Classic cars often spend longer periods in storage than they spend on the road, the chrome-bumper enthusiast laying the car up over winter, the concours car coming out twice a year for shows, the restoration project awaiting completion. During those static periods the tyre at the bottom of the wheel, the section bearing the static weight of the car, develops a flat spot from the prolonged compression, producing a noticeable thump-thump-thump vibration when the car is next driven, which gradually works out after several miles but is irritating in the meantime, and which on older or harder-compound tyres can become permanent. Tyre savers prevent this from happening.
How Tyre Savers Work
A tyre saver is a moulded foam or rubber cushion that increases the tyre contact area and spreads the static load of the car across a wider section of the tread than the small patch the tyre would otherwise rest on, reducing sidewall stress so the rubber compounds do not develop the localised set that produces a flat spot. The cushion is curved to match the radius of the tyre, so the tyre rests across it in its natural shape rather than being deformed by a flat platform, and is supplied in pairs with a high-visibility interlocking design that keeps the cushions tidy in storage when not in use. The same cushions serve as garage stop position markers when parking the car, and as wheel chocks for stationary work where the handbrake is not the right tool, which is itself good practice during long lay-up, as a handbrake left on for extended periods can cause the rear brake shoes to bond to the drums.
Storage Best Practice
Tyre savers are one element of good storage practice, the others being inflating the tyres to a slightly higher pressure than normal, typically 35 to 40 psi rather than the road pressure, to reduce sidewall flex, and rotating the car periodically through the lay-up to vary which part of the tyre rests on the saver, with the tyres returned to their correct operating pressure before the car is driven. Cars stored on axle stands with the wheels off the ground avoid flat-spotting entirely, but this is not always practical in a standard garage. Together with a properly-formulated rubber-care product applied to the sidewalls to prevent them drying out and cracking, the tyres can come through a multi-year lay-up in the same condition they went into it. For comprehensive winter storage, tyre savers are best combined with a battery conditioner, a breathable car cover, and moisture protection in the garage.
Application Coverage
Tyre savers are stocked in sizes suitable for vehicles up to 4,000 kg fitted with wheels between 10 inches and 18 inches in diameter and up to 7 inches wide, covering the full classic-MG range and the wider classic British line-up, from the Midget on 13-inch wheels and the MGA on 15-inch wheels through to the MGC and MGB GT V8 with their wider tyres, and the low-profile tyres of the MGF and TF, which are more susceptible to flat-spotting than the taller-sidewall tyres of the earlier cars. For owners with multiple classics in storage, a set of savers for each car is the appropriate provision, as the cushions need to be in position throughout the static period rather than moved between cars, living in storage with the car during the lay-up and coming out for use when the car returns to the road.