jacking it up?!

[daddiojiggy]

okay,i figure i want to lift the car up off the ground for the winter.i'm tired of the tires having 'flat spots' after sitting for weeks/months so i figure if i get it off the garage floor-and i mean JUST off the floor all will be well.my question is:

1.where can i apply the jack stands?on the outer ends of the axle in the rear and a similar point in the front?(what would be similar bytheby?)
2.for a '95 s500 sedan,will 2 1/2 ton jack stands be sufficient?

i had thought of applying the stands to the mounts at the four corners on the sides/undercarriage of the car but when i would use them in the summer for a few hours and the stands chewed up the rubber mounts and so i'm afraid of what they'd look like after a few months.any ideas to using these without killing them?

[haasman]

If you really want to store your car correctly, remove the tires and bag them so that ozone won't get to them after inflating them to max pressure. Spray some silicone in the bag. Just make sure the spray is compatible with the paint on the wheels.

Take some old wheels and crappy tires and put them on the car or jack it up and mount it on stands >on the suspension<, like it were sitting on its wheels and tires.

Cars with rubber bushings like to have their suspensions sit at the normal static ride height, not extended, for long periods of time. Otherwise your rubber bushings are stressed and tweaked.

Haasman

[400E]

I've got a basic question: Why don't you get some good snow tires and drive it instead of garage it? The worst thing you can do for an MB is to let it sit idle. They do best when driven regularly.

I drive mine 365 days a year, even in the snow and salt. So far, there is no apparent damage to the undercarriage from the salt. I just get it washed once a week and don't worry about it.

These cars are meant to be driven, not be garage queens.

I don't understand the flat spot problem. I've stored a variety of cars over the years, from a few weeks to over a year. Never experienced flat spots. I thought this was a myth, or at the least didn't occur on modern tires.

In regards to rust, we've had the 560 four winters. It's a Texas car and is still corrosion free with exception of the muffler. During the winter, it's washed a few times/month.

As the guys say on the M-100 board say, "Garages Kill".

[Duke2.6]

Storing a car with the suspension hanging can damage the control arm bushings because they are strained in torsion. For winter storage just change the oil/filter, fill the fuel tank and keep the battery charged either in the car or remove it. Pump the tires up to 40 psi.

Nylon belted tires will tend to flat spot when cold, but they go round again once the tires warm up from some driving.

I've been storing cars for 6-12 month intervals for the last ten years and have never had a problem with permanent flat spotting.

Duke