I am curious if I should remove the wheels while the car is on jack stands for a few days? Just wondering if the weight of the wheels would put too much stress on the suspension while the car is on jack stands. Thanks.
Wheels off while on Jack Stands
- Thread starter nis350
- Start date
A few days should be fine. I wouldn't do it for a 6 month winter storage however.
Um, what would need to be checked if the car sat on jack stands for most of the winter storage while you were changing the steering rack, the coolant, engine oil and a bunch of other things? Asking for a friend.
Is this what people are asking on forums these days?
I think you are fine. The NSX suspension doesn't really have any points that could be stressed by the weight of the wheels and tires. I guess you could look at the control arm bushings and check the ball joints, but I'm sure they are fine.
FWIW, page 226 of my 2001 NSX Owner's Manual states this in the section on storing greater than 1 month:
"If the car is to be stored for a longer period, it should be supported on jackstands so the tires are off the ground."
It also calls for starting the car and running the engine for a "while" monthly. I thought that advice had been dropped.
"If the car is to be stored for a longer period, it should be supported on jackstands so the tires are off the ground."
It also calls for starting the car and running the engine for a "while" monthly. I thought that advice had been dropped.
I think the issue is flat-spotting the tires or causing balancing issues, not suspension damage. The original Yokohama A0-22 tires were very soft, like 100 treadwear.
Makes sense, but it would suggest that the suspension can take sitting on jack stands for a few months without damage. There's no mention of removing the wheels to reduce the static load while sitting on stands.
Good point!
There's a lot of stuff I've never heard, but I've never heard that having wheels on the car while on jack stands for a while would cause suspension damage. The suspension is designed to take thousands of pounds of weight and constant vibration. It's hard to imagine that 45 lbs of static load from wheels hanging off it would do anything to it.
I think the concern was having the suspension at full travel for that long of a time. If you're just getting into working on your car, and you don't have a lot of experience with the very complex suspension of the NSX I think it's a valid question.
This forum is great because even the simple questions are usually answered with friendliness and a general concern to help people regardless of what they ask. Hope it stays that way for a long time.
Are the upper rear control arm bushings trapped or free to pivot? I have never got up close and personal with them; but, they kind of look like they are trapped (molded in place). If that is the case, having the suspension in the full dropped position applies twist to the rubber which moves if far from its normal happy place. On an aged bushing that may result in tearing in not so flexible rubber. If the bushing is free to pivot on the mounting point then twist is not an issue.
Trapped, but based on how the control arms articulate, I'm not sure there is much of a twisting moment on them.
In 31 years in a climate with winters, i've tried it all. I've never had flat spotted tires that didn't work themselves out within a few miles. I see no need to jack stand the cars for storage. I also see no damage if jack standing the car for long periods of time for whatever . Just did my axles. I noticed the top a-frames are highly torqued upwards from the factory and the lowers are highly torqued downwards, likely for a reason. These rubber bushings IMO are not going to be affected by "hanging" weight. Rubber will be rubber until it degrades from AGE, not tension. A little off topic, but replacing the lower a-frame with the spherical joint mod is a must do for the track or aggressive street. The car has been known to do "tank slappers" on occasion. As a former biker who has had a few tank slappers, just get rid of that one soft rubber a-arm bushing IMO. you will not notice increased suspension shock. Not a rubber engineer myself, but i do have a friend who is and i listen intently for what thats worth.
My empirical experience in storing both NSX's and a S2000 over the Winter Months for going on 15 years is that having the suspension in full droop does zero damage.
In fact, being stored on the lift, on dollies or even on the ground present no observable downside....but I do inflate the tires a bit more if they are bearing the weight of the car while being stored.
YMMV
In fact, being stored on the lift, on dollies or even on the ground present no observable downside....but I do inflate the tires a bit more if they are bearing the weight of the car while being stored.
YMMV
