Author: Dan | Original post: 01/12/17 on Mechanical Malarkey
Discovering that one of your tires is going flat isn’t fun. Often times it’s a nail or screw that punctured the tire, but sometimes it’s not as obvious.
Sometimes alloy wheels corrode around the bead where the tire seats, letting air leak out. This is a badly leaking rim showing lots of soap bubbles. In my experience, Toyota wheels had this problem occasionally, but it happens more frequently to Honda wheels.
The way to fix this requires dismounting the tire. The bead seating area should look the same as the rest of the wheel, but you can see all the corrosion. An air grinder makes quick work of cleaning this up and getting back to a good sealing surface. Sometimes if the surface is really bad, a bead sealing compound or spray can be used.
The tire is also often in need of cleaning because of the corrosion. I just carefully use my air grinder at low speed to clean it off.
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