Tires are a crucial part of keeping your vehicle on the road. Keeping their tread depth right, the rubber within the acceptable age and ensuring you are running the right weather tires is the first step to maintaining traction.
Since tires run on air pressure, any puncture or damage that keeps the air in is a nuisance. The most common way to air escapes from your tires is after a puncture.
The other uncommon way is losing air out around the rim. Rim leaks have got more common as tubeless tires get more familiar.
How to Identify a Rim Leak
Identifying rim leaks is the same as identifying any other type of puncture. The soapy water bath test is a great way to determine the puncture.
- Remove the tire from the vehicle.
- Get an enormous container, fill it with soap water and submerge it in the water
- Look for bubbling and narrow it down to the spot where the air is escaping for
- If you don’t have a big enough container, use a spray bottle with soapy water around the wheel’s bead (where the rubber meets the rim)
- You can also drip soapy water onto the bead using a rag
- Once you notice air bubbles, mark the spot with a sharpie or chalk
- You have successfully identified your around the rim leak
Once you’ve identified the leak, it is time to fix the bead leak. The repairs vary depending on the extent of the damage and the type of wheel your vehicle is running.
Fixing a Rim Bead Leak
Since the test already dismounted the tire, we will proceed from there. If you have reinstalled the tire, you need to jack up your vehicle and take it out before proceeding.
Inspect the Rim For Any Visible Damage
In most cases, rim leaks happen when some dirt and grime gets between your tire and the rim. This is common in flexing tires on trucks that off-road a lot.
It could also happen when installing a tire onto a rim for the first time.
However, sometimes, hitting a pothole or obstacle could slightly dent your rim, making the bead seat imperfect between the tire and rim.
If the dent is too much, you will have to:
- Have the dent straightened out in steel rims
- Replace alloy rims (alloy rims aren’t as malleable as steel rims. You can’t straighten them)
- Replace a steel rim the damage is too much to fix
Assuming you don’t see any massive dent, you can proceed with the guide on fixing your bead leak.
Deflate the Tire
The first step is removing the rim from the tire. To do this, you have to deflate the tire. You will need a valve core remover to remove the valve from the tire’s stem and deflate the tire.
If you don’t have a valve core remover, you can use nose pliers. You have to be extra careful when using the pliers. The core can jump off once opened.
- Twist the core remover anticlockwise to screw out and remove the valve core
- When using nose pliers, gently hold the metallic part of the valve core stem and twist anticlockwise to loosen and release it.
Separate the Rim from Your Tire
ProTip: A tire removal tool is the best way to remove tires from a rim without sweating a lot or potentially damaging them.
Once the tire is deflated, you can go ahead and detach it from the rim. Removing a tire from the rim is an easy task with the right tools.
However, you can improvise using your boots, some lubricant, and a couple of pry bars.
Protip: Low profile tires have a more rigid wire band making it hard to pry them off or onto a rim. Get a professional tire shop to help you if you don’t seem to get it right after a couple of passes.
- Drip a generous amount of lubricant onto the wheel’s bead. Soapy water is an excellent lubricant.
- Lay the tire onto its side and step onto it with your boots, applying downwards pressure
- Press the pry bar between the rim and tire. Leverage the bar to push the rubber downwards to unseat the bead and drop the rubber down
- Step onto the place the rubber drops down to keep it down, or use a second prybar to hold it
Repeat the above steps until both sides of the wheel pop and release the rim such that it is loose at the centre of the tire.
Check this video on how to remove the tire from the wheel manually.
Clean the Rim and the Tire’s Sidewall
With the tire out, you can now clean the rim and tire sidewalls to eliminate any gunk or debris that could make the bead sit loose.
You can use a wire brush on the rim and a gentle brush on the tire sidewall for a perfect clean.
If you don’t have a wire brush for the rim, you could also use 150 grit sandpaper to get the job done.
After the rough clean, use some acetone or soapy water to finely clean and rinse the rim.
Once comfortable with your cleanup, let the tire and rim dry up in a clean spot before proceeding.
ProTip: Use this time to inspect the tire’s interior sidewall. If there seem to be one or more visible chips that gouge deeply into the sidewall, it might be time to replace the tire. Moreover, have an expert inspect your rims if you see any big chips or dents around the edge of the rim.
Apply Bead Sealer
Get a bead sealer and brush it onto the rim surface and the interior of the tire. You can use a paintbrush or any other appropriate spreading tool.
You can find bead sellers in any tire shop or grab one online here.
Reinstall the Rim Into the Tire
After the bead sealer drys, take your tire and rim to a clean place to reinstall it. The process is the same as removing it but in reverse.
You will need a lot of lubricant around the sidewalls to keep the job going.
Apply Some More Bead Sealer
After successfully reinstalling the tire into the wheel, apply some more bead sealer along the side walls. Ensure you don’t leave any dry spots.
Inflate the Tire and Recheck
Reassemble the valve and reinflate the tire to your vehicle’s recommended PSI. After this, let the tire sit for a couple of hours before inspecting it for seals again.
If you did a good job and the damage wasn’t too much, chances are the problem would be already fixed. You won’t have the leak anymore.
If your wheel is still leaking air around the rim, you might consider the following:
- You didn’t do a great job. Get a professional tire shop to inspect and fix the leak.
- Perhaps your rim is damaged and can’t keep the air in no matter the mitigation. You will need professional repair if it’s steel or have it replaced.
- Your tire’s sidewalls are damaged, and you have to replace the tire.
How Much Does it Cost to Repair a Rim Leak?
Repairing a rim leak is relatively cheap. If you do it yourself, the only cost will be on the $15 to $20 bead sealer – assuming you don’t have to get a steel rim straightened or need to replace tires and rims.
If you take it to a tire shop, the cost will vary depending on reigning labor rates in your region and the extent of the damage.
Cleaning and re-beading a wheel will be fast. You won’t spend more than $50. However, if the rim needs straightening, the costs will go up.
You will pay even more if you have to get replacement tires and rims.
Does Tire Sealant Work on Rim Leaks?
The tire sealant is a rubber compound that introduces rubber into an opening, making it impossible for air to leak.
The patch will add a stretch of rubber that will seal up the opening between the tire bead and the rim. While this will stop the air from escaping, it isn’t a permanent fix.
If the damage causing the leak is significant enough, the tire sealant will eventually let go leading to a blowout or raping decompression.
Will Grease Seal a Tire Bead?
Using some grease might make the tire move around better and seal around the rim hence getting rid of the leak. However, the grease could be too much, making the tire slide around the bead.
Grease and other greasy or sticky alternatives might fix the leak. However, it isn’t as reliable as cleaning up dirty beads or replacing damaged tires and rims that cause the leak.
Bottom Line
Around the rim, leaks are as dangerous as any other puncture if left unattended. Avoid any makeshift repairs that could momentarily fix the problem while leaving room for exacerbation.
Please stick to the mainstream cleaning, rim repair, and tire or rim replacement to avoid jeopardizing your vehicle and its occupants.