I recently had my tires replaced. I noticed a slow leak out of one of my tires. I took it back and they said it was leaking out of the valve and they replaced it. Slow leak again. Now they say that the chrome is peeling and that the new tire is not seating properly so there will be a slow leak.

Question - does this really happen? I have a 2000 Lexus LS400 with chrome wheels.

If I do indeed need to replace my wheels, what is the difference between chrome and alloy wheels? On eBay, there are some alloys for around $120 each. I have not found the chrome yet. I like the standard wheels that came with the car.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Todd

 

happens to a lot of chrome wheels. very common.

Chrome wheels are stock wheels plated with a combination of metals including nickel, copper, and chromium. Over time the thin layer corrodes and starts to leak air around the tire bead.

 

+1. Air leakage does happen with regularity on flaking chrome wheels.

 

but almost any good tire shop can seal them, different ones have leaked on mine, I just head for walmart and they just seal them up, only had to pay one time.. on both cars.

 

Thanks for the replies. So the company was telling me the truth.

Anyways, what will be the difference between the alloy wheels and the chrome wheels? The alloys are a whole lot cheaper. These being the original replacements, well at least they appear to be.

Lastly, "any good tire shop can seal them" - I don't know if I could list names but I got the tires from Discount Tire and they said I HAD to get new wheels. Can they really be sealed or do I really need to get new wheels. And on that note, where would be a good place to get new wheels?

Thanks,
Todd

 

Basically the chrome is making the edge where the tire meets the wheel not smooth. The edge of the wheel or bead needs to be sanded down. This could most likely be done without messing up the chrome on the visible side of the wheel. I've seen it done many times before and it shouldn't take much to make a smooth surface for the tire to mate to. Sounds to me the discount doesn't really want to spend any time on the wheel.

On a side note. Discount is normally pretty good about things. We have a bunch of them here in Florida. Every one that I have ever been to has a big drum of water that they will put a wheel/tire into to see where the leak is coming from. I can almost bet that they didn't do this considering they told you it was a valve stem at first. If they put it in the tub of water they would have seen right off the bat it was the rim and not the valve stem....

I would try a wheel/tire shop that might do more custom wheels and tires or a place that repairs wheels. I'm sure they could easily sand down the bead on your wheel and re-mount the tire for you. Then you wont have to buy new wheels.

 

If you own my favorite LS400 buffer, you can easily do this yourself! - do you have a spare set of rims you can use while you work on these?