rocco16

I keep my C4 on jackstands (main reason: flat-spotting) when it's not being driven. This means 360 days a year. I can't see any downside to it, other than the time it takes to pull the stands and replace them.

bac22

I read many moons (late 90's) ago in one of the corvette magazines (since forgot which one) that storing over winter on jack stands wasn't good as the suspensions in cars now a days were not designed to float. Take the latter for what its worth, personally seems like overkill to me to do put the car on jacks for a few months.

Also tires that go out of round from sitting will round back up after about 10 miles of driving...technically speaking flat-spotting occurs when you slam on the brakes and burn rubber off the tire at that spot...which is hard to do with ABS.

Tom400CFI

Garbage. What does that even mean? "Float".

383vett

verb (used without object)
1.
to rest or remain on the surface of a liquid; be buoyant:
The hollow ball floated.
2.
to move gently on the surface of a liquid; drift along:
The canoe floated downstream.
3.
to rest or move in a liquid, the air, etc.:
a balloon floating on high.
4.
to move lightly and gracefully:
She floated down the stairs.
5.
to move or hover before the eyes or in the mind:
Romantic visions floated before his eyes.
6.
to pass from one person to another:
A nasty rumor about his firm is floating around town.
7.
to be free from attachment or involvement.

verb (used with object)
14.
to cause to float.
15.
to cover with water or other liquid; flood; irrigate.
16.
to launch (a company, scheme, etc.); set going.
17.
to issue on the stock market in order to raise money, as stocks or bonds.
18.
to let (a currency or interest rate) fluctuate in the foreign-exchange or money market.
19.
to make smooth with a float, as the surface of plaster.
20.
Theater. to lay down (a flat), usually by bracing the bottom edge of the frame with the foot and allowing the rest to fall slowly to the floor.
noun
21.
something that floats, as a raft.
22.
something for buoying up.
23.
an inflated bag to sustain a person in water; life preserver.
24.
(in certain types of tanks, cisterns, etc.) a device, as a hollow ball, that through its buoyancy automatically regulates the level, supply, or outlet of a liquid.
25.
Nautical. a floating platform attached to a wharf, bank, or the like, and used as a landing.
26.
Aeronautics. a hollow, boatlike structure under the wing or fuselage of a seaplane or flying boat, keeping it afloat in water.
27.
Angling. a piece of cork or other material for supporting a baited line in the water and indicating by its movements when a fish bites.

Origin of float Expand

Tom400CFI

The Corvette Magazine must have been thinking about ^this^ definition.

bac22

Floating in the air, from what I recall, springs decompress, shocks are released out and you're stressing the rubber in the upper and lower control arm bushings...most bushings are designed to sit at one position.

I think it might have been "Corvette Fever" magazine that I was getting at the time. They said on C4's and the new C5 that a corvette engineer at GM recommend not to put the cars on jacks over the winter.

To be honest the article seem pretty good which is why I remember it since I park my car for winter. For a few months of winter it was recommended to just leave the car as is. Personally I've been doing that since 1989 with my sports cars and never had a problem come spring.

Besides if there's a fire in your garage and you car is on jack stands you can't drive it out...it's about priorities !

Tom400CFI

Copy all that. I agree with you that simply letting the car sit on the ground is fine; it's what I do too (mentioned earlier in the thread). But I also know that jack standing the car won't hurt it either.Bushings are meant to articulate through the entire suspension range and they do that just fine.

If you have a fire...and I think that statistically, that's a big "IF", your Corvette is probably the most likely thing to start it so you probably won't be "driving it out" regardless of where/how it sits. It's also why we have insurance.

As stated earlier, it's ALL "**** that ain't worth worryin' about".

.

DGXR

Should not be a problem putting the car on jack stands for the winter. If there are problems as a result, they needed fixing anyway.

Before I replaced my tires, the flatspots annoyed me too until I learned which speeds pronounce the flat spots. It's a resonance thing I guess. The whole car would shake in the 72-74 MPH range until the flat spots smoothed out. So I avoided those speeds.

One way to avoid flatspotting during storage is to overinflate the tires so they don't bulge at the bottom. I don't personally recommend this due to the "max psi" warning on the sidewall, but many people have done it with good results. My first Corvette had 50PSI when I first went to look at it... owner was an older guy and rarely drove it anymore.

93jockey

I've always left mine on all four, my original tires sidewall-cracked after 20 years! Storing in a car cover outdoors can be bad for the window seals/rubber (can dry/crack) after just one winter. Low batt will knock out your radio! My original rear calipers rusted after one WA winter outside and I had to replace them.