Wheels on the 4x4 Estate

[iwontone]

when you get or have your tyres fitted to alloys,,,do you ask for tyre sealer(black sticky stuff) or just soap,,,mine did the same losing air until sticky stuff was stuck on,,i still check tyre pressure`s about once a week,,,may worth a try

[mikew]

when you get or have your tyres fitted to alloys,,,do you ask for tyre sealer(black sticky stuff) or just soap,,,mine did the same losing air until sticky stuff was stuck on,,i still check tyre pressure`s about once a week,,,may worth a try

the first time soap, next removed tyres cleaned rims and alloy, painted allow with hammerite, had sticky stuff applied - still leak !!

[radders]

Mike,

You're definitely right not to do the RBRR on tubed tyres. I did the CT 10 countries run on tubed tyres and ended up having two puntures and had to borrow two wheels to get home.

Todays tyres are mostly ribbed on the inner side walls and this will just chafe through the inner tube.

Plus, no-one will care about what wheels you have on, everyone will just be pleased to see the car taking part in such a huge challenge after such a mammoth restoration!

[Steve Knight]

Take the tires off and sand the inner rims with a flexible rubber disc - stick on 80 grit is best. This must end up perfectly clean. Hammerite is no good for aluminum, it just flakes off. You must then paint using a special primer. Even rubbing down the first coat can help with a good seal. It is very unlikely your rims are porous. Clean the edges of the tires with petrol, any bits missing here will lead to leaks. Hardly any modern tires are designed to run inner tubes; they have a rough inner carcass which will rub a hole in tubes. Inner tubes a not even made for low profile tires.

[mikew]

Thank you both for your advice, I knew there was a good reason not to use inner tubes.

I do want to keep the car original and 15" minilites with 185s have a very similar rolling radius to 14" with 175s according to Mintylamb, so there's no real gearing gain there - in fact with the wrong tyres 15" can reduce the rolling radius !

So I am simply going to sort out the S alloys - its only a little job

mike

[david_lall]

Until I gave up on keeping wire wheels looking pristine I ran with inner tubes for many thousands of miles with no trouble at all. The tyre fitters actually insisted on the inner tubes!

[mikew]

The decision is made, I am sticking with S alloys, and buying the new set that Lee has. This helps us both, the car stays original too.

I would use Minilites on a racer / fast road car because of the better rubber available and more low profiles, but there is no real gearing advantage, and it won't recreate the original 70s 4x4 driving experience - which has been a part of this exercise anyway

[owen1183]

my 's' alloys loose all air within a week..... all 4 flat as a pancake...... right pain the the ass.

Im thinking of getting new wheels so I dont have to keep pumping the damn things up

[Alec]

Hello Owen,

it would be a lot cheaper to do as Steve suggests and clean up the inside of the wheels where the tyres seat. All the aluminium wheels I've seen that leak are due to the breakdown of the paint finish internally so the tyre bead can't seal.

Alec

[Mike Stevens]

I've got home-refurbished 'S' alloys on the PI and they've been fine for the 18 months they've been on there. I've also a got recon/exchange set on the Stag which has also not lost any air - but only in the last 5 weeks!

I agree about the bead seal. Any alloy corrosion there seems to easily leak air.

Cheers,
Mike.