The alloy wheels on my 99 Legacy wagon loose as much as 10 lbs pressure in 3-4 days. It is a real pain to have to fill them up every few days. What is the best solution for this problem?

It's odd to have all four suffer a problem. My 99 never seems to need air added and it has the factory alloy wheels too, so it's not a generic problem. Usually leaks with aluminum wheels occur at the bead area, but it's real easy to check the valve stems first. The best check for slow air leaks is a small paintbrush and some soapy watter. Any leaks will tend to blow bubbles! Only a relatively good leak will show with this method, You almost have to pull the tires off to check the back bead anyway, so you may want to have a tire store check with a dunk basin like has been in use since the dawn of time. The valve stems can leak through the internal valve, (unthread the dust cap to check) or at the area where it goes through the rim, or in the middle of the stem itself. This problem will show more readily if you flex the valve stem to open up any cracks that are in the rubber. If you have bead leaks, which are the most common problem, A tire store will have to demount the wheels and clean up the aluminum and the rubber. They will then remount the tires using some gummy crap made for the purpose of sealing the beads. I had an eclipse once that leaked in this manner and the bead sealant did the trick. Wheels with a lot of salt corrosion are more likely to have this occur. In the very unlikely possibility that there is a through wall leak on the aluminum wheel, It is probably a porosity in the aluminum. The best technique here is to soak the area with the real thin variety of loctite (290 grade) It will soak into the pores and harden in a few minutes. wipe away the excess on the surface that will not harden, by the way and it should then be sealed.

Inner tubes.

All four alloy wheels on my 1999 Outback also leaked 3-10 psi per week. I had the tires removed and the wheels & beads cleaned twice before giving up and installing inner tubes; that solved the problem.

"inner tubes"

 

good one, xcept its illegal. :-)

Our 96 OBW had the same problem on all 4 except not 10 psi in 3 days, morelike 10 psi in 2 weeks. Still not cool. I did the wrong thing, that is, I put fix-a-flat in the wheels. The amonia that acts as a propellant eats away at the aluminum.

 

Eventuall I did the right thing, that is, I took them to a good garage and had the tires taken off, wheels cleaned and sealer put on. At $15.00 per wheel I didn't think that was too bad.

 

Now the tires hold air like normal. What is cool about the sealer is now the tires only go flat on the bottom

"The amonia that acts as a propellant eats away at the aluminum."

It also eats away at the tires sidewall and ruins the tire. Sounds like some people don't know how to use the slick stuff that they apply to the tires when they put them on! :brolleye: Slick is fun stuff lol... Ahh the momorys of Les Shwab...

Why do you believe it's illegal to install tubes in tubeless tires? Neither the Michelin dealer nor the Goodyear dealer in my town is aware of this.

So do the cops often check for inner tubes inside of your tubeless tires in your neck of the woods? That would really suck if they did. I feel sorry for the person that gets a "tube check" on the side of the road. LOL

 

GD

A "tube check" is OK if done by a female officer... OOPS, sorry, not politically correct!

Inner tubes make for a safer wheel. If you hit a sharp-ish edge, like a curb or pot hole, at speed, then the chance of the rim loosing the tyre is very low.

 

Carcass related blow-outs are also reduced in severity.

 

Inner tubes are common in rallying.

INNER TUBES GENERATE EXCESS HEAT AT HIGH SPEEDS!!!!

 

Really, really NOT a good idea. Can you say "blowout?"

 

Get 'em sealed...

 

Mike

Ya I just hate it when i'm riding my bike down a hill and it just BLOWS UP on me, it really sucks. Wonders if newbie knows what hes talkin about...

A radial tire requires a tube designed for radial tires. A bias ply tire requires a tube designed for bias ply tire.

 

As with any tire, tube or no tube, propper inflation is key to prevent excessive build up of heat.

 

If the cleaning of the wheels and beads along with some sealer didn't seal the alloy wheels I mentioned earlier, tubes were the next step. Different states have different laws but Michigan does not have a law against tubes.

 

One prisoner to the next.

 

"So...what are you in for"?

 

"Well, we robbed a bank at gunpoint, shot and killed a guard on the way out. While driving away we had a blow out on my car and we ran a school bus of grade school students off the road and over a cliff sending them all 68 plus the driver to their death".

 

"Ah MAN, you gunna get 'The Chair' "?

 

"NO! I turned states evidence on my boys and got them to grant me full immunity. They all get life without parole but I got off Scott Free".

 

So, why are you here man"?

 

"Sh#*, I got 18 months of hard time for having inner tubes in my tires"!