Front tires not holding air

[94BULLITT]

The extra weight they think can damage the axle? Never heard of this. I M trying to come up with what is harmful. I believe my loaded tires may stress out the axle less when doing loader work. They squat a lot less from the weight which makes steering effort less.

I guess that is what they mean.

[Soundguy]

don't have to be old rubber to be porous. i just got new lawnmower tires.. right outta the smelly chinese packing box, and on the shiney painted rim.. the sidewalls will 'foam' soapy water

in any event. what i'd do?

lay a boot down in the tire casing.. boot can be a real boot or one you make from some stall matting.. etc.. then put in a tube and go. boot will absorb most tread punctures unless you run over something amazing...

no help on sidewall.. but then.. same with or without a boot. ANY time i have a constant leaker tire on a non auto vehicle.. it gets a tube... sure.. you got to break down a tire to tube it.. but saves the hassle of the constantly flat tire.

harbor freight sells a manual bead breaker tire changer deal fro about 50 bucks.

bolt it down to the concrete and go... handles up to 16" rims I think?? though I have made it handle 19's with some adapter plates I made.. worked fine...

Hmmm... but if I put tubes in, then I won't be able to use convenient plugs to patch them, right? Then again, since they're not holding air particularly well in the first place, possibly no great loss. Still, I don't relish the thought of having to re-seat the tires every time I need to patch the tube. As for foam, I vaguely recall reading that my warranty is void if I put foam in my tires, so that's out.

It's not old rubber, as the tractor itself is pretty new, even if you count sitting-on-the-lot-time. My current best guess is a slow leak that didn't show up on the under-water bubble test.

[JDgreen227]

Soundguy...seems you recommend using a boot or tube rather than putting sealant (Slime) into a leaker or using instant flat fix from a can. I have only used something like Slime once in my life, I needed to seal a pair of tubeless 13X5 bar tread tires on a snowblower...worked pretty well. Bead breaking and installing tubes is a huge PIB unless one has experience, really easy to pinch the tube with a tire iron and you automatically have a flat already. Last tube I installed was a wheelbarrow tube, not too hard but anything bigger would be a headache as the only tire irons I have are about 8 inches long.

[Soundguy]

imho.. larger tires are easier to break down than smaller.. and tube management is easier than with smaller.

ie.. mounting a 28" tire gives you more room than a 13" or 15"

i use a 50$ manual tire machine from harbor freight to help with small tires. large tires you just lay on the ground.


inflate the tube a bit to keep it out of the way.

a coule good tire irons are a good investment.. make good pry bars.

you get experience by doing something.. about the only way to gain it.. is to do it.

once you start doing them, AND have a sledge and some tire tools.. it's really not too bad..

I have used a sealer product before.. with mixed results. have had it work great.. have had it not work at all.

soundguy