Leaky tires

Started by veeman, December 18, 2019, 09:09:08 AM

veeman

The Infiniti QX56 has 22 inch wheels and consequently it eats through tires and the tires are expensive. I have slow air leaks in my front two tires.  I don't see any nails in them or any side wall damage. Tread is still good.  PSI should be 35 according to the door jam.  Every weekend  I inflate them to 35 psi and by the time the next weekend comes around the driver side front tire is around 25 psi and the passenger front tire is around 30 PSI so I inflate them again.  I'll be done paying off the car in June so at that point I think I'm going to trade it in for a different family hauler.  I'm out of warranty on the car and the car has 110 thousand miles on it.  I'd rather not pay $500 for two new front tires only to pitch the car in 6 months time unless it's a safety issue.  What do you guys think?

CaminoRacer

Sounds like the bead surface on the wheels is bad.

It looks like those also came with OEM 20" wheels so I'd be tempted to find some of those. Tires would be cheaper and it would probably ride better with more sidewall.
2020 BMW 330i, 1969 El Camino, 2017 Bolt EV

veeman

Quote from: CaminoRacer on December 18, 2019, 09:34:43 AM
Sounds like the bead surface on the wheels is bad.

It looks like those also came with OEM 20" wheels so I'd be tempted to find some of those. Tires would be cheaper and it would probably ride better with more sidewall.

I should have switched to 20s when I first got the car 4 years ago.  Problem is new 20 inch wheels are expensive and they don't make steelies in that size.  I don't want to get 4 new wheels and 4 new tires if I'm going to pitch the car in 6 months. 

giant_mtb

Call up a tire shop and explain.  Shouldn't cost more than like $50 to have them inspect the tires/wheels and do a quick re-mount and balance to see if they can clean up any leaky lips.

shp4man

Procedure is to remove the tire(s) that lose air and put them in a special, water filled tub and see where the bubbles come out.

MX793

Corrosion at the bead will do it.  If whomever mounted/balanced your tires used clip-on wheel weights and you live where it's salty, the bead will corrode and your tires will start to leak near where the wheel weight is.  Happened on my Mazda and I had to put air in the tires like every 3-4 days.

Other common places for leaks are around the base of the valve stem.  Corrosion or an old, cracked valvestem o-ring can cause a slow leak there.

The schrader valve in the valve stem can also leak, though the valve stem caps should seal well enough to keep that air in.

Spray your tires down with soapy water and see where the bubbles come from.  Start with the tread to look for any nail holes, then try around the bead, then the valve stem.
Needs more Jiggawatts

2016 Ford Mustang GTPP / 2011 Toyota Rav4 Base AWD / 2014 Kawasaki Ninja 1000 ABS
1992 Nissan 240SX Fastback / 2004 Mazda Mazda3s / 2011 Ford Mustang V6 Premium / 2007 Suzuki GSF1250SA Bandit / 2006 VW Jetta 2.5

MX793

Quote from: veeman on December 18, 2019, 09:43:24 AM
I should have switched to 20s when I first got the car 4 years ago.  Problem is new 20 inch wheels are expensive and they don't make steelies in that size.  I don't want to get 4 new wheels and 4 new tires if I'm going to pitch the car in 6 months. 

If it's bead corrosion, a tire shop can pop the tires off and clean up the rim.  Should get you through the winter, at least.  I had this done on my Mazda when things got real bad (like I was losing 5 psi a day) and they were fine for almost a year before I started that they were slowly leaking again.
Needs more Jiggawatts

2016 Ford Mustang GTPP / 2011 Toyota Rav4 Base AWD / 2014 Kawasaki Ninja 1000 ABS
1992 Nissan 240SX Fastback / 2004 Mazda Mazda3s / 2011 Ford Mustang V6 Premium / 2007 Suzuki GSF1250SA Bandit / 2006 VW Jetta 2.5

veeman

Thanks guys for your advice!!

My feeling is if I go to a tire shop there's a chance after checking it out they'll tell me the front tires or worse wheels have some damage that can't be repaired.  Then I'm stuck because the tire shop likely won't have in stock the 22 inch Pirelli tires I have on them and I'll have to leave the car with them for a day or two until they get them in. My wife would be pissed because we won't have the family hauler to take to her Mom's house this weekend.  Worse if they tell me the wheels have some damage that can't be fixed. 

My feeling is if the tires are removed from the wheels, there's a chance that whatever small air leak is there, it will get worse when the tires are put back on if there is some underlying not repairable damage. 

Thanks for your advice. 

Is there any inherent risk of continuing to drive it, but just filling up the front tires every few days with air?  Meaning, I don't want to be driving a top heavy SUV on the highway in the winter with a significant risk of catastrophic tire rupture?  If there is a significant risk of that, I'll take it to a tire shop. 

giant_mtb

There is no inherent risk if you keep the tire pressure up where it should be, as annoying as it is.  I had to do the same thing with one of my truck's tires before I got new wheels/tires. It would lose like 3-5psi a day by the end of it, so I was a daily customer at the gas station that has free air. Just don't let it get too low, as that's a recipe for pinch flats and dangerous driving in general, especially with such a low-profile tire.

Any reputable tire shop won't bullshit you about it, though, so if you have a place you trust, ask them about it. Worst case scenario, you just say "no thanks" and keep topping it off as you are now.

veeman

Quote from: giant_mtb on December 18, 2019, 11:12:12 PM
There is no inherent risk if you keep the tire pressure up where it should be, as annoying as it is.  I had to do the same thing with one of my truck's tires before I got new wheels/tires. It would lose like 3-5psi a day by the end of it, so I was a daily customer at the gas station that has free air. Just don't let it get too low, as that's a recipe for pinch flats and dangerous driving in general, especially with such a low-profile tire.

Any reputable tire shop won't bullshit you about it, though, so if you have a place you trust, ask them about it. Worst case scenario, you just say "no thanks" and keep topping it off as you are now.

:ohyeah:

I think I'll just not worry about it as long as it's not losing more air than they already are.  The car tells me each tire inflation psi once on the road for a few minutes.  I have a portable air pump which I keep in the car which is powered by the cigarette lighter in the car.  Takes a few minutes to inflate a tire. 

veeman

So as a follow-up, it started becoming too cumbersome/lame to keep filling the tires up with air every few days and you were right; the tire shop said three of the wheels/tires had a bead seal leak.  Easy fix for them.

AutobahnSHO

Will