on my 88gt (700 miles) one of the front tires,goodyear eagle gt+4, was/is leaking air, about a pound or two a day. I took the tire off, and put water aroud the bead. It was leaking air from behind the inside wheel weight. I took it to a tire place and they let the air out and put bead seeler around the weight area. About a week later, it started to leak again in the same spot. Took it to another shop and they removed the wieght, and put two smaller ones on each side of the leak. We put water on it, and found that one of the new weights was leaking. He took a rubber mallet and hit the tire a few times, the leak went away. Its only been a few days now and no leak. What do you guys think? If it leaks again would you use one of those fix a flat products. How about switch tires and rims on the front and have them rebalanced?

Ross

If it starts to leak again, why not have the tire shop use the kind of weights that do NOT mount where the tire bead is? There are weights that mount elsewhere on the wheel. I remember years ago I used to have them on my Chevy's mag wheels.

I used to work in a tire shop years ago when you have a persistant leak around the bead it usally means there is a bur in the metal or in the rubber on the tire that needs to be sanded or cut down some to even it out sometimes there was rust on the rim that did this also very irritating as far as the fix a flat use that only in a emergency when you have nothing else (IE.a spare tire ) the foam in the can will throw the balancing of the tire off because it will turn into a liquid after a few miles and your tire will begin to really shake and shudder. my .02$

FIX A FLAT IS A SCAM
I used it in a couple of tires recently and it did absolutely nothing. (OK. One of them held 20psi for a week.) I have the 14" Sawblade wheels and they developed corrosion around the bead and caused them to leak. The shop needs to grind off the corrosion if this is the case. But I think Luperman is correct. It's probably a burr on your rim.

Patrick-I asked the tire shop (just got 2 tires changed a couple of days ago) about the stick on weights. They didn't recommend them for anything but chrome wheels where you can't use the regular weights. They said that you can't get the weight perfect and they tend to fall off in time.

Before my alloy rims were stolen from my 1984 SE, one of them leaked like that. I didn't zero in on where it was leaking. I tried the stuff that you pump in from a can and then drive slow for 5 miles. It sealed it up good, but the tire balance was way off.

Go down to your local parts store and pick up some stick-on wheel weights. Mr. Gasket makes some. Just clean the rim really good (denatured alcohol works good) and stick'em on.

I hate it when that happens, but if you get the area clean(really clean),then use the stick-on weights,followed by a piece of duct tape to cover the weight,all rubbed on really good,just like the motorcycle racers do,it should work.I really don't like the idea of some guy hammering away on my wheels anyways.

Had a tire shop tell me that the reason cords were showing on the inside of garden tractor tire was because of over use of sealer in a can?? The company my Dad worked for sold that stuff, so we had lots of it around (samples) and I am sure we had used over a dozen cans on that tire over the years.
Anyway tire store said DON'T
BUT
BUT
Why does't it always seem the tire store is trying to get us to NOT use stick on weights??
Let me see! - "WHO IS THE CUSTOMER" ??
Lets see! do I want the differential metals to corrode and pit the rim where the clamp on weights are??? Or do I want to take the chance of a stick on weight falling off, messing up the balance and maybe hitting a cop when they fly off???
Believe I would choose stick-ons!! I don't like tire-stores or Cops?

[This message has been edited by dogtired (edited 01-14-2000).]

stick on weights should be used inly on the inside of a cylinder not on a flange face. They are more likely to come off used on a flange face.

tire shops don't like tape weights because it's hard to get the wheel clean enough to properly bond them. They can also lift clear coats when removed.

using coated clip weights prevents electrochemical reactions and wheel abrasion.

"Fix-A-Flat" and its relatives is designed to seal only tread leaks caused by small things like nails. It's not a scam. It generaly works quite well for it's designed application. The major problem with these is the Butane and other very flamable propelants used in them. There are a number of handling rules for repairing tires filled with it. Failing to follow those rules can result in fatal explosions of the wheel.

One of the problems with alloy wheels is that they corrode. This is what's causing the small bead leaks you (and I) have experienced. This is particularly true at the places that the clear coat gets scratched, as in behind the wheel weights.

The only solution is to remove the tire, sand down and refinish the wheel. After that, you might try the stick-on weights, but as someone already pointed out, they might not stick to the flange.

You especially don't want to use fix-a-flat. If you read the can, it will tell you not to use it for bead leaks. Again, as someone pointed out, this will make the tire unbalanced.

Good luck,

-L

Ogre-You are absolutely correct about the flammability of the Fix a Flat in a can. I was smoking when I filled my tires and BOOM !!! I almost filled something else! Thank God the can was almost empty. I decided to read the other can before I used it.

M-man, how many times do you have to be told that smoking will kill you?

By the way, I forgot that the stick-on weights that I was referring to at the beginning of this thread are on the Z28 that I have dissolving into the ground in my back yard. The reason I'm bringing this up is because the weights have been stuck on those wheels for ten years now. I guess the mags must have been plenty clean when those weights were put on. Personally, I wouldn't shy away from using them again.

A mechanic friend said those cans were dangerous to the tire guys, sometimes when they released the air, and there was a spark or some guy was smoking, someone was burned.