Tire tip - slow leak

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hemingray
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Tire tip - slow leak

Postby hemingray » Sat Jun 19, 2010 7:19 pm

Thought I would pass some knowledge on.

I have Bighorns and one of them had a slow leak which has become just a little faster. Getting tired of topping it off, I took it off the quad today to look at it. Seeing nothing obvious on the tread, I cranked it up to 25 PSI and put some soapy water around the bead. Nothing, but as I aired it down again - tiny bubbles along the bead in two places. I emptied it and pushed the bead down, intending to put some slime along the bead. When I pushed the bead down - there are two of those little mold "whiskers" folded under and on the bead. The rest around the tires are fine, just these two were missing - and laid into the bead; they were causing the slow leak.

It would be a non-issue at a higher pressure, but down about 5 lbs, the bead was not seating around them.

Anyway, hope this might help someone else with a maddening slow leak!
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Re: Tire tip - slow leak

Postby ACLakey » Mon Jun 21, 2010 10:13 am

Yep, I had the same issue a while back and came to the same conclusion. Another place to look when you have a slow leak is the valve core, they can show the same symptoms. I am glad you got yours figured out.

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Re: Tire tip - slow leak

Postby GrizzlyGuy » Mon Jun 21, 2010 10:19 am

Ah yes, the dreaded whiskers. :twisted:

When I had my Bighorns put on up at Sierra Yamaha, I had the same problem on multiple tires. They were inflated properly when I left their shop, but down a couple of pounds by the time I got home. I ended up taking the Grizzlies back TWICE for remounting.

On the second time, I decided to lean over the shoulder of the tire guy as he did the work. I spotted a whisker getting caught under the bead, pointed it out, so he yanked them all back off and was then careful about them. The tires finally sealed properly. This was one day before we were heading to Utah for our 2006 6-day expedition so I had them put slime in all the tires just in case. I haven't had a problem since, and I hardly ever have to add air. After sitting in the Grizzly Den all winter, they were only down about 1/2 pound.

The next time around (soon for my Grizzly), I'm going to take a razor blade and cut off all the whiskers before they mount them. Or insist that they do that first.
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Re: Tire tip - slow leak

Postby Ken » Tue Jun 22, 2010 7:14 am

I bet that's WILDHORSE's problem!!!
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Re: Tire tip - slow leak

Postby ATVUtah » Tue Jul 06, 2010 12:10 pm

An old time sand duners trick for tires that wont stay sealed at the beads is to apply a very thin film of axle bearing grease to the bead. Make sure it's a petroleum based grease not one of the new synthetics. Not much grease just enough to slick up the bead and don't get it on the inside of the tire, just on the bead sealing area. Then air the tire up to as in the case of an ATV around 20-25 psi and leave them sit for a couple days. The grease actually begins to attack and slightly melt the rubber compounds in the tire and allows it to mold to the rim better and seal the bead better. This i also why you cant use much as it can damage the bead if too much is left on for too long. Also wash off any extra on the tire once the tire is inflated. After they have sat for a couple days you can let the air down to their normal running pressure.

I learned the trick from a guy who both worked in a tire shop for decades and was a avid sand racer. He also said they used to do this with low pressure farm tractor tires to get them to bead up properly.

I've done it and it worked with some tough to seal Carlisle tires that came on my Can-am. One problem though is the tire was a lot harder to get the bead to break loose from the rim when I had to change one out some months later down the road. The rubber actually tore at the bead area when dismounting it, but I'm not so sure that wasn't the guy operating the tire machines fault at the tire shop.
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Re: Tire tip - slow leak

Postby trainman » Thu Jul 15, 2010 4:23 am

I just had a similar problem with the right front bighorn on my KQ right after airing up the tires. It turned out the be the valve stem, but it was the spring loaded valve inside not seating properly. If I pop it in and out quickly it will seal. I actually have metal stems on my Jeep wheels due to airing them up and down for surf fishing. Has anyone had any experience with these on your ATV?
thanks

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Re: Tire tip - slow leak

Postby Wildhorse800 » Thu Aug 05, 2010 9:45 am

Could be my problem...

No issues yet since he used the bead sealer. [-o<
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Re: Tire tip - slow leak

Postby roon101 » Thu Aug 05, 2010 2:40 pm

actuly for a thing that wont mess with any tire rubber compound any tire smaller then a 11 inch rim or low profiles when i worked at goodyear tire co. we used BEES wax.
you can buy it in buckets.. works wounders for tires that dont' seal on the beads and unlike beadsealer you can get the tire off.

just thought i would share.
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Re: Tire tip - slow leak

Postby hemingray » Thu Aug 05, 2010 7:17 pm

Actually I'm not surprised that beeswax would work. I would not have thought of it though - great tip!
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Re: Tire tip - slow leak

Postby Ken » Mon Aug 09, 2010 11:41 am

That is a great tip AJ. You just paid for your annual membership to the board. :)
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Re: Tire tip - slow leak

Postby roon101 » Mon Aug 09, 2010 3:05 pm

lol that is pretty funn ken.
but yea we used beez waz all the time specaly for high end rims. no chemicals.
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