One tyre (right rear) has a slow leak: I pump it up to 30 PSI, and two
days (~ 90 miles) later it's about 26.5 so I pump it up again. Our
normal tyre place (usually pretty good) resealed it twice (at no
charge since they had put the tyre on) then said if that didn't work
we might need to get the wheels refurbished and gave the name of a
company in the area. (The wheels do look grubby.)

My wife took the car to the wheel place, reported what the tyre man
had said, and the wheel man said something like "sure, we can
refurbish them, £50+VAT each" after a cursory look. No mention of any
guarantee that it would work.

This place would put loaner wheels on our car for a week while fixing
ours, then swap them back.

Anyone know how reliable this is likely to be?

Thanks.

Adam Funk has brought this to us :
> This place would put loaner wheels on our car for a week while fixing
> ours, then swap them back.
>
> Anyone know how reliable this is likely to be?

It should be absolutely reliable, if done properly. There are two
possibilities..

1. Alloy corrosion has worked its way down the sealing lip between tyre
and lip. That should be all cleaned off and repainted to provide a good
as new sealing surface.

2. The alloy itself might be porous, rather unusual, but paint should
fix that too.

Finally and extremely unlikely, the wheel might be cracked and will be
scrap.

Adam Funk wrote:

> One tyre (right rear) has a slow leak: I pump it up to 30 PSI, and two
> days (~ 90 miles) later it's about 26.5 so I pump it up again. Our
> normal tyre place (usually pretty good) resealed it twice (at no
> charge since they had put the tyre on) then said if that didn't work
> we might need to get the wheels refurbished

I put four new tyres on yesterday, it took them close on 2 hours, they said
they'd had to wire-wheel corrosion from all the rims and paint them with "goop"
that then has to go tacky before they can fit the new tyres ... no extra charge,
but he said they'd rather do it upfront than have me come back in a week saying
they they keep losing pressure ...

In article <r9mf5ixfh1.ln2@news.ducksburg.com>,
Adam Funk <a24061a@ducksburg.com> wrote:
> My wife took the car to the wheel place, reported what the tyre man
> had said, and the wheel man said something like "sure, we can
> refurbish them, £50+VAT each" after a cursory look. No mention of any
> guarantee that it would work.

> This place would put loaner wheels on our car for a week while fixing
> ours, then swap them back.

> Anyone know how reliable this is likely to be?

If properly done, it will sort it. But depends what paint they use. You
can make them look pretty and hold air quite easily. But the best coating,
which lasts longer, is more expensive.

--
*Always borrow money from pessimists - they don't expect it back *

Dave Plowman dave@davenoise.co.uk London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

On Fri, 05 Nov 2021 13:20:59 +0000, Harry Bloomfield, Esq. wrote:

> Adam Funk has brought this to us :
>> This place would put loaner wheels on our car for a week while fixing
>> ours, then swap them back.
>>
>> Anyone know how reliable this is likely to be?
>
> It should be absolutely reliable, if done properly. There are two
> possibilities..
>
> 1. Alloy corrosion has worked its way down the sealing lip between tyre
> and lip. That should be all cleaned off and repainted to provide a good
> as new sealing surface.
>
> 2. The alloy itself might be porous, rather unusual, but paint should
> fix that too.

The problem I had, years ago, was that the lacquer on the wheels started
flaking.

I had them all 'done' (one at a time) and they were fine until I sold the
car some years later.

--
My posts are my copyright and if @diy_forums or Home Owners' Hub
wish to copy them they can pay me £1 a message.
Use the BIG mirror service in the UK: http://www.mirrorservice.org
*lightning surge protection* - a w_tom conductor

In article <iukq3uFg3lbU1@mid.individual.net>,
Andy Burns <usenet@andyburns.uk> wrote:
> Adam Funk wrote:

> > One tyre (right rear) has a slow leak: I pump it up to 30 PSI, and two
> > days (~ 90 miles) later it's about 26.5 so I pump it up again. Our
> > normal tyre place (usually pretty good) resealed it twice (at no
> > charge since they had put the tyre on) then said if that didn't work
> > we might need to get the wheels refurbished

> I put four new tyres on yesterday, it took them close on 2 hours, they
> said they'd had to wire-wheel corrosion from all the rims and paint
> them with "goop" that then has to go tacky before they can fit the new
> tyres ... no extra charge, but he said they'd rather do it upfront than
> have me come back in a week saying they they keep losing pressure ...

If the wheels have corroded on the rims, that sealer gunge ain't going to
be that long lived - or wasn't here.

--
*Beware - animal lover - brakes for pussy*

Dave Plowman dave@davenoise.co.uk London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

On Fri, 05 Nov 2021 12:56:59 +0000, Adam Funk <a24061a@ducksburg.com> wrote:

>My wife took the car to the wheel place, reported what the tyre man
>had said, and the wheel man said something like "sure, we can
>refurbish them, £50+VAT each" after a cursory look. No mention of any
>guarantee that it would work.

You could, of course, dismantle the wheels and drop them in a tub of water and
see where the leak bubbles...

(This is excellent advice to give; I myself would not take it. Grubby work, car
wobbly on a jack, tub of suitable size not readily available, hence bathtub full
of rubber marks and brake dust... yech.) Maybe a squirt bottle with soapy water?
Because refinishing the wheel won't help if it's a leaky valve stem.

Thomas Prufer

Dave Plowman wrote:

> If the wheels have corroded on the rims, that sealer gunge ain't going to
> be that long lived - or wasn't here.

We'll see, it's not as though he upsold me to having it done, and it took quite
a bit of his guy's time doing it.

No sign of any corrosion from the outsides of the wheels, I did have a hell of a
job getting one wheel off the hub a fortnight ago due to alloy on steel
corrosion. All wheels have all been off the car twice in the last couple of
years, for new tyres and brake pads.

on 05/11/2021, Andy Burns supposed :
> No sign of any corrosion from the outsides of the wheels, I did have a hell
> of a job getting one wheel off the hub a fortnight ago due to alloy on steel
> corrosion. All wheels have all been off the car twice in the last couple of
> years, for new tyres and brake pads.

I apply a tiny smear of copper grease to the interface between the two.

Harry Bloomfield wrote:

> Andy Burns wrote:
>
>> All wheels have all been off the car twice in the last couple of
>> years, for new tyres and brake pads.
>
> I apply a tiny smear of copper grease to the interface between the two.

It did cross my mind that I'll pop them off and do that ... had to drive it
round waitrose car park with the nuts finger tight and slam on the brakes a time
or two to get it loose.

Adam Funk <a24061a@ducksburg.com> wrote:
> One tyre (right rear) has a slow leak: I pump it up to 30 PSI, and two
> days (~ 90 miles) later it's about 26.5 so I pump it up again. Our
> normal tyre place (usually pretty good) resealed it twice (at no
> charge since they had put the tyre on) then said if that didn't work
> we might need to get the wheels refurbished and gave the name of a
> company in the area. (The wheels do look grubby.)
>
> My wife took the car to the wheel place, reported what the tyre man
> had said, and the wheel man said something like "sure, we can
> refurbish them, £50+VAT each" after a cursory look. No mention of any
> guarantee that it would work.
>
> This place would put loaner wheels on our car for a week while fixing
> ours, then swap them back.
>
> Anyone know how reliable this is likely to be?
>
> Thanks.
>

Harry’s advice is good just adding to his comments.

Alloys do tend to lose air in colder weather - at least that is my
experience across numerous cars. Not nearly as much as you are seeing but,
for example, while I check my tyres in the summer, I don’t ever need to top
them up. I do sometimes in the winter. With steel wheels, I don’t see this
difference.

You may have damaged a wheel - a pothole, caught a kerb etc. This isn’t
always obvious if it is on the inside edge. I caught a pot hole and
damaged a wheel and saw the same as you. The damage wasn’t visible with the
wheel on the car - at least unless you were under it.

They can ‘roll out’ such damage - if it isn’t too bad, possible without
even refinishing the wheel I believe.

I assume you’ve had the tyre off and checked?

Ditto the valve checked? I had a valve fail years ago.

As Harry mentioned, a porous wheel is possible but if they are quality
wheels this is unlikely unless they were abused at some point - so the
protective layers were removed.

In article <sm5d22$5s5$1@dont-email.me>,
Brian <noinv@lid.org> wrote:
> Harry‘s advice is good just adding to his comments.

> Alloys do tend to lose air in colder weather - at least that is my
> experience across numerous cars. Not nearly as much as you are seeing
> but, for example, while I check my tyres in the summer, I don‘t ever
> need to top them up. I do sometimes in the winter.

If you have set the pressure on a warm day, it will read lower on a cold
one.

> With steel wheels, I don‘t see this difference.

Something wrong there then.

> You may have damaged a wheel - a pothole, caught a kerb etc. This isn‘t
> always obvious if it is on the inside edge. I caught a pot hole and
> damaged a wheel and saw the same as you. The damage wasn‘t visible with
> the wheel on the car - at least unless you were under it.

> They can roll out‘ such damage - if it isn‘t too bad, possible without
> even refinishing the wheel I believe.

> I assume you‘ve had the tyre off and checked?

> Ditto the valve checked? I had a valve fail years ago.

> As Harry mentioned, a porous wheel is possible but if they are quality
> wheels this is unlikely unless they were abused at some point - so the
> protective layers were removed.

Assuming the tyre is OK, the most likely cause by far is corrosion to the
rim. Allowing air to leak out there. Happens with old steel wheels too.

--
*ONE NICE THING ABOUT EGOTISTS: THEY DON'T TALK ABOUT OTHER PEOPLE.

Dave Plowman dave@davenoise.co.uk London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

On 05/11/2021 12:56, Adam Funk wrote:
> One tyre (right rear) has a slow leak: I pump it up to 30 PSI, and two
> days (~ 90 miles) later it's about 26.5 so I pump it up again. Our
> normal tyre place (usually pretty good) resealed it twice (at no
> charge since they had put the tyre on) then said if that didn't work
> we might need to get the wheels refurbished and gave the name of a
> company in the area. (The wheels do look grubby.)
>
> My wife took the car to the wheel place, reported what the tyre man
> had said, and the wheel man said something like "sure, we can
> refurbish them, £50+VAT each" after a cursory look. No mention of any
> guarantee that it would work.
>
> This place would put loaner wheels on our car for a week while fixing
> ours, then swap them back.
>
> Anyone know how reliable this is likely to be?
>
> Thanks.
>

New inexpensive alloy wheels would not cost much more. I can't check the
exact price without knowing the vehicle. Steel wheels would be cheaper.

On 2021-11-05, Thomas Prufer wrote:

> On Fri, 05 Nov 2021 12:56:59 +0000, Adam Funk <a24061a@ducksburg.com> wrote:
>
>>My wife took the car to the wheel place, reported what the tyre man
>>had said, and the wheel man said something like "sure, we can
>>refurbish them, £50+VAT each" after a cursory look. No mention of any
>>guarantee that it would work.
>
> You could, of course, dismantle the wheels and drop them in a tub of water and
> see where the leak bubbles...
>
> (This is excellent advice to give; I myself would not take it. Grubby work, car
> wobbly on a jack, tub of suitable size not readily available, hence bathtub full

Right, that's not gonna happen in this house.

> of rubber marks and brake dust... yech.) Maybe a squirt bottle with soapy water?
> Because refinishing the wheel won't help if it's a leaky valve stem.

The tyre place has checked the valve stems (among other things).

On Fri, 05 Nov 2021 12:56:59 +0000, Adam Funk wrote:

> One tyre (right rear) has a slow leak: I pump it up to 30 PSI, and two
> days (~ 90 miles) later it's about 26.5 so I pump it up again. Our
> normal tyre place (usually pretty good) resealed it twice (at no charge
> since they had put the tyre on) then said if that didn't work we might
> need to get the wheels refurbished and gave the name of a company in the
> area. (The wheels do look grubby.)
>
> My wife took the car to the wheel place, reported what the tyre man had
> said, and the wheel man said something like "sure, we can refurbish
> them, £50+VAT each" after a cursory look. No mention of any guarantee
> that it would work.
>
> This place would put loaner wheels on our car for a week while fixing
> ours, then swap them back.
>
> Anyone know how reliable this is likely to be?
>
> Thanks.

Put a tube in.

On 08/11/2021 13:27, Sysadmin wrote:
> On Fri, 05 Nov 2021 12:56:59 +0000, Adam Funk wrote:
>
>> One tyre (right rear) has a slow leak: I pump it up to 30 PSI, and two
>> days (~ 90 miles) later it's about 26.5 so I pump it up again. Our
>> normal tyre place (usually pretty good) resealed it twice (at no charge
>> since they had put the tyre on) then said if that didn't work we might
>> need to get the wheels refurbished and gave the name of a company in the
>> area. (The wheels do look grubby.)
>>
>> My wife took the car to the wheel place, reported what the tyre man had
>> said, and the wheel man said something like "sure, we can refurbish
>> them, £50+VAT each" after a cursory look. No mention of any guarantee
>> that it would work.
>>
>> This place would put loaner wheels on our car for a week while fixing
>> ours, then swap them back.
>>
>> Anyone know how reliable this is likely to be?
>>
>> Thanks.
>
> Put a tube in.

Not a good idea. Both wheels and tyres can have rough surfaces not
designed for tubes and can cause sudden failure.

A friend ended up spinning backwards into a motorway central reservation
barrier, when she suffered a blowout, a week after a tyre place bodged a
repair by fitting a tube.

On 2021-11-05, Harry Bloomfield Esq wrote:

> Adam Funk has brought this to us :
>> This place would put loaner wheels on our car for a week while fixing
>> ours, then swap them back.
>>
>> Anyone know how reliable this is likely to be?
>
> It should be absolutely reliable, if done properly. There are two
> possibilities..
>
> 1. Alloy corrosion has worked its way down the sealing lip between tyre
> and lip. That should be all cleaned off and repainted to provide a good
> as new sealing surface.
>
> 2. The alloy itself might be porous, rather unusual, but paint should
> fix that too.
>
> Finally and extremely unlikely, the wheel might be cracked and will be
> scrap.

Thanks.

On 2021-11-08, Steve Walker wrote:

> On 08/11/2021 13:27, Sysadmin wrote:
>> On Fri, 05 Nov 2021 12:56:59 +0000, Adam Funk wrote:
>>
>>> One tyre (right rear) has a slow leak: I pump it up to 30 PSI, and two
>>> days (~ 90 miles) later it's about 26.5 so I pump it up again. Our
>>> normal tyre place (usually pretty good) resealed it twice (at no charge
>>> since they had put the tyre on) then said if that didn't work we might
>>> need to get the wheels refurbished and gave the name of a company in the
>>> area. (The wheels do look grubby.)
>>>
>>> My wife took the car to the wheel place, reported what the tyre man had
>>> said, and the wheel man said something like "sure, we can refurbish
>>> them, £50+VAT each" after a cursory look. No mention of any guarantee
>>> that it would work.
>>>
>>> This place would put loaner wheels on our car for a week while fixing
>>> ours, then swap them back.
>>>
>>> Anyone know how reliable this is likely to be?
>>>
>>> Thanks.
>>
>> Put a tube in.
>
> Not a good idea. Both wheels and tyres can have rough surfaces not
> designed for tubes and can cause sudden failure.
>
> A friend ended up spinning backwards into a motorway central reservation
> barrier, when she suffered a blowout, a week after a tyre place bodged a
> repair by fitting a tube.

Is that why tubes aren't (generally) used now?

On 09/11/2021 13:30, Adam Funk wrote:
> On 2021-11-08, Steve Walker wrote:
>
>> On 08/11/2021 13:27, Sysadmin wrote:
>>> On Fri, 05 Nov 2021 12:56:59 +0000, Adam Funk wrote:
>>>
>>>> One tyre (right rear) has a slow leak: I pump it up to 30 PSI, and two
>>>> days (~ 90 miles) later it's about 26.5 so I pump it up again. Our
>>>> normal tyre place (usually pretty good) resealed it twice (at no charge
>>>> since they had put the tyre on) then said if that didn't work we might
>>>> need to get the wheels refurbished and gave the name of a company in the
>>>> area. (The wheels do look grubby.)
>>>>
>>>> My wife took the car to the wheel place, reported what the tyre man had
>>>> said, and the wheel man said something like "sure, we can refurbish
>>>> them, £50+VAT each" after a cursory look. No mention of any guarantee
>>>> that it would work.
>>>>
>>>> This place would put loaner wheels on our car for a week while fixing
>>>> ours, then swap them back.
>>>>
>>>> Anyone know how reliable this is likely to be?
>>>>
>>>> Thanks.
>>>
>>> Put a tube in.
>>
>> Not a good idea. Both wheels and tyres can have rough surfaces not
>> designed for tubes and can cause sudden failure.
>>
>> A friend ended up spinning backwards into a motorway central reservation
>> barrier, when she suffered a blowout, a week after a tyre place bodged a
>> repair by fitting a tube.
>
> Is that why tubes aren't (generally) used now?
>
Yes. Tubes are capable of extremely rapid deflation - from 'OK' to
'bloody dangerous' can be less than a second. Tubeless tyres tend to
leak more slowly - usually long enough to 'get you home'.

Of course that discounts the eco-hippy sticking a knife through the
sidewall of your 4x4. Thereby increasing your carbon footprint.

--
"When a true genius appears in the world, you may know him by this sign,
that the dunces are all in confederacy against him."

Jonathan Swift.

In article <eo9q5ixr49.ln2@news.ducksburg.com>,
Adam Funk <a24061a@ducksburg.com> wrote:
> > A friend ended up spinning backwards into a motorway central reservation
> > barrier, when she suffered a blowout, a week after a tyre place bodged a
> > repair by fitting a tube.

> Is that why tubes aren't (generally) used now?

Not sure of all the reasons, but tubeless have been the norm for many a
year. A radial tyre tend to squirm more than ancient tyres - the tread
saying fairly constant, and the walls flexing more. Which might lead to
more rubbing between tyre and tube?

--
*Never miss a good chance to shut up.*

Dave Plowman dave@davenoise.co.uk London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

On 09/11/2021 13:50, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
> Yes. Tubes are capable of extremely rapid deflation - from 'OK' to
> 'bloody dangerous' can be less than a second. Tubeless tyres tend to
> leak more slowly - usually long enough to 'get you home'.
>
> Of course that discounts the eco-hippy sticking a knife through the
> sidewall of your 4x4. Thereby increasing your carbon footprint.

The last failure I had was on a rental van.

I was on the M2 at motorway speed when there was a loud BANG. Gunshot
loud. Didn't feel anything, but I pulled over gently to investigate.

The tread was no longer attached to either sidewall.

How much more sudden would a tube make it?

It appears the previous renter had reversed it over a patch of nails -
there were several in the other back tyre.

Andy

On 2021-11-06, Michael Chare wrote:

> On 05/11/2021 12:56, Adam Funk wrote:
>> One tyre (right rear) has a slow leak: I pump it up to 30 PSI, and two
>> days (~ 90 miles) later it's about 26.5 so I pump it up again. Our
>> normal tyre place (usually pretty good) resealed it twice (at no
>> charge since they had put the tyre on) then said if that didn't work
>> we might need to get the wheels refurbished and gave the name of a
>> company in the area. (The wheels do look grubby.)
>>
>> My wife took the car to the wheel place, reported what the tyre man
>> had said, and the wheel man said something like "sure, we can
>> refurbish them, £50+VAT each" after a cursory look. No mention of any
>> guarantee that it would work.
>>
>> This place would put loaner wheels on our car for a week while fixing
>> ours, then swap them back.
>>
>> Anyone know how reliable this is likely to be?
>>
>> Thanks.
>>
>
> New inexpensive alloy wheels would not cost much more. I can't check the
> exact price without knowing the vehicle. Steel wheels would be cheaper.

As it turns out, they took one wheel off yesterday and said the loaner
Prius wheels they had wouldn't fit on our car because the bolts are
incompatible, so they can't do anything unless we're willing to do it
one at a time using the "doughnut" spare over four weeks. The
refurbishing place mainly seems to deal with much fancier cars and
pickier customers (my wife said someone brought a Mercedes in to have
a visible scratch removed from a wheel).

New wheels from the dealer (yes, I know, but we haven't checked
anywhere else yet) are £450 each!