Tires sitting on cement

[golfafter45]

I park tires on carpet if they are going to set for months at a time, I don't worry about it for a couple of weeks at a time. For those that want to argue, go ahead but I won't respond. I'll tell a short story so my opinion has some credibility. One year I parked my pick-up in my shop on the concrete before I took the motorhome for Florida. It had brand new tires on it. Those tires had about 150 miles on them and they had been driven on snow and mud at the ranch. 6 months later when I returned there was a perfect image of the tread of my tires on the concrete in the shop when I moved the pick-up.. So, no tar absorbed from asphalt was deposited to the parking spot but oils from the tire must have leached into concrete. Did I notice any flat spots or deterioration, No...but my pick-up tires get ate up by gravel roads and don't last over 25,000 miles anyhow. I do feel that trailer tires and motorhome tires would suffer minor damage and an old piece of carpet is cheaper than new tires or replacing fenders when the tread slips off of tires.

[Dave W]

I use a piece of wood under each wheel - not a big deal. Anything from 1/4 to whatever is on hand. It sits on gravel at our summer site as well as at home so that wood does two things - takes the tires off the ground and on occasion will level the unit either place and keep it from sinking.


Tires can leach. I have a seldom driven car on a heated garage concrete floor - so am well aware that tires will leave black deposits of leached material

[Roy & Georgia]

I try to jack mine up with a scissor jack rotate the tires one at a time as set back down if it’s parked for a while. Kind of a pain but I don’t worry about flat spots and if there is any leeching I feel it would be minimal. I’ve read where it’s recommended to pull your trailer up or back a little for this. I find it’s easier to just jack it up and spin the tires.

[DebNJim B]

I read an article last year, don't recall just where, but it was written by a tire manufacturer regarding rv long term parking. It focused on two points, the "not exercising" issue mentioned earlier on this post and the surface the rv is parked on. The tire rubber contains oils that when the tire is flexed during use is used to keep the rubber "lubricated" and soft. Sitting for extended periods of like six months or a year causes the rubber to dry out, hence dry rot.
The other thing they recommended was to avoid parking for long periods on soil as the moister is bad for the tire. If you have to store it on soil you should put down either planks of wood or pieces of plywood (plastic would also work) to prevent ground contact. The next best thing is asphalt, although my experience in my driveway is after 2 or 3 months you may have slight indentations in the driveway. The best surface they say is to park on concrete. I would add perhaps putting down plastic dinner mats, but that's just me.

My only bad personal experience was when we left our first 5er parked for just over a year in one spot on gravel and the following trip we had two blowouts, the only ones I have ever had. Can't really say there was a direct connection but just sayin'.