Storing car for a year

I just got orders to iraq and i leave in october for training. Total ill be gone for 14 months. Basicaly, i dont want to worry about someone else to look after/have access to my truck (i.e. i dont trust anyone with my truck). So that leaves me the option of storing it somewhere. Im located in NW Florida between pensacola/panama city. But what should i do when i store it? ive looked online but it seems like everyone has there own opinion on how to store a vehicle, some of which are questionable. So i was thinking the good ol' GRM board might have the best and agreed upon method for storing a car. Im looking for an indoor place to store it but depending on $ it might end up outside (god i hope not with hurricane season....) Thanks for any advice!!

some sta-bil in a full tank, run some so its in the lines/efi/carb, if you're really worried, put it on stands and let the air out of the tires and drain all the fluids.

if the a/c still works, it really needs to be cycled once a month or so to keep all the seals in shape. a guy i knew came back to non-op a/c in his chevy, and then went through two or three compressors before finally giving up on making the a/c work after that. you might try to rent an extra space in someones garage and have them start and run your truck with the a/c on at least once a month.

OR could you send the truck to your parents place? hopefully you could trust them to take care of it.

stay safe over there

Dont need to worry about A/C, it doesnt have it anymore (it was broken, looked ugly, i was 16 and lived in NH at the time so didnt really need it....yea, oops!)

Drain all the fluids? including oil? wont rust become an issue? I dont want to come home to an Obama clunker sitting in the storage bay!

As for getting it home to NH, it is my ideal solution. Unfortunatly i dont have time to get it up there (thankyou last minute orders....) so that leaves my dad coming down and getting it. He said he would, but i know he doesnt want to.

I found a storage lot around here, 10' X 20' for $145.49 so im looking at just over 2K for 14 months So far theyre the cheapest. Going to call my dad again this afternoon...rather buy a plane ticket and gas...see how that conversation goes haha.

Thanks!

Unless your truck is especially important to you wouldn't it be a good idea to just sell it and reward yourself with a new one when you get back. 2 grand in storage fees for something that has sat 14months and might very well need work done to make it run well after sitting idle for that time.

Good luck!

did you look up by me? (Crestview) it tends to be cheaper up here because it's not ON the ocean... what city are you in?

That price seems way out of line! I pay $45/month for a unit the exact same size.

If you come to a dead end and can't find a pleasant deal , Drive it down to my shop and i will store and start it once a month get hot , let fluids run burn off moisture in valve covers , put new gas in it every once in awhile , for case of beer a month , We do sheriff impound so trust is a major deal with us and we have a secure barb wire fence . Let freedom ring and thanks for the serving our country deal !

Unless your truck is especially important to you wouldn't it be a good idea to just sell it and reward yourself with a new one when you get back. 2 grand in storage fees for something that has sat 14months and might very well need work done to make it run well after sitting idle for that time. <<<<<<<<<<<<<good idea

I will certainly drive your truck for 14 months for you...free of charge, and I will keep it up, make sure it always has plenty of new gasoline, and the AC works great. let me know when I can pick it up.

Wouldn't shipping it up to your 'rent's place be cheaper than the $2000 storage fee?

or just go w/ Karl's "Will store for beer" plan.

you're at eglin/hurlbert I assume?... just loan it to me for the year... i'd even cover insurance (what a guy eh? ;-) lol

sounds like these guys covered it... stay safe over there man

14 months is nothing....maybe a little stabil in the tank and disconnect the battery.

The amount of time should be no big deal. As mentioned, put some Sta-bil in the tank and disconnect the battery. The storage fee does seem way out of line, though. I don't know where you're located but I assume you're in a big city - I'd take a look out in the country, get 50 miles out and I'll bet it will be a lot cheaper.

I wish you were closer to me, you could keep it in my shop for free for the duration. I have a friend's truck here while he is in Afghanistan, thanks for serving.

I can not help with the truck but if GRM needs some $$$ to ensure that a subscription of GRM gets to you over there let me know!! (Tim or Marjorie I hope you are reading this.)

It is the least that I can do considering what you are about to do for us.

I've let cars sit for more than a year with no "prep". All they ever needed was a jump, air in the tires, and a good wash to get going again. I might go as far as putting stabil in the tank and disconnecting the battery, but it's never been an issue for me before.

Yea, stationed at Eglin. I know it would make more sense to sell it, but idk, my first car, built the engine myself, redid the interior myslelf...just cant see myself parting with it at the moment.

Ill look a bit farther out and see what i can come up with. If i could find something @ $45 a month. Karl, thanks for the offer, and i will keep it in mind if you are serious.

Oh, and ill be making sure i get GRM out there someway, somehow! haha Im sure 99% of my time over theres going to be filled with boredom...(which is probably a good thing now that i think about it...)

Thanks for all the posts and well wishes! this board rocks!

Would the government offer to place it in storage for you? I am in Korea and I had my truck in a government storage facility in California. They shipped it from my home in Hawaii free of charge. You can even go online and check the staus of your vehicle to see what they do to it every month, ie. check oil, charge battery, etc. I guess it depends on what is allowed in your orders. Might be worth checking with your transportation office.

I've been in Korea for over a year now and a few months ago had my truck shipped out here, since I'm going to be here for another couple years. My truck got here in pretty good shape without too many descernible scratches or dings.

devilboy,

I wasnt even aware something like that existed! Ill be checking that monday morning. Thanks for the tip! Your truck didnt show up with a bunch of unaccounted mileage or anything on it did it? haha, get a bunch of first term airman looking after cars.... unfortunatly you never know whats going to happen.

I found an article online about storage of vehicles for deployed soldiers: http://www.wiesbaden.army.mil/Library/HU0305c.pdf It sounds like your vehicle registration will be extended without additional cost as well.

I'll be doing my annual 7-8 month store on my Civic next month.

Same routine--

Fresh oil change, put away warm.

Stabil in the tank

Air up the tires to 40-42lbs

Sock in the tailpipe in case of critters

I hook the battery up to a trickle charger a few times over the winter, in your case, I'd just disconnect the battery

Fresh oil change when it comes out in the spring/summer