Tire mystery

[txdon]

Our car has a sensor that tells us when the tire pressure is low. So today the little light came on and I check all the tires and the drivers rear tire was 10 pounds less.

I took it off, sprayed some soap on the tire and found 11 very small leaks randomly around the surface that touches the road.

Discount tire replaced the Pirelle tire but neither of us had any idea what cause the tiny leaks. There was nothing unusual inside the tire.

The car is parked in an open, gravel floor, country garage.

Any ideas?????

I think the cats did it but my wife is not buying that.

 

[kenmac]

11 very small nails

 

[Western]

That is strange Don? Maybe this heat caused something that was already weak to develop quicker??

Could you tell if they where holes ,or maybe cracks. I guess is doesn't matter, but cracks would seem to be defective tire.

I had a "love hate" relationship with the tire sensors on the vette. With the "run-flats and what they cost, I was always on alert!!

 

[Gary51]

Quite possible that the steal belts in the tire were starting to seperate. They will start leaking like that a little and very quickly will blow and throw the tread off.

 

[MossRoad]

You run over a porky pine lately?

:confused3:

 

[txdon]

The ones I could see looked like tiny cracks. The tires have about 30K miles on them. The temperature has been very hot here this summer.

Gary51 - I think you might be right, it must have something to do with the steel belts starting to fail, I just never heard of it before.

Those air pressure sensors have now saved me 5 times from changing a flat on the road. They are a must if you live on a gravel road.

 

[Bigfoot62]

You run over a porky pine lately?

:confused3:

That's funny! :laughing:

 

[jinman]

You run over a porky pine lately?

:confused3:

They were driving behind a circus truck when they lost their magician's bed of nails?

 

[dmccarty]

They were driving behind a circus truck when they lost their magician's bed of nails?

A contractor or a jack a.. dumped a bunch of nails on one of the major roads in our town a few years ago. The wifey had a couple of flats that required new tires. The repair place we use was getting quite a few flat tires.

My first thought regarding a bunch of little holes was running over a board with quite a few stables.

Later,
Dan

 

[tallyho8]

The same thing happened to one of my golf cart tires. It is an agricultural tire I have on back for traction.

It leaks very slow but when I check it with bubbles, there are about 6 very, very small leaks. I don't plug them because it would make the holes much larger and it takes about two weeks for it to get low enough to air up again.

These tires have big lugs like a tractor tire and the leaks are in the smooth sections between lugs. It seems impossible that I could have run over something like a small staple since the knobs keep the smooth part an inch off the ground.

I think it is something like a balloon that loses air over a couple of days but has no holes in it.