2001 F150 CC. rims losing air ,slow but steady. All rims. Had the edges ground for rust and still leaking. anyone have any suggestions on how to stop the leaks. Thanks

 

I worked at a tire ,alignment shop in the 90's . We use to fix that problem often . Clean the bead seating area , apply a sealer compound . It was basically a tire glue compound . We had it in cans , used it a lot . Alum. and rusted steel rims . I would sudgest you find a good tire shop that has an older crew that knows tires . Don't know where you are , but a Farmers Co Op or an independent tire shop might be your best bet . My local Co Op does my tractor tires , and they know how to seal a rim . I do my auto tires , and I seal them if needed . Good Luck !

 

Thanks , I am up in Wisc. and i think the salt and junk on the roads all winter have some effect on the rims.Will find another shop to do some work on them ,thanks again.

 

Tell them you need a bead buff and sealer, if they say "huh?", say never mind and go to the next. Also I would recomend spraying some soapy water aound the beads and valve stem to determine where it is leaking, it will bubble at leaks.........mark locations and show to shop.

 

Thanks for the info on bead sealer .Will have to look into it.

Thanks again

 

You need some black bead sealer. I've used it for years as a mechanic. I live in northern MN where road salt corrodes steel and aluminum wheels causing multiple leaks. Have all the rim beads buffed clean, install the tire, then apply black bead sealer to the entire wheel bead and inflate sealing the tire to the wheel, then balance. This will stop future corrosion and provide a long term flexible seal between the rim and tire. We run two sets of wheels/tires on all our vehicles: winter/summer. The set sitting months to be exchanged per season doesn't loose any air pressure. Don't use "Ru-Glyde", that's for tire installation only (soap). Insist on black bead sealer.

 

Thanks for info on black bead sealer. Salt sure does eat them up.

 

Did the sealer fix your leaks ? I would think it may .

 

Yes leaks are fixed. Thanks to all for the help