alloy wheels prone to leakage?
 

like the title states, are factory alloy rims prone to leakage? seems like im always having to put air in the tires a couple times per month, dad had this same set of rims on his old '95 blazer but with different tires and he always seemed to have at least one tire down at any one given time. the rims are from the '95 originally, that blazer had almost 200K when parked, dont know how long theyve been on this '97 but id say at least 50K miles. im considering going to a yard and getting 4 spare tires if steel wheels will not give me this problem. i have a set of "Z" racing wheels that were on the '97 when dad bought it, they have a dual bolt pattern and he seemed to think the blazer got worse milage with them despite being the same size and having the same size tire on them as the factory g.m. wheels. they also take tose awful sort-shank mag lug nuts that wont work when you need the spare, theres a pic of them in my gallery on the green '95 blazer. any one else had a leakdown issue with alloy rims? anything that can be done about it? i personally hate these factory alloys, have to use a socket and extention to start the lugnuts. but i hate to buy new wheels for such a old rig with such high miles. tires are getting pretty bad on this set, need to figure out something before i get new tires.

are you sure they are straight? A little love from a crub you got too close to, and they can be real buggers... if you haven't banged them up any, and the rim looks good where the tire seals, you can always look for leaks. get a bucket of soapy water, pull her up on the incline part of a sidewalk or driveway (one tire at a time) so as to put max pressure on it.
take a brush and rub the soapy water around the seal and valve stem... if it blows bubbles, you have an issue.

a bad seal can come from dry rotting tires, old tires, recently-mashed-into-a-crub-tires (and rims) etc.

Don't call out the rims just yet. :icon_twocents:

*EDIT* just saw where you are... might be a bit :icon_brr: for the soap and water trick right now... also tires 'lose pressure' when it's colder out due to contraction of the air trapped inside the tire. :icon_shrug: SCIENCE!!

you could always fill it with nitrogen so it wont expand/contract and it sounds cooler to say you have nitro tires!!!1

anything is possible with the miles thats on these wheels. ive put soapy water all over the outside face before while washing the truck, maybe i need to pull the tires off it one at a time and do the inside as well, they dont appear to have been banged up against a curb. but my mom has drove this vehicle before, she seems to think tires are curb-feelers. *edit* christmas eve some local kids went around slicing tires, got my ranger and a neighbor lost tires on both vehicles, they didnt touch the blazer though, which had the worst tires on it, thought about filling the tires with propane in case they came back and are smokers. yes its cold here right now, but you only lose about 5-10 psi from 90 degress to 32, im dropping a good 20-25 psi in a 2-3 week time frame. mainly from the r.r. but i do check and add to the rest as well.

sounds like the R/R might be on it's last leg... how's the spare treating you?

the spare is a stock steel wheel, originally from the '95 (the '97 had a temporary spare from the factory) the tire on it holds air but is badly wore on one side from a alignment issue sometime earlier in its life. i plan on taking the "best" tire from this set and making it the "spare" it hold air fine, but it doesnt look like anything id want to trust going down the road. i might go to 235 75 15's stock size on this truck is 235 70 15's. my ranger has never had issues with air loss with its alloy wheels, but i dont run them in the winter, i have a 2nd set of steel wheels from a jeep that i use as a "winter" set. heres the style rims the blazer has: http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l2...n_2006/004.jpg

I haven't had any problem whatsoever with the stock alloys. You might want to make sure that the bead seal is clean before mounting another set of tires. I can guarantee you the guy at the shop isn't worried about it.

Bert nailed it right there! a clean bead will never leak. and he really nailed the last point there!

i've got a set of wheels that had about 80K put on the BN Michelin's about 6 or 7 years ago, and i've never had to add air to them regularly. seriously, maybe 5 pounds or so in the Spring time, but that's it.

and they've been the Winter storage wheels for my 'Burb for the past 3 years.


next time you get tires, or are having the bead checked/redone, ask them how they clean the bead area when mounting new tires. even try and watch them while they're doing them. i know most shops don't allow customers into the shop for insurance/safety reasons, i'm just lucky to have friends work in the industry, so i don't get kicked out of the shop area.

these guys are right on the money!!!!! when you get new tires make sure that the bead area of the wheel is cleaned and that they apply an amount of bead sealer that might indicate that they stole it from another shop!! this is very inportant when dealing with older alum. wheels. also make sure they apply the sealer to the new valve stem before they pull it into the wheel. i have had to do this for many, many customers with alum. wheels over the years. :icon_wink:

GM has a technical service bulletin on this very topic. It does happen. Porosity in the casting can allow air to leak out of the rim. This can be diagnosed with a dunk tank and is evidenced by tiny bubbles forming on the surface of the rim between the beads. This isn't something that just starts happening one day though unless the rim has been damaged so...

:icon_eek: seriously... you have to be a computer.... :icon_eek:

Good old porosity, I lost count of how many Grand Am's we had to service.

GM actually had to stop making Blazers because their K.Y.L.E. unit had become self aware and knew more than the guys attempting the gen 3 redesign....

but not before they had shipped the plans South of the boarder. :icon_laugh:

:icon_idea1:
he can not speak Portugese...that's why it's safe
:icon_hide:

Hey peeps,

I have had the same issue for years, Stock alloys will leak over time for sure. Its only b/c the seal is dirty etc, every fall before my winter tires and stock rims go back on I get them cleaned and sealed. I also have them put the nitrogen in the tires to help prevent coming out to a flat tire9s)..again...

^^ :icon_attention:

Nitrogen :icon_doh: Nothing like :icon_urinal: your money away! But that's a topic covered in another thread. :icon_wink:

I'm going to put helium in my tires to make them lighter and get better milage.

/highjack

i want to put propane or either in my tires after a local christmas eve tire slasher went through the niegborhood, only got one of my tires but still, if they had been smoking, it would have been worth blowing up the truck, dont know if any flammable gasses are detrimental to rubber though. imagine a actetelne filled tire being knifed by someone smoking, poetic justice right there. never bought into the nitrogen thing.

My 01 Blazer has corrosion that has formed in the bead area and causes slow leaks. The shop that just cleaned and put sealer on the bead surface it told me it is a common problem on Blazers in NJ.

I am going to put a tube inside.

Did some member tried liquid seal already. This stuff that you pump in.

BR
Bob

well i tried something crazy, figured if it didnt work, oh well, id just clean the rim good once the old tires were took off to replace them. i put about 1/2 qt of used motor oil in each tire through the valve stem. it actually worked! tires are kinda crappy and might have 1 more year left in them. and even though they no longer lose air, i do seem to have a vibration that starts being noticeable around 60 mph, gets worse the faster you go, didnt go above 70. so i just keep it around 55, not many 65 mph roads near me anyways, if i go on a long trip, i'll just swap to my other set of wheels.

Hmmm... There are alloy rims and then there are alloy rims.

Some are cast. Of the cast variety some are really badly cast and cause nothing but headaches. These are the ones that GM uses - pure crap! I have a set of these crappy alloys on my 2005 Jimmy. A few years ago, I had a new set of tires put on it. I initially blamed the shop for doing a poor job of cleaning the rims at the tire beads. I've had each one resealed at least once, some twice, including a pair just a few months ago that were well done - I watched. They continue to leak. This past winter I was losing as much as 20 pounds in a week when the temperatures dropped to really cold. The problem eases somewhat when temperatures are milder, and it's even less pronounced during summer months. The problem, I am convinced, is the contraction of the alloy with cold weather that opens up the porosity of these **** wheels! I am fed up of getting them re-sealed with no satisfactory results.

Some wheels are forged alloy. These are the good ones. Ford uses those. I have a 2000 Mustang that received a new set of tires a little before the Jimmy. Those wheels never lose air! I check them typically once every six months and the air pressure is exactly where it's supposed to be, or a pound low!

So not all alloys are created equal. GM alloys are garbage.

What I would like to know is this - Is it possible to get some product sprayed into the wheels through the valve that will seal the alloy porosity? It seems to me that the GM procedure is cumbersome, expensive and susceptible to missing at least some of the pores, thereby prolonging the headache.

quickcurrent

The oil is causing your problem, bud. All that oil sloshing around in the wheel puts your wheel out of balance, causing the vibration! Nice try though! I am looking for a solution utilizing some type of spray in product that will be a little more conducive to keeping the wheels in balance. :-)

I had corroded wheels that slowly leaked, we have a specialist firm locally called Wheels, they re-finished mine with a powder coating inside and out, problem solved

Sounds like they also use cast alloys on your side of the pond. I am not aware of any shop with that capability locally here to do mine. But, it sounds pricey! Was it more expensive to have that done than to simply buy steel rims and have the tires mounted and balanced on the steel rims?

Necro-thread!!!

GM's procedure will work and work well. I do not see how it is cumbersome other than it isn't very DIY friendly unless you have the proper tools. It can be done with a few tire spoons and some elbow grease. If you are looking for a cure-all product you squirt into the valve stem, then I guess it is more cumbersome in that regard as GM's procedure requires pulling the tire off the rim once you have located the leak.

In this case, the rims on your truck are 10+ years old and only started leaking when you changed tires. Porosity does not increase over time although it can be opened up by corrosion and/or lack of care. Porosity occurs in the casting process and it is either there or its not. You need to find the source of the problem before condemning the quality of a 10+ year old item.

As far as products that can be put in through the valve stem goes, there are many 'fix-a-flat' type products out there. Most require driving the vehicle after application to coat the inside of the tire itself. These products can cause imbalance if distribution is uneven or if too much product is used; similar to what racsan noted with his motor oil experiment. If some of the product were allowed to flow around the rim, it could seal porosity, but there would be no way to guarantee complete coverage on the rim. These types of products are used to seal up leaks predominantly in the tire itself or where the tire meets the rim (most common leak points).

Having rims powder coated should seal up any potential porosity. Even having the interior surfaces blasted and then painted would seal them up quite well. GM's procedure is something that can be done in a tire shop, not requiring any specialized equipment beyond something to check for the location of the leak (kiddy pool or spray bottle with soap/water mixture) and what is needed to pull the tire off the rim.

At the end of the day, you need to locate the leak before you can speculate on the cause. If you are losing that much air, finding the leak should be as simple as mixing up some Dawn & water in an old spray bottle and spraying down the wheel & tire until you find the source. If you find bubbles appearing on the inside of the rim, then porosity is your problem and will need to be corrected appropriately. If it is along the bead area or valve stem, then you need to mark the area of the leak and then remove whatever is necessary to inspect the problem area.

Most of the cars over here are either German, Japanese, French, Korean or Italian and Alloys very common. Worked out at £50 per wheel, though spare is still original. I would have struggled to buy new steel wheels at this price but maybe something second hand would have saved me money.

When wheels first saw them they declined to do them. The originals are diamond machined and Wheels thought I wanted them re-machining! Powder coat was no problem. I'm surprised wheel refurb's are not more popular over there?

Thanks, Bazz Smitbar, alloys are very common here too. But, like I posted above, there are two kinds - cast alloys and forged alloys. Cast alloys cause this problem, which is inherent in the casting process, with some cast somewhat better than others. Forged alloys are much better and have no such issues.

When you say powder coated you mean spray painted, I assume, either electrostaticaly or plainly spray painted without the help of an electrical charge. I wonder how long the paint will hold to seal the alloy?

1 GBP = CAN 1.88, so assuming costs are the same here, that's C$94, which would easily buy me a steel wheel, mounting and balancing, and leave me money for a few ales, and I'd never have the same problem again!

I'm going to do some checking on whether refurbishing them is an economic option here, considering these also have pitting galore on them on the outside from road salt.

Some time ago some vandal pounded a sardine can opening key into the side wall of a tire on another vehicle while it sat on my driveway! Tire shops generally do not repair that type of damage because it's in the sidewall and tire plugs or plug and patch systems do not offer a permanent solution to that. I went to a tire shop near me that specializes in repairs to all sorts of tires from light vehicles to heavy truck tires and they vulcanized that hole in the sidewall of my tire and it's never leaked again.

Today I revisited that tire shop to see if they could repair the wheels on my Jimmy, because they guarantee all their work. They think that by resealing the bead they will stop the leaking; further they agreed to re-do the job if it leaks again, only next time they will use the bead sealing rubber compound across the entire width of the rim to seal the rim's alloy, if necessary. So I agreed. Paid $25 plus tax for this one first wheel. We'll see where this takes us.

Could it be the other shops just didn't do a good enough job? Or, will they have to put that rubber coating across the entire rim on the inside? I think the latter. Stay tuned ...

Its some form of paint spray I am presuming. Its very durable, I have found that out when prizing off the hub caps. A special etching primer is used to provide the correct bond and prevents the paint lifting. Wheels have a very good reputation and are in several UK cities.

By the way, its my 1999 Blazer I have had the refurbs on. I know a Jaguar owner who had 'Wheels' refurbish his wheels several years ago, still going strong

Thanks, I am surprised they don't use high end forged alloy wheels on Jaguars so they don't have that problem! I have a 2000 Mustang with terrific alloys on it that have never given me any trouble with air leakage, pitting from salt or anything. The air pressure on those wheels is always the same when i check it every six months or so, occasionally they will be down one pound, but that's it.

MOST OF YOU GUYS GET IT! THE PROBLEM WITH ALLOW WHEELS IN THE RUST BELT(MI.WI.IL.IN.OH.MN.IA) IS THE F%^KING SALT USED ON THE ROADS IN THE WINTER. THE SALT CORRODES THE ALUMINUM AND IT PITS AND TURNS WHITE. THIS CRAP NEEDS TO BE REMOVED WITH A WIRE WHEEL ON A BUFFER AND THEN THE BEAD AREA POLISHED. THEN YOU APPLY A THICK(AS IN RUNNING DOWN THE WHEEL) LAYER OF tech BRAND BEAD SEALER AND THEN MOUNT AND BALANCE THE TIRE. THIS NOT A PERMANENT REPAIR BUT IT DOES HOLD FOR A COUPLE OF YEARS. TRUST ME I HAVE BEEN DOING THIS TO ALUM WHEELS FOR 30 YEARS. PUTTING GOOP IN THE TIRES IS NOT..REPEAT NOT THE ANSWER! I SORRY THAT SALT AND ALUM ARE NOT FRIENDS BUT, THAT'S THE WAY IT IS HERE IN THE RUST BELT. GOOD LUCK AND ENJOY YOUR BLAZERS.

Just the same on British roads, grit and salt and the resulting corrosion every Winter. I had my wheels refurbed mainly to get rid of the white powdery mess visible on the outside, bead sealer had already been applied successfully when I had all four tyres replaced a couple of years ago. The hub caps that cover the wheel nuts were another matter, an aluminium with the black Chevy bow tie logo on it, Wheels would not refurb them BUT they come off the grey plastic inners that snap onto the wheels. I spray painted these grey covers in blue and they look fine and no further corrosion worries with them.

Cast magnesium alloy I think? Jaguars are 'built to a price' like most other cars but maybe if it was a BMW or Mercedes they would have been better quality, I wouldn't be at all surprised.