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My two front tires tend to lose air and I'm always having to remind myself to look. Sometimes they get low and just stay a little low. Once in awhile they go about half flat.
I was told it was maybe my rims are a little pitted or corroded so maybe I don't get a great seal.
I'm taking it to NTB (Natl Tire Bur) tomorrow where they said they would clean the rims with a air pressure wire brush? then bead the rims with some......some....black...tar? I don't remember exactly what he said they would use to sort of glue the tire to the rim. He also said that once rims corrode they keep corroding and this would probably only help for 6 months.
My biggest concern is this gluing treatment going to damage my tires?
7, 8 years ago when living in snow country I had Cooper snow tires on rock rims for winter. When I moved to southern OH it wasn't worth switching out so i sold them for less than half the cost. Maybe I should have kept them.
Should I just buy new rims for a 1997?
It is not uncommon for the bead section of aluminum wheels to corrode. I've never heard of this particular "fix" but it sounds like it might work. I'm sure it won't harm your tires, but I'd make that a question to them before letting them proceed.
What does that mean, rebead the tires? Steel or aluminum...you mean steel or aluminum rims? Either is fine if buying new ones?
Sorry. Re-beading them is just the process of putting the tire back on the rim and putting enough air pressure in it that the tire bead is forced over the lip on the rim. Nothing technical.
As for my comment of steel or aluminum, I was just saying that the sanding of the oxidation is the same process whether the rims are steel or aluminum. some people do not realize that aluminum oxidizes the same as steel.
As for new rims, I would not do that. It should cost you $100 to get all four rims sanded, remounted and balanced. New rims will cost a lot more than that.
I would also take a very close look the tires. If they had a tendency to "go flat" there could be a number of reasons. The person who mounted them may have torn the bead in the mounting process. The tire may have had a manufacturing defect in the innerliner splice or in the area at the outer edge where the "Chafer" material mates with the innerlinner material. Both of these would result in air loss over time.
Secondly you have likely damaged your tires by running them low/under-inflated. Not only will there be excessive wear on the tread on the outer edges there may very well be cracking developing around the "lugs" in the tread. When you run low air pressure the belts do not sit in the proper position. While most tires have a "spiral layer" on the tread edges it is designed to protect the tire when properly inflate I have seen tires crack in the tread edge due to improper inflation.
Another area to check is on the inside of the tire between the tread and the bead. If you have run low for extended periods of time it will damage the innerliner material. It will be visible.
If you see any of these problems you will have to replace the tires. If your rims are corroded/pitted a good sanding and sealing would be in order.
I just thought I would comment regarding tire condition/possible manufacturing defects. I used to work in Quality assurance at a major tire manufacturer testing tires. I also worked for a number of years in passenger tire machine set up/ troubleshooting which gave me a good idea of the defects tires are likely to have.
Thanks for the info. I had wondered if running low would damage the tires. But I'm back from NTB, its done now. I did not ask them to look for damage but hopefully they would have told me if they had noticed any. The did say they found a nail in one tire and patched it. They also said I had a lot of brake dust in one set of breaks and so I authorized them to clean and reset. Had all 4 cleaned and sealed and rotated.
The manager repeatedly went on about how mechanically maintained my Blazer was. I.e new shocks, and all sort of stuff along the way. Apparently it was noticeable to him and he said not something he saw much in a car that old
I think of getting a new car all the time but never like anything I see (domestic anyway). Especially now with the fad of narrow/skinny windows. Hate that! I want to see! Which will ruin the used car market for me for a long time
So...not sure how long I can keep the 97 going but I like the size and shape, very practical so am determined to keep it going for as long as I feel safe.
Again, thanks for this and other forum questions I ask here. Nice to have a place to do so.
They would have seen a bead tear and told you about it for sure. If the innerliner was cracking they may or may not have caught it depending on how close they looked.
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