Observations after long term storage of 2015 truck

[muddkatt]

I have had the 2015 truck in a storage facility for the past 4 months due to lack of parking space at my house. Today the Mrs told me she wanted to go get the truck and use it for a Christmas trip. My first thought was I will have to jump the thing off after sitting that long. After some nagging from her, sorry, I meant to say after she ask me a couple of times to bring the truck home, we loaded up and went to get it.

 

I have read other post here about battery life not being very long when leaving the truck parked. We drove up, she went to hit the remote start, but hit the panic alarm on the key fob. Lights blinking, horn blaring...a good sign. She handed me the fob and I killed the alarm, hit the lock and start and it fired right up. I can report that the battery should last several months as long as nothing is left on, at least in the warm south.

 

As soon as we started driving on the road, the truck started the infamous vibration. This thing will shake the fizz out of a canned Coke in 5 miles. There is not a doubt in my mind that the tires are causing this. She drove smooth as silk until parked. The truck is a 2wd with the 20 inch rims, sport suspension, and Goodyear tires. I will crawl under it in the morning and see if maybe a weight fell off, or maybe something built a nest on the inside of the rim. My guess is the tires are just flat spotted from sitting. I have had tires flat spot before and they seem to "round back out" after about 50 miles or so.

 

I noticed the air pressure fell from 34 psi in the summer when it was 95 degrees outside to 28 psi today. BTW, it was 86 degrees here today when I picked it up.

 

Finally, for some reason the time on the clock was WAY off. It was about 5:45PM and the clock was showing 3:15.

[ShotgunZ71]

I'd bet the flat-spotted tires from sitting, as you said, is the cause of your vibration. Keep us posted as to how things go in that regard.

[foo.c]

If you are going to store that long again, might want to put it up on jack stands. They do get better as you drive them, but I think if you repeat this cycle too much it weakens the bands in the tires.

[RyanbabZ71]

My camaro will get flat spots if they sit. Usually after 5-10 miles it's fine again

 

 

Ryan

[RyanbabZ71]

If you are going to store that long again, might want to put it up on jack stands. They do get better as you drive them, but I think if you repeat this cycle too much it weakens the bands in the tires.

Putting a vehicle on jack stands for a long period of time can cause more issues (letting the suspension hang) than flat spots on tires

 

 

Ryan

[foo.c]

Putting a vehicle on jack stands for a long period of time can cause more issues (letting the suspension hang) than flat spots on tires

Ryan

You don't have to put it up that high.

[muddkatt]

Just got back from a quick road trip of about 20 miles to grab some dinner. First thing I noticed was the time has corrected itself. It was still shaking pretty bad on the way to the restaurant, but coming home it has gotten somewhat better.

 

If I can ever find the time to get the old Grand Prix cleaned up, on Craigslist and sold I will have enough room to park it at home. That way it will get driven at least once a week and keep from flat spotting the tires.

[TJay74]

Heck my Nitto tires will flat spot on hot summer days if I leave it outside and work all day. As far as storing it jack it up and put the stands under the rear axle and under the front control arms. Load will still keep the suspension with weight on it but will keep the tires from flat spotting.

 

Warmer it is outside the faster the tires will smooth out, otherwise it will take some more miles to get them to warm up properly.

[Vic15]

Put the Grand Prix in storage

[ic3man5]

The clock is going to drift over time, some are worse than others; This normally isn't a big deal because it will probably sync using GPS (I doubt they would use onstar for this).

 

 

I haven't actually hooked a meter up to the battery but our trucks come with a capacity of 70A-hr. This should easily last about 6-9 months assuming GM got their sleep current correct on all the modules. If you are going to leave the vehicle for an extended amount of time like that, you should look into a solar panel trickle charger that is capable of at least 100-500mA @ 12V (Sleep current with the vehicle completely off should be around 3-10mA).

[muddkatt]

Just making a guess, but I seem to remember that it was mid-afternoon when we parked the truck at the storage lot. ic3man5 makes a good point about the truck going into a sleep mode. If it really has such a mode, then after X amount of days, it went to sleep and had to update after being started.

 

I cant think of a good way to use a solar battery charger at the location where I store the truck or car. Hopefully I can sell the car in the next 45 days and just end the parking issue.

[waumo1]

Sleep current on all my vehicles is about 0.030A or 30 mA including the '11 GMC truck. They might have improved it on newer ones.

[ic3man5]

Sleep current on all my vehicles is about 0.030A or 30 mA including the '11 GMC truck. They might have improved it on newer ones.

 

Good to know old generations are somewhat on the high side. You might find this someone useful: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1-moL3-71GsZzoMS7PGu6Z1LMqjkScznTwM2HkvWCChM/edit?usp=sharingI made it a while back for trying to figure out how much battery I want for my boat.

Edited December 25, 2015 by ic3man5

[ic3man5]

Just making a guess, but I seem to remember that it was mid-afternoon when we parked the truck at the storage lot. ic3man5 makes a good point about the truck going into a sleep mode. If it really has such a mode, then after X amount of days, it went to sleep and had to update after being started.

 

I cant think of a good way to use a solar battery charger at the location where I store the truck or car. Hopefully I can sell the car in the next 45 days and just end the parking issue.

 

All your modules in your car have a sleep mode, its a critical function of every microprocessor as they probably draw ~1 amp each for each module which would kill your battery in less than a day if they didn't.

 

It doesn't have to be solar; if there is an outlet somewhere, you can just use a 110V trickle charger. If you can't do that either, just disconnect the battery.

[Sidewayz]

Do you have any old carpet floor mats? Or buy 4 carpet squares and park on them vs cement. Cement will draw the oil out of the rubber and start dry rotting the tires prematurely. When I'd store my Cobra for the winter I used those and than Race Ramps so I could polish my wheels and exhaust over the boring Midwest winter.