Storage Care (if not driving much) ?

[None]

If I am not putting more than 1-2k miles/yr on the vehicle does the oil need to be changed yearly? Is moving it from one side of the garage to the other once every 1-2 month sufficient to maintain battery life, prevent tire flat spots and get the fluids flowing?

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[MJJ]

Need a quality battery tender

Fuel Stabilizer - recommend startron or stabil blue (marine grade)

Current tries do not flat spot

Don’t start it up just to let it idle and then shut it down. Better to start it up and drive it for 2 miles and put it away.

 

[None]

Excellent, thanks. How about oil, yearly?

 

[Tex]

In aviation, long term storage problems are way more common than with vehicles. It's bad form to start your plane and let it idle or taxi around for a few minutes. It needs to be flown and brought up to operating temps, the oil should be heated to at least above the boiling point of water and held there for a little while. That's so whatever water or moisture that's introduced into the engine via crankcase breather tubes and whatnot can be boiled off and evaporated, and that'll never happen if you just leave it idling or taxi around. It also allows whatever water that might have been collecting in areas that don't quite reach the sump to make their way down to the sump so you can get rid of it. I've always treated my vehicles and equipment the same way, give it a real drive or run, make it put in some actual work. Get it up to highway speed, put it in 4A, find some dirt/gravel/grass to drop it into 4L. Turn the steering to full lock both ways a few times, that sort of thing. If you live in a very humid environment, you'll want to do this more often, maybe 1-2 months between. Dry environments, 2-3 months. Wild swings in day/night temps are more detrimental than consistent day/night temps, but 1-3 months is usually a good range to work with.

Once a year on the oil should be good for full synthetic, some recommend 6 months but I think that's a little excessive. In some cases, such as RV's, I've heard of them changing the oil based on time but changing the filter based on mileage...it makes sense, but filters are cheap.

Battery maintainer is a must, especially if it sees freezing temps. I use a NOCO charger/maintainer mounted under the hood with a plugin on the bumper, it's really convenient.

Ethanol free fuel is less likely to attract and bind to moisture, and that means corrosion inside your fuel system is less likely as a result. Top-tier premium fuel does contain ethanol, and it's a great fuel to use, but most of those additives aren't going to provide much benefit if you're not burning it in your engine. Either of them are much better options than what you'd get at a regular fuel station though. It'll cost you more per gallon but it isn't that expensive if all it's doing is sitting in your tank for a month or two at a time. Fuel stabilizers help, and you should probably use them, but they're not a miracle product either. Here's where you get into a bit of a dilemma...a full tank is better for the fuel's chemical stability, it keeps the seals in better condition, and the vent breathes less air (introducing moisture). A low tank means it's less hassle to burn through that old fuel and replace it with new fuel entirely. If you have a full tank and only burn through two gallons on your monthly drive and then top off, 90% of the fuel in your tank is going to be old. Next month you do the same, 80% of your fuel will be 2 months old, 10% will be 1 month, and 10% new, etc...you see where that eventually leads after a while. Better to keep it topped off, then go ahead and burn through a whole tank on a weekend trip or something once in a while.

Anecdotally, the strange thing about tires is that they seem to never get dry rot or weather checking if you use them on a somewhat regular basis. Years ago, I went out and bought brand new tires for my Jeep and trailer for commonality, both parked next to each other outside the entire time, and only the trailer tires started showing weather checking. Same brand, size, lot, and everything. Always seems to be evident on trailers for some reason

 

[None]

Wow, very thorough discussion, nicely done. While I would love a plane as well, I know my limitations. Just too lazy and indifferent to do the preflight checks. Would just jump in and start flying which could lead to disaster.

 

[Wildfire1]

Well I keep my Mustang in the garage. It’s only used in the summer months. The only thing I’ve ever done with it was regular maintenance and a battery Tender on it when not used. It’s a 2012 and never had an issue doing it thus way. Same with the motorcycles. Put them up on their double stands, drop some fuel stabilizer in their tanks, plug them in and wait till spring. Bronco is the same way.

 

[Roger123]

If I am not putting more than 1-2k miles/yr on the vehicle does the oil need to be changed yearly? Is moving it from one side of the garage to the other once every 1-2 month sufficient to maintain battery life, prevent tire flat spots and get the fluids flowing?

Yes

No, and don't move it like that, you need to get the vehicle up to full running temp. Keep it on a battery tender. It's better to not drive at all vs. a start and basically idle for a minute.

I wouldn't worry about flat spotting modern radial tires over that short of a time frame.

I would also use a good fuel stabilizer, make sure you always add it so it's not just sitting in the tank but actually in the entire fuel system. I always add some when I gas up my boat that way there's always the "proper" mixture of stabilizer to fuel ratio.

 

[JT58Bronc]

I have the same issue, I am only driving my Bronco 3K miles a year for the next 2 years until I retire. Then it will be my vehicle to drive local and around town. I do drive it to work once in a great while to give it a good ride but it's 100 miles so I have to gas up too often to drive it every day.

I was keeping it in a storage unit but the price got too high almost like a car payment. So now I park it in the street and worry about the FL sun beating down on it every day. I got it in white due to this and keep it well waxed but worry about the top and fender flares. Any extra protection I can do? Will the cab cover help or hurt it more?

 

[BroncoAZ]

Anecdotally, the strange thing about tires is that they seem to never get dry rot or weather checking if you use them on a somewhat regular basis. Years ago, I went out and bought brand new tires for my Jeep and trailer for commonality, both parked next to each other outside the entire time, and only the trailer tires started showing weather checking. Same brand, size, lot, and everything. Always seems to be evident on trailers for some reason

Great post! On the tire issue, when the tires are used there are oils that migrate to the surface of the tire. Trailer tires that sit don’t get that refresh of protection with any regularity and rot accordingly when not used. Trailers that are used all the time seldom get any weather checking.

I store a few vehicles seasonally. For many years the home I now live in was the family summer home with a couple cars sitting from September to May annually. We have always changed the oil, topped off the fuel with 93 octane and stabilizer, inflated the tires to 50 psi, and disconnected the negative terminal on the battery. The 2007 Toyota Solara has been stored like this since new and hasn’t had issues. After 16 years the car has 38K. I replaced the tires and timing belt based on age, it’s time to do the tires again. During 2020/covid the cars and boat here sat from September 2019 to May 2021. I drained the 100 gallons from the boat and burned it in the fleet of trucks at work, I just drove the cars, everything worked fine after the extended storage.

My Bronco is on its second winter of storage since purchasing it in December 2021, it now has 2600 miles. I haven’t been using a fuel stabilizer because it should only be 3-4 months before I can drive it again and burn the whole tank. I do put the tires up to 45 psi for storage. I use a Ctek 5 amp battery charger every 3-4 weeks when I get a warning from Fordpass about features being disabled. With me living here full time I try to pick a dry day after significant rainfall (salt mostly washed off the roads) to take it out for a 5+ mile drive. If that doesn’t happen once a month or so I’ll back it out and let it idle for 10 minutes, then rev the engine up to 2,000 RPM for a couple minutes. Transfer case in neutral and the transmission in gear warms up the trans while idling. I do a multi point 360 degree turn in my driveway to change the position of the tires before returning it to the garage.

The first tank out in the spring I drive until the low fuel light comes on, then add 5 gallons and repeat before filling the tank. I want to burn all the old fuel and get all fresh fuel in the tank. This is a little harder to do on the boat, so the old fuel is diluted for longer.

 

[Tex]

Makes sense about the tires, I kinda figured it had something to do with that.
One thing to add, I've only ever noticed flat spots on 35" tires or larger, I suppose it has something to do with having the same ply and thickness tire having to support a bigger area. Haven't had the Bronco sitting long enough to see if these tires would. The 37's on my taco definitely get flat spots after sitting for a month, but they get round again after they warm up, usually about 5-10 miles at highway speed. It's a fun ride until then, especially if all the flat spots get in synch LOL

Reading all these posts makes me wish I could've stored my Bronco and kept it low miles, but I just like driving it too much. Already up to 28K at this point

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