Tires are DEFLATING!!!!! (Casper, Lander, Saratoga: how much, shop, design)

[teriehl]

We moved here from TX in Oct. Since we had th really cold weather in Dec. my tires keep going flat. They have about 14k miles on them. they are Bridgestones that came on it, 2008 Dogde Avenger.
Any ideas???

[sunsprit]

Best take them to a tire shop and have them checked for road damage/nails/screws.

You'd be surprised at how much foreign stuff is on our Wyoming roads. My wife is an expert at finding her "fair share" almost every month, and we generally have to have "slow leaks" fixed several times in the tread wear life of each tire.

[WyoNewk]

I agree with Sunsprit. I don't think the cold weather has much to do with losing tire pressure. Although cold air is more dense and will nominally deflate the tire until it warms up a little, it shouldn't make enough difference for you to notice. It's probably nails, screws or rock chips in the tires or leaking valve stems. It's really odd that all the tires would start slow leaks at the same time.

I can't remember when the last time was that I had a leak in an automotive tire. My wife and I each have vehicles, and neither of us have had a flat in the last decade. Tires are checked at oil changes and sometimes before we start off on a long trip. Sometimes one or two will be a couple pounds low....

[NVDave]

Agree with sunsprit. I've had tires get stone cuts on the tread face which has caused slow leaks. As long as the leak is on the tread face, a tire shop can often put in a plug or a patch and send you on your way.

[Cloudfish]

A couple of years ago I got 4 flat tires (each tire) in one day traveling from Casper to Dixon. They all happened on the county roads (gravel) as I was taking the scenic route (Casper to Medicine Bow, county road to Elk Mountain, county road (Passcreek) to Saratoga through the pass between Elk Mtn. and Coad Mtn., then over the top to Dixon). I'll not bore you with the rest of the tawdry details, but suffice it to say I bought 4 10-ply tires the next morning in Baggs. I was lucky they were open on a Sunday morning. The flats were just the result of driving on gravel--and up to that point were in very good shape with lots of tread.

Point being that it's good to invest in quality tires--generally the highway tires provided on a new vehicle are just that--highway tires--designed to give a smooth ride to impress the potential new owner. I just bought a new truck 2 weeks ago and the first "mod" I did was to put some good all-terrains on it. Then again, I may still just be a bit gunshy....

[starlite9]

I don't know what "Cold" is that far down south, but if your tire beads had some moisture in them when the tires were mounted, that will spread the beads enough for the air to leak out.

Also, if you are in sub zero temps and a dogs takes a leak on the tires, that moisture will get down into the bead and freeze and separate the bead to where it can leak air too. But it normally takes more than one dog to really make all four go bad, unless he really hates you....

I would vote on you need to take the tires to a shop and have them break down the tires and reseal the beads with a sealer and then test them for nails, rocks and other road trash.

But as a side note, that sounds like some prank that some warped friends would pull, let the air out of the tires, all at the same time... often....

[Brian_M]

We're not experiencing this kind of weather, but a couple years ago on my way from Lander to Casper I had all 4 tires go flat. Apparently my valve stems didn't like the motion of driving in -20F temps and each of them cracked right at the base. Stop to fill and the stems seemed fine, tires held air, etc... drive for awhile and I was back to sliding all over the road. That was one long drive.

I'd had the stems replaced with my previous tire change (40k miles/4 years).

[The Mover in Atl]

Aluminum wheels??

With the cold weather the aluminum wheels actually "shrink" and can cause this condition. As the sun or temps warm up this will not be an issue - if you've found no other repair work.

Also with aluminum wheels salt will get into the bead of the wheel & tire - which will cause corrosion & not let the tires seat as they are designed causing this same tire deflating condition.

Check it out. ....

Paul

[Hollytree]

"Tires are deflating!"

I read your headline and thought it was a sarcastic comment on the economy- too funny