Leaking wheel rims??

Let some air out. With the wheel upright, hit the tire sidewall with a 4lb hammer. Obviously, don't hit the wheel. Sometimes sand or pebbles will lodge in the bead and cause leaks.

 

I have had ni problems with either set and I run tpms and they dont loose 1 lb per year.

One interesting point is that I believe it is the right rear tire tends to get hotter and increase in pressure consistently over the other rear.

I suspect power is delivered more to my right rear than left. About 1 to 2psi and 8 degrees on spirited drives around town.

Any theories from the racers?

 

If they are leaking the bead is compromised, you'll have to figure out why.

Most of the time when I encounter a slow leak its the valve stem, change the needle and its fixed.

Have fun

 

This happened to 1 of my mondial wheels, it was fine until we fitted a new tyre and it was flat the next day.
It looks like the rim was corroded and the final failure occured removing the old tyre. To look at it you would not think there was a problem but we had to get a new rim as it was going to cost more to repair it.
I think the mondial rims are a mag alloy so not the easiet to repair.

 

Your local tire service professional has easy solutions for this. It's simple for them to do and only costs a few bucks. Just carry the problem assemblies down to a local shop you trust and see what they have to say.

 

+1....probably just some oxidation on the inside of the rim.....easily corrected.

 

Agreed, *if* he has a tire & wheel _professional_ local to him. They're getting more and more difficult to find. Lots of semi-trained high schoolers around but not always easy to find an experienced pro, which is what is needed in this case, especially with mag wheels.

 

I certainly agree.

Hence the use of the title "professional"

At some point in the past, I trusted no one in a 150 mile radius. Getting loose tires mounted on wheels amounted to a day trip.

I would certainly hope that a city the size of KCMO had someone at the level required for a competent job...

 

It is ok getting it bead blasted and then putting filler on the leaking area but you dont know how deep the corrosion is on these mags. The filler is not going to stop a piece of the rim failing. The cost of repairing a rim for these cars is more than a new one, plus you know that a new rim is not going to let you down

 

When I had my 355 rims "redone" last year, 2 of them ended up having to be replaced due to cracks in the grain structure--both of these wheels would hold air for months at a time.

By the way, they look great in Battleship grey with gold metal flake.

 

We tried removing the raised letters on the bead but no difference, it still leaked when the assembly was put in a trough of water. Like mitch says the fault is in the metal structure, the magnesium seems to turn to powder. A new wheel in uk is about £200

 

For the last 8 months I have been filling the front drivers tire with air as it leaked halfway every week. Within 2 weeks it was almost flat. Using soap and water obvious to find the the bead leaked. Because the wheels were powder coated after having installed brand new tires some of the overhanging powder coat material was caught on the bead.

Easy enough to fix at a local shop, they basically stretched the bead, cleaned it with air and scrubber while adding a paste to seal it. No leaks in a month now so annoyance is gone.

 

I had the same problem and each of the rears were cracked causing the leak. This was found under close scrutiny. Since they are magnesium and the quality of a repair might not be up to par so I replaced them. The old ones are now décor.

 

Which aftermarket TPMS system did you install?
Alden

 

would make great coffee tables with some creativity and some glass

 

Wise man as not worth the risk as the magnesium goes like a powder with the corrosion, i saw on the tv where they tried to repair a mag casting by welding, looked a bit tatty and fell apart when they tried to recut the thread in it with a hand tap.

 

From where, please?

 

Glad you got it sorted!

Another area of concern after refinishing wheels is the lug seats and the hub faces. Good refinishers know to avoid painting/coating the these areas but some paint everything. The soft paint/coating does not allow the lugs to maintain torque so any paint on the lug seats & hub faces should be removed prior to installing the wheels. And don't forget to recheck the wheel torque a couple of times after reinstalling your wheels, especially if they've been refinished.

 

Would love to see some pics Mitch if they are handy.

 

Mike just a thought but have you tried nitrogen inthe problem tires. If its a very small leak nitrogen will work.

 

Only if you consider osmosis a leak.