I'm having a problems that seems like a lot of chrome wheels owners have, which is corrosion along the tire bead, causing the tires to not fully seal to the rim. Right now the tire installers put bead seal to help it seal better but I'm starting to have some slow leaks. Are the wheels worth saving to be re chromed and fixed? Any reasonable repair shops in the OC, CA area?

Lastly, anybody have some 17in or 18in LS430 wheels sitting around locally for sale? I haven't found any in the marketplace.

 

I would check Craigslist and eBay. You can search by bolt pattern as well - 5x114

I also have chrome 17 inch rims. One of mine looses more then the other 3. Maybe about 4 lbs in a week. I am planning on swapping this rim with the spare in my trunk as it has the most visible wear. I have been lazy in doing this as it just takes a few min to refill the tire. I carry a little compressor in my trunk and check the tires every week.

 

I am having the same problem with my 2009 RX350. I brought to lexus and they sanded down the area a little to help the bead but it still leaks. I have been told by several shops that it is very expensive to rechrome wheels. Many places I contacted would not even do it. Better off looking on ebay for a new or used rim.

 

It can be fixed permanently if you remove the tire(s) and sand the inner lip of the wheel to remove the flaking chrome, spray the area with primer and re-install and balance the tires. Would cost maybe $200 -
$ 300.

4 new wheels start at $ 500 and go up as high as you're willing to spend, lol

 

The above is the best and permanent way to fix your wheels. The chrome must be removed from the inner lips to avoid future corrosion and leaks. I had two of mine done a year ago and never had to put air in those wheels again.

 

I had chrome wheels on my first 2002 and tried many options. Ultimately ended up replacing them with new wheels. IMHO it's best to replace them since chrome looks good but as it ages it causes leakage issues that are either difficult to repair or not cost effective to repair.

 

Echoing what BigBruiser said. I had my chromes sanded, etc., but problems continued. Of course, in MN, the weather also drops air pressure.

Used Wheels America to replace the chromes with alloys. Nice to work with, but probably on the high $ side.

 

All tires overtime will lose air pressure. I had my chrome removed from that area totally. All the way back down to the original alloy. every thing else remained chrome and no leaks to this day.

 

IF you had your inner wheel rim sanded enough to remove ALL the chrome in this area, AND afterwards had them primed ( with paint), and allowed to dry before mounting your tires, your air leaking problems would have been solved.

Whoever did this work for you simply didn't do this properly. When it is done properly, the wheel will hold air EXACTLY the same as a non-chrome wheel.

 

yeah, you guys are probably right. Every time this happened, 4 times I had flats last winter, I took the car to Tires Plus. Sometimes you get what you pay for.

Looked around to find a good chrome shop in MN, searching this forum, google, emailing guys, etc., but they are rare. Several of the independent wheel repair places wouldn't touch chromes, even for repair. Including the dealer, who has been very helpful in other regards.

My wheels were well cracked, pitted, and peeling huge chunks in multiple places. Enough that wheel balance was impacted by removed chunks. Chrome was a great look, but doesn't work wheel here.

 

my car has 17"chrome wheels that are shiny and hold air perfectly at 10 years old. however I have a alloy spare that seems to be original. tire and car manufactured about same time august 2004. I want to upgrade my spare to a chrome wheel and newer tire but it seems chrome wheels might not be good idea for a spare. I have had chrome wheels on my last 3 cars with no issues, but only 1 had a chrome wheel spare. bought chrome wheel for $250 but have not had tire mounted yet. hot dry climate west Texas. no problem with rust on rims, but tires wear out fast on hot dry roads. pulling out a flat spare would really be a drag. doughnuts are for breakfast, not tires

 

Ishinc, I am also in the OC, CA area, and could not find a shop willing to take on the job.
(Well, for less than the value of the wheels, that is.)
So I ended up doing it myself - full details on my thread here:

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/the...with-pics.html

Below are some before and after pics.
It was feasible to me because I was replacing my worn tires at the same time anyway, and had some time on my hands.

As Stu says, done right, this is a permanent repair - those photos are from early 2009 and to this day the tires go several months before needing more air.