QuestionLive in new york state,no garage, the rear tire on the buick on the drivers side has to have air about every two weeks,I inflate it to 48 lbs,about every two weeks I know it's 16 lbs over but I get tired of putting the air in the tires, the two in the front don't seem to leak as much,same as the one in the back on the passenger side, I have been told it's the rims,it's the buick lesabre limited with the aluminum rims that has a chrome plateing,the pontiac the same tire leaks the same and thats the one on the rear on the drivers side,the pontiac rims are aluminum and they have oxidation spots on them,which I have been told could be the cause, they have put that ruvbber cement on both vehicles and it doesn't work,I just keep putting air in them,the pontiac originally came with bf goodrich didn't seem to have as much a problem with those.
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I bought a 2003 brand new buick lesabre limited and on it was michelin tires,well those tires leak air and not really all that slowly,they leak down to about 15 lbs,then I blow them back up to 40 lbs useing a gage, I have the chrome wheels, I also have a 99 grand am se pontiac with the same problem and that vehicle has the aluminum rims with good year tires,these aren't original equipment tires,they was replaced, valve stems are not leaking on either tires,the tires have been taken off and the stickum put on the bead of the tires and they still leak. Are these tires we get no days worthless,is there a tire brand out there like maybe cooper or firestone thats a better tire,whats the answer, I think I have told you everything, I have had both vehicles to the good year store and the tires checked,are other vehicles haveing the same problems with these aluminum rims compared to the steel rims.
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Hi John!
Okay....lets see if I can help you! I'm going to need some info from you first to help you out. If I understood correctly you are having all eight tires leak down on you from both cars...right? And if so, how long has this been going on and when did it first start happening? Do you park in a garage? And what part of the country do you reside? These are crazy/weird questions I know but I need this to help. Just let me know!
Thanks!
Andrew ;)
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Hi John!
If you could provide me with the answers to the questions I asked so I can help you better. Just let me know and we'll see if we can get to the bottom of this!
Andrew ;)
AnswerOkay, now we can get to work! What you have and i'll put a months salary on it, is both sets of rims are leaking at the beads. On the Buick what is happening is the chrome plating is cracking and peeling off in spots(very, very common problem and a stupid cheap design by GM), however small and your losing the air from there. Several options you have here. First thing you can do is to take it to a shop have them dismount the tires off of the wheels and grind lightly(with a buffing pad) the lip of the rim where the bead goes, down to where it is as even as they can get and then put multiple layers of rubber cement down and cross your fingers. Second option is to find a wheel repair place, down here we have Hub Cap Annie and I'm sure you have something like that up there. They can fix them some of the time. Or your third option is to just replace the wheels because if your situation is like some I have seen your going to have to do it antway at some point, because what your doing in the other two options is covering the cause with a band aid and not really fixing the problem. Both option 1 and 2 should cost you somewhere in the 100.00 to 200.00 range maybe. Why GM and every other manufacturer uses this cheap form of apperance I'll never know because it never fails after you take the original tires off some of the chrome plating will come off and then you have to fight the battle you are fighting now. I'm just waiting for a class action lawsuit to hit one of these auto manufacturers between the eyes one day on this situation.
Now for the Pontiac.....sound like you already know your problem! Very common for Northern or "beachfront" states! Oxidition/pitting is very common and will be an easier fix than the Buick. See option #2 from previous paragraph. They should be able to buff the wheels and put a filler in and you should be okay, just make sure that rubber cement is also used. Now this will probably come back at some point just because of your location. But as long as the "cement" is used it will kind of act as a barrier to protect against some of it. I hope this helps and if you need me, please ask! Also, keep me updated on this if you don't mind! Good Luck!!!!!!
Andrew ;)
