More on leaky powder coated alloy wheels

[David]

With a slow leak around the powder coating on the rim, it looks a good candidate for some magic leak sealer.

I know you can get green slime for push bikes.

I also know that you often get an emergency repair kit instead of a spare wheel these days, but these kits are a bit drastic and may need a lot of cleaning up as part of any tyre change.

So is there anything in between (which someone here has used) which has minimum impact on the tyre and wheel but can seal very small slow leaks?

Just looking at alternatives to having the wheels re-coated or replaced.

Cheers

Dave R

[The Nomad]

I believe so.

I had a slow leak in one of my (well my car's) wheels and the tyre folk said "this should do the job, if not new wheel" smelt like what I remember as Cow Gum, a rubber solution type glue (not copydex) I think the new name may be 'studio gum' or some such and it seems to have worked

HTH

AVpx

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Best way is to have the tyre removed and replaced using the 'glue' they apply these days to the rim. Usual cost about 15 quid or so per wheel round here, which would include balancing.

You'd likely get it cheaper if you took in a wheel at a time and left it so they could do it when quiet.

[T i m]

Doesn't that depend on how the tyre is leaking? I've had it with powder coated wheels where there was a perfect seal at the tyre bead to the powdercoat but air was leaking out from under the powdercoat itself?

As to the OPs Q re sealants. I have good experience with 'Ultraseal' (and there seems to be two types, one (the original) works well and I'm not sure about the other) but IMHO none of those would be good_at / designed_for sealing a leak at the bead (or even the tyrewall for that matter).

The 'foam' type might but as you say, may leave a mess that is difficult to remove later. (Ultraseal is water soluble and I have washed some out myself after it had been in a motorcycle tyre several years and it washed out easily).

If the wheels / car are worth it, I'd get them stripped and either polished or enamelled. Powdercoat is only good for indoor gym equipment IMHO. ;-)

Cheers, T i m

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Interesting. Had the alloy wheels on the old Rover refurbished some years ago, and they appeared to use a silver metallic paint similar to the original. It's beginning to give problems now, so hasn't lasted as well as the original.

I've read others saying powder coating is so much better. ;-)

[Weatherlawyer]

What exactly is the coating involved?

I had my tyres changed at a garage who used a machine to trim the metal I didn't see how but they didn't charge much. I imagine the use of sealant is what garages that haven't invested in all the latest tricks have to peddle.

[T i m]

Powdercoat. A plastic finished that is applied as a powder on material that is electrostatically charged and then baked (melted) on in an oven. It can delaminate from the underlying material and therefore allow water or air to get in / under.

Normally a hand wire brush or a brush on a electric / air drill.

If the bead is heavily corroded then they often apply bead sealant to overcome that.

Cheers, T i m