You Know You Are Old When

[Engineer42]

We can pretty easily live with only one car in Fla. Most of the stuff we do and places we go can be accessed by golf cart or bicycle (tennis, golf, bike trails, restaurants, friends).

I worry that leaving a car in Fla. (in the garage) for 5 months will not be great for the car. I would remove the battery and put in air conditioned space.

What else would you do?

I'd get the weight off the tires, put a heavy dose of sea foam in the fuel tank. Possibly invest in a cover even if indoors, and dryer sheets in the interior floor in several spots.

 

[MoKelly]

I'd get the weight off the tires, put a heavy dose of sea foam in the fuel tank. Possibly invest in a cover even if indoors, and dryer sheets in the interior floor in several spots.

Thanks. Good ideas.

 

[WinterDeere]

We can pretty easily live with only one car in Fla. Most of the stuff we do and places we go can be accessed by golf cart or bicycle (tennis, golf, bike trails, restaurants, friends).

I worry that leaving a car in Fla. (in the garage) for 5 months will not be great for the car. I would remove the battery and put in air conditioned space.

What else would you do?

I'll find out what they do, next time I speak with him. I had thought he just disconnects the battery and leaves it in place, but I'm not sure. If it were me, I'd probably just connect it to a battery tender, and leave the car live, easier than reprogramming everything every time I return.

I know many of their friends do this dual-residency things, so there's lots of combined knowledge on how to leave home and vehicles unoccupied, with minimal damage. I know they use wifi cameras (e.g. Ring) aimed at thermometers in various parts of the house, and check them daily to be sure heat is working, etc. They also charge up their sprinkler system and then shut off the incoming water to the home. That might not work in houses with a boiler on an autofill valve, without moving the boiler upstream of the shutoff, but they have heat pumps.

 

[WinterDeere]

I'd get the weight off the tires, put a heavy dose of sea foam in the fuel tank. Possibly invest in a cover even if indoors, and dryer sheets in the interior floor in several spots.

I know he's not jacking up the car. I know this was a big issue with bias ply tires, developing flat spots, but I always thought radials were more forgiving of sitting a few months.

The company that makes Race Ramps makes tire caddies that you can park on, keeping the load on the tire more evenly distributed, if it's a real concern:

 

[sixdogs]

She's old school.

She was home last week and asked me to show her how the tub and sink drains in the house work.

Who is this kid?

My guess is she's the daughter you raised and it looks like you did a great job.

 

[sixdogs]

I know he's not jacking up the car. I know this was a big issue with bias ply tires, developing flat spots, but I always thought radials were more forgiving of sitting a few months.

.............

I thought that as well but found my 18.4 x 30 metric sized radial farm tractor tire developed a flat spot from sitting over the winter with too low of pressure. This is a multi thousand dollar tire and even at 100% tread they considered it "out of warranty" when replaced. Thanks for nothing.

The preventative is to overinflated the tires in storage and move the vehicle a little if you can. My tires were run at 8 psi and I now inflate to 22 psi over the winter.

I'm told you can sort-of make a flat spot in a radial go away or at least better by inflating correctly and then driving highway speeds for a while. Then, keep the pressure correct and add air over winter. Problem--knock, knock--is apparently solved.

 

[WinterDeere]

My zero turn tires are kept around 12 psi, and they definitely develop flat spots over the winter. But honestly, ten minutes into the first mowing of each season, they're pretty much gone! Granted, I'm not doing road speed on a zero turn, but they're also bias ply tires.

 

[drssg]

I worry that leaving a car in Fla. (in the garage) for 5 months will not be great for the car. I would remove the battery and put in air conditioned space.

What else would you do?

My in-laws used to be snowbirds. All they did was disconnect the battery, and the car sat outside.

 

[Pixguy]

We can pretty easily live with only one car in Fla. Most of the stuff we do and places we go can be accessed by golf cart or bicycle (tennis, golf, bike trails, restaurants, friends).

I worry that leaving a car in Fla. (in the garage) for 5 months will not be great for the car. I would remove the battery and put in air conditioned space.

What else would you do?

The cars seem to do fine in your garage with battery disable or on trickle charge. I leave my golf cart plugged in for 8 mos we're not here.

 

[MossRoad]

My guess is she's the daughter you raised and it looks like you did a great job.

Blame, ah, er, I mean, congratulate her mom.

 

[MossRoad]

I have a cousin that lived in the D.C. area and the Lakeland, FL area. She'd put her car on the auto train several times a year because she didn't like that long of a drive.

Auto Train: Travel for You & Your Car | Amtrak

The Amtrak Auto Train runs non-stop to get both you and your vehicle from the DC area to just outside Orlando, Florida. Pack your car like luggage and relax.

www.amtrak.com

 

[deserteagle71]

I know he's not jacking up the car. I know this was a big issue with bias ply tires, developing flat spots, but I always thought radials were more forgiving of sitting a few months.

Depends on the construction of the radial. I have some heavy duty Toyo radials on my Jeep and 4x4 van. Both those vehicles often sit for a month or so without being moved. When I do drive them it takes about 20 miles before they smooth out. Until then it's a bumpy ride. I'm willing to put up with that minor inconvenience though, as these tires are the only ones I have never rock broke.

Not too many tires these days still have this many plies in the tread:

 

[WinterDeere]

I have a cousin that lived in the D.C. area and the Lakeland, FL area. She'd put her car on the auto train several times a year because she didn't like that long of a drive.

Auto Train: Travel for You & Your Car | Amtrak

The Amtrak Auto Train runs non-stop to get both you and your vehicle from the DC area to just outside Orlando, Florida. Pack your car like luggage and relax.

www.amtrak.com

My parents used to do this, but since the auto part of the train stops at DC, it still left a 5+ hour drive to their home north of Philly, atop all the hassle of queuing and loading cars. Ultimately, not worth the hassle for them, as shipping car door to door and flying themselves was faster and more convenient, and not all that much more expensive.

If they lived closer to DC, then the auto train would probably be the way to go.

 

[WinterDeere]

... when you ask about and start ranking in order of preference, the cause of death of your acquaintances.

... if you've ever uttered the phrase, "that's a good way to go".

 

[sixdogs]

You're old if you remember buying tires that came wrapped in a ribbon of thick paper.

 

[sixdogs]

And, you're old if you remember people that bought gas by the number of gallons rather than by the dollar amount.

 

[MoKelly]

And, you're old if you remember people that bought gas by the number of gallons rather than by the dollar amount.

Or, they said “filler up with Ethyl”!

 

[Mendonsy]

Or, they said “filler up with Ethyl”!

My first job after high school was at a Mobil station on the NYS Thruway (I90). I probably heard that phrase at least two dozen times an hour on busy days. Back then regular gas was 23.9 cents per gallon.

 

[Jstpssng]

Or, they said “filler up with Ethyl”!

Does Ethyl have a sister?

 

[WinterDeere]

Or, they said “filler up with Ethyl”!

"Ethel? She died 30 years ago!"

Yeah, I know, it was "Grace" in the movie.