tractng

Wife's car has a slow leak on a rim over 2 years. I just put air every month . I never wanted to deal with her car in the past (been dealer serviced).

Anyways, I had thought the leak came from an old tire, but last year, we replaced tire set and the leak continued on the same rim.


I am thinking of switching the spare but since lexus monitors tire pressure on the spare, it would be annoying to have the sensor lid on, etc.

My friend suggested I go the cheap route by using the factory spare (alloy) rim and buy a steal rim as spare. Any advice?

jcat_350

i'm confused by what you mean as monitors tire pressure on the spare, etc.

if you replace the rim with the leak for the spare that doesn't have a leak, the tire will maintain pressure. At that point you can take the spare at your leisure to a tire shop to have them diagnose the leak. It could be a small bend, small crack, or bad bead that needs to be fixed.

if you use a steel wheel for the spare, you're either going to have to get one that accepts a TPMS sensor which I don't think exists, and you'll still have a leaky lexus rim just sitting doing nothing.

Just install the full size spare in place of the leaky wheel, and get the leaky one fixed. It'll be cheaper and is the RIGHT way to do it.

tractng

I think that is the correct route to go. What I meant was throw the leaked rim in as a spare and don't fix it . But the leaked will upset the monitoring sensor since lexus cars also monitor the spare tire.

jcat_350

ok, now i think I understand you. And yes, you'll still have to fill it if it's in the spare which is a pain.