Long Term Storage

Justin Homan

Justin Homan

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At the end of this month i will be putting my Jeep into storage for at least 8 months, is there anything special i should do to make sure when i come back she will require minimum work to get back driving? Im out of California so i dont have any experience setting a vehicle up to sit for an extended period of time so any advise helps.
 
I would put in Marine fuel stabilizer in the gas and have the lease amount of gas in the tank(better less than 1/2 tank) Disconnect the battery, have the Jeep on blocks so the wheels are off the ground.
Wheel off the ground will prevent flat spots when you get the Jeep started again. When getting the Jeep back on the road check tire pressure since air can leak out over 8 months and change the oil. She should be fine and up and running no problem.
 
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Kaptainkid1 said:
I would put in Marine fuel stabilizer in the gas and have the lease amount of gas in the tank(better less than 1/2 tank) Disconnect the battery, have the Jeep on blocks so the wheels are off the ground.
Wheel off the ground will prevent flat spots when you get the Jeep started again. When getting the Jeep back on the road check tire pressure since air can leak out over 8 months and change the oil. She should be fine and up and running no problem.
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Good ideas! My 35’s are new so id rather not get flat spots and i didnt think about the fuel stabilizer. Ill pick some of that up at work today!
 
Justin Homan said:
I got a tender and plan on using it. My Optima has a lot of warranty left but id rather not use it
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Another issue with sitting car and vehicle are mice. They come in and nest in the engine or in the cabin. They will chew on rubber wires and carpet to make bedding.
I would put poison pellets in few paper cups and keep the engine bay and a few places inside cabin in the corner and like the glove compartment. Rats and mice chewing on wires is huge problem too.
 
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I would put a fuel stabilizer in it and rune if for a few minutes to let the stabilizer mix well. I would disconnect the batter and hook a battery tender up to it. I would also get the tires off the ground to save them.
 
Starting it every week is overkill. If it needed to be started weekly my current jeep wouldn't run at all. If you added it to his calendar to start it and drive it to the store once a month do you think he would do it? My jeep has sat in Tahoe for months on end during winters in the past and has never had an issue starting. The gas in the tank will be fine over the 8 month period and if it's driven it will likely be refueled at least once anyways.

If he will drive it once a month I'd just hook it up to a battery tender and forget everything else. He's not going to drive it if he needs to put it on blocks every time he gets it back home.
 
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Unlike bias ply tires, flat spotting over an 8 month period with radials shouldn't really be a problem in either of California's Brentwoods, although wheels off the ground can't hurt. I like these things for my "summer car" so I can push it around the garage in the winter:

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Unless someone is going to start and drive the car long enough for it to be fully warmed up, there is no point and some believe the practice is actually harmful to periodically start the engine just to let it idle.

I don't bother to disconnect the battery for seasonal storage, but perhaps I should. I always use a Battery Tender to keep the battery fully charged.

022-0202-COS.BatteryTender.01.FrontView.jpg


Do use a fuel stabilizer/winterizer.

Leave the hood up so that the engine bay does not become an attractive nesting area for critters, but put the rat poison and bait in some nearby place other than in or under your jeep. Why do you want to attract unwanted pests toward the very thing you want them to ignore?

Other than the above, I don't do anything special for the vehicles I own that sit idle in the garage two seasons each year.

When you return home just check the fluids, tire pressure and battery, fill the tank with fresh gasoline, and go jeeping.
 
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I put a cut up bar of Irish Spring soap around my boat when its in winter storage (indoors) to keep the mice away. An old timer told me this is how he protects the wiring on his farm equipment and its worked for decades. Also might want to look into a desiccant to absorb moisture to prevent mold if its humid there. Other than that, fuel stabilizer and a battery tender are not bad ideas either. The tires should be fine, modern tires don't permanently flat spot like old bias construction tires did. My boat sets for 6-7 months every year without issue and has a GM small block engine similar to a late 90's pickup.
 
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pagrey said:
Less than a year I wouldn't worry about anything but the battery. If you have a tender leave the battery connected. No point in wiping the computers memory. Do not get a cheap battery tender unless you have good fire insurance.
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https://www.hagerty.com/media/motorcycles/burned-out-bikes/
From that article:

EDITOR’S NOTE: A previous version of this article described the battery charger referenced in the above article as a “battery tender.” It has been brought to our attention that Battery Tender is a registered trademark of Deltran. Hagerty has no reason to believe that Battery Tender branded chargers are unsafe or were the cause of the aforementioned fire.
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See also: https://www.google.com/search?q="ba.....69i57j0l6.7588j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8
 
I mean don't buy some cheap piece of junk that doesn't somehow intelligently control the charge or automatically shut off. The battery tender you suggested seems great @Mr. Bills, I'd use one of them. I wan't aware of any controversy surrounding that brand.
 
I saw a video of a TJ that went on a hill climb trail in CO in the dead of winter and ended up going way past the turn around spot. It had to be left there because the snow was 4 feet deep.
They went back SEVEN MONTHS LATER once all the snow was gone and it started up first try.
Link

The suggestions here have merit but also don't overthink it too much.
 
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