Baylaker Posted January 11, 2023 Share Posted January 11, 2023 Hey guys, I have a slow leak on my truck tire. took the truck in to my mechanic yesterday and he checked for leaks & replaced the valve stem. when I fill it up to around 460kpa, it drops Down to around 300kpa the next morning everytime and just holds there. Tire doesn’t go flat, which is weird. I know aluminum rims aren’t the best in the cold temps, but the other 3 are perfectly fine and all 4 haven’t given me any issues since I bought the truck, except for the front passenger tire starting about a month ago. I’m stumped, have any of you guys experienced this before? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stoney Posted January 11, 2023 Share Posted January 11, 2023 Bead leak - had the same issue on my truck, was getting new tires soon so just let it go knowing they were coming off. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skidooboy Posted January 11, 2023 Share Posted January 11, 2023 rim bead leak. common in salty areas. salt, grit get into the bead area, chafe the rim bead, and creates small voids that leak. usually a good tire store will sand the wheel edge, then coat it with a bead sealant, and try again, until there is no leak. I would bet if you spray soapy water on the bead it is leaking on the inside or outside. or they missed a crew, nail, small pin hole. Ski 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baylaker Posted January 11, 2023 Author Share Posted January 11, 2023 Thanks guys, I’ll get my mechanic to have another look Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan-Senior Posted January 11, 2023 Share Posted January 11, 2023 I too was stumped last month with one of my tires, which is also mounted on an aluminum rim. I took a spray bottle and sprayed where the tire meets the rim. Voila! Took it to a tire shop and they removed, cleaned and re-installed the tire. Hope you are able to locate your leak. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2fast4u Posted January 12, 2023 Share Posted January 12, 2023 It is more than likely a rim bead leak. I'm sure your mechanic has already done it but wire brush the inner rim where the bead sits really well then use a some bead sealer. Just a mention one time i came across where the rim (aluminum) had a really small pin hole just enough for the tire to loose air but never really go flat, Also try spraying some soap and water around the valve stem if there is any corrosion on the rim it can slowly leak there as well. Good luck hope you get it figured out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackstar Posted January 12, 2023 Share Posted January 12, 2023 I will agree with everyone else, bead leak. They can be weird. A month ago I went to move one of my employee's trucks and the rim was on the ground, completely flat. I filled and told him to keep an eye on it. He said it had gotten soft the week before and he filled it to 60 psi. Its now been a month and its only lost 10 psi. I had to use my tandem trailer today and found it with 2 flats. One tire on the rim. One with 15 psi. I filled them so I could use it. Tomorrow's job is to find the leaks and either repair or replace. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strong Farmer Posted January 12, 2023 Share Posted January 12, 2023 6 hours ago, Blackstar said: I will agree with everyone else, bead leak. They can be weird. A month ago I went to move one of my employee's trucks and the rim was on the ground, completely flat. I filled and told him to keep an eye on it. He said it had gotten soft the week before and he filled it to 60 psi. Its now been a month and its only lost 10 psi. I had to use my tandem trailer today and found it with 2 flats. One tire on the rim. One with 15 psi. I filled them so I could use it. Tomorrow's job is to find the leaks and either repair or replace. Steel rims way better never have bs air leaks with them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PISTON LAKE CRUISER Posted January 12, 2023 Share Posted January 12, 2023 27 minutes ago, Strong Farmer said: Steel rims way better never have bs air leaks with them. I didn't know you could get steel wheels on a Vette. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UsedtoSkidoo Posted January 12, 2023 Share Posted January 12, 2023 aluminum rims..................age..................it happens Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stoney Posted January 12, 2023 Share Posted January 12, 2023 When I had my leaky tire, I first tried to find the leak on the treads, usual culprit - no luck and carried on. Weeks went by and I was bored and the leak was starting to bother me so spent more time searching for it. Laying time flat on he ground with the rim facing down and spay soap/water mixture around the rim on the side facing up so the water was pooling at the rim/tire surface is how I found the leak finally, very small slow leak. Tire shops and the gas station repair shops like the one I worked at many many years ago used to have half moon tanks of water where you would submerse the tires in and turn until you saw the bubbles - I do not think they still have these anymore though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catinental couch Posted January 12, 2023 Share Posted January 12, 2023 Tire tanks never did work any good for small leaks anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stoney Posted January 12, 2023 Share Posted January 12, 2023 27 minutes ago, catinental couch said: Tire tanks never did work any good for small leaks anyway. Well, guess why they are gone. I remember how well they worked when I was doing that - I think it was something like $5.00 a tire repair back than...lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave K Posted January 12, 2023 Share Posted January 12, 2023 7 hours ago, PISTON LAKE CRUISER said: I didn't know you could get steel wheels on a Vette. What about an electric car? Or a zero turn mower? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wrightonalan Posted January 12, 2023 Share Posted January 12, 2023 usually rim leaks will leak faster when pressure is lower.sometimes when you pump them up ,the leak stops or slows down a lot .when no leak can be found ,its a good idea to clean rim and replace valve stem .steel rims leak too ,but not as much Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baylaker Posted January 13, 2023 Author Share Posted January 13, 2023 I appreciate all the feedback guys, I’ll let yas know what I find if I find it lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gadgetman Posted January 13, 2023 Share Posted January 13, 2023 If you have a TPMS sensor, that nut has a very low torque to it. I had a situation where for some reason the nut holding the TPMS sensor valve stem loosened, and my slow leak was at the TPMS sensor, but only when driving, as the sensor was subjected to rotation forces. When the car was stationary, no leak. (Last resort item to check.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PISTON LAKE CRUISER Posted January 13, 2023 Share Posted January 13, 2023 1 hour ago, Gadgetman said: (Last resort item to check.) Easier and cheaper to just check it when you have the wheel/tire broken to clean the bead. JMHO Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VicFish Posted January 13, 2023 Share Posted January 13, 2023 I keep an inflatable kiddie pool in my shop. It's 4' across and about a foot deep. I use it when I run into a stubborn slow leak. I leak the tire in it and check on it every now and again. If the leak isn't visible at first after a while there's usually some bubbles trapped around the area if they are not floating to the top. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baylaker Posted January 14, 2023 Author Share Posted January 14, 2023 23 hours ago, VicFish said: I keep an inflatable kiddie pool in my shop. It's 4' across and about a foot deep. I use it when I run into a stubborn slow leak. I leak the tire in it and check on it every now and again. If the leak isn't visible at first after a while there's usually some bubbles trapped around the area if they are not floating to the top. I may try this ^^ @Gadgetman the weird thing is, it holds air while driving but loses it when it sits. The tires always expand a little while driving, but I find overnight while parked, it’s back down to the 40 psi (300kpa) range by the morning and just holds there. I usually run them about 65psi which I think is around the 460kpa range. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skidooboy Posted January 14, 2023 Share Posted January 14, 2023 big temp swings, make the air pressure change wildly. check the daytime night time, temps difference, or the temp difference when inflating, and checking. stranger things. Ski 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VicFish Posted January 14, 2023 Share Posted January 14, 2023 1 hour ago, Baylaker said: I may try this ^^ @Gadgetman the weird thing is, it holds air while driving but loses it when it sits. The tires always expand a little while driving, but I find overnight while parked, it’s back down to the 40 psi (300kpa) range by the morning and just holds there. I usually run them about 65psi which I think is around the 460kpa range. With rim leaks, sometimes it will only leak when the weight is on that part of the rim. Meaning it will only when the effected area is on the bottom half of the rim. So when driving there is almost no leakage because the rim is also spinning. When parked it will leak quickly when on the bottom but slowly or not at all if the bad area is at 12 o'clock. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baylaker Posted January 14, 2023 Author Share Posted January 14, 2023 56 minutes ago, VicFish said: With rim leaks, sometimes it will only leak when the weight is on that part of the rim. Meaning it will only when the effected area is on the bottom half of the rim. So when driving there is almost no leakage because the rim is also spinning. When parked it will leak quickly when on the bottom but slowly or not at all if the bad area is at 12 o'clock. Ive tried parking in different spots, same result. Lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baylaker Posted January 14, 2023 Author Share Posted January 14, 2023 1 hour ago, skidooboy said: big temp swings, make the air pressure change wildly. check the daytime night time, temps difference, or the temp difference when inflating, and checking. stranger things. Ski It really only started loosing pressure as winter was starting. I kinda want to wait and see if it goes back to normal in the spring time, but not sure I want to keep adding air all winter long lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baylaker Posted January 18, 2023 Author Share Posted January 18, 2023 So I decided to put the kids pool under the tire and fill it with water today. Turns out I previously installed a plug in this tire last year lol. ripped out the old plug and put a new one in. Put some heat to the new plug to make it really tacky. I’ll know in the morning forsure if that was the problem…completely forgot about that. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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