I just got a new set of radial tires to replace the old tube type tires on my panel truck. One of the four wheels goes flat after about 24 hours. I suspect its leaking at the rivets in the wheel. What are your suggestions?
Living on a farm, when a rim leaks beyond repair, we put in tubes. You probably do not want to hear that. All mine had tubes, on the 53', on the original rims, before I put on radials on new (used and freebee) rims. One of the tires had been setting since 1961 and was still full of air in 2003. The tire changing store told me that the old rims (that were on the pickup) were not designed for tubeless - the stem hole being much too big. If it were me I would try some type of sealant, but cannot say what - maybe just ask around at tire stores. Maybe it is not sealing around the outer rim, if so power brush or grind off the rust and get the tire people to use a good dose of their sealant when remounting. Have the tire people submerge it in their trough to find the leak. Kent
Tim ; The usual culprit is actually the rust around the bead of the rim where the tire selas , I have some pretty rusty ones come in and mine were not pretty when I dug them out of the sand , I've _NEVER_ met a tire man who'd take the time to properly wire brush off _all_ the rust , I bead blasted mine and they don't leak one iota of air , before you go putting tubes in you'd be wise to dismount the tires and really clean the beads well , this is serious grunt work , needs a sturdy flat place to lay the rim on and a couple good quality wire brushes , maybe some Phosphoric Acid too , the pits can be really deep as long as you get them shiny clean then paint with epoxy paint and allow to fully dry before remounting the tires . Ay real tire store or maybe a good gas station with shop will have a large tub of water you can dunk the tire into and look for where the bubbles are escaping from , take your time and don't be rushed , mark the leaks with crayon or lumber pencil ~ something waxy that will not come off in water . I hope this helps... -Nate
Thank you to Kent and Nate for your suggestions. It was the valve stem. We cleaned up the inside of the wheel at the valve hole and put some sealer on the stem. I love my 215/70/R16s. it's like the difference between cowboy boots and Nikes.
