Questions and Answers

Leaking Tires Q. Dear Vince, I would like to know why my tires are having trouble holding air. I have alloy wheels and have never experienced this problem with regular steel wheels!!!! What gives??? Any help with this reoccurring annoyance would be most appreciative. Sincerely, Dave

A. Well in order to fix the leak, we have to know where the leak is. Fortunately that is easy to do with tires. The most likely place air is leaking out is around the bead, where the tire meets the wheel. This is easy enough to check with a dunk tank. You fill the tire to 35 psi and then put the tire in the dunk tank. Then all you do is follow the air bubbles to the leak. The more air bubbles, the bigger the leak.

If you don't have a dunk tank, remove the wheels and lay them down on a lever surface and fill the bead area with water. Again there will be air bubbles where the leak is. If you do find the air loss is at the bead, the tires will have to be broken down and have some bead sealer applied to stop the leak.

If the leak is coming from the valve stem, you could try tightening it with a valve core tool. If it still leaks, then you need to replace the valve.

When you dunk the wheel, make sure you check the whole wheel. I have seen alloy wheels that had pinhole leaks due to a bad casting.

It is important to go slow when you check for the leak. You may get a steady stream of bubbles, or a bubble every 10, 20 or 30 seconds, depending on how big the leak is.

Additional Information provided courtesy of ALLDATA