New (25 days/2000 miles) Michelin Defender LTX M/S2



What is this black, gummy, rubbery stuff showing up between the bead and wheel? Bead sealant? It almost has the consistency of a kneaded eraser but more crumbly if rolled between the fingers.
It's on all 4 tires, all the way around the rim but almost exclusively on the inner beads. I tried googling for a while but I can't find anything. I contacted Michelin and they suggested I get them inspected at the installer (big chain) which I plan on doing today but I wanted to get some opinions. Am I paranoid?
Thanks for any replies.

 

Wondering what air pressure & load you have on them.

I've seen similar on tires run too low when the rubber starts breaking down. As an example, person has a leak in the tire & continues to drive it instead of changing out to the spare.

 

I sold and mounted quite a few tires years ago and I don't think I ever remember seeing that condition on 4 new tires, something tells me that's not right.

 

It might be bead sealer. If your wheel rim is corroded they'll slather on some of this to get it to seal.

 

Looks like bead sealer to me also. I had something similar happen on one wheel of a 76 Mark IV I owned. That wheel had a rim leak and they slathered it on good. When the tires got hot from driving on the freeway awhile I noticed some leaking out.

 

Thanks for the replies! Sorry for the delayed response but I went back to Discount tire and they told me they don't use bead sealer. What is showing comes from the excess "flash" on the bead seat from the tire molding process. This is apparently normal and since I'm not losing air, not a problem.
I still don't believe this is normal but I'm probably paranoid.

 

Interesting.. Thanks for coming back to update us!!!