Summer tires, winter storage question

[Blue Beast]

I run winter tires on my Chrysler 300 November to April. I let Discount tire store the tires for me and swap back and forth on the stock rims. On my Mustang I am thinking about doing the opposite, I plan to store the all seasons that came with the car for winter and run summer performance tires like Michelin Pilot Super Sports in the warmer months. I know you shouldn't run the summer tires below 45 degrees, my question is whether I need to worry about the storage of the summer tires in the colder months. I think Discount tire keeps the tires in an offsite warehouse, probably unheated. Does the temperature matter when the tires are stored off the car, i.e. no pressure on them? Just curious whether I need to plan to have the tires bagged and stored in my basement, or if you think I will be OK to just let the tire guys store them over the winter months.

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[Clarkson]

How much is it gonna cost? I would say the summer tires will be kind of stiff during winter as the temperature is low but I doubt that it is gonna hurt the tire. After all it is made of rubber so it can survive temperature change

 

[Blue Beast]

It costs me about $50 a season to store the winter tires, which is worth it to me. I know driving on the summer tires below 45 degrees is a definite no. It's a very soft compound that gets hard and brittle when cold, which causes the rubber to crack.

 

[Blue Beast]

Never mind... Store above 20 degrees.

I found a service bulletin that says to store the summer tires above 20 degrees. Attached is a photo of the kind of cracks that can develop. Kind of a PIA to deal with, but the right tires for the right conditions do make a car feel planted to the road.

 

[MyStang]

WAKE UP FORD !

I can not believe Ford has not recalled these Pirelli P-zero tires. This whole tire cracking issue could turn into the Firestone debacle of 1999-2002. The average consumer has no idea of the safety concern these tires can cause. To the average Joe, tires are tires, round with tread on them. Hell, they wouldn't even know if their tires were low or flat if cars didn't have standard tire pressure monitoring systems. :rant:

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