Tyre Bead Seal

[Peter 62]

A few months ago I bought a 5th wheel to match my ones as a spare (with a good tyre) to make life easier if an issue was to occur. It was a couple of weeks before I noticed that the tyre was going down (maybe not so good!!) and what with one thing and another I never got round to taking it back.

Checked it myself today and there is a leak on the edge right where a balance weight is fitted. Anyone got any good techniques on how to break the bead? I haven't tried at all yet, but rather than just go and let somebody else sort this for me I thought I'd have a look at the wheel and see if any corrosion etc and then fix it.

Then of course I should be able to seal it myself as well? Any good products suggested for that?

[coughlanc]

I had a leak on one of my rear wheel from a previous weld to the rim that prevented the bead from sealing up correctly.
I took it to a local tyre company who found the leak. They pooped the bead and pasted on a product that I was told was of a silicone base. Blew it back up and it's never gone back down since. Cost me £5.
Might save yourself the hassle of trying to fix yourself. Just an idea.

[Peter 62]

Everything always seem to cost a tenner where I go!

Even so, if there was to be corrosion I would rather sort that out myself as best I could rather than leave to somebody at a tyre repair place who would probably just run a file round it, then smother it with goo (or just smother it with goo and hope for the best).

That said, I can't disagree with your point of course

[Sailor 64]

Two options as I see it.

Option 1 - Buy (if necessary) a bead breaker and tyre leavers from somewhere such as Machine Mart (other outlets are available), use as instructed to remove tyre from bead, clean rim as necessary, add 'goop' if necessary and re-inflate carefully to re-seat bead (good quality compressor required). Once satisfied take to local tyre emporium to get balanced.

Option 2 - Take flat tyre to local tyre emporium, request trye is re-seated and re-balanced, hand over small amount of local currency, collect repaired wheel / tyre and fit to car.

Whilst I have gone down the 'Option 1' route in the past with Land Rover wheels (steel) and 7.50x16 tyres I wouldn't fancy doing that with alloy rims and the much lower (i.e. stiffer) tyres that are likely to be on your car. A simple cost vs benefit analysis says "Tyre emporium" to me every time (and I'm a DIY nut!)

[mikealder]

I have a mate with the correct powered kit to remove/ refit tyres so I can use that when I need to, if you don't have access to such kit take the wheel to a local tyre place and ask them to remove the tyre so you can address the corrosion on the bead seat and that you will need to bring the wheel/ tyre back for refit. Most places will do this for a small contribution to their "brew kitty" which shouldn't be more than a few quid.

The purchase of the kit to wrestle with the tyre and rim will far out weigh the cost of letting someone with the powered removal/ refit gear carrying out the job.

One other option is to have self sealing "slime" put in to the tyre through the valve then inflate the tyre and run it on the car for a week, as the slime leaks out it will seal and plug the leak - Mike

[Peter 62]

Thanks all.

I think I was hoping for some sort of miracle suggestion tbh. I do have some pretty heavyweight levers and other 'lumps' of bits and pieces around but hadn't really given much thought into how to attempt to break that seal, other than to be careful not to damage the wheel. As for my q on product, I was wondering if a squirt from a tube of 'standard' silicon (or similar) had been attempted before and proven.

Thought about this earlier and as the tyre has not been on the road since I bought it, I may as well just try back with the bloke I bought it from first.

[arcturus]

Just lay the wheel on the ground in front of your car and run over the edge of tyre.That will break the bead.

[cam]

Tyre paint is a good rim sealer.

[timsmith2]

If you know where the leak is and it's not a really low profile tyre you should be able to break the bead by removing the valve core placing the rim on blocks of wood or an old carpet on concrete and standing on the tyre. If that fails a spade (blunt of course) can be used to get right against the rim. Only break the bead on the side you know leaks, clean the rim and re-seat. A mild washing up liquid helps. Be careful as slipping off a wheel, getting a spade in the pods, ruining a good tyre etc can make a lot less sense than local tyre depot or garage with the right kit for the sake of £10.