Can a wheel leak air?

I have 3 piece OZ wheels on my 91 Testarossa and I'm having to put air in my tires every week. I doubt if I have 4 flats. Can these wheels leak? If so, can they be repaired? The wheels were on the car when I bought it, and they seem perfect in appearance. Thanks.....Charlie

 

Check the tires, they maybe he rotting at the beads causing them to leak air. Go to the tire shop and have them looked at, either that or all your wheels have cracks in them.

 

Not unusual for modular wheels. Good wheel shop can cure it.

 

One of my 308 QV original wheel has a pin hole right near the edge of the rim, is this beacause it's a magnesium and it's porous? It loses about 1lbs. a day.

 

If the tires are in good condition, you may want to try Nitrogen instead of air. Nitrogen molecules are larger than air which helps to prevent loss through the porous nature of composite or alloy wheels. Most tire stores offer Nitrogen.

 

(Oooo I can feel another long thread starting )

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Get a BIG tank of water and stick the wheel/tyre in and watch for the bubbles.

 

If a rim is porous enough it can leak air. Unfortunately a porous rim cannot be repaired, least not to my knowledge.

 

Thats how I found out about my pin hole I dipped it in my swimming pool after I cleaned it of course.

I'm thinking about removing the tire then apply a thin layer of silicon inside the rim where the hole is. Any thoughts?

 

Hey folks it is a modular wheel. It is 3 pieces and they usually leak between the halves.

 

Thta's right 3 pcs can do that ...take it in and they seal it in the back room..somehow...

Now a single piece unit that's something else...still, usually a stem seal or valve core or something simple...

 

Yeah, spot on again Rifledriver. I have some fitted to my old Fairlane, it can leak from there

Have a look at mine, You will find there will be about 50-70 little bolts along the circumference rim on the nave plate of the rim and that's usally where they will leak from like mine did.
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I run 2 piece race wheels on my off road car. Yes they can leak. In fact it is very common. A bit of clear silicone on the inside and your good to go. I re-silicone whenever I change tires, Not really necessary, but since I'm there anyways...



Darrell.

 

What he said. I had 3 piece wheels on my track car, unfortunately they would heat and flex during events and all would lose air. I eventually got sick of it and bought 2 piece wheels.

 

My wheels are very similar to yours. Are you saying you tightened up the bolts around the edge and the problem went away? I can do that, if not I'll have to do what Brian said and take them to a wheel shop.....Charlie

 

Nah usally it's too late by that stage and the air that was escaping across the surface usally erodes away the sealant, take them into a wheel shop and get them re-done like Brian recommended

 

Three piece wheels certainly can leak, but they shouldn't. None of my sets of three piece speedline wheels for a GTO have been the cause of the leak.

However, I did have a problem once when a well respected race car tire & suspension shop in the East Bay (California) got lazy installing a new set of Hoosier tyres for a track day. They didn't clean the rim where the bead of the tyre sits. So, I got to the track, two tires started to slowly leak air. There was a Challenge race that day at the track. The Pirelli guys were nice enough to take the tyres off, recognized what the problem was, cleaned the rims, put the tyres back on and no more air leak.

Steve

 

I have a 16" QV Campy wheel which leaks more than 1 psi/day. Posted for suggestions here and no-one could suggest anything to coat the wheel but I'm sure there must be.

http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=127208

Best wheel house in Portland said 'unfixable alloy, use inner tube or toss it'.
Tire shop said inner tubes are out because of safety concerns.

I'm still hoping to find a suitable goop to coat the inner wheel and slow the leak.

 

That car is kinda funky with those wheels, almost looks like an old Maser Q-Porte...

 

We never did have trouble with the 288 wheels but but the 550 Barchetta wheels were another story. We couldn't keep air in them. Warranteed a whole bunch of those for leaking at the rim halves.

 

Call Roger Kraus Racing in Castro Valley. Tell him Jay sent you. You need old school and Roger is Old School.

(510) 582-5031

JM

 

I used to work for a company that made three piece wheels (copies of BBS race wheels with their own custom centers). We had leakage problems, the fix is to apply a thick bead of high quality RTV sealant at the junction of the rim halves on the inside of the wheel.
If you look at BBS race wheels, that is how they are sealed.

 

Roger Kraus Racing are the guys that screwed up and didn't properly prepare my GTO rims for the Hoosier tyres. Anyone can make a mistake of course, but this was just laziness on their part. Of course, the person that incorrectly performed this task may be long gone.

The tube suggestion is another solution. Most of us Daytona owners with Borrani wheels have been using tubes for years. Some even with the Cromodoras. Yup, not Concours correct, but sure keeps air in the tires.

Steve

 

yep, used to check my old splitrims everytime I went out. New one piece wheels - no problem, plus 10 times easier to clean.

 

I don't think you will find tubes for low profile tires that are used on modern high performance cars. Just dismount the tires, apply some silicone sealer and you are done.

 

Thanks