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Why do good tires lose air?; Have often wondered
Topic Started: Jun 1 2015, 08:32 AM (468 Views)
Geo Pete


I put 2 new GT Radial Maxtours on the front 6 months ago, and this morning one was quite low. Took it to the tire shop, and they put it in the bathtub but said it was good, no leak.

What makes new tires lose air? I have often wondered. Sorry if the question is stupid!

Pete
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myredvert
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myredvert

I wouldn't consider it a stupid question at all, as often the causes of leaks are not as obvious as we would like them to be. From the article "Why Do Tires Lose Air" on TireReview.com...
(full article: http://www.tirereview.com/why-do-tires-lose-air/)
Quote:
 
1. Osmosis of air through the tire casing can lead to a loss of 1 to 3 PSI per month...

2. Slow leaking punctures in the tread ...

3. Leaking valve stems and cores...

4. Impact breaks...
Having repaired tires for several years working in my father's service station and for several years and then a Firestone for a few more, a couple of other possibilities come to mind:

5. Bead leaks (which can be from an imperfection in the tire itself or on the wheel)...

6. A leak through the wheel...

7. Vandalism... :O

8. PFM... :hmm

9. Because they can, because you weren't checking them often enough because they were new... :whistle

I would also add that an extremely tiny leak can sometimes abate over time as the pressure decreases to a certain point and even stop, and when re-inflated the leak may not reappear.

On rare occasions the exact location of a particular leak can never be found, but I would recommend keeping closer watch on the tire that lost the most air, and if it again loses air at a noticeably faster rate per month then the other tires, consider getting it warrantied or replaced.
Edited by myredvert, Jun 1 2015, 09:16 AM.
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arudlang
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Andrew

:gp

myredvert
 
5. Bead leaks (which can be from an imperfection in the tire itself or on the wheel)...


This has been the most common issue for me and my cars so far, brand new tires are great but if your wheels are really dirty, corroded, or rusted around the bead it doesn't make a great seal, and it seems like very few tire shops make any effort to clean the bead before mounting a tire (around here anyways). When possible I prefer to dismount the tires at home, clean the wheel inside and out (being very careful with the bead, but making sure it gets stripped down to clean bare metal) then carry the rims in and let them mount/balance the tires.

Sometimes a valve stem core can be a bit loose too pretty rare but if you have a valve stem tool giving a core a little twist just to be sure is free to try :thumb
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Car Nut
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Your neighbors kid thanks it's funny to let your air out. When I was a teen some of my friends (and I) thought so too. What can I say, I'm being honest about it. :lol
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solerpower
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I remember working at a tire shop for a couple months. It was eye opening to realize how little attention was put into cleaning the bead seal location on the rim. This is because the pace in a tire shop is lightning speed ahead. As above I like bringing in my own wheels and tires for that matter to have mounted and balanced.
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myredvert
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myredvert

My father would never have tolerated not cleaning/sanding/whatevering the wheel seat before mounting any tire back on it, used or new. Besides, I was the one who had to dismount it. clean it, and apologize to the customer for doing a sloppy job if it came back with a bead leak not caused by a damaged tire.

And if you didn't lube up the bead and lip of the wheel well before mounting, it was easy to tear the bead as well. Don't know if newer tire machines do a better job without lubing everything well first? :dunno

And I should make clear that since my "George Washington" gene seems to be taking today off, I personally have only heard that tires can get their air let out by pranksters.. ;)
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rmcelwee
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I had a tire that would go flat in a week then not lose any air for a few months. I could check it after two months and it would be great but the next weekend it would be flat again. It would repeat this trend over and over again. I finally figured out that if I refilled it I would have to remove the hubcap (it has a short valve stem that I cannot get to with the hubcap on). If I left it off, the pressure would stay up but if I checked it and found that everything was fine I would put the hubcap back on (completing the job) and it would go flat again. I guess the hubcap is pressing on the valve stem which may have some damage. Only took me two years to figure it out.
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solerpower
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myredvert
Jun 1 2015, 01:04 PM
My father would never have tolerated not cleaning/sanding/whatevering the wheel seat before mounting any tire back on it, used or new. Besides, I was the one who had to dismount it. clean it, and apologize to the customer for doing a sloppy job if it came back with a bead leak not caused by a damaged tire.

And if you didn't lube up the bead and lip of the wheel well before mounting, it was easy to tear the bead as well. Don't know if newer tire machines do a better job without lubing everything well first? :dunno

And I should make clear that since my "George Washington" gene seems to be taking today off, I personally have only heard that tires can get their air let out by pranksters.. ;)
I know there are still some family owned business and even larger companies that still have pride in their work. I was not trying to say all tire business, but simply that too many are profit = how many customers.
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