Air pressure in aluminum wheels.

How many pounds of air pressure should I expect to lose from my tires mounted on aluminum wheels on a month to month basis if the bead is properly sealed and the stem is not leaking?

Zero PSI pressure loss, is what I would expect. I have never had any issue.

I agree with Dave.

A few pounds per day if they want to. I hate them. The only ones I haven’t had problem with I bought them and cleaned/painted the inside before the tires were mounted.

iowa_josh wrote:

A few pounds per day if they want to.

“If they want to” ?

A couple pounds with the 1st big temp. drop in the fall but other than that nothing.

I’ve had some that leak pretty badly, like the TPMS go off weekly in the winter. I’ve had the bad ones cleaned up and remounted, and that usually helps.
Right now, both my vehicles are holding air well, so I feel lucky.

Ralph Wiggum wrote:

I’ve had some that leak pretty badly, like the TPMS go off weekly in the winter. I’ve had the bad ones cleaned up and remounted, and that usually helps.
Right now, both my vehicles are holding air well, so I feel lucky.

That’s not from the wheel leaking, that is caused by poor workmanship when mounting the tire.

Most places use a grease like substance around the tire when they mount to the rim, I never had one of these leak after the tire shops started to do this.

I have researched this topic and found that the aluminum wheels have a different temperature coefficient than iron and this causes them to expand and contract more than iron causing the sealing compound to separate from the rim when the temperature drop is extreme. This causes oxidation which builds up just enough to allow the air to slowly leak out. The oxidation has to be removed (grinded) off from the rim and new sealant must be applied. Farm & Fleet had to re-do one of mine 5 times before the manager himself did the job and got it right. But this only happens with aluminum and composite wheels. Thanks for your replies though.

Joe1821 wrote:

I have researched this topic and found that the aluminum wheels have a different temperature coefficient than iron and this causes them to expand and contract more than iron causing the sealing compound to separate from the rim when the temperature drop is extreme. This causes oxidation which builds up just enough to allow the air to slowly leak out. The oxidation has to be removed (grinded) off from the rim and new sealant must be applied. Farm & Fleet had to re-do one of mine 5 times before the manager himself did the job and got it right. But this only happens with aluminum and composite wheels. Thanks for your replies though.

The wheel isn’t leaking the seal is from a half assed mounting job as I and others have stated.

onestout wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Joe1821 wrote:</div>
I have researched this topic and found that the aluminum wheels have a different temperature coefficient than iron and this causes them to expand and contract more than iron causing the sealing compound to separate from the rim when the temperature drop is extreme. This causes oxidation which builds up just enough to allow the air to slowly leak out. The oxidation has to be removed (grinded) off from the rim and new sealant must be applied. Farm & Fleet had to re-do one of mine 5 times before the manager himself did the job and got it right. But this only happens with aluminum and composite wheels. Thanks for your replies though.

The wheel isn’t leaking the seal is from a half assed mounting job as I and others have stated.

Agreed with this.

There are TSBs for numerous cars with leaky aluminum wheels.

I never lost much air in my 96 Chevy K1500 with the aluminum. The TPMS on my Jeep only lights up when it is below 0F and they say a tire will lose 1-2 psi for every 10 degree temp drop. I know the one winter I aired them up to 36 psi and in the spring I checked and they were at 48 psi

The lost tire pressure has nothing to do with aluminum wheels. It is because of the Moon.

Some wheels oxidize and leak and some don’t.

My GMC Terrain had one wheel that dropped pressure, very annoying, had it resealed 2 or three times, didn’t help. Wife told me I was too old to be out in below freezing weather every two weeks as the air lines froze up and it was a hassle finding help. I finally went to the local Firestone store and got 4 new tires installed. Three months ago all 4 holding same pressure. I am not a salesman. I’m glad they never called me and said I would have to buy one of those very expensive matching wheels.

After researching this topic and my experience, the bottom line conclusion is that the composite or aluminum wheels are not worth the trouble they cause with this problem and iron wheels should be used instead. I have never had problems using the iron wheels, but to go out and buy iron wheels to replace the aluminum wheels is also not reasonable. They claim that composite wheels have improved over the years, but all I know is that it appears that after each winter I will expect at least one of mine to have this problem.

Joe1821 wrote:

After researching this topic and my experience, the bottom line conclusion is that the composite or aluminum wheels are not worth the trouble they cause with this problem and iron wheels should be used instead. I have never had problems using the iron wheels, but to go out and buy iron wheels to replace the aluminum wheels is also not reasonable. They claim that composite wheels have improved over the years, but all I know is that it appears that after each winter I will expect at least one of mine to have this problem.

Sorry you are having this problem. As I said before I’ve NEVER had any issues with aluminum and that covers a 26 year span with multiple vehicles.

As mentioned a good tire shop will have a grinder with wire wheel hanging beside the tire changer to clean off the corrosion whether steel or aluminum rims.

Anonymous wrote:

Have you had this problem at 2 AM? I have many times.

Joe1821 wrote:

After researching this topic and my experience, the bottom line conclusion is that the composite or aluminum wheels are not worth the trouble they cause with this problem and iron wheels should be used instead.

Can we assume you have replaced your wheels with more suitable wheels and moved on with your life?

Huntindave wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Joe1821 wrote:</div>
Have you had this problem at 2 AM? I have many times.

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Joe1821 wrote:</div>
After researching this topic and my experience, the bottom line conclusion is that the composite or aluminum wheels are not worth the trouble they cause with this problem and iron wheels should be used instead.

Can we assume you have replaced your wheels with more suitable wheels and moved on with your life?

No Dave I haven’t replaced the wheels, however as, “Bearcat” stated as well as, “Onestout” the mechanic doing the job needs to do a good job and not, “half assed”. The key seems to be in carefully grinding off ALL of the oxidation off and then being sure to apply a good amount of the rubber sealer, but I have also had the oxidation occur under the valve stem and I had to point that out to them. The one I pointed it out to removed the stem and ground down the area under it and applied more sealant there also. I don’t have that problem at all with the car that has steel wheels and that was why I was so perplexed. My father sold me this car and said that he always had that problem and never knew why. He and I worked on cars for many years together so I was surprised at his response, but that’s why I came here to see what you had to offer.

Your comments were helpful though and I appreciated them. I will just have to be vigilant with watching that car for low pressure.

I think once you grind the Aluminum with any abrasive you are asking for trouble. The wheels are clear coated at minimum if not powdercoated then cleared. This prevents the aluminum oxide formation and resulting leak paths. If your wheels have been ground or wire wheeled on the bead surface you might as well chuck the wheel and find new. Don’t take them down to bare aluminum if you don’t want a ton of corrosion. As soon as bare aluminum sees oxygen it starts to corrode instantly. Its why every piece of billet aluminum stock is chalky gray in the outside.

Thanks Adam for your comment. I think these mechanics such as Farm & Fleet and Walmart has, and who knows how many other places, are not properly trained in fixing a leaking bead on aluminum wheels, because each time I have had the job done they have used a grinding wheel and I saw them doing it. Using a wire brush is how I would have done it, and since Farm & Fleet had to do one wheel 5 times to get it right, I totally agree with you that using the grinding wheel was a much too aggressive way to remove the oxidation. The problem is that I can’t tell them how I want them to do their job. As I said earlier, the manager at Farm & Fleet finally got it done so that it didn’t leak. I am just guessing now that after each winter I will have to be more vigilant with that vehicle’s wheels because the bottom line I keep hearing is that if the winter has extremely cold temperatures it is likely to occur. Thanks again for your comment.

For the record guys I work in the field as a store manager and have for a long time. Do Alloy or Aluminum wheels leak air after time, especially in the winter, yes they can. When replacing tires we clean and seal the beads and stand behind it for about a year. However it can after that time require a reseal from time to time. Some wheels are better than others on this. To the OP yes steel wheels held there air pressure better and usually did not have problems until they rusted through which was only sometimes and when they were much older. The reason we are not running steel wheels is because they are ugly plain and simple.

I haven’t had a vehicle with steel wheels since well……ever. I can remember a few times in the bitter cold the pressure dropped. Otherwise, never an issue so it’s either inexpensive wheels that are corroding or they haven’t been taken care of. Wheels are like anything else – you get what you pay for. I’ve seen cheap aluminum wheels that couldn’t be balanced so you can imagine the quality of the alloy.

Also, the rotating mass of steel versus aluminum adds tremendous weight to a vehicle. So, not only are they ugly they are heavy.

John Rasmussen wrote:

For the record guys I work in the field as a store manager and have for a long time. Do Alloy or Aluminum wheels leak air after time, especially in the winter, yes they can. When replacing tires we clean and seal the beads and stand behind it for about a year. However it can after that time require a reseal from time to time. Some wheels are better than others on this. To the OP yes steel wheels held there air pressure better and usually did not have problems until they rusted through which was only sometimes and when they were much older. The reason we are not running steel wheels is because they are ugly plain and simple.

Thank you for your input John. The good thing that I did was to make sure that when I bought these two tires from Walmart, I also bought the, “Road Hazzards” policy for $10 and they told me that since I have that they have no problem with me bringing them back in when I find a new slow leak.

If you really want to mess with it, could you have the tire shop remove the tires, the take the wheels home, clean off the bead area, then paint it and give it several coats of clear on the bead sealing surface to keep it from forming new corrosion? Might hold air after that for a while assuming you can find paint that will stick.

They shouldn’t be using a metal brush of any kind on wheels, especially Aluminum. This is what they should be using.

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All due respect big g I have never seen those used to clean a wheel, just gasket material off of engine components. Not saying it couldn’t work just have not seen it, I imagine it would take a lot longer to clean it or if it would take the corrosion off.