in my case I got tired of taking them up into the attic above the garage (pull down steps & low 4/12 roof = bang head several times ). So I cleared up the south wall on my 18' x 20' small two car attached garage so that I could fabricate a rather unique "racking system" to store my tires. Well I just got it done and it came out better than what I had imagined. The pics pretty much tell the story:



This first photo shows the rack bolted to the wall studs very close to the ceiling. This is nothing more than
some 3/4 black pipe welded to a length of angle iron. Tire centers are 25.5" apart and the angle iron is bolted
to the wall using the common 16" on center stud measurements



This photo shows the 1"PVC sleeve which I attached to all of piping holders. I merely cut some 6" pieces and
with a torch, heated the one end up to where it got "soft U gummy" then slid it over the pipe. This allowed
it to "bend at the contour" and this also then eliminates any steel to steel contact during storage.



Here are the four "winter tires" safely & cleanly stored until needed



As an added measure of insurance, I drilled 1/4" holes and have a bolt, acting as a pin, to assure that the wheels
will not ever want to "slide off" the pipe. This also keeps them tight against the wall



Oh yeah ....... Don't forget the wheel covers!!! There you have it. A nice affordable & good looking system to store
both your summer AND winter tires.

[vibenvy]

Very nice setup Tim !

Our winter wheels and tires are just stacked (4 per stack - 1 stack is mine and the other is my mom's) in the one corner of our 3 car garage (right in front of where I park my Vibe actually). There's a piece of cardboard between each wheel in the stack (including a piece under the wheel that's on the bottom of the stack (on the floor) and another piece on top of the wheel that's on the very top of the stack). The cardboard acts as protection moreso for storing the 18s during the winter months. The wheel covers are in the original boxes they came in from GMPartsCenter.net on top of the wardrobe in my bedroom. Each box is marked with a "C" or a "K" so I know which ones go to which Vibe. The lug nuts are in two seperate plastic bags (1 for mine and 1 for my mom's) in a small box on a shelf in the garage.

I use the little notebooks that I write all our maintenance information in to keep track of the date and mileage when I swap the wheels in the fall and spring so I know when they need to be rotated, etc. I then put a piece of blue painter's tape with a corresponding number (1-4) on the backside of each wheel to keep them straight during storage and so I know which corner they go on when they go back on the vehicle. It's kind of a PITA, but well worth it in the end, plus swapping the wheels is always a fun little project.

This reminds me, I am actually going to be swapping the wheels and tires on my Vibe this weekend because it's pulling to the right, but I think it may be because there's a weight missing from one of the wheels on the left side. I want to see if swapping the wheels makes any difference. Plus, if I end up having to get an alignment or something, I'd rather have the steelies on there so the 18s don't get scratched.

[KITT222]

That's great! I'll need to do something like that eventually. It's better than what we do now, which is storing them in a storage unit.

[star_deceiver]

My summers are currently sitting behind a couch in the living room. When I get a proper cover, they'll make it out onto the balcony.

[cythraul]

nice setup! I hope to do something similar next year when I build my new shed. In the mean time, I got this stand during last week's sale for 20$ :

http://www.canadiantire.ca/AST/browse/4 ... +Stand.jsp" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;