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Leaky sidewall repair

3K views 25 replies 13 participants last post by  pitbull2332 
#1 ·
One of my 39.5 Iroks is becoming a nuisance. It keeps losing air over time, maybe 2-3 pounds a day so in a weeks time it's flat. I've sprayed soapy water on it and it seems to be just a thin sidewall and has little bubbles in several places. I'm about to switch the tire over to a different rim and I'm wondering if there is any good product that I can spray on the inside to seal it up.

Any suggestions, personal experiences?
 
#6 ·
You pour a little cup full into the tire then air it up. There are little chunks of a rubbery material in the solution and those are actually what seal the tire in the end. There were a few tires I used to run that were notorious for leaky side walls and it sealed them right up. You may have a few little white spots where the liquid oozed out before it sealed. I may give them a call on Monday and see what they think.
 
#8 ·
Funny, after our discussion last week I got a 24oz bottle of slime from advanced. The non pressurized one that you just squeeze in when it's flat, and since it's always flat, that wasn't a problem. Same thing, little rubber chunks to seal it up. I figure since the leaks are small, usually shit in the inner bead or a small leak from a small sidewall cut, it should work. I'll report back later to this thread with a 24 hour update. Bottles all say they will seal up to a .25 hole. I think that would be a bit optimistic but we'll see.
 
#18 ·
I would be worried about the integrity of the tire if it was leaking from the sidewall in the area you described
 
#19 ·
Naw, a few pinholes don't mean it's going to blow out. I had circle track tires on a buggy years ago that did the same thing. When I called the manufacturer they said that's the nature of the beast for lightweight tires.

Not saying Iroks are lightweight but I don't see them shredding because of this either.
 
#20 ·
i used the black glue they use on car windshields and had real good luck with that for the beads.
 
#21 ·
for bead leaks, try roof flashing tar, or windshield urethane on the beads.
i used roof flashing tar. worked pretty well. i have no beadlocks, and i never burped air till i was at 3lbs, and pushing hard into a hillside to right a flop. it never lost a bead. i sheared a valve stem at the mounds, and the tire stayed on the rim with zero air. it was a bitch to remove the tire to fix the stem though.

for sidewall pin holes you might try scuffing the inside of the tire and smearing it with vulcanizing glue. it kinda melts into the rubber. kinda like model glue does to a plastic model. that is assuming you can find where the air is escaping from. good luck
 
#22 ·
UPDATE!!! I went out to the barn expecting to have to fill up the leaky tire and it still had five pounds in it! So to recap, tire would go flat in about 36 hours, put in a big bottle slime, lost seven of fourteen pounds I put in overnight, next three days it only lost two more pounds. Good enough for me.
 
#24 ·
No. Since it was already flat I just took out the valve core and squeezed in the whole bottle and filled the tire back up to 14 pounds and drove it a bit. I wasn't going to break down the whole deal to put in slime, if I did I would have patched it from the inside. But the leak in mine is just from a cut, not all over the place like yours.
 
#25 ·
I've tried slime before, it worked ok, but right on the bottle it says something about only working on holes in the tread area, not in the sidewall, prolly cuz of centrifugal force, best bet is to have the tire off the vehicle, so you can lay it on its side, flip and rotate it, I'm curious to try the bars leak,
 
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