I've created a schedule so that I waken the beast every 4th week, and the roads have to be dry. The flat-spotted tires took about 10 minutes to even out, then I had a glorious half-hour of blissful teasing (c'mon, put the roof down....so it's only 39° out......c'mon, you can do it) but I resisted the urge to drop the top. Oh what joy! A little Holiday present to myself?

 

What kind of base are you using under tires?

 

Looks like plywood squares, I do the same. Mine are 3/8” thick.

 

Uhhhhhhhh.............. Why? I can't think of a reason to do this.

 

It's just 3/4 inch (actually 23/32) plywood

 

Moisture leching from the concrete was what I had thought.. But then, using the extensive research tools mirrored by anti-vaxxers and flat-earthers (the Internets) it appears the wood does not make a difference.

 

I could see if the Entire Area under the car was plywood, but a single sheet of plastic would be better.
Keep the tires 0.002 degrees warmer?
I dunno...

 

I am trialing these for the first winter I've owned the XK. I looked at the more expensive "tire cradles" from vendors such as RaceRamps, but did not think they were worth the extra money. Have over-inflated the tires somewhat as well, following advice elsewhere here.

 

I still see no point to these. What are they for?

 

I take it this was addressed to me. I thought they would keep the tire patches off the concrete floor in my garage. I know I could have used wood or a plastic sheet. I just decided to give them a try.

 

At the very least they give a specific parking spot. When I pull into my rental garage, I put a nice 2x4 up at the front tire so I'd know exactly when to stop to clear the garage door.

 

These pads have a strip of double-sided adhesive on the back, since they are really intended for the purpose you mention. But I have them under all 4 tires, so I did not want to adhere the back pair. Also, since I don't think the adhesive will really last on cold concrete I skipped trying to stick down the fronts. It turned out to be a little tricky to get all four tires on the center of the pads. No matter how carefully I placed them before rolling onto them, they seemed to squirm a little as I rolled over the little hump in the back. I finally got it though.

 

AH! Gotcha. Keep tire marks off the floor.
I didn't consider that side of the equation. I have a crappy old epoxy finish that's about 40% gone, so I don't care about it until it's refinished next summer.

 

I guess I wasn't as clear as I should have been. I don't care about the garage floor, I care about the tires. I've heard - perhaps it's apocryphal - that it's not good to have tires standing on concrete for long periods. I thought this was a concern different than the flat-spotting issue.

 

I can't see how concrete would be bad for tires, as they are made specifically FOR use on concrete/asphalt. Weird.
I have heard in centuries past that putting car batteries on concrete was detrimental, but I discovered that's only slightly accurate for really grossly dirty batteries, creating a mild short through the concrete.

 

That's true, but tires are also designed to be used, not to sit for months at a time in the same position.

I said a quick prayer to the great god Google and he/she/it told me that there is no consensus on whether tires sitting on concrete for long periods causes degradation. There are many opinions out there, but they seem to be conjecture. The most common thought among those that believe concrete can harm tires is that moisture is the culprit, promoting dry rot (ironically).

This is the first time in decades that I've stored a car over winter. The last time I was much less thoughtful about tire care (although the car was in a garage under a car cover), but I don't recall any tire problems during the 3-year lease. Since I plan to own the XK for much longer than a few years, I was more interested in protecting the tires if they needed it.

 

In addition to moisture, concrete (according to google references) compounds can leach into the tires, but that’s primarily an issue with newer (less than 6 year old) floors that haven’t fully cured. Since mine is about 50, guess I’ve got nothing to worry about.

 

Yep, I just use poly sheets under the car. Did it last winter too and moisture leaching up from the concrete was evident in the spring as the poly was damp underneath.

 

I just inflate my tires to the maximum cold PSI pressure (50psi in my case) and leave it parked for the winter. No flat spotting issues afterwards.