Wheel refurb to cure slow puncture?

[Warrior]

I've had a very slow puncture on the nearside rear for some months. Took it the garage thinking it was a valve or worse and the lad told me that the leak was where the tyre sat on the rim and that the wheels needed refurbishing?

There were half a dozen small areas of decay on the 'spokes' but the rim itself looked fine. I wasn't inspired by the other notification that my tyre had maggots, which turned out to be a small slug, nor by the fact that the tyre had not been removed.

Your thoughts welcomed?

[Gazza]

Go to another tyre fitter

[BladeRunner919]

My Subaru has a similar problem - if you put soapy water around where the tyre meets the rim, you can actually see bubbling where the air escapes. Might be worth a try to see what happens.

[Southernboy]

Have the tyre removed from the rim and check for contaminants / rust / damage to the inner edge of the rim...if necessary use some fine steel wool to clean the rim to remove any possible uneveness in the surface...have the tyre refitted. It should be fine. If the rim is severely pitted by oxidation / rust, you will need it professionally restored.

[Alan W]

It is not uncommon for alloys, especially when they are getting on a bit, to leak around the rim. Tyre fitters should apply a liberal slop of sealer around the inside of the rim when fitting a tyre to older alloys and I have known of cases where they haven't and next thing you think you've got a slow puncture. Good advice there from Southernboy

[Daz 999]

Same thing happened to my style 78's. They couldnt find a conventional puncture so I was advised by the tyre place that the rim must have corroded to the extent that there was a leak. I kept a small compressor in the car and lived with it for a while. Recently I had all four wheels refurbed and there is no loss in pressure, several weeks later.

[Del]

I had this problem with a car (with nice alloys) in the 1980s - the cure in those days was to fit inner-tubes - do they do that sort of thing today - not sure?

[Robert T]

Whiteminks had a similar problem on her ///M. Corrosion on the inside edge of the rim forced the tyre inwards so that it didn't make a proper seal. Don't think she's had a full refurb done yet, just had it cleaned off and presumably given a coat of protective paint/lacquer.

You can still buy innertubes, and indeed I run them on the Sprite with its wire wheels, but with modern radial tyres. I wouldn't be tempted to fit a tube to only one wheel though, as it likely upset the handling.

Cheers R.

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[Warrior]

Go to another tyre fitter

I did. They suggested slug pellets;)

[Zee3]

Are they BMW split rims ? I had a problem with mine. I had them split and re furbished, not had a problem since

[mid life crisis]

Have you thought about having a liquid sealant put in?
I had mine done by http://www.vipseal-uk.com
Might be worth a try,easier than having the wheel stripped