I have leaky freestyle alloys!

Evening peeps,

I have noticed over the last month that im losing pressure in my tyres, also the spare (which is also freestyle).. I took the spare to a local tyre dealer, he put a new (old) spare on, which was legal enough for a spare.. anyways, it definitely doesnt have a puncture, however, 3 weeks on, its deflated..

I think its the seal between the alloy and the rubber, is there any cure for this? like a rubber sealant or the likes? Anyone else had this problem?

flyingfisherman said:

Evening peeps,

I have noticed over the last month that im losing pressure in my tyres, also the spare (which is also freestyle).. I took the spare to a local tyre dealer, he put a new (old) spare on, which was legal enough for a spare.. anyways, it definitely doesnt have a puncture, however, 3 weeks on, its deflated..

I think its the seal between the alloy and the rubber, is there any cure for this? like a rubber sealant or the likes? Anyone else had this problem?

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well firstly obviously you do have a puncture or a dodgy valve. Did the tyre fitter change the valve when he changed the tyre

Your rim would have to be in a pretty poor state to allow air to leak past. so the fault lies with the tyre.

redhand said:

well firstly obviously you do have a puncture or a dodgy valve. Did the tyre fitter change the valve when he changed the tyre

Your rim would have to be in a pretty poor state to allow air to leak past. so the fault lies with the tyre.

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I did wonder if he had changed the valve or not.. may do that i think first.. cant see any damage or punctures in them.. Im gonna need some new tyres in next few months anyhoo, so that may sort that.. Im glad im not gonna need new rims too!

flyingfisherman said:

I did wonder if he had changed the valve or not.. may do that i think first.. cant see any damage or punctures in them.. Im gonna need some new tyres in next few months anyhoo, so that may sort that.. Im glad im not gonna need new rims too!

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Get the wheel and tyre in a tyre bath or even ya own bath filled with water. (while the missus is out) and rotate it whilst submerged to see if any air bubbles are escaping.

Cheers redhand.. will have a bash at that..

In short term cheaper option put some innertubes in the tyres

flyingfisherman said:

I did wonder if he had changed the valve or not.. may do that i think first.. cant see any damage or punctures in them.. Im gonna need some new tyres in next few months anyhoo, so that may sort that.. Im glad im not gonna need new rims too!

Click to expand...

Next time the tyre is off make sure you give the bead seat a good going over with a wire brush, preferably drill/grinder mounted, to clean off the years of ****e and corrosion...

plus rim/tyre glue will cure it

Or as a quick fix squirt some of that emergency tyre gunk into each tyre. You dont need a whole can in each wheel. Make sure you get the stuff that can be squirted a bit at a time and not the one shot stuff. Let some air out, squirt it in, inflate to normal pressure, then go for a short run around the block to spread it around inside the tyre. It will seal any porosity in the alloy rim and also where the bead sits. It lasts for years and saves having to take the tyre off to put tubes in. When I was in Norway it was standard practice to use this stuff when fitting winter tyres as the cold does make the rubber less pliable and more prone to leaks along the bead. Also you should not use tubes in tyres not designed for them as they have rough innners that can rub and wear out the tubes.

I've been told that you can't put innertubes in wheels on freestyle.. Dunno whether that's to do with the size of tyre?

I agree with Shifty had the same problem on my spare, used holts tyre weld

also put the wheel in the swimming pool but could not see any bubbles but 7-10 days later the wheel was soft.

holts tyre weld worked like a dream, no more leak.

A bit of corrosion around the rims is often the culprit when they go down over a number of weeks. It's unlikely that you will see bubbles as there is no weight on the tyre deforming the tyre sidewall slightly. I have had the same thing and taking the tyre off, cleaning the bead seat on the rim and refitting the tyre with a bit of rim sealant cures the problem.