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Member
Posts: 14
Location: Gobles, MI | Does anyone have any suggestions and keeping air in aluminum rims. I have to air my tires up at least once a month as I lose tire pressure. Everyone I talk to says this is a problem with alum rims on cars and trailers. Thanks |
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Expert
Posts: 2957
   
Location: North Carolina | Are you sure it's the wheels leaking air? Have you put the entire wheel into a water bath to determine where the air is leaking from? I don't like putting "Slime" into your tires or other type of sealant. It's messy when it is time to change the tire. Sounds like your tire rims are porous. I would demount the tires and seal the wheels with a coat of polyurathane. |
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.jpg) Expert
Posts: 2828
Location: Southern New Mexico | What have your temperatures been like? It seems like since we moved here with the hot days and cool nights we have to put air in our tires more. All of them, not just the trailer tires. |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 522
Location: Tucumcari NM | You can always put an innertube in your tires. Worked for me! Marla |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 406
Location: Minneapolis, MN | The issue with Al. rims and air leakage is this. The area in which the tire bead sits is often corroded. This corrosion allows air to get by.
The solution is to go to the tire shop, have the tires dismounted, the bead area on the wheel wire brushed and the tires remounted/rebalanced. |
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Expert
Posts: 3853
Location: Vermont | Originally written by Brkncircle on 2008-07-13 1:58 PM
Does anyone have any suggestions and keeping air in aluminum rims. I have to air my tires up at least once a month as I lose tire pressure. Everyone I talk to says this is a problem with alum rims on cars and trailers. Thanks Just how much and how fast are you losing air? Do you have metal valve stems? If its alot and quickly...fill the tire to operational numbers and drop the tire in a horse tank and look for bubbles... If its a little and over a long time...you may be the victim of temperature swings... Finally the last suggestion of corrosion can be ruled out as described by previous poster... |
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Expert
Posts: 3802
Location: Rocky Mount N.C. | How old are they and what make and size are they? Valve stems or valve cores leaking? My Michelins LTX-M/S's were mounted on my truck last fall, checked them yesterday, still 80psi. Set of Uniroyal Laredo AWP's mounted on a stock trailer September of 2006, inflated to 65psi, they're now about 62psi with no adjustments since mounting. G614's mounted in December of 2007, 110psi, they're still 110 psi. These were checked at about 05:30 in the morning, outside temp 65 degrees and the sun wasn't up quite yet. |
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Expert
Posts: 5870
Location: western PA | Take off the valve stem caps, apply soapy water to the valve stems and cores and around the tire bead areas. Any bubbles will indicate a loss of air pressure. Are you loosing equal amounts of pressure in every tire? It's unusual that all your tires would have the same malady. If they are all involved, a total immersion in a tank will quickly reveal the source of the problem, which maybe common to all. Sealants can be applied to the inner surfaces of wheels. Generally, it's not advisable to put a tube inside a radial tubeless tire unless it's your last resort to save the tire. It will add to a larger amount of heat build up and may lead to a possible failure. If you do have to attempt this fix, use that tire for a spare. Gard |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 544
Location: Claxton, Ga. | Never had any issues loosing air with aluminum rims, that is a myth. Been running them for years. Don't put the slim in the rim. They will never balance again. It's just a good ole leak. If they break the tires down and you have moisture then run pure nitrogen. A tank bath is your best beat in finding the leak. |
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Regular
Posts: 60
Location: Ky | Originally written by Spooler on 2008-07-13 11:11 PM
Never had any issues loosing air with aluminum rims, that is a myth. Been running them for years. Don't put the slim in the rim. They will never balance again. It's just a good ole leak. If they break the tires down and you have moisture then run pure nitrogen. A tank bath is your best beat in finding the leak. I agree, I've never any more problem with aluminum rims losing any more air pressure than steel. There is another problem besides what the rim is made from. As another posters said, do not put tubes in them except as a last measure and then do it only temporarlily. Heat is the enemy of all tires. The reason radila last longer than bias is because they have less rolling resistance, thus less friction and heat. If you put a tube in one, you are just asing for heat build up and there will be a problem. |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 720
| Do remember there are varying degrees of quality in aluminum wheels. I've seen some cheap imports that seeped air through a semi-porous casting. So don't rule out the dunk tank idea. Holding the inflated tire/wheel underwater can be entertaining though. Been there, done that. |
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Expert
Posts: 3802
Location: Rocky Mount N.C. |
(quote) Do remember there are varying degrees of quality in aluminum wheels. I've seen some cheap imports that seeped air through a semi-porous casting. So don't rule out the dunk tank idea. Holding the inflated tire/wheel underwater can be entertaining though. Been there, done that.
Yes siree buddy! A helmet with a functioning face shield would be advisable.... Just in case it were to slip out of your hands and defy gravity!!
Edited by retento 2008-07-14 12:53 PM
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Member
Posts: 14
Location: Gobles, MI | The trailer is an older featherlite. We did check for corrosion as the trailer had sat for awhile. Also had all of the valve stems replaced, when I had new tires installed. It just seems to dissappear. (Which cannot happen, I know). It happens on all the tires....including the spare. Not losing alot...maybe 10 lbs every month or 2, but on a 38 ft trailer it is. I might just have to break down and buy new rims (UGH). I also do not like the idea of using slime, that seems to be everyones first suggestion to try. I have had it to 3 different tire companies/garages and 1 trailer dealership for this. |
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Expert
Posts: 5870
Location: western PA | Finding the leaking points is not a mystery. Coat the rims with soapy water or immerse them in a tank. Then you will know where your problem is and what needs to be done to alleviate it. |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 522
Location: Tucumcari NM | We tried all the fixes listed above. nothing worked. We regularly haul 15 to 18 thousand pounds of cattle to the sale barn, which is over 100 miles away. The manager of the local tire shop recommended the tubes, and in the three years since we have never had a problem with overheating tires. We have also not had to stop and air tires on a trailer loaded with cattle! Marla |
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Veteran
Posts: 144
Location: Hickory Hills, IL | Try Nitrogen fill. Our local tire shop turned me onto it (free fill with new tires). Never had a low tire since. Nitrogen is more dense than air- temp changes here always cause low tires every few months, even on my new truck. Lose about 2-10 PSI a month in winter/fall. Been that way since I have started driving on every vehicle I have owned. Doesn't happen since we started using Nitrogen. Only costs $2 a tire. Worth it, I just ordered 4 new tires and rims for our trailer and they are getting filled with N before I put them on.Cheers!~K |
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Expert
Posts: 3802
Location: Rocky Mount N.C. | Nitrogen filled tires......LOL!!! |
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Location: Where the wind comes sweepin' down the plain... | I am out on the nitrogen... http://www.horsetrailerworld.com/forum/thread-view.asp?threadid=9545&start=1 , but...I don't have a trailer on the place that doesn't lose 3-4 pounds per month from the tire when not being used. For those of you that dont check your pressures regularly, check your spares. That can be entertaining when you realize how low some of them will be. |
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Veteran
Posts: 144
Location: Hickory Hills, IL | I would agree if my local tire shop were out to gouge prices- he claims he is making about $.50 a tire (he is charging $2 a tire for N fill- free with tire repair/purchase). For that price I will go N. $8 is a lot cheaper and easier than trying to get into the gas station air fill with a 28' trailer! ;-) |
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 Expert
Posts: 1877
Location: NY | you should get a truck compressor for your trailer, I have one and it will do 300 lbs I have not done that just what the truck and trailer it plugs in to the lighter, so I do not have to work at getting in to gas station and somebody on here told about that gas stations air-pumps so not go that height |
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Veteran
Posts: 144
Location: Hickory Hills, IL | Trailer only requires 65PSI. The truck on the other hand requires 90PSI- that one most gas stations will not do. Truck stops help. My compressor will do 65PSI, but takes a really really long time (10+ minutes).I'll stick with the N until the tire shop raises his prices. I still carry the compressor, can of fix a flat, jack and 4-way tire iron. Hopefully with the new rubber and wheels I won't need any of it for a while! :-)Some day my old 12V compressor will die, then I'll get a new truck one. Mine is still going strong, and even 65PSI will get my truck to a proper truck stop (or home with a real compressor). Even my home compressor has a hard time getting to 90PSI. |
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Member
Posts: 7
| I would fill the tire with Nitrogen instead of air. It will keep the tires cooler and the Nitrogen has a larger molecule which will assist huge in keeping the tire inflated. I would also make sure there is no corrosion around the rim where the tire meets the rim. Sometimes the tire doesn't seat completely. Also check to make sure there are no obvious cracks or fractures in the rim or that it is not warped. I don't know if all your tires are leaking, but if it is 1 or 2, maybe you just have a bad tire. If all else fails, you could always by new. I use a place online called trailer parts supply. They carry several Tire and Rim Assemblies, and they are awesome for working with you on price when you buy more than one of something. I buy all my trailer parts there. I would not suggest adding a sealant to your tires. That just covers up the problem and it really stinks when you have to clean that stuff out of the tire and rim, when it ends up not working. Rick |
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Member
Posts: 14
Location: Gobles, MI | Maybe I will talk to a few of the local trailer dealers about nitrogen. Sounds like a better fix than new rims. I do carry a small air compresser (I found a mini one) but I have an onboard generator so I use that instead of those 12volt ones. But I do check to tires before every trip. Thanks for the ideas. |
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Aluminum Rims
