Storing a car outdoors under cover

No, car covers is a perfectly valid topic here, and Autogeek is also a sponsor of Covercraft Car Covers.

What time frame are you seeking for protection where this particular vehicle will reside under a cover? Weeks at a time, months? What part of the country?

Rust can eventually occur no matter what, even in the desert southwest, but of course at a much slower rate than other climates due to low humidity and much less rainfall per year.

Is this a show, or vintage collector car to be so concerned about such?

Two much greater concerns IMO, would be marring created by the use of a Car Cover, and possible damages occurring from the rare Hail Storms.

I did such in New Mexico when I lived there, for the last few years of residence I covered my Tahoe in My Avatar because the desert sun was taking its toll. Mostly on plastic trim, but no doubt the paint as well took a considerable hit. One advantage was I had a durable all metal Carport that it was parked under.

But that helped very little when high winds came, which in southern NM is almost on a daily basis being at the foothills of a mountain range, and a mere few miles from the largest Gypsum Field on earth, White Sands.

Yes, dirts and Gypsum grit gets everywhere there, and with the combination of high winds, and this particulate dust, marring did occur. Only way I could lessen-reduce the damage that was occurring was by Coating the vehicle with Carpro CQuartz, and even still, there was no stopping such from occurring. It was one evil versus another.

There are companies that do make covers to go over the wheels and tires in a myriad of diameter sizes. Many people who own RVs, Motor Homes use them.

Of the covers, (2) which I bought from Covercraft, the NOAH, and then later the Weathershield HD, the latter was a superior cover as far as durability, I still have it. Whereas the NOAH didn't last but about 2 years at most, far short of its 4 year warrantee. But the Weathershield HD is not as paint friendly a cover as the NOAH was.

Most car covers from Covercraft are made from materials that do breathe, meaning should they get wet, they dry quickly, and that water possibly trapped in between the cover and the vehicle is not a major issue to be worried about in most cases, and with many of their covers. Notice I many, not all their covers, because some are not suited for outdoor use.

You do get what you pay for. Other brands covers are often universal fit, which means they don't fit!

Covercraft often offers options on some covers for some vehicles. Let's say you have a chopped '32 Ford Coupe, or a Plymouth Superbird with huge rear Spoiler. Most if not all Covercraft Covers come already with Plastic Grommeted Holes at the bottom center of the cover, so they can be secured with a durable cable and lock to prevent theft, and many companies make cinch down clamps with cords that can be used at the bottom apron seam to further secure the cover if needed, let's say at the front and back of vehicle if desired.

Most covers also usually come with an additional snap together plastic Grommet in case a hole has to be made for an Antenna.

There are the sometimes occasions where Autogeek holds sales with no exceptions, and thus one can get a decent discount on these Covercraft Covers through them.

Hope this info helps you.

The Weathershield and Weathershield HD are two of the most durable covers Covercraft makes. Another might be the Sunbrella.

And they'll be the most expensive typically as well.

If you wish to personally examine the materials they use, contact Covercraft direct. They will send you sample swatches of all their cover's materials that they use for free so you can personally examine them.

Again, and in any case, hail, yes, you'll be fine it the hail is pea sized. Nickel and quarter sized, and larger, then no car cover without some additional makeshift protection will eliminate any possible damages occurring.

Again, hope my comments have helped.

I see.
Keep in mind that usually all covers can be washed in some fashion. And some of them, not all of them can be tumble dried in a Dryer. Note I say some, not all.

Dependent upon the size of the vehicle, thus the size of the cover, and also the type of material of the cover, one might be able to use their own home washing machine to wash, and even dry.

Companies such as Covercraft will have detailed instructions from whatever cover you may choose-purchase.

Let's say it's a stretchable nylon cover for a Corvette, or perhaps even the WeatherShield-HP, which is a slightly lighter material than the HD Version, then yes, probably no problem with a machine wash.

With either the NOAH, or Weathershield HD and for my 4 door 1997 Tahoe, no way was I going to get either cover into my washing machine or dryer, and could not find a Laundermat in my area that had washing machines that were much larger than what I had.

Thus, I bought a 55 gal Plastic Drum from a car wash for $20, had car soap in it before I got it. I cut off the top, cut a hole in the bottom side to attach a 3/4" Ball Valve Cock, and used to hand wash the covers in it. A little liquid detergent, vessel half full of water, hand agitate as best as possible, drain and refill a couple time with fresh water to rinse.

Then would hang to air dry, and drying doesn't take that long, especially with the Weathershield HD Cover. Other nylon type covers would also air dry very fast as well. Air drying is probably a better option, no risk of heat damaging the material.

Car covers, no matter what eventually do get dirty, an outdoor cover of course gets dirty faster than a simple Cotton Duck Cover, or other indoor type cover that would usually be used inside a garage.

I would say if it's any help, I'd probably keep the daily driver in the garage, because constantly installing and removing a cover on a daily basis gets old pretty quick.

If possible, parking the covered vehicle where it will be less subjected to winds would be a help.

carlg said:

I'm in the NorthEast US.

The car is 25 years old and has been
garage kept it's entire life. The under
side is pretty clean and I'm trying to
keep it that way.

Click to expand...

•IMO:

-This vehicle which, until you recently
acquired it, was garage kept it's entire
life...will fast become a rust bucket if
it’s allowed to be continuously stored
outside, under a traditional style of a
car cover, in the Northeastern sector
of the USA.

-You need a something like a temperature/
environmentally controlled ‘Car Bubble’.


Bob

About the only better, and more expensive options I might suggest is seeing if you can either find a garage to rent, or rent something like a 10'x20' unheated Storage Unit. At least for the worst-wettest parts of the year weatherwise.

Yank the Battery if required and store the battery on a float charger if no electric hookups

In truth, that's what I'm currently doing right now with my '97 Tahoe, and my 6x12 Cargo Trailer, both are residing in two 10'x20" storage units 160 miles away from me at present. Yeah, $90/mo for just the Tahoe. I in fact was just billed today for the pair, so $180/mo.

Inspected my Tahoe about 6 weeks ago, jumpstarted it and ran it, as the battery is out. Looked just like the day I threw it in there 6 months ago, spotless, couldn't even write with my finger on the hood.

carlg said:

I really want one of those things
that looks like a tent. I think it's
a portable garage, but the wife
thinks they are ugly.

Click to expand...

Be careful:
Many of them are prone to cave-ins when
under a heavy load of Winter precipitation.
That’s when things can get real ugly, real quick.

Just curious...what type of surface will
the vehicle be parked on: concrete, gravel,
blacktop. (Remember that storing a vehicle
that’s sitting on dirt/grass is a definite NO!!)


Bob

One little thing I forgot mentioning about the Covercraft Covers. in particular the TOTL Weathershield HD for my 97 4dr Tahoe.....

That was a $600 cover.
Yeah, I caught a little break, in that I lucked into a 15% no exclusions sale here right when I was contemplating buying another new cover, and thus saved a few Centavos.

I would suspect for a smaller cover, such as a car, the cost would be less, same with a lesser car cover, but these few TOTL covers that can take basically anything mother nature throws at them, blazing sun, torrential rains, snows, these best of the best do cost some serious moola.

carlg said:

Yeah, I was thinking of grass.
But I have some 10 mil poly
sitting in my garage that I would
lay down 1st if I go this route.

Click to expand...

That might work—very Short term.
Long term storage? Not for my vehicles.

Another issue:
What do you have in mind for critter prevention?
They’ll wreak havoc, in no time flat, on a vehicle
that’s stored outdoors.

IMO:
A vapor barrier won’t even begin to
prevent their “gnaw inspiring” per-
formances from occurring.



Bob

As this thread's evolved, a good number of considerations and concerns of the owner and us other folk have been thought of.

In the end, I'd still maybe have to say that a secured storage unit might be the best short term option.
That it's safer in a good number of ways, theft, weather conditions, dealing with car covers, rodents, etc.

I was lucky in that the storage unit I have my Tahoe in was a newly built building, the concrete floors are pristine, tight roll up overhead doors in brand new condition. Nothing's getting in. Only downside with my unit, no electricity, so I couldn't leave the battery in the truck long term and place it on a float charger to maintain, it had to come out.

Storage units aren't like a lease for an apartment where you have to sign for a 6 month or 1 year lease. You might have to pay a one month security deposit is all. Usually such is refundable and credited to your account.

You can check on your vehicle any time you like, and this could be one option, at least for the very worst few months of the year. I take it that in the Northwest, and if it's somewhere like Washington State, yeah, I understand rains are an every day thing during certain times of the year.

If the unit has no electricity, but this is a vehicle that you'll likely take out for maybe a Sunday drive, perhaps no need to take the battery out. It's your own private garage, and in some ways hold advantage versus a shared garage.

Renting a part of a garage, I've done that once, and with such, you are at the mercy of the owner and some other occurences. Had my 1967 Corvette in another person's garage for a period of about one year.

Had a lovely little incident happen one day, where the idiot woman who owned the garage laid her Pee Wee Herman Bike up against the Door in front of my car, I opened the door, and the damn bike fell on the front of my car. Yeah, I had a few nice little chips to touch up on a mint condition classic. ;-( Had the car's body been metal, there would've some dents as well.

You might get a good monthly rate, and then again maybe not so good with a private owner?

I think we've explored every viable option, don't know what more can be said?

To iterate:



•With the outdoors version you’ll be able
to keep the vehicle parked on the grass;
and at home—where it belongs.


Bob

carlg said:

OK too late now.

Thanks for all the info.

I just ordered the Evolution from AutoGeek.

It really seemed like the best bang for your buck cover. It gets good reviews, etc.

Click to expand...

I see there are 3 Evolution Covers they make. Not sure which one you opted for?

As far as I know, the Evolution type material has been around for a fairly long time, probably a material made by Kimberly Clark.

They are a laminated design I believe, consist of a number of bonded layers, either 3 or 4, the inner sandwiched material behaves almost like a Gortex fabric, in that it breathes, but the pores are supposedly too small to let rain through. Note how I say "supposedly".

Still, and in any event and with any cover placed over a Vehicle, and after it rains, it will be wise to immediately check the vehicle ASAP, and keep tabs on possible water being trapped in between the cover, and the vehicle. Water trapped like this can cause irreversable damage to the paint.

I would say any and all car covers that "breathe" will likely not be 100% waterproof. Water resistant yes, totally waterproof, perhaps not entirely, not even my TOTL Weathershield HD I would say is 100% waterproof. If they didn't breathe, then water in the form of trapped condensation would probably more easily occur.

Just some further tips and precautions. Follow the Cover's maintenance instructions to a T. Firstly, if it says the cover cannot be tumble dried, or only low heat, or no heat. there's a specific reason for this, and I'll explain later.

Two, do not use any sort of water-proofing chemicals, such as Scotchguard, 303 Fabric Protectant, and others like this. Firstly, it will hinder the breathability of the cover, and as well such chemicals will as I later assumed will irreversably damage the materials of the cover.

I believe that was what caused the ultimate death of my Covercraft NOAH cover, which at about the 2-1/2 year mark seemed to lose its water repellency. That I had sprayed the cover down with 303 Protectant and this product somehow chemically damaged the material, making it much more prone to tearing and then started to literally fall apart. I believe the NOAH is basically a TOTL Kimberly Clark Evolution Material, again, a Laminate type.

Lastly, if a hole or tear should ever occur, do not attempt a self repair with something like an Iron-On Patch. I also found this out the hard way, by taking a warm Iron to the material one day, and the material melted in a split second! Then I had an even worse hole to deal with. I suspect Nylon of some type is incorporated into such materials.

If such happens, Covercraft will either ask you to send the cover back, particularly if such occurred during warrantee and they'll determine the cause, and work with you to either initiate a repair, or replace the cover.

When that happened to myself, Covercraft sent me material to initiate a repair my end, sending a substantial amount of NOAH material free of charge.

I then sewed in patches where required with a Sewing Machine, I have Upholstery experience, but trust that trying to get a car cover under a smaller machine to sew certain areas was a total PITA.

At this point in time tough, and with such damages occurring, it clearly was time to replace the cover, it was basically toast.

Southern New Mexico was an extremely harsh environment, wicked with the triple digit heat in summer, sun and UV, high winds, dusts and a monsoon season where it basically storms every afternoon, but first the preclude was violent 35-45mph winds, and literal white out dust storms before the rains fell. Often the cover looked like an air balloon upon the vehicle, with lots of billowing, no matter how many tie downs I used. The additional Tie downs also began damaging the cover also because of the winds and the pulling stresses on the cover. Just too much for the NOAH to withstand.

Learned the hard way with these experiences, and thought I'd share them with you and others.