Fox Winter Storage Question

Justin87

5 Year Member
Aug 7, 2017
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Hello guys,

Getting cold here in Wisconsin and I have parked the car for the season. I have my usual routine for car storage (as everyone does) but I'm curious if anyone stores their fox on jack stands. I usually just park mine but this summer I put all new suspension and bakes on the car and now that I have a decent set of StopTech rotors on it I'm a little afraid they will warp.

However, I've also heard that it's not good to store uni-body cars on jack stands because they can twist without a full frame. My GT has it's problems but it sits extremely straight and hardly has that famous "fox body lean" which is why I'm asking.


Thoughts?
 
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#1 I live in the great state of Confusion, ahem, I mean Florida. So we drive our crap year round, but I am familiar with vehicle storage and if you place the jack stands at the control arms in front and the axle in back the vehicle will sit as if it were normal with the exception of not sitting on the tires, which is what you want, this keeps the tires from sitting on one area of the tread face and causing flat spots, it also keeps the tires from reacting to temp changes that effect the contact area of the tire, some what less inside a garage but still has an effect.
There would be no effect on the structure if suspension points were used for the stands. For the most part, parked in a garage for a few months sitting on good tires properly inflated likely would do no harm at all.
 
I store mine on spare wheels for the winter, but I've done it on jackstands under the axles and control arms and a few times I just jack the tire pressure up to the max listed on the tire and let it sit on the ground. I might rotate each wheel once a month maybe. Takes a miniyte with a jack to do.

Don't know how letting a car sit can warp the rotors. That's the first I've ever heard of that
 
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I store mine with tires on the ground, full tank of fuel, dryer sheets scattered about inside and under for rodent deterent
and battery maintainer hooked up.
Read about the dryer sheet thing years ago and have been doing it ever since, either it works or I'm just getting lucky.
 
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I also live in Wisconsin. I have stored my car every winter for the past 20 years. Sits on the ground with whatever gas is leftover with some fuel stabilizer. I disconnect the battery. Never had an issue.
 
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I usually top of my tank before I park it for good and add stabill. I top it off because that's an extra 15 gallons of gas available for the generator if we lose power for a few days during a storm.
 
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Another fellow Wisconsin guy here. I put sta-bil in the tank and run it to about a quarter full. Park it and cover it up. That's all I've ever done. Little early isn't it? I'll be running mine until there's snow on the roads. It does stay in a heated shop all winter though.
 
I put a sheet of heavy plastic on the floor of the garage and park on it, sta-bil in the tank, dryer sheets under the hood, and desicant bags inside. I also start and run the car up to operating temp once a month or so as the Owners Manual recommends, never heard of rotors warping during storage before.
 
Maybe.... he's talking about the clean spot the rotors get when they start to rust. The part the pads contact stays shiny. It'll give you a brake vibration like a warped rotor.

Don't have any ideas to preserve them. They shouldn't rust inside a garage. The only idea I have is to put the car on stands and remove the rotors. They have to be stored flat. Plastic bags are bad.... unless you drop in a couple silicone desiccant packs ( like the ones that come in shoe boxes ) or vacuum seal them.

Those little packs work great in my tool boxes.
 
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Never really had much issue with rust on my bling bling rotors inside the garage. I usually leave my car in a somewhat driveable condition anyway as I move it around the garage or out into the driveway depending on what I got going on in terms of house projects. I just try not to start it when it's under 10 degrees if I can't run it for a while.

For the most part, I just fill the tank, swap the wheels, and put it on the trickle charger. I do change the oil before it sits for a while to get rid of all the contaminants that can eat away at the metals while it sits. I wipe the interior down, condition the leather , toss a garbage bag over the seats (to keep them somewhat moist after I condition them) and shut the door and just let it sit.
 
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Another fellow Wisconsin guy here. I put sta-bil in the tank and run it to about a quarter full. Park it and cover it up. That's all I've ever done. Little early isn't it? I'll be running mine until there's snow on the roads. It does stay in a heated shop all winter though.
Using a fuel stabilizer is an absolute requirement - after even 3 months, fuel can deteriorate by itself, and my one E-10 ethanol complaint is that it deteriorated faster.
The tank should be either full as possible or empty. The less air over the tank will reduce the amount of fuel deterioration and rusting of the tank.
A battery disconnect will help, even with the battery tender.
The only time dryer sheets will really help with is if your rodents are extremely shy. Cab Fresh rodent repellant (from farm stores, Ace hardware or Speedway motors) works better and smells a lot better than mothballs!

https://www.speedwaymotors.com/Fres...MIuKCGzYyn3gIVzMDACh2zqgPvEAYYASABEgLpi_D_BwE
 
Well here in N.J. I just pretty much throw the cover on it with whatever fuel it had and at some point I slap the battery tender on it, garage is part of the house so it's really never any colder than 50 degrees. But I'm not really a good example of how to do it either..
 
Foxes don't weigh enough to permanently flat spot the tires.
And if you are truly that worried about the tires, race ramps makes flat spot stoppers, they aren't cheap, but they work.
People that do the jack stand thing are just nuts imo.
As for the battery, I always keep mine shut off regardless of the time of year, I have a switch by the license plate, but if your battery is up front, you can buy a cutoff switch. While I have a battery tender and sometimes I slap it on just to see where the battery is (mine tells a percentage), if the battery is good, with it shut off, it will not lose any charge.

I'm sure Wisconsin is worse than NJ, but regardless, I like to have the car ready to drive at all times. Doesn't mean i'm going to drive it, just means I could if I want to.
 
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Fresh hay would be a good offering to the rodents. The straw might be helpful as oil absorbent if your car has to leak a little. :) Do not forget to tip the farm cats so they will help keep rodents away.
You should see the horror pictures of what rodents can pack under the motor shrouds on air cooled motors. It would be like blocking the entire radiator shroud and fan on a Mustang.