Leaky tires driving me nuts

[joejeepny]

I have five interco tsl/sx 31x13.50x15 on 10 inch rims. I cant keep air in any of them. I checked them with soapy water and they all leak at the rim. Here in New York all auto service companies are a bunch of ripoffs and jerks that dont know anything and most will turn you away if they see a large tire. Truck shops dont want to be bothered with your small tires. I have had it with them but cant buy new tires and wheels at this time. They still have a bunch of thousands of miles left on them. When I air down they leak even more until the tire comes off the rim. What do you guys think about putting tubes in them. Think it will work ok.

 

[dingus]

i've heard putting some brake fluid around the bead will soften up the rubber a bit to get it to mate up to the rim surface better. find a shop that will work with you, sounds like you're takin it to the wrong place.

look into ECOR (east coast off road), i know they're in new york

www.ecor.com

 

[jeepless20]

RE: 360 Engine Pics Needed

im willing to bet any off road store such as 4 wheel parts or anything of the sort will work with you. if you can get ahold of some nitrogen (not nitrous) fill your tires with that. nitrogen molocules are bigger than air molocules(sp) therefor it souldnt leak or at the very least it wount leak as fast. but i like dingus' assesment. the bead may not have seated all the way down onto the wheel. either way take it to a local offroad store or contact an offroad club and thay will set you up im sure.

 

[Bounty__Hunter]

I'd break the bead down from the rim and put some sort of tire sealant around the bead. I really need to do this to my 32"x11.5" TSL/SX set, only one or two of them hold air for very long. Maybe it's a TSL/SX thing with thier strong sidewalls.

My backup plan is to run tubes, but I think the bead sealant should work fine. Heck, maybe even RTV :shock:

 

[dingus]

could this have been producing a spark? (pic)

My backup plan is to run tubes, but I think the bead sealant should work fine. Heck, maybe even RTV :shock:

ICK!!! Talk about a royal mess! LOL

 

[Utah_jeepster]

Bounty hunter has the right idea...find a good tire shop/4x4 that will work with you on this. First break the tires down and inspect both the rim and tire. When you air your tires down dirt can get into the bead gaps and cause a slow leak. Most of the time we do this trail repair style and break the bead with your buddies jeep by driving over the tire about an inch from the bead and un-seat the tires. sand paper and bottled water to cleam the tire and rim out. A little bit of waterless hand soap on the bead, a good ratching strap around the center of the tire and a full 150lbs blast of air solves that problem...oh dont forget to drink a beer or two during this manuver!
But the tire shop will help out by using a rubber tire cement mix on the bead if cleaning it will not work.

 

[jay79cj7]

if you can get ahold of some nitrogen (not nitrous) fill your tires with that. nitrogen molocules are bigger than air molocules(sp) therefor it souldnt leak or at the very least it wount leak as fast.

Although I have never tried it, I have to chime in to advise not to waste your time trying this fix. (No offense) Air is roughly 80% nitrogen, 20% oxygen. All the other stuff you can think of is minor percentages. O2 molecules are bigger than N2 molecules. Going to straight N2 would just be getting rid of the bigger molecules. But that doesn't really matter because if you had a molecular size leak, you wouldn't notice it anyway. I have heard of running N2 in your tires, but for other reasons that I don't remember at the moment.

 

[redrooster]

Nitrogen is run because it doesn't expand like air when it gets hot. Racecars run nitrogen for this reason. You don't need all that.
I would bet that you have gotten dirt and mud in the bead from a trail run with the tires aired down. Delfate the tires and break the bead by running over the edge with another vehicle like said above. Clean the bead and then reset the bead with air. It should only take about 40psi to re-seat the bead. I use RTV on my beadlocks as a precautionary measure and it seems to work well. My boggers hold air indefinitely.
You could always take the easy way out... put a can of Fix-A Flat in each tire and drive it around for 20 minutes. It should fix the problem.

 

[dingus]

You could always take the easy way out... put a can of Fix-A Flat in each tire and drive it around for 20 minutes. It should fix the problem.

...and then have fun cleaning it all up when the tires come off (unless you pay someone else to do it!) lol

 

[jay79cj7]

Hard top for cj5

I did that once on my XJ when it was pretty new. That tire lasted another 60k miles or so with no problems, and no leaks. When I got new tires put on, I didn't hear any complaints about the mess either, but I could see how you wouldn't want to deal with that yourself.

 

[Sparky-Watts]

I had to put a can of Fix-a-Flat in my original tires when I had a flat down on the farm. Wasn't but a few months later when I got my new tires, and there wasn't any mess on the rim or in the tire. I watched the guy change them out, and brought the old rims home with me, so I know there wasn't a mess.

When I worked at a repair shop many (many) years ago, I often pulled the tires off and took a wire wheel to the bead seat on the rims to get rid of rust and debris. Worked like a charm, no more leaky!

 

[joejeepny]

Thanks for the advice guys. Is there any problem using tubes. Why are tires tubless? There is about six cans of fix a flat in each tire. For some reason it does not work. It seams to never get to the bead. When I have broke the tire down and put it back on there was no mess from fix a flat that I noticed as long as you let it dry. I have had the rim off and cleaned the bead. Then I go offroad again and it starts again. The tsl/sx sidewall is so stiff you have to let alot of air out to get any flex and it seams that lets the dirt in. Then this starts all over again. Thats why I am thinking tubes again.

 

[redrooster]

RE: Speedometer gear

That makes sense that fix a flat wouldn't fix the bead leak. Centrifugal force when driving around until dry, would make the substance cling to the outer most area of the tire, not the bead. I guess you are left with having to break down each tire and clean the bead.
A 31" tire is not that big. It should fit in most any tire machine. 42's are another story.

 

[Bounty__Hunter]

I think my beads need a good cleaning and RTV. They're well beyond fixaflat. I've spot-cleaned the beads where they suck up stumps and whatnot, but they need a good wirewheel cleaning.

 

[90Xjay]

When I had my service station, to fix leaky beads, we would break them down and take a wire brush or drill with a wire wheel and clean the heck out of the rim. Then we had this real soapy semi-solid stuff from Murphy's oil soap to pack around the area before we remounted and hardly ever did that not fix any bead leak.