Replacing my Factory Wheels
armilite
Member Posts: 35,490 ✭✭✭
Sick of having to fill up my tires on the 2008 Jeep Grande Cherokee. Although I've got a 33 gallon air compressor that's not so much the problem. I have to fill up the right rear every 2-3 weeks and the left rear every month or so. That can change if the air temp gets colder or hotter. The last thing I want to do is when it's zero out to have to go fill up my tires. I have to hope the wife's car is out of the garage or I have to somehow work the airlhose around her car and then out into the alley. So when I asked what I wanted for Christmas I stated I wanted steel wheels so I don't have to deal with the tire problem. So my daughter, son and wife all chipped in some money towards my wheels. I had to add a$100 but that was no problem. I ordered them on Monday and they will be here tomorrow. I stopped at a small garage and couple of blocks from home and the owner said he could mount them on Tuesday plus it will look a bit stealthier when done. I'm just tired of aluminum wheels. Had the same exact issue with the Exploder but it was the front 2 tires.
Comments
My 99 F250 has the same problem. I don't drive it much except to haul firewood and such.
My friend gave me a set of steel wheels with crome inserts. I'm going to swap out after the holidays.
You don't want low air pressure when hauling a ton of firewood.
My Gladiator came with Rhino aftermarket wheels and they don’t hold air too great. But I’ll keep them for now. They were pretty expensive to the previous owner.
You can use bead sealer on those rims it will stop
the air loss.
I've long used bead sealer........on the last four aluminum wheeled vehicles. No problems.
Pretty sure most tire shops use it SOP for aluminum wheels.
I have a 2007 Grand Cherokee and never had a problem
Got 233,500 miles on it
Now my old tire shop (the one I liked) did the nitrogen fill would that help on aluminum wheels?
Merry Christmas or to be more politically correct Happy Holidays!
I always used 'bead seal' on aluminum rims. Done correctly, it's an extra step in the mounting process so many tire shops skip it. This is one of the many things I'm going to miss as a senior citizen-doing my own tire work since (as far as I'm concerned) no one does tire work as well as me.😁
Put into perspective, we have around 300 tires on the ground and 20-30 spares so tire work done right is a BIG DEAL(and sometimes a nearly full time job).
Yosh, "nitrogen fill" is a ripoff. Regular air is something like 78% nitrogen. Any claims made are just sales lies.
Dude I know but the way they were pitching it, it was a solve all. So maybe it was the answer to tires going flat with aluminum wheels.
I guess I'm missing something. I've been around aluminum wheels of all sizes for 40+ years. I have worked in tire shops and dismounted/mounted hundreds of tires from aluminum wheels. I have never seen a problem
I had one set of aluminum wheels that were somewhat porous and consistently leaked. Nothing worked to keep them inflated . Friend who runs a tire shop says it is a common problem.
Your friend is correct. Porosity is the problem with cast aluminum. We've had a couple cars with slow leaks and it's pretty annoying to deal with.
I hunt with a guy that works in an auto collision center and he swore that painting the inside of the wheel would fix the problem, so we gave him the the two leaking wheels to give it a shot.
Problem solved. It's been over a year now with no issues. One of his talking points is that all of the high end alloy wheels are painted and/or clear coated to seal the air chamber.
clean the rims, use bead sealer, problem over. Common to many rims.
Never had an issue with the aluminum wheels on my Patriot. A few old tires, sure, but never the wheels.
The only problem I've had with aluminum wheels are the lug nuts loosen up every now and then. Almost lost a tire\wheel up in front once and ever since, I check them all once a month.
I did have a slow leak in a garden tractor tire ever since it was new. Ended up putting a can of Green Slime in the tire and no more air leaks.
Nitrogen DOES slow the pressure drop during cold weather. If you have a leak(rim or tire) the nitrogen will do mothing to help that.
That said, I use air in mine....but nitrogen does serve its purspose if you wanna spend the $
I run with nitro-fil in my tires on both vehicles. The mileage I have been able to get out of my tires made me a believer. Factory installed tires made it past 80k before I had to replace them on my 3/4 ton truck.
I will get about the same on the tires I have on it now. I live down a gravel road so they get beat on every trip I make out of the driveway.
Tell the tire installer to mount the tires dry without using tire lube. A lot of tire mounting lube will not dry completely causing some alloy wheels to corrode. Jeep, Ford, Toyota and those cheap GM wheels that are chrome plated are the worst for leaking.
dBetter get your guage checked LOL
^^^And you trust that gizmo?
My thought is because its hard to believe you could go that long and not one of four tires changed one pound. Mine change more than that daily depending on temp. and road speed.
"Absolutely. Why would you not trust it"
Have you looked at the 'sensor/sending unit' inside the rim? 🤣
I've noticed over the years:
if it has tires or tets on it,
it's going to eventually cause a man some problems.
An older adult friend once told me if it flies , floats or asks question such as "do these pants make me look fat ?' It absolutely 1000% is going to cause you problems . He was a state senator . The only honest politician I have ever known .
Well got the wheels mounted 2 weeks ago. Turns out the two back tires that leaked were leaking from the TPMS sensors on the wheel. So apparently the aluminum wheels weren't leaking but the sensors were. Well I still believe that they would have began leaking sooner or later. I do like the looks of the new wheels the Jeep looks stealthier. The really hard part is I don't walk very well now days and I was 75 feet from the garages front door and I fell down twice in the middle of the road. Took me twice to get up making it to the front door. Luckily the owner was talking to a customer making me be able to sit down and gain my composure.
Be careful, falling down is nothing to take lightly.