Alloy rim leaking air.

[Ando81 2,949]

Hi all, have had a tyre going down slowly on my ute for a while and finally got to it today to see why. After removing the wheel and spraying it with soap all over the tread I could see no bubbles so I thought I'd spray the whole rim and tyre to sit whilst I made a coffee. Upon further inspection I found that the alloy rim is losing air from a pin hole in it near the inner bead. See the pic. The aluminium must be dodgy there because the only thing I could notice on the inside of the rim was a few stone dints. It is an eb s-pack rim.

[Ando81 2,949]

Oh, should have stated, it's leaking around the black mark on the rim

[Trev Vaa 1,185]

yes.... you want a fix i take it?

[Ando81 2,949]

I'm trying that quick steel stuff on the inside of the rim "where the air goes" am giving it time to fully cure overnight and if that doesn't work I will shout out for help. Feel free to fire away, I'm all ears mate.

[wagoon 2,429]

If the tyre(rim actually as you have found out) has always leaked the you may be able to patch it up to stop the leak. If it is only something new trying the patch won't hurt but may not help in the long run.
Reason I say this is cause if the wheel has been like it for a while then it may well be just a flaw and if you patch the flaw then it wont leak anymore. If it is a new leak then the micro fracture that is causing the leak may well get bigger through heat cycles and our punishing roads.

Regardless of how long it has been leaking there is a flaw in the metal and if you hit a pothole it may fracture the wheel causing the wheel to come apart and deflate the tyre instantly which would be very bad. The wheel should be weldable but assuming its cast alloy it may not be easy to weld and may cause other issues like create new defects. Cast is a bitch to weld

[Ando81 2,949]

Yeah it's cast alloy. I was looking for a crack or defect but couldn't find anything. Was a bit unsure of putting it back on the ute full time. Think it might be safer to use it as a spare. Just a shame that it's in better condition than the spare rim.

[Trev Vaa 1,185]

if its literally a pin hole, a patch should hold it, and not adding heat will help to keep the rim in good nick. if you can see the pinhole, try drilling it out to 1.5mm, should stop it from happening again.

however if its fractured as said above, you could be in for deep shit.

[Ando81 2,949]

Yeah, a hole might be good to stop it from going any further I guess. Will try this patch for a while and see how it goes. I would much prefer the polished ebxr8 rims with the mirror finish instead of my powder coated ones. I might have to start lookin online to upgrade my rims down the track.

[wagoon 2,429]

You could try stuff called dye penetrant. It is a 3 step process that you spray onto the metal surface and it shows up cracks and holes. It will tell you if its a crack or a hole. It is only spray paint essentially so it will not affect the metal, all you need to do is clean the surface the best you can. Do this before you drill the wheel as if its a crack drilling will not help.

XC is right on drilling the hole as you are enlarging the hole out to clean structural metal and being a round hole "should" stop any cracking. But keep the hole the smallest you can as the air pressure inside a tyre is high and going over bumps only raises that pressure as the tyre is pushed it. If you do drill the hole patching the hole with metal putty may not hold the pressure.

Keeping it as a spare is probably the best idea if you are only going to patch it and not get it welded. Don't really want to mess with wheels and tyre cause when they let go it will most likely be a the worst time possible.

[gerg 10,871]

One thing that is on your side is that it's a factory Ford alloy. They made them very beefy (as they did Snowflakes) to pass their durability testing. It's odd to see such a defect in a quality factory part. I know that welding cast is a bitch, but any aluminium welder will be able to tell you yes or no if it's fixable. Another option is to clean it up with some vinegar and squirt some wicking grade Loctite into it (this is exactly the sort of thing it's designed to do) depending on the size of the hole of course. I don't believe it would be a stress fracture given how strong factory alloys are. I think there would be some obvious signs of damage if it was a fracture, and that area doesn't seem to be anywhere near where the stress points are (ie where the spokes join). I think it's either corrosion or porosity.

[bear351c 10,270]

If you drill it, find an old drill bit that's worn. A new bit may grab in the alloy and dig a bigger hole than expected.

[Ando81 2,949]

Thanks for all of the input lads! My putty ended up drying hard enough to seal the leak so I think I will just leave it as is and use it as a spare only. Really appreciate the input.

[Ando81 2,949]

I don't think these rims are suited to gravel roads. I travel to work 5 days a week and only 1 km of it is gravel. I think the stone chips on the inside is causing leaks on the other side rear wheel now. Might be time to put some steel wheels back on.

[wagoon 2,429]

Unfortunately I think your right. Being over 12 years old and with the number of heat cycles the wheels would have seen it would have weaken the metal especially when it comes to gravel

[Ando81 2,949]

Yeah I didn't know how the heat affected rims. Was thinking of putting tubes in the rims to keep them inflated but am worried about the rims possibly cracking due to getting old.