I have faith that my brother n law will help me find this illusive leak. If we can't resolve it then I'll take your advice. Thank you
Tire With Slow Leak
- Thread starter RobbS
- Start date
Thanks. If it is reasonable to get there with an appointment, I will call them.
Thnx again
An appointment would be best, but they also take walk-ins.
Before you go, how old is the date of manufacturing molded on the sidewall of the tire? Discount Tire has a corporate policy of not repairing tires that are over 6 years old due to recommendations of the tire industry.
Kestas
Staff member
I'm guessing you are losing air at the bead where the tire is mounted, and it may be from salt corrosion. Lay the tire flat and pour soapy water on the rim. Wait about 15 minutes. Any slow leak will show itself as a foamy area. Do both sides. I've found slow leaks that lose 5 lbs in two weeks that way. I've had this happen to many rims on my cars. They start leaking after around 10 to 15 years. It happens to both steel and aluminum rims. Tire places don't have the patience to find such leaks. My fix is to remove the tire, sandblast the corrosion in the bead seat area, and repaint.
OK thanks. I purchased them all in 2023. I didn't check the date on the tire but I'm pretty sure they're under 6 years old. Thanks, I'll let you know if I show up there with an appointment.
Thnx again
Thanks, that is intense. They are steel rims and there are different types of dents along the lip. Not sure if they are significant enough or not.
We will test it out with your methods and then some. As a team, we will find it. Illusive, yes, we will find it. I will let you know Tuesday.
Thnx,
~Robb
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I've had fix-a-flat work but now have a tire machine so I pop the bead if it's a bead leak and get in the interface with sandpaper. Sometimes this is enough-- soap the tire and re-seat it. Other times I remove the tire entirely and go at it with a wire brush on a drill/ grinder, the finish with 280 grit sandpaper. Sometimes there's a chunk of corrosion or wheel paint on the tire bead itself, I sand that off and remove the "glaze" of old rubber to find soft rubber underneath. Carefully, as there isn't much thickness before you get to structural parts of the tire.
For Fix-a-Flat to work well, I deflate a tire entirely so the can isn't fighting air pressure in the dire. Dump the can in then air the tire up to 50 PSI and drive around to shake the product up. The added pressure forces the Fix-A-Flat through whatever hole it has to find, and it forces more through so it works.
