Storing Wheels with Tyres

[markjay]

In the current economic climate, people and companies try to cut down on (what is perceived as) non-essential expenses as far as possible. Convincing customers to pay for an additional set of tyres, an additional set of rims, storage, plus the twice-a-year cost of the swap over, is a very hard sale for both tyre manufacturers and tyre fitters. And given that around 50% of the cars on UK roads are company cars, the tyre industry relies heavily on revenues from corporates and fleets.

The other problem is that while summer tyres sell all year round, winter tyres only sell in winter. Manufacturers and retailer are weary of getting stuck with unsold stock for a further six months, so the supply of winter tyres is very limited - my local tyre fitter for example said that he can only supply winter tyres to customers who ordered them in advance during the summer, as he can't get any now...

So I think that we will not see tyre storage facilities going up around the country, not in the near future anyway. Though the initial uptake will presumably be better in Scotland and the North of England, then in the South.

 

[Rory]

- my local tyre fitter for example said that he can only supply winter tyres to customers who ordered them in advance during the summer, as he can't get any now...

I've read that quite a lot, and it does concern me about what happens if a winter tyre needs replacing due to being punctured in a non-repairable place, or damaged beyond repair. I hummed and harred about buying a couple of spares, but didn't in the end.

Presumeably they must still be available in places such as Germany? Several online tyre sellers ship from there.

 

[davionix]

Store them upright on a wooden rack(not metal or concrete) and separated from each other, and cover rack with UV resistant black pvc. This is the criteria used for storage of aircraft tyres/wheels and should certainly be good enough for car tyres.

 

[Rory]

Store them upright on a wooden rack(not metal or concrete) and separated from each other, and cover rack with UV resistant black pvc. This is the criteria used for storage of aircraft tyres/wheels and should certainly be good enough for car tyres.

From the Westfalia link that Bill put up earlier, there are a couple of stacking with separation options at pretty minimal cost: Store tyres properly at Westfalia Mail Order - UK

 

[Dieselman]

Though the initial uptake will presumably be better in Scotland and the North of England, then in the South.

That's a good question. I suspect on here the greatest uptake of Winter tyres is in the South East of England...