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DIY - Corrosion on inside lip of rims, leaking air - how to fix (with pics)
I want to keep my OEM wheels as long as possible, but I had a lot of "Chrome Cancer" corrosion on the inner lip of my wheels.
You can go for years without noticing it, since it occurs in an area you only see when the tire is removed, and most tire shops don't allow you to hover over the technician as he changes your tires.
Fortunately, it's not really an issue 'till it gets bad enough to cause a slow air leak, but once that happens, it's fix or replace time.
Here's how I fixed it - it just takes a little time, a cooperative tire shop and elbow grease:
Have the shop remove the tire (mark the tire position first, if you want to remount the tire w/o the expense of balancing) and take the wheel home:
Secure the wheel to a solid platform (I used a step stool).
You need it very solidly supported so that you can firmly press the grinding wheel against it, making the job easier:
USE EYE PROTECTION & A DUST MASK
Using a circular wire wheel on a drill, remove all the tire residue, flaking chrome and corrosion that you can. Do not skip this step by going straight to using the grinding stone first.
Reason: The wire brush is much gentler on the chrome than the stone, so the amount of good chrome that you scratch and pit will be much less if you start off with the wire brush:
If you are going to re-use the same tire, also use the wire brush to clean up the tire area that contacts the wheel - there is usually some corrosion debris stuck to the rubber.
Then use a grinding stone on the drill to get the tougher flakes off the wheel and grind the lip smooth. I had good results with a cone-shaped stone.
The important area to smooth out is the ~4mm strip where the tire seals against the lip.
The rest, not so critical to be smooth but grind off all corroded areas near that strip so it does not spread.
USE EYE PROTECTION - if the grinding stone shatters (it happens) and fragments fly into your eyes, corroded rims will become the least of your problems:
Finish off the prep with some sandpaper (I used both 100 & 180 grit). The sanding is not really to further smooth the ground areas, although you're free to do so.
The sanding is more to rough up the smooth chrome adjacent to the ground-down areas so that the primer will adhere better.
Spray several coats of bare-metal primer (Krylon 91317 Ruddy Brown Sandable Primer or equivalent):
Most tire shops will not want to bother with doing this for you since, depending upon how bad the corrosion is, this can take 45-90 minutes per wheel. You could pay more in labor than the wheel is worth.
But it was the only way to keep my original wheels so it was worth it to me, despite the hassle of shuttling back and forth to the tire shop 5 times to do all 4 wheels, one at a time.
(And, if you time this to coincide with the purchase of new tires, the tire shop incurs no extra effort, so the fix is free!)
Does the fix last? (EDIT: See Post #12 below for photos, taken EIGHT years later, to see how well this fix has held up.)
In most cases, the repair will outlast your tires.
Even if some corrosion returns, in my experience, it's not as extensive, so your successive repair jobs are more of a touch-up than a full restoration.
EDIT: The pic below shows another reason why I chose to do this fix myself rather than have a tire shop do it (besides being cheap):
When I dropped off one wheel to have the tire removed, the technician assigned to do it misunderstood what I was trying to do and once the tire came off, he started to do the fix himself, using an air-powered angle grinder.
I arrived back in time to stop him before he did the outer lip, but the damage was already done to the inner lip.
Notice how he ground down way too much, exposing the copper layer (chrome rims are a triple-stage process - first copper, then nickel, then chromium).
Not only that, the flat grinding wheel can't follow the curves of the lip, and so the inner corrosion remained untouched.
I was not too hard on the guy - he was doing what he could with the time and tools he had available to him. I took the rim home and was able to fix it just as well as the other three rims.
Would a more professional tire/wheel shop have done a better job? Maybe so, but the way to guarantee a better job is to do it yourself.
Tire shop's impression of what a chrome cancer fix is...
Finish off the prep with some 100 grit sandpaper and then spray several coats of
bare-metal primer (Krylon 91317 Ruddy Brown Sandable Primer or equivalent):
Most tire shops will not want to bother with doing this for you since, depending upon how bad the corrosion is, this takes 45-90 minutes per wheel. It could cost more than the wheel is worth.
But it was the only way to keep my original wheels so it was worth it to me, despite the hassle of shuttling back and forth to the tire shop.
(And, if you time this to coincide with the purchase of new tires, the fix is free!)
Does the fix last? I first did this fix in 2007 on another wheel, and when I replaced the tire this week,
I could see some corrosion returning. But it was nowhere near the level that you see in the wheel pictured above, which was never worked on since its manufacture in the early 90's.
Even the wheel in the pics above only started leaking this month- so up until now it was still holding air!
So while it eventually comes back, it takes years before it's enough to start leaking again.
And in most cases, the repair will outlast your tires- I replace my tires often enough to stay way ahead of the corrosion. The returning corrosion is not as extensive, making each successive repair job more of a touch-up than a full restoration.
Sorry this thread is old, but I fell the poster deserves my gratitude! Registered just to thank him.
I have the same problem but on my 2002 GA GT Aluminum rims. I live in Michigan - terrible pot holes, salt, snow, freezing weather...
I am looking to sell it soon... and then this problem arises. Being a college student, I don't have much cash for new rims - let alone considering everything else that goes wrong with this model. Discount Tire ground off the corrosion for me, but said it would come back. I had yet to figure out what to re-coat it with until your thread. I'll be trying this out very soon. You're saving me quite a bit of money if this works!
Im not trying to discredit the OP's work here, the post is good
but there is a flaw i must point out, primers of any type are not meant to be a final surface while they are a porous surface which aids in paint adhesion. bare metal primer just etches itself into the metal and bonds the paint to it
primer is just like glue in a sense
the best thing to coat the spots with are a rust preventative, something like POR-15 will actually bond to the metal and stop it from rusting or corroding
all that said putting bare metal primer on is definatly better than nothing after grinding off rust or corrosion
but please dont use krylon for anything you care about, any time i have used it i have never been pleased with the result and found that it is very prone to flaking and chipping which in a case like this and very counter productive
Again im not trying to discredit the op everything else here is good i just felt i needed to ad my $.02
Im not trying to discredit the OP's work here, the post is good
but there is a flaw i must point out, primers of any type are not meant to be a final surface while they are a porous surface which aids in paint adhesion. bare metal primer just etches itself into the metal and bonds the paint to it
primer is just like glue in a sense
the best thing to coat the spots with are a rust preventative, something like POR-15 will actually bond to the metal and stop it from rusting or corroding
all that said putting bare metal primer on is definatly better than nothing after grinding off rust or corrosion
but please dont use krylon for anything you care about, any time i have used it i have never been pleased with the result and found that it is very prone to flaking and chipping which in a case like this and very counter productive
Again im not trying to discredit the op everything else here is good i just felt i needed to ad my $.02
I know this post is a little old, but i am planning to do this or to have someone do this for me because i am having this exact problem and i was wondering which brand you would recommend to use instead of krylon ?? thank you.
the best thing to coat the spots with are a rust preventative, something like POR-15 will actually bond to the metal and stop it from rusting or corroding
also does everyone else agree with this advice? also should this be put on after applying the several coats of bare-metal primer or is this used to replace the need to apply the bare metal primer all together? thank you for any advice, would like to fix this problem and do it right the first time.
anyone? anyone? is their a better way to go about this? if i could not do this myself who would u suggest to take the rim to? i do not see any reliable wheel people in the area.
There are three options really here, do what this DIY says to do, heeding Imperium's advice with an actual bonds to metal rust preventative, have the wheel stripped and rechromed, or just send it off to be machined, which essentially does what this DIY does, just on a lathe...
There are three options really here, do what this DIY says to do, heeding Imperium's advice with an actual bonds to metal rust preventative, have the wheel stripped and rechromed, or just send it off to be machined, which essentially does what this DIY does, just on a lathe...
Okay great, exactly the answer i was looking for. thank you very much. Also after checking out por-15 i read on their site talking about an item they sell called prep and ready and also on their directions for por 15 they mention using metal- ready? not sure if they are the same product? do you know if this should be used in this caSe? thank you for any insight.
Okay great, exactly the answer i was looking for. thank you very much. Also after checking out por-15 i read on their site talking about an item they sell called prep and ready and also on their directions for por 15 they mention using metal- ready? not sure if they are the same product? do you know if this should be used in this caSe? thank you for any insight.
I am having same problem and also want to do it right one time (first time)! I was looking at POR-15 website and was looking at Glisten PC and AP-120. I have alloy rims so this seemed like a good product to use (not chrome and therefore no rust)..
What did you end up using? Any help would be most appreciated!!!
Thanks to PERRYinLA, for sharing his approach and giving me a head start. I took two slow leaking wheels to local tire shop for $7.50 per wheel removal of tires. Before removal i marked wheel and tire with paint strip to indicated alignment during tire re-mounting later. This saves the cost of re-balancing the tire. Remounted for $10 per wheel. Did not balance. Paint is $6. Total project cost for two wheels is $41. Labor was over one evening, 3 hours for cleaning and painting. Compare this to $130 per wheel quoted at specialized repair shop.
I removed rust just like PERRYinLA with drill mounted wire wheel and rounded cone shaped stone. I removed chrome finish only in areas that were corroded, leaving all other areas as manufacturing. I used 220 grit sand paper for overall conditioning of chrome finish, to help with enamel adhesion. Before painting, i removed dust and contaminants with mineral spirits. I applied two layers of RUStOleom enamel from Homedepot. RUStOleom enamel from experiences does the job in low wear and tear applications. It is intended as a corrosion barrier and two coats should ensure sufficient thickness. Primer could be good, but in this application i do not see necessity, since wheel bead is pushing against the paint. Functionally, paint layer provides fluid and air barrier, and thus corrosion protection. Enamel adhered better to bare metal, than to chrome finish, and sufficiently strong to both surface finishes. Will see how it holds up after i buy new set of tire and mount them. I used masking tape to prevent over spray and paint line that is not visible with tire mounted.
So far only one week with the repair. Pressure is not dropping. Tires feels in balance.
Everyone has an opinion, but mine is backed up with proof
Originally Posted by Imperium11
i just felt i needed to ad my $.02
...even at two cents it's overpriced, pal, because after spending EIGHT years mounted on my car, I finally wore out the tires and had a chance to examine the inside of my wheels when the tires were removed recently. I knew they'd be in great shape, because they consistently hold 32 psi for many months.
And sure enough, the photos below speak for themselves - after eight years, absolutely NO deterioration of the surfaces sprayed with... well, what do you know - KRYLON PRIMER. The very treatment (and brand) that you warned us all against.
I realize many years have passed, but since wadlust has just revived the thread (good going on your fix, and you're welcome, wadlust), let's set the record straight for sc4001178, zl1, and anyone else that doubted me in the past:
Contrary to Delerium11's unsubstantiated advice (you know - the advice that mitsuguy said you should heed), there is now no doubt that if you had gone with what I recommended, you would end up with some corrosion-free and airtight wheels that will last eight years and counting, as my photos below prove.
But if you want to take their advice over mine, go ahead and spend $20, $30 or more on something like that "POR-15" - just be sure to post before and after photos, like I have, that prove your results are somehow superior to (and last longer than) the Krylon primer that some of you were so quick to reject.
Thanks PERRYinLA. I am going throught the very same issue. Slow leak on two tires. Spring is here, and once this CoronaVirus has run it's course, and the self imposed isolation is over, this is one of the first things on my 'ToDo' list. Currently, I'm having to re-inflate my right side tires every 3-4 days. I really like the chrome OEM wheels, but am really growing impatient with this issue. I love, love, love this forum. So many knowledgable, hands-on craftsmen who are diligent to share their experiences, and saving us hackers a ton of time & money.
12-15-14, 03:29 PM
DIY - Corrosion on inside lip of rims, leaking air - how to fix (with pics)
