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Car Forum / Toyota / Toyota Trucks / November 2004Tires losing air - alloy wheels
Here's a mystery. Last January, my mechanic installed a set of Nokian WR tires on my 2002 Tacoma. Great tires for snow & rain, but they have a constant problem with losing more air than any tire I've dealt with in 35 years of driving. Example: I'll fill them to 34 lbs (cold) when it's 40 degrees outside and a week later, they're down to 22-25 at the same outdoor temperature. One of them was down to 15 yesterday. The truck came with Goodyears which were useless in snow, but had no such problems on the same wheels. I've been going to these mechanics for 20 years and they're no hacks. They've been endlessly helpful in trying to solve the problem. Typically, when tank testing the tires, they've found miniscule leaks around the balancing weights, so they've tried different weights, to no avail. They found little or no corrosion on the rims. I'll be calling the Toyota dealer and Nokian today to see if there's anything particular about the type of weights that need to be used with the rims or the tires. Meanwhile, any theories from people here would be appreciated. I check my tires once or twice a week by habit, but I don't like finding that I have to get to a pump RIGHT THE PHUQUE NOW. And, these tires are gonna be ruined if this continues. Have you tried replacing the stems? Maybe they put on the wrong kind of stems. > Here's a mystery. Last January, my mechanic installed a set of Nokian WR > tires on my 2002 Tacoma. Great tires for snow & rain, but they have a [quoted text clipped - 17 lines] > like finding that I have to get to a pump RIGHT THE PHUQUE NOW. And, these > tires are gonna be ruined if this continues. I don't recall their doing that, although after 8 visits, I've probably lost track. But, when they tank test the tires, we've only seen bubbles near the weights. > Have you tried replacing the stems? Maybe they put on the wrong kind of > stems. [quoted text clipped - 22 lines] > > like finding that I have to get to a pump RIGHT THE PHUQUE NOW. And, these > > tires are gonna be ruined if this continues. >I don't recall their doing that, although after 8 visits, I've probably >lost > track. But, when they tank test the tires, we've only seen bubbles near > the > weights. Try having them use the stick-on weights...... I used to install tires many years ago and we used them for most alloy rims so the weights wouldn't scratch them. Mac >Here's a mystery. Last January, my mechanic installed a set of Nokian WR >tires on my 2002 Tacoma. Great tires for snow & rain, but they have a [quoted text clipped - 17 lines] >like finding that I have to get to a pump RIGHT THE PHUQUE NOW. And, these >tires are gonna be ruined if this continues. > Here's a mystery. Last January, my mechanic installed a set of Nokian WR > tires on my 2002 Tacoma. Great tires for snow & rain, but they have a [quoted text clipped - 17 lines] > like finding that I have to get to a pump RIGHT THE PHUQUE NOW. And, these > tires are gonna be ruined if this continues. Somewaht coomon problem with cast alloy wheels. You can have microscopic pores in the metal that allow air to leak out. Two fixes are: #1 to add a fill of tire sealant to the tire through the valve stem (best use the non-aerosol kind - Slime or similar). Slosh it around good to coat the inner surface of the wheel. I was told this trick by a wheel vendor when I had the same problem after getting new alloy wheels. #2 is to dismount the wheel and spray the inside of the wheel with a clear coat to seal it up. I did this with my new set of alloy wheels before mounting the tires. I used a clear acrylic spray and gave them 2 good coats to seal up any pores that might be there. Seems to have worked, no leaks so far. -- Roger >Here's a mystery. Last January, my mechanic installed a set of Nokian WR >tires on my 2002 Tacoma. Great tires for snow & rain, but they have a [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] >balancing weights, so they've tried different weights, to no avail. They >found little or no corrosion on the rims. Are these alloy or steel rims? If they can see a miniscule leak, that's where it's leaking from - it doesn't tale much of a leak to drain a tire in a week. Alloys can get scratched at the rim easily and leak - there are paint-on rim sealing compounds that can be used. But to make it easier on yourself, get a separate set of steel rims for the snows, so you aren't changing tires on those alloy rims twice (or more) a year. It's also possible that a gorilla at the tire store didn't apply enough soap or manhandled them during mounting and ripped the bead sealing area on the Nokians. It should be visible, but... --<< Bruce >>--  SignatureBruce L. Bergman, Woodland Hills (Los Angeles) CA - Desktop Electrician for Westend Electric - CA726700 5737 Kanan Rd. #359, Agoura CA 91301 (818) 889-9545 Spamtrapped address: Remove the python and the invalid, and use a net. Do you use a valve stem extension ? Or Is the inside of the valve stem screwed down all the way ? Some times that will do it. Good luck ! No extensions. As far as the second question, don't know. But the particular guy who works on my truck is about as obessed with details as one can be, so for the moment, I'll assume so. This is a guy who, during the last 5 oil/lube visits, has been pointing out the most likely undercarriage things to rust, and then break when he needs to adjust/unscrew, etc. Then, he grabs a small brush, cleans off the accumulated filth, and applies some sort of rust preventative stuff. > Do you use a valve stem extension ? > Or Is the inside of the valve stem screwed down all the way ? > Some times that will do it. > Good luck ! > Here's a mystery. Last January, my mechanic installed a set of Nokian WR > tires on my 2002 Tacoma. Great tires for snow & rain, but they have a [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > Goodyears which were useless in snow, but had no such problems on the same > wheels. If all else fails, you can put tubes in them. Radial tubes aren't cheap though. SignatureEvery day is a good day- it's just that some are better than others. > Here's a mystery. Last January, my mechanic installed a set of Nokian WR > tires on my 2002 Tacoma. Great tires for snow & rain, but they have a [quoted text clipped - 17 lines] > like finding that I have to get to a pump RIGHT THE PHUQUE NOW. And, these > tires are gonna be ruined if this continues. I assume, from this, your original post, that these new tires are mounted on the same rims as your original tires. I further assume that the original tires did not leak. You mentioned that air seems to bubble out around the weights. Have they done a tank test without the weights? Another poster mentioned the stick-on alloy wheel weights, that would seem to be the way to go... SignatureTom - Vista, CA > > Here's a mystery. Last January, my mechanic installed a set of Nokian WR > > tires on my 2002 Tacoma. Great tires for snow & rain, but they have a [quoted text clipped - 27 lines] > Another poster mentioned the stick-on alloy wheel weights, that > would seem to be the way to go... Right. Same wheels as the original tires, which did NOT leak. They have NOT tank tested without the weights. I'll add this to the growing list. >>>Here's a mystery. Last January, my mechanic installed a set of Nokian WR >>>tires on my 2002 Tacoma. Great tires for snow & rain, but they have a [quoted text clipped - 48 lines] > Right. Same wheels as the original tires, which did NOT leak. They have NOT > tank tested without the weights. I'll add this to the growing list. I used to work in a tire store, and we would come up with something like this occasionally. The leak would be several pounds a week, but not always show up in the tank. A rep from goodyear said he thought it might be something that only happened when the tire had weight on it and was rolling down the road, maybe the bead "squirming" on the rim. Often times, replacing the tire would cure it, especially if we used the same rims and there was no problem with the previous set of tires. SignatureTom - Vista, CA > >>>Here's a mystery. Last January, my mechanic installed a set of Nokian WR > >>>tires on my 2002 Tacoma. Great tires for snow & rain, but they have a [quoted text clipped - 56 lines] > times, replacing the tire would cure it, especially if we used the same > rims and there was no problem with the previous set of tires. To make matters worse, the damned tires haven't lost any air for four days now. Grrrrrr.....nothing like an intermittent problem to drive you crazy. |
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