More tire advice needed...

[ExpSprtGi]

My 01 Sport has the factory rims and a set of 255-70-R16 Wranglers (about 7 years old but still decent tread). I started noticing that my right front tire was losing about 10-15 psi per week. I took the wheel off and found that there is a very slow leak between the rim and the tire, near the valve stem. Is this normally a tire issue or is this due to rim deterioration? The rims aren't beat up, but they are starting to show some corrosion is spots. Is there an easy fix for this or am I looking at new tires and/or rims? Not sure if slime of fix-a-flat would work in this area. The vehicle is not a daily driver any longer and I was thinking of bumping up to 275-75-R16s (per previous forum advice). If I need to replace rims, any recommendations that wouldn't cost a fortune? Would I best off with 16x8? Thanks!

 

[1996BLKBauer]

My 01 Sport has the factory rims and a set of 255-70-R16 Wranglers (about 7 years old but still decent tread). I started noticing that my right front tire was losing about 10-15 psi per week. I took the wheel off and found that there is a very slow leak between the rim and the tire, near the valve stem. Is this normally a tire issue or is this due to rim deterioration? The rims aren't beat up, but they are starting to show some corrosion is spots. Is there an easy fix for this or am I looking at new tires and/or rims? Not sure if slime of fix-a-flat would work in this area. The vehicle is not a daily driver any longer and I was thinking of bumping up to 275-75-R16s (per previous forum advice). If I need to replace rims, any recommendations that wouldn't cost a fortune? Would I best off with 16x8? Thanks!

Are the Rims Aluminum? If so try cleaning up the bead seat, and using some bead sealer. Although 7 years is a very long life for tires, and there is a chance that the antioxidants in the tires are almost all gone, and they will start to deteriorate more quickly. Honestly the rims should be fine, unless they are bent, or have cracks, you may just want to invest in new tires. But if you do want to buy new rims, and your rims are aluminum, and you buy steel rims, you will notice a difference on how the truck rides. Hope I helped you out a little, and didn't confuse you.

 

[dersch6221992]

on my mounty i have the stock rims, and my tires have about 60k on them or about 5-6 years. i noticed that my front right was starting to do the same thing. so i through some slime in there pumped it back up and its been fine. it still occasionally leaks, but then the other day i found a screw in it. so now how long this screw has been in there? thats a good question but the slime stuff does a pretty good job. assuming you still have good thread on your tires i say throw some slime in see how it goes.

 

[colintrax]

I would not suggest you put slime in your tires. Good luck getting them balanced.

 

[FIND]

Meh, break the beads on your tire, clean up the the lip on your rim and re-seat them. Should take care of your problem. Most places that do tire repair have bead sealant they can put on, which is a rubberized paint that goes on the rim and helps seal, especially on older tires that have lost a bit of their pliability. In fact, if it is not a DD, I'd say the bead sealer is the way to go.

Also, never use tire sealant except as an emergency measure. Not only will your tire guy hate you forever when he takes your tire off and gets a whiff of it or some splashed on him, but Colin is right, it will unbalance your tire a bit.

 

[1996BLKBauer]

Yea, I forgot to mention, Tire Shops usually charge A LOT more to deal with slimed tires. So I HIGHLY suggest not doing that method.

 

[murdomino]

Having experience running tire shops, if they've been slimed, we wont do anything but replace a tire. Most likely its a combination of the rim flange being dirty, and the tire bead simply breaking down over time. at seven years, buy new tires, and with that, the rim will be cleaned. i know the problem of leaking air will be solved.