Tire sealer or tube?

[Gary_in_Indiana]

I run R4's on a Deere 4200 MFWD. A few weeks ago I had the RF tire go flat and break the bead seal. I took it off and to a tire dealer down the road who cleaned the bead and the rim thoroughly and got the tire to reseat (after a few tries) then checked it with soap and water for any leaks. What I'm trying to convey here is they did everything right so far as I could tell and found no leaks whatsoever.

A couple weeks ago I thought that same tire was a tad low when I had it on my trailer so I filled all of them to 35 PSI per tire specs. This afternoon I again found the RF tire down (and, again, the hard way /w3tcompact/icons/hmm.gif ). I don't think I'm breaking the bead seal just from turning sharp or anything as innocuous as that. There must be a leak somewhere.

My Kubota dealer friend suggested tubes all the way around even before I had this problem. I sure need to do something different. What's the consensus here? Tire sealer or tubes?

 

[bgott]

That's a tough one. I wouldn't know what to tell you. One thing to think about, though, is that tire repairmen DO NOT like to deal with tire sealer. A lot of them won't even work on a tire that has sealer in it.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Have you checked/replaced the valve stem?
Could be the likely culprit.

 

[Bird]

Personally, I'd have to take that tire and wheel off the tractor, get the soapy water, and find out for sure where the leak is before I decided on a course of action. It could be the valve stem core, around the valve stem, the bead, or that you've picked up a nail, thorn, etc.