Tubless Tires

[300zx 7]

I just put 4 tubes in the tubeless tires on one of my 520's ($62 installed). They had slow leaks and some weather checking. That has been my fix lately because otherwise I have to air up tires ever time I use a wheeled piece of equipment. I have some other tires, like trailer tires, that are fairly new, but they leak at the bead and if I don't catch them, I run them off the bead. Is there a good way to seal the bead on a good tire to keep them from leaking, especially small tires?

[Audioshot 2]

Air pressure alone should be sufficient to seat the beads. If they are leaking then I would dismount the tires and use a high speed wire wheel to clean any corrosion off and then paint the rim flange. Check the tire bead "toe" for any tears or pits. The toe is where the air seal occurs, not the bead face as most people think. A lot of truck and equipment fleets use "Freylube" on the rim flanges before installing tires to help seal and prevent corrosion. It's a graphite powder mixed with animal fat.

[wheelly 0]

I just about always wire wheel the rims clean and shinny where the bead seats if i'm going tubless. and clean the tire beads with soap and water.

[WH nut 553]

If you are talking wheel barrow or yard cart just put a tube in it and be done, thay never seal. Its a do it yourself job

[Save Old Iron 1,563]

It's a graphite powder mixed with animal fat.

Sounds like my dinner yesterday !!

[HankB 16]

I used some left over roofing cement on a rear tire on my A-80-E that leaked from the rim. It is certainly not the "right" way to fix that, but it does hold air.

I may pay the price when it comes time to break the bead.

[wh79d160 52]

When I worked @ NAPA, we used to sell a lot of bead sealer (NAPA brand). I use Amerseal now. Good Luck :)

[300zx 7]

Thanks for the input. Small tires do seem to be the biggest problem for me. I have had thoughts like HankB, only I was going to use gasket shellac. It is what I used to use for sealing the halves of VW engine cases. As I write this, I'm wondering if rtv would work on the smaller tires. It would be easier to get off if you had to and would fill in any imperfections. I will also look into the Napa bead sealer. I'm tired of airing these small tires up every time I go to use them (or when the Grandkids come).

I will try the wire brush approach on the bigger tires. One negative side of installing tubes is when you do have a puncture, it is a little harder to repair, but for weather checked tires, you have no choice.

[larryandnell 3]

I have used regular silicone caulking before and it has always worked for me. Just put a bead around the rim before seating the bead. I used it on garden trator and atv wheels.

[kajamo240 3]

It's a graphite powder mixed with animal fat.

Sounds like my dinner yesterday !!

:USA:

[WH nut 553]

Wouldnt 6 to 7 bucks for a tube be the easiest, one time fix unless you puncture it, then its still and easy fix

[JimD 3,345]

John, Ive had the same problem, or so i thought, with some of my Horse tires. So I aired up a few and poured water all over them, only to discover that they were actually leaking through the cracks in the sidewalls. That's when I also discovered that tubes are much cheaper than tires. Though it is a pain in the nether regions, you can install them yourself and save a few more bucks too. :USA:

[DoctorHfuhruhurr 136]

I had some green slime left over that I watered down a little applied it to the bead on a friends hand truck tire that repeatedly leaked and it's held up for a couple years now. If you like to live dangerous there's always the lighter fluid method which I've also done but you have to obliviously be careful. The heat from the flame softens up the tire a bit to form a good seal. Did I say you have to be careful? !!!!

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=985_1232411652