Sliming Tires

[Snagglefoot]

I know that tire techs don't like working with Slime and I feel sorry for them for having to work on slimed wheels. I have a third car I keep around as a backup and a lender car when my kids fly in to visit. It's 19 years old. I have a slight bead leak that requires touching up once a month. The tire tech who worked on it last said he buffed the rim but there is some slight rusting and the surface is too rough to get a good seal. Other than buying new rims, can slime be a solution to help with getting rid of a bead leak? Thanks.

 

[FordBroncoVWJeta]

Why didn't he use some bead sealer?

 

[charbaby]

+1
Or did the tech use bead sealer and the OP failed to mention it?

 

[SZR48207]

If you don't want to use slime specifically, there is a product I use in my motorcycle tires to dynamically balance and also provide protection from punctures:

https://www.ride-on.com/


It's water based and supposedly less of a mess for a tire shop to deal with during dismount.

 

[Snagglefoot]

Originally Posted by Char Baby
+1
Or did the tech use bead sealer and the OP failed to mention it?


No idea. I assume he did, but he mentioned he did what he could but couldn't guarantee it wouldn't leak. Still leaks.

 

[SwampSurvivor]

Slime will never make it to the beads unless you completely fill the thing with slime.

However, you can get bead sealer (it's like liquid electrical tape) and put that on the bead surface of the wheel and tire. I've had great luck with that on some pretty corroded wheels as extra protection against bead leaks after wire brushing the corrosion off.

Get the black stuff, not the rubber cement stuff that some tire shops use; that stuff makes it nearly impossible to dismount the tire.

 

[maxdustington]

I honestly think it also has to do with discouraging DIY repairs to generate revenue.

Slime is a DIY repair method that shops don't like because they have to clean it out of the tire, which they can charge you for so what difference does it really make at the end of the day? They want gravy jobs. Same goes for rope plugs, another DIY tire repair method that is tried and true. All of the sudden it becomes too dangerous and you *need* to bring the tire to a tire shop so they can patch it, or claim that it would be too dangerous to patch and sell you a new tire. The last thing they want is for you to be able to repair your own tires and maximize their life and value.

Customers are marks revenue centers in 2019.

 

[atikovi]

I'd just put a tube in it.