Winter Storage Tents

Hello fellow motor heads and car hoarders!  I'm in the market for one of those robust car tents to put my Miata and Golf Rally Car in for the winter up here in New England.   Any suggestions?  Brands to stay away from?  Best buys?  Etc...   

My last experience with a tent was disastrous...  after a long day of off-roading where I had to tow a buddies buddy 20 miles out of the woods after he went through a puddle i told him not to go through with a large log buried in it...  in the rain... needless to say i wasn't a happy camper when my head hit the pillow that cold rainy March night.  I woke a few hours later from a dream of sailing the ocean blue, only to realize that aluminum pipe being slapped by another wasn't the rigging of the boat but coming from outside my window... what followed is what I can only describe as me vs the poltergeist... which included being dropped from 15 feet in the air several times while holding onto the largest kitchen knife I could find at 3am, while wildly stabbing at a large ghost like object threatening my beloved cars.   The tent that was keeping my entire car parts collection and my unfinished windowless, hoodless, headless race car out of the elements while I transitioned from having a garage to a new house that didn't.  The wind had ripped the silly undersized anchors right out of the ground and then rolled the tent over the 9 cars in the driveway while exposing tools, parts, books, etc...   it was a disaster... 3 windows on the daily drivers were smashed, multiple dents, scrapes, blah.... you get the idea. 

So quality is king!  I debate a 20 foot container as well... i'm sure I can hoist the miata up high enough to slide the rally car underneath.  

thoughts?  

No recommendation, but I once woke up in my van at the race track and watched my canopy lift the rear of my VW GTI off the ground during a storm. 200 square feet of canopy makes a pretty good kite ,even when tied down to a 2300 lb. car. If you do this the anchors will be crucial and I'd be curious to see what you do. I currently have more vehicles than garage spaces myself.

I have a harbor freight one. I laughed at their anchors and ratchet strapped it to the car inside.  

I have this Shelter Logic model.  The 13' width allowed just barely fitting two cars in side-by-side, although they were both small British cars and one was RHD, so I parked them very close together.  I built a 2x12 & 4x8 ply floor to park on.

Good: the hip-peak design sheds snow very well. The 2" tubing structure is strong and it anchors into the ground well.  Order online and pick-up at your local T-S store (although it weighs a mofo-ton).

Bad: wind will eventually tear the cover to shreds after a couple of years. I replaced the main cover once and had to add and "emergency" tarp twice to cover holes that tore in at the peak.  When the end pieces tore apart, I gave up. The 12' height is really tall, which makes assembly a two-person job.

The frame still sits in my back yard  (much to my neighbors' delight, I'm sure). I've been toying with the idea of attaching plastic roof panels to the frame so it can be used again although I may attempt to move it to a better location.

I have a shelter logic, I picked it up at Tractor Supply. That was about 5 years ago it's still standing and I am in New Hampshire. 

It is an anchored down using 6 anchors provided. I also purchased a bunch of Harbor Freight ratcheting tie downs, the cheap ones. I have two tie downs across the backside diagonal to help with the side to side sway that might happen in strong winds. I also have two tie downs on each side going from the upper back to the center anchor and from the Upper Front to the same Center anchor. This stops the front to back rocking in heavy wind.

After the second year I noticed snow was not sliding off as easily. I used to more ratcheting tie downs on the inside running the long way of the shelter to keep the cover from sagging in the middle of the span from the peak to the side.

I do go out and periodically knock the snow off the roof that may have collected it seems to collect worse if the storm starts as rain and then changes over to snow or very wet snow.

I believe it was about $400 when I purchased it.

If you dont' actually need to use the cars or access them, just shrink-wrap the whole cars. This is what boaters do during the winter. Giant industrial shrink-wrap, and put some vents in to allow for some air circulation and prevent mold. 

IDK what isues there are with that, but I always thoguth it sounds like an easy solution if you're just looking to protect the paint/finish of the car all winter. I drive all my cars in the winter, so never done it myself...

I saw a 50's Ford enclosed in what looked like a clear, reinforced bag.    It was in a private drive way.

I have had a shelter logic for over ten years. The first cover lasted about 7 years before it started developing small holes where it rubbed on the frame. Got a rhino shelter replacement canvas as it was cheaper. I built on a slight hill so had to use some landscaping timbers to build a "foundation". I lag screwed the corner posts to the landscape timbers so have not had to worry about blowing away. I do clean off the snow if there will be more than a couple of inches by banging the inside of the roof, we live near the coast so the snow often turns to rain and I fear the load of wet snow would collapse the frame. It is 10' x 20' and if you don't have shelving of anything you could fit the two cars in. I had a Mustang and an RX 7 in for for a winter, one backed in and at a slight angle and the other in forwards and you could still get in the drivers doors. i know people that use the old shipping containers but think they are much more expensive and certainly more difficult to move if the need arises.

Search “Hanna’s bug” on YouTube. I believe ep 2 is her building her “Garage” from an HF kit plus some crazy reinforcements.

We had a peaked roof version at our house when we moved in and it collapsed under the snow, as the corners are a weak point. I replaced it with a curved model, which won't shed snow as well, but will be stronger. If you get much snow you'll need to clean it off and the tarps will be the weak point. The original cover lasted about 3 years and my replacement tarp I did this spring needs replacing already, as I think I made it too tight and it tore due to thermal expansion/contraction. I'd like to replace it with a metal shelter in the spring to have something longer lasting and less work than building a wood shed.

10 posts and no "winter of our discount tent" yet.

I'm disappointed.

Knurled said:

10 posts and no "winter of our discount tent" yet.

 

I'm disappointed.

That really should be the thread title. 

Knurled said:

10 posts and no "winter of our discount tent" yet.

That was horrible.   I like it.

Recommendation? Skip the tent, get a car cover or several.

Couple years ago my brother spent $$$ on a pretty nice carport/tent thing, which collapsed on top of his RX8 under the weight of the first halfway decent snowfall. Never had an issue storing my Miata outside under a cover. 

You might want to consider a metal car port. Around here, the places that sell sheds usually carry them for a reasonable price . I've even seen them on CL for cheap.

In reply to rustybugkiller :

Depending on local regs, metal carports can attract more attention than temporary garages.  Which is sometimes why you may see them for sale on CL: township forcing the seller to remove it.