Leaky Wheels

[ralphscott]

OK I think I have tried everything my wheels and tires will not hold air. They are Trigo wheels and goodyear billboards. I began by sealing the wheels with Glyptal paint on the inside. that did not work. then I had the valve stems and cores replaced. No help there! then put nitrogen in the tires --still losing air I even ordered inner tubes but they require machining the wheels to get the tubes mounted to the rims as the valve stems are 5/8" (M/T racing tubes only ones I could find available for tires the size of the ones we run on the car.)

Has anyone had this problem and if so how was it solved?

[arrowdriver]

Just yesterday a friend was telling me how he solved a similar frustration by using a can of that goop that is sold for sealing flats. It might be worth trying and won't cost much.

[Jim Harding]

Ralph, have you submerged them in water to actually see where they are leaking?
How long does it take for them to loose air? Hours, days......
OLD tubeless tires have a limited life. I've heard that the rubber breaks down allowing air to escape through the tire material, are unsafe and could blow out under use.

[arrowdriver]

Aren't the Goodyear "billboards" bias tires?

[ralphscott]

Yes the Billboards are bias plies I have not tried the submersion test it takes a few days for the tires to go down from 30 to below 20 psi. I put 30 in so they don't go flat or flat side on me. I don't know how good the fix-a-flat stuff will work any additional info that anyone has on that would be good before I try it.

Thanks for the suggestions please keep them coming someone in our community must have dealt with this problem on a first hand basis.

[arrowdriver]

Immersing the wheels in a water tub is a very good suggestion as it will not only find any leaks in the tires but also the wheels. Seems to me that these wheels are riveted to the rims and therefore it is possible that the leaks are along the rivets. About 40 years ago I bought a new Volvo that had wheels with rims spot welded to the centers. After about 4 or 5 months they cracked and leaked as Volvo had failed to do any post welding heat treating to get rid of the brittle effect of the welding process. BTW, that was only about the beginning of a long series of problems with that car. I went back to buying Fords.

Add some dishwashing detergent in the water to help find the bubbles.

[chris knueven]

Ralph...

Are you sure it's the rims leaking? As an FYI,we ran bias tires on our drag car years ago and we always coated the inside of the tires with Dawn dishsoap. Don't dilute it. Just pour some in the unmounted tire and roll it around to fully coat the entire inside of the tire. Let it dry overnight and then remount. If we didn't do this our slicks would go flat overnight. After the dishsoap they could set for a few weeks with no loss.

BTW,the cheapo hillbilly chrome in a can works great for sealing the inside of the rim. Have someone blast the Glyptal off and then give it a couple of heavy coats.

It's all we used at the motorcycle shop I worked at and we never had comebacks for leaking wheels. Bike tires are so small any leak lets the tire go flat in a couple of days...

Chris

[ralphscott]

Thanks Chris, I will give this a try. Where do I get the hillbilly chrome?

[chris knueven]

Any place that sells spray paint. Just pick up some of the "Chrome in a can" as it's sometimes called.

Chris