Here's Something Wierd For You...

branshew · December 30, 2005

I've never heard of this happening before...

I had some upgrades done to the car recently - new brake pads, pad wear sensors all around and new Brembo rotors in the rear. I also had 2 new tires put on the rear.

About 2 days after getting the tires put on, the rear passenger lost most of its pressure (down to 10 PSI). I checked for a puncture and didn't find one. I thought possibly it was not seated on the rim properly (or wasn't making good contact since the chrome on my rims is completely trashed and flaking off). I put air back in it and it stayed full until Tuesday of this week. I was on my way to go to work in the morning and noticed the tire was flat (down to 10 PSI again). I put more air in it and drove back to my mechanic to get him to take a look.

He did the soapwater spray test around the rim/tire seal and on the valve stem and there was no leaking anywhere. He took the tire off to check for a puncture and perform a spray test on the inside. The tire was seated properly, no punctures were present, but lo and behold there is a crack in the rim. The crack is on the inside of the rim right at the 90 degree bend where the lip rolls under. The crack is too small to see w/ the eye, but you can see the air bubbling out under soapy water.

The wheel is perfectly true, has never hit a curb or anything since I've had it. There is no dent, ding, etc anywhere near the crack. This problem wasn't present until I put the new tires on (actually a couple of days after) - any chance it happened at the shop in the process of mounting and balancing the new tires or is it something that would just "develop"?

I had a new set of rims on order (an X-mas present to myself) and they'll be here on Tuesday so I have to cruise around on the spare for a few more days.

- Brandon

RFeldes · December 30, 2005

I'd put my money on the shop.

dcfish · December 30, 2005

I'd put my money on the shop.

I'd say it happened during the dismount/mount procedure.

ZINFANDEL22 · December 30, 2005

I'd put my money on the shop.

I'd say it happened during the dismount/mount procedure.

I guess it sounds like the shop but, the low profile tires can cause alot of stress on a rim going over railroad tracks and such . I just think in that case it would bend the rim but you never know .

wwest · December 30, 2005

I have very little doubt that your rim got cracked during the tire mounting process. Air pressure is used to seat the tire bead into the rim and the instant it seats a LOT of pressure is instantaneously applied to the rim.

But I would still suspect, primarily, a manufacturing defect in the rim itself as the root cause.

"...chrome completely trashed and flaking off....."

Just where did you get those rims...???

Were it me, for safety, I'd go out, immediately, and replace the other two.

SKperformance · December 30, 2005

Are the oem or aftermarket rims?

I would say that when they put the rim on the machine ,it has usually 4 arms that push out to center the rim and hold it tight to install and remove the tire.

When it does this you will usually hear the aluminum make small cracking noises. It probably cracked it from that if it never went flat before.

It should be able to get welded by a rim repair place for $50-100 easily.

Also if it is very cold where you are and the rims were cold then it is much easier to crack them. Also if the 4 arms on the machine did not have the rubber cushions installed it would increse the perssure and crack it very easily.

Jacob · December 30, 2005

Are your wheels original chrome? Or were they aluminum and then somebody chromed them?

Also, you did right thing by ordering new wheels since the crack will grow bigger and lead to fracture.

branshew · January 2, 2006

"...chrome completely trashed and flaking off....."

Just where did you get those rims...???

Were it me, for safety, I'd go out, immediately, and replace the other two.

The Rims are OEM Lexus Chrome. They're 13+ years old now and the Chrome was flaking way before I got the car due to neglect of maintenance on the rims. I suspect that they were driven in the winters in the northeast.

...but, the low profile tires can cause alot of stress on a rim going over railroad tracks and such.

I don't have low profile tires. I have the original OEM tire and rim size setup from Lexus.

sapper_daddy · January 3, 2006

i'm down with the shop theory i had just powder coated a set on rims on my ford at home and brought them to get mounted and balanced. while handling them without the tire on they were dropped from a bout a three foot height. I was *BLEEP*ed cause it scratched my powder coat but luckily they were steel so it didn't do !Removed! to em my guess is shop because it didn't do it before and a rim just doesn't crack i might understand it in some extreme stress conditions