"...as Michelins are prone to do..."

[rob-the-oil-nut]

I just had a look at "the phantom tyre leak is driving me crazy" by Cryptokid. I have something similar, and I thought it might be the mag rim, but a tire-shop gent said there was not even much point in reseating it. There are tiny cracks in the sidewall, maybe an inch from the bead, and the air is seeping out through there, he said "as Michelins are prone to do..." This is an extra-large pain to fill them up when it is -20 C or colder. I have never liked Michelins, I'm not sure why, maybe tacky ads, but now I have a legitimate reason. But, the tread is fine, and the worst of winter is over, so I am wondering if Nitrogen filling will slow the leak? I want Nitrogen anyway...Digressing but BTW Nitrogen has been available in Winnipeg for some time. Costco offers it but only on tires bought there that THEY install, no exceptions, but I learned over a month ago, there are Nitrogen-fillers besides them) Also thinking of having those two which are now on the back, put on the front, since there is lots of good tread left on them. I can get rid of some of that tread in summertime, if you know what I mean (it's FWD). Anything else I can do to slow or stop this leak? FWIW last summer they held their air well, which is more than I can say for some of my relations The rim that went into a curb a year ago got replaced by insurance with a 'reman' and it LOOKS like a stock rim, but it's the only tire that has not required a top-up since! I'd say that's pretty interesting. THANKS! Rob [ March 14, 2005, 01:04 AM: Message edited by: rob-the-oil-nut ]

 

[jmlangeveld]

This is an easy fix that worked for me... Get some Fix-a-flat and put in a very small amount. I did this and it stopped a continually slow leak. The disadvantages of fix-a-flat is that it puts goo on the inside of your tire. A lot of fix a flat can make it hard to balance the tire. That said, when I used a quick shot of it, I noticed no ill effects and my leak problem was solved for a few bucks.

 

[Quest]

As a family of 5 cars, we've used various different brand names and such as Michelins and imported Japanese (Yokohama, Bridgestone, Sumitomo, Toyo,etc.) and Koreans (mostly Kumhos) and I must say that they hold up very nicely, with little cracking problems. I did, however had cracks developed on some Brazilian casts (Brazilian Pirellis and Bridgestones), partly due to my fault for washing them regularly with car soap and also using armour-all and partly due to inferior vulcanisation/thermosetting process. I now stay away from maintaning/achieving cosmetic perfection: no armouralls, no quickclean spray cans, no tirewash, no nothing. Just a scrub brush and water. That has dramatically reduced rubber cracking esp. close to the bead area. I think your mechanic is just making up some stories, like most mechanics do.

 

[Shannow]

Michelins have been both awesome and crap for me. The French cars that my family and friends have/have had have done extremely well. wearing well, handling well, etc. Never saw a flat on Dad's R16 (could never balance any other brand on this car). The michelins that I have purchased in Oz/American sizes have been problematic. e.g. 6 punctures in 4 months with one set. Same driving style, same route, same front yard on a set of name brands, and no punctures for a year. Only 7 punctures in 15 years, 6 on Michelins.

 

[TooManyWheels]

Shannow - When you say American sizes, do you mean larger? If so, it may be that the tires are the same quality, but have more exposure to pointed objects, and more weight applied to the same size pointed objects.

 

[rob-the-oil-nut]

Very happy with today. The place that had indicated Nitrogen was coming, finally said they had no news and referred me to the place that has had it for some time (not Costco). The two tires with the slow leaks 'through the sidewalls' had the beads broken, rim-bead-edge buffed, etc...They also found small nails in them, fixed at no extra charge / in with the bead-breaking that they call 'working on a flat') Got them rotated, too. The other two tires just had the air taken out and Nitrogen put in. My total, (after tax, and the two bead-breakings were $30 to $35 each) was $86. If I have a slow leak they will redo any tire with a slow leak. Free re-torquing after 50-100 miles. If no balancing, no rotating, no breaking the bead, just drain the air & put in the Nitrogen, it's like $7 Cdn a tire. Nitrogen fills have come to Winnipeg! And I love being the 'first kid on the block' to have it (or first guy I know of to have it done on a passenger car) Yabba-Dabba-Do! Rob

 

[michaelc80]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Shannow: Michelins have been both awesome and crap for me. The French cars that my family and friends have/have had have done extremely well. wearing well, handling well, etc. Never saw a flat on Dad's R16 (could never balance any other brand on this car). The michelins that I have purchased in Oz/American sizes have been problematic. e.g. 6 punctures in 4 months with one set. Same driving style, same route, same front yard on a set of name brands, and no punctures for a year. Only 7 punctures in 15 years, 6 on Michelins.

---

How could the brand of tires possibly have any impact on how often they get punctured? If you run over a nail with a tire it's gonna get punctured no matter what brand it is. My wife had a number of punctures when we had Goodyears on her Jeep (same route, same driveway, etc). I can't fault the tires for road debris though (which does change).

 

[Shannow]

No idea...got sick of getting holes in them, and changed them, and the problem went away. Stuff that was pulled from the punctures would normally be pulled from the tread in other tyres.

 

[Jimbo]

If a different tire picks up more nails than another on the same car and roads, then the differences in tread patterns, not quality, should be considered. I put a set of Pirelli P600's on the BMW and got several nail punctures over the life of the tires. I have not experienced that with the Goodyears that were on there before. The Yokohamas are only a year old and no nails picked up so far. Three of the Pirellis were USA and one happened to be Brazil. The USA ones did seem to hold up better, but no difference in the number of nail punctures.

 

[paulo57509]

The last set of tires on the girlfriend's car were Michelins. IIRC, they were Michelin X's. The tires were installed in 1997. The side walls had become cracked before she moved out to CA (from TX) in 1999. I never thought much about it; the tires were holding air, didn't feel hot after running them in 90-degree weather for hours at at time at highway speeds, tread wear was excelent. My thinking has changed dramatically after last fall. She was going to take a road trip with a friend and I was checking the car over before they departed. I drove the car into the garage and went inside to change into my play clothes. When I came out, I noticed that part of the outer layer of sidewall on the left front tire was peeled back from the rest of the tire. This was down at the bottom of the tire near the ground where the weight of the car bulges the sidewall. The separation was along a mold line. Closer examination revealed a sidewall crack running along this mold line, the mold line acting similar to a stress riser. I reluctantly replaced the tires with another set of Michelins...only because they were the only brand that was readily available in my size. I've had good luck with Michelins in the past. Would be interesting to see how this set holds up.

 

[T-Keith]

My michelins are now 5 years old and still look better then my wife's 2 year old "arizonian" tires. -T

 

[rob-the-oil-nut]

Hey; thanks, all of you! BTW how often should I check tyre pressure if I have Nitrogen? A few times a year should do it? THANKS Rob

 

[Shaun]

Michelin appears to use very long-lasting rubber compounds. I have heard numerous stories of people going 100,000+ miles on Michelin tires. In many parts of the country I would be more concerned with degradation of the rubber compound itself on a Michelin tire, as opposed to when the tread would wear out. I love Michelin snow tires. They are the best I have ever experienced. One of my sets of Artic Alpins has six winters on them. I have to evaluate them this spring to see if they will be OK for one additional winter. I already have the Michelin X-Ice replacements in my garage, but will store them for a year if the Artic Alpins are still performing. That said, I personally do not like Michelin All-Season tires as the cars I have driven with them trend towards marginal traction characteristics as the rubber ages and hardens. Nothing unsafe, just reduced traction wet/dry and compromised ride quality. I keep my eyes open regarding comments on the new HydroEdge tires. I am hoping that Michelin has made changes from the Energy tire line, and the rubber compound has been changed. I would prefer a tire wear through its tread before the rubber compound degrades. Just my personal opinions.