Truck tire leaking at bead / balancing weight

[WinterDeere]

Pickup truck tire is leaking at bead, right where weight was hammered onto aluminum wheel by dealer who mounted the tires. Not sure why it just started (or vastly increased) now, the tires are about 2 years old.

It started leaking a few PSI per day about a week ago, and today I found it's leaking at the bead right where the weight is attached. I can't imagine the hook on the weight actually did damage to the tire, so the location may be just coincidence.

I'm presently debating the hassle of taking it somewhere versus just popping the bead and spreading a little bead sealer in that area, before re-mounting. I don't have automatic tire mounting equipment, but I have tire irons and have set plenty of beads myself using a torniquet on the tire followed by air, all very old school.

Thoughts?

 

[sd455dan]

I had some like that.
Aluminum wheels on a LeBaron , every time I drove a weight (tried a few different style ones) it would start slow leaking. Nothing like mounting up tires and having low tires in a week.

Finally gave up and balanced with tape weights inside the wheels.
Wife's Golf cart wheel that I attempted multiple tries with the standard " patch glue" and failed repeatedly. A pain because the bead would unseat and that required unmounting
I noticed a product at the local farm store (Westernweld flammable tire bead sealant) that is a black goo,(maybe what you are referencing) and bought a can of the stuff. Remounted and gooed it good, has worked well. Only the 4th try on that stubborn golf cart tire wheel

 

[WinterDeere]

I did pull the weight off, and the leak actually seemed to get a bit worse, so it may have just re-shaped the rubber there.

I agree, tape weights are the way to go. I don't even know why they still use hammer-on weights, anymore.

 

[sd455dan]

I did pull the weight off, and the leak actually seemed to get a bit worse, so it may have just re-shaped the rubber there.

I agree, tape weights are the way to go. I don't even know why they still use hammer-on weights, anymore.

Oh I actually still buy and use the regular weights as well. I do use the stick ons on the fancy fancy wheels.

 

[5030]

Alloy wheels = stick on weights, no exceptions. What happened is the hammer on weight compromised the clear coat on the wheel and allowed aluminum corrosion (white rust) to form and that caused the leak.

Pretty common with alloy wheels actually. You can actually get corrosion in the bead seating area and they will leak there as well.

The cost of style I guess.

 

[WinterDeere]

Think bead sealer will resolve. Currently debating ordering some up from Amazon, versus driving to the local tire shop and waiting. As mentioned, I have irons and have reset the bead on tubeless tractor tires, without an automatic machine. I figure a pickup truck tire is a little heavier and more of a challenge, but should be do-able with a torniquet around the center tread tire and a quick shot of air.

 

[D&D]

No one here likes balancing beads?

 

[LouNY]

No one here likes balancing beads?

The shop I used this summer to mount my used tires for the pickup used them. I'm still a bit on the fence about them they do work most of the time. On rough roads they have to re-balance often it seems like. And sometimes I get just a small amount of vibration out of them. But overall I'm pleased with them.

 

[KennyG]

Think bead sealer will resolve. Currently debating ordering some up from Amazon, versus driving to the local tire shop and waiting. As mentioned, I have irons and have reset the bead on tubeless tractor tires, without an automatic machine. I figure a pickup truck tire is a little heavier and more of a challenge, but should be do-able with a torniquet around the center tread tire and a quick shot of air.

Just had this problem on a car tire. Broke down the bead, pulled the weight, put on bead sealer and it's fixed. I marked the weight spot and will get a stick on weight to replace the original.

 

[WinterDeere]

I had some stupid-big 40" x 17" mud tires on one of my trucks about 25 years ago. Too big to fit on most wheel balancers, and with 15 inch wheels, wheel weights weren't going to really sway it much. So, the tire shop installed what I'm guessing you're calling balancing beads, essentially an aggregate designed to naturally balance the tire. It worked okay, but at least back then, was always considered the last resort/option.

If the same type of stuff, it finds its balance after some distance at speed, meaning starting up and stopping it would fall out of suspension within the tire, and cause some weird behavior.