Haven't seen this one----

98 Classic Up-Country with BF Goodrich All Terrain T/A 30x9.5R15LT'S MOUNTED ON standard oem 15x7 Aluminum "Ecco" wheels. Background: Two wheels developed slow leaks. Tire man said Oh, thats common on Cherokees and didn't even try to check them for leaks, just took them off, lubed the beads and reinstalled them. Problem solved.....for a while.... and now 2 more are leaking.

Question: Anyone else out there having this problem and have you found a solution other than replacing the wheels? Leak stop didn't help. Any comments or advice will be appreciated. TIA.

Where are the wheels leaking from? I had BFG ATs on steelies for a year before I changed tires, and after a while they would start leaking from around the bead. This was because those "lip protectors" really suck and trap mud and dirt which get wedged between the lip of the rim and the bead, causing small leaks.

I've had to take tires of a couple times, and just clean up the gunk between the bead and rim and it should be good.

Leak stop? are you talking about Slime or fix a flat? That stuff is terrible, and really should only be used if its your last resort and you need to get to a tire place. It shouldn't be used to try to permanently fix tires.

If you mean bead sealer, that's okay. I've also read about aluminum wheels not being sealed well and being so porous that they'll leak air.

im a service tech at Americas Tire Co. and when we get bead leaks we dismount the tires, clean up the bead areas of the wheel and tire with a grinder & wire wheel, and apply bead sealer. It stops bead leaks most of the time. You should only have to replace the wheels if they have major oxidation or a crack.

ManBearPig said:

im a service tech at Americas Tire Co. and when we get bead leaks we dismount the tires, clean up the bead areas of the wheel and tire with a grinder & wire wheel, and apply bead sealer. It stops bead leaks most of the time. You should only have to replace the wheels if they have major oxidation or a crack.

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Thus is true. Valve stem is another place to always check.

leaks around the bead are very common on aluminum rims over time. dismount tire, sand/wire wheel the rim, apply bead sealer and remount tire. that should take care off it until it starts to oxidise again (years down the road).

If you use something like Fix-A-Flat be sure and tell the service tech. Most companies have stopped use flammable propellants, but why take the chance.
My daughter in law has aluminum wheels on her WJ and we break them down a couple of times a year because of the slow leaks.. We clean the bead and the wheel, use bead sealant, but after a few months they start to leak again. Just the aluminum, porous and corrodes easy.

I ran into this problem the last time I was off-road. Both back wheels went flat. They were at 18 psi. After airing up (32 psi) after the ride, I haven't had the problem. I'm running BFG All Terrain T/A's 32 x 11.5. They are on American Racing aluminum AR-39 wheels. We did a complete rim cleaning and remount about four months ago.
Should I just switch over to steel wheels, or will the problem persist because of the tires I'm running?