How to properly store high-performance tires

Given our wide-ranging testing program, we inventory a lot of tires, so it takes a long time to burn through any particular set. How do we keep them minty fresh for optimal performance over the long haul–especially as today’s front-running Super 200 tires typically gain performance as the tread wears away?

Before we answer that, let’s talk theory. The rubber …

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Reading this made me realize that I have a set of tires that have probably aged out to the point that they should be rehomed. (And that new home might well be the tire disposal pile at the landfill.)

Are you looking for volunteers to use up tires?  If I only lived closer.  

It is possible to get completely anal about race tires.   Such as:  Not let the installer us liquid to mount them.  Then use a vacuum pump to remove most the air.  Then fill with nitrogen.  repeat.  Inflate to projected "hot" pressure. Measure circumference.  Record.  Set to "cold" pressure. Scuff on Friday practice.  Record "hot" pressure each time car comes off track on pit lane. Remeasure. Store in shade at the track.  Sometimes flip on the rim and move to opposite side of car if reusing.  Deflate and store in black plastic bags when back at air-conditioned shop. ( I probably forgot to type a few steps.)  Rinse and repeat.

Don't ask how I know.  But I did learn the process from a 7 time national champion.

Looking out at my street-parked daily, I feel kind of bad for those tires.

Granted, they aren't high-performance tires, but I still feel bad. Someday, I'll have a garage.

I've always taken off my autocross tires and stored them in the garage between events. I would air them down to about 17 pounds and bag them in heavy plastic bags. 

I've backed off on the routine, swapping them off the cars between events, but not airing them down or bagging them. 
 

I need to address the biggest issue, my garage gets over 100 degrees F in the summer. I need to get an air conditioner. I have been running a dehumidifier for years, so the power consumption probably won't change much. 

Interesting read! You have separately discovered many modern 200tw tires, when given a good initial heat cycle, do not generally suffer much degradation all the way down to the cords. You even captured it here. 

https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/articles/how-to-get-more-performance-out-of-200tw-tires/

Mostly for time and space, I daily drive on my x12, 305/30R20 CRS-V2 track setup. One of the things that made me initially feel good about that was knowing their performance shouldn't degrade much over time (and should actually get better as the tread wears), based on your previous posts and captured in the above link. 

Can you help me understand where more of the nuance lies?

Thanks! 

Lindenwood said:

Interesting read! You have separately discovered many modern 200tw tires, when given a good initial heat cycle, do not generally suffer much degradation all the way down to the cords. You even captured it here. 

https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/articles/how-to-get-more-performance-out-of-200tw-tires/

Mostly for time and space, I daily drive on my x12, 305/30R20 CRS-V2 track setup. One of the things that made me initially feel good about that was knowing their performance shouldn't degrade much over time (and should actually get better as the tread wears), based on your previous posts and captured in the above link. 

Can you help me understand where more of the nuance lies?

Thanks! 

The difference lies is the "between times".

By pulling the tires off the car and storing them inside the shop between uses, we limit the "slow burn" of the heat cycle monster.  So the reduction of tread depth due to track use ends up being the predominant effect on the long-term performance of the tire.

As mentioned in the storage story above, what you are doing instead is putting a lot of additional low-amplitude heat cycles on the tire through daily use.  So you've accelerated the slow burn a bit and at some point, it will make more of an impact on performance than the reduction in tread life.

We typically burn through a set of tires in under six months -- and that's rotating through a bunch of sets.  So the slow burn has little overall impact.

I store my tires in the basement when they're off the car, hadn't considered the ozone factor of the furnace. It's still my best option considering how cold it gets around here, the garage has a much wider temperature swing.

te72 said:

I store my tires in the basement when they're off the car, hadn't considered the ozone factor of the furnace. It's still my best option considering how cold it gets around here, the garage has a much wider temperature swing.

Bag them air tight

In reply to Andy Hollis :

How would one bag a tire in a trash bag air tight? I guess you could use a vacuum?...

Tom77 said:

In reply to Andy Hollis :

How would one bag a tire in a trash bag air tight? I guess you could use a vacuum?...

Air-tight, as in no gases moving in or out of the sealed area.  

Not "no air in the sealed area".

The air in the sealed area isn't hurting the tire -- unlike dairy products in your fridge.  The goal is to reduce continued off-gassing of the tire compound and in the case of my comment above, to reduce any ozone effect on the rubber.

All that said, I've seen commercial rolled shrink wrap used as a medium to fully enclose racing slicks.  

I drive on my race tires all summer long.

About all I do is store my summer/TW200 tires in my basement during the winter.  During the warmer months they live on the car.  A big negative is I don't drive the car very often, so I think they get a bit flat-spotted.  The only way I can "fix" that is to shuffle the fleet so I drive my cars more often.   I'll have to remember to bag them during winter storage.  I suppose bagging the winter snow tires wouldn't be a bad idea either.

Any suggestions on electric tire blankets? 

arvi said:

Any suggestions on electric tire blankets? 

You mean brand?

I have a set of Chicken Hawk sized for 15's and also a set of Demon Speed for 19/20.  Both are similar functionally.

So... what about spraying tires between AX runs? Is that like pulling your steak off the grill, and then throwing it in the freezer, and then throwing it on the grill 5 minutes later? 

thashane said:

So... what about spraying tires between AX runs? Is that like pulling your steak off the grill, and then throwing it in the freezer, and then throwing it on the grill 5 minutes later? 

Absent any scientific testing, your guess is as good as mine.

But the theory does make sense, FWIW.  

So I have a set of 71RS tires I've used for autoX 2024-2025. They're currently sitting at 2/32 and have roughly 45 autoX heat cycles on them. Assuming proper storage over winter (I actually left them out in the freezing shed lol. Still feel good to me), how many more heat cycles can I expect to get out of them?

Living in a cold winter climate I once had a winter where I could not lug my 200 TW tires to the basement due to an injury. The garage would typically go well below freezing in winter.

My solution was to stack them on a small piece of plywood (protection from cold pavement) with another on top. Inside at the bottom of the stack I put a small 500 W space heater carefully set to 70 degF. Then I covered the stack with some old moving blankets.

Spot checks over the winter indicated it was about 45 degF in there AND I did not burn the house down!

In reply to Andy Hollis :

Can we use trash bags? Or are you recommending some types of bags versus others. 

Tom77 said:

In reply to Andy Hollis :

Can we use trash bags? Or are you recommending some types of bags versus others. 

Look at the picture in the full story above.  ;)

Since you lead with Vulcanization:  I grew up in my grandpa's tire shop.  We did recaps by the old vulcanization method of applying uncured rubber to the tire carcasses and putting them into  large molds.  The mold had inserts depending upon which tread pattern needed.  The machine was set up so  after putting the tire in you closed up the clamshells and cranked out an expanding radial curved plates that forced the tire into the mold.  A huge handwheel on a threaded axle.  Cooked at I believe 450 degrees for about 4 hours.     Also repaired tires and tubes with strips of uncured rubber applied and then pressed into a hot plate to cure the rubber.

No one does this anymore.   Recapping is basically Bandag process and tire/tube repair is with chemical patches or plugs. 

Sign on my grandpa's store.  The recapping process was called  O.K Rubber Welding

Curious how long you folks intend for summer tires to last. Only tire I think I would have went through the tread before the heat cycles / age took them out were the R888R I ran on my Supra, and that was 100% because that car was always at its best with a slight amount of wheel spin, as far as the clock, and my smile, were concerned. All the autocross tires I've ran on the Miata / Exocet, they'll be 5+ years old before I ever wear out the tread depth on them. At that point it's time for new ones anyway.

On the furnace, does this apply to electric heating only? I have a gas furnace, soooo... shouldn't be any ozone in the basement for me, unless... Hmm. I suppose the fan is an electric motor, isn't it? I like the science experiment aspect of it all. =)

In reply to te72 :

I have seen the reference to ozone and storing tires near the furnace repeated for years. It makes no sense to me.

In a modern furnace the fan motor is an inductive "squirrel cage" unit. It has no brushes to wear out. This is also why it is so quiet. No brushes means no sparks means no ozone.

Even if the furnace did have arcy-sparkey brushes modern furnaces place the fan motor inside the air flow for simplicity and so the motor can be cooled by the air. If any ozone were to be generated it would be distributed throughout the entire house (which would be bad for humans).

In a modern furnace the electronic spark to light off the flame is intermittent and that airstream is vented out the flue. No ozone inside the house either.

A simple electric furnace is typically just hot metal wires or ribbons in the airstream with the fan. They are basically duct mounted space heaters but with better controls and safety features. No sparking (just hot metal) means no ozone and no problem.

So unless you have some sort of electric plasma arc home furnace -or- something from "the before times" with an externally mounted old motor that shoots blue arcs in its vents there should be no ozone in your basement. 

That is where I store my tires because my wife insists that I can't use the spare bedroom.

Also, I often start out the first  autocross event or two in the spring on last seasons tires if they have any tread left. I am often sorting things out from winter modifications anyway. Also, it is typically still cold/cool and not the best conditions for grip. When it warms up Mistress gets new shoes.