Slow leak boat trailer tire

[glen]

Slow leak boat trailer tire around the rim.  Anyone use green slime?  I see it’s about $50 for 3.78l at crappy tire.  Does it put the tire out of balance a lot?   Does the repair last?  Does it work every time? 

I have burnt out a bunch of 12volt tire pumps over the years.  When you want to jump in and go it sucks to have to wait for a tire to fill up. 

[lew]

Why not just buy a new rim & tire Glen and be done with the aggravation ?

Edited December 9, 2017 by lew

[Garnet]

Is it a rim leak or do you have a nail in it.

Get  a spray bottle water and dish soap and find out.

[Woodsman]

The tire shop will hate you if you bring in a tire after ading Slime.

Maybe consider have the tire shop add a tube.

[ketchenany]

I had a snowblower with the same problem. Tube did it and that was 20+ years ago.

[dave524]

46 minutes ago, glen said:

 

I have burnt out a bunch of 12volt tire pumps over the years.  When you want to jump in and go it sucks to have to wait for a tire to fill up. 

I burned out a few of those, do yourself a favour and get a small compressor for not a lot more money, you'll find it handy for a lot of other thing than just inflating tires even with out airtools , cleaning air conditioners, vacuums and other dust collectors.

[glen]

I’m going to put new rims and tires on in 2or3 more years. Just want to limp it till then.  Now that I count them  I’ve got about six other slow leaks on off road buggy’s and trailers. 

[Fisherman]

Unscrew the valve core, pop the bead, I use a couple of big wood clamps.  Get some 0000 steel wool and shine up the bead surfaces on the rim, both sides, no need to take off the tire.  spread a really thin coat of petroleum jelly(vaseline or pam) on the tire beads and re inflate and replace the valve core.  Slime is only for emergencies.  If you do use a tube make sure it's whatever the tire is, radial or bias ply.

Edited December 9, 2017 by Fisherman

[misfish]

Oh Glen, what to do with you ?

LOL

[Old Ironmaker]

2 hours ago, glen said:

I’m going to put new rims and tires on in 2or3 more years. Just want to limp it till then.  Now that I count them  I’ve got about six other slow leaks on off road buggy’s and trailers. 

No, no, no. Those trailer tires are more important to be of a fit condition than the tires on your tow vehicle. You sound like my 90 year old Father. Buy them now or at least a new tire and rim at least for God's sake. The only limping you may be doing is on the broken leg you received in an accident. Hopefully that's not all. You are smarter than that Glen.

Of course I have a story. I was about 18 and my brother and I shared a 69 VW Beetle with Dad. The tires were Baldinis. There was a used tire place on Gage Ave. and Lawrence Rd. In Hamilton. Went in with Dad and he wanted used tires, for 5 bucks each as advertised on the sign. The guy told him he could put 4 used on for "50 bucks all in", my dear Father says, " Come on, they are only for my Boy's to use!" I swear on his 90 1/2 year life.

[Garnet]

I use hair spray on the bead and rim.

Tie a rope around  tire and with a large screwdriver wrap rope until bead

tight on rim hit with air.

Find leak first spray bottle dish soap. 

[Pikeslayer]

Why would you knowingly trailer your rig with a defective tire/rim in order to buy 2 or 3 more years @ the risk of innocent others when you potentially blow a tire ??

Sorry to say but that sounds totally irresponsible to me  Youre putting others @ risk!!!

[Old Ironmaker]

3 hours ago, Pikeslayer said:

Why would you knowingly trailer your rig with a defective tire/rim in order to buy 2 or 3 more years @ the risk of innocent others when you potentially blow a tire ??

Sorry to say but that sounds totally irresponsible to me  Youre putting others @ risk!!!

Exactly. If you insist on being cheap that's your call but if you insist on towing with poor trailer tires and injure someone I care for I will hunt you down like a dog Glen, maybe if someone I don't even know.  Come on man that is just being stupid! If you do injure someone like innocent children for example you deserve sleepless nights for a very long time wondering if your 300 pound cell mate is asleep.

What is really surprising to me are there are responsible guys here suggesting fixes for a bad wheel and or tire.

Edited December 10, 2017 by Old Ironmaker

[glen]

Well the boat tire only needs air about once a month so it’s a pretty slow leak. I could put the spare on but the rims are a different colour. Does that matter. As you can’t see both sides at the same time  lol. Maybe I’ll slime some  of the off road tires and see how that goes. I wonder if there is a stay in foam that goes solid  

 

[Old Ironmaker]

OK I'm tapping out.

[barrystrs]

It does not say anywhere that the tire is in poor condition!  If there are no cracks and there is tread left with no visible defects, add slime.  It works great,  I usually only add about half of how much it recommends on the bottle.  I have had a nail hole in a riding lawnmower that the slime was coming out, then I didn't need to add air for 2 years. It comes on sale a couple of times a year at crappy tire.

[DanD]

 How old are the tires? If they're any older then 7 years old; you should think about getting them off the road. In many European countries, it is law that a tire 5 years old must come off and there's talk of that coming here.                       Here's a pic and a description of how to read the date code. If by chance the date code on your tires are 6 digits; you know its 10 plus years old.

If the tires are young enough; take them into a garage and have them repaired.  For rim leaks we take the tire off the rim, wire wheel the rust away from the bead and valve stem areas. Apply a bead sealer (liquid rubber)  to the cleaned rim and install a new valve stem. $15.00. For a puncture, we do all the same as above; along with patching the tire from the inside. $20.00                                                                                                                                                                                        With both repairs, we can check the tire's condition inside. A tire driven half flat (even only 1 klick) will chew out the sidewall; right down to the cords and you cannot tell from the outside. So you're willing to chance turning your trailer into a drag-er for 15 or 20 bucks?  

Sorry but that's back assward thinking.

Dan.

[Old Ironmaker]

I nearly killed us both on HWY 11 near Sundridge going up north over 30 years back. I had a slow leak on the front right and was too lazy to repair it properly, put in a can of that fix a leak crap. The belt ripped right off the tire . From the belt slapping inside the fender it tore the fender up until it wrapped itself around the CV joint at 120KPH. No control whatsoever. Ended up in the oncoming traffic ditch. I learned my lesson. A tire with a slow leak is a tire that needs to be repaired properly or replaced. After seeing my life pass before my eyes I was and still am anal about tire pressure. Besides that tires aren't cheap and keeping them at the proper tires pressure saves money for many reasons including fuel savings and longevity. My take is a tire with a slow leak is a tire in bad condition Barry.

[glen]

I got a 3l or whatever  size the big jug is.  Easy to use I did a tire on my trail buggy.  She was fun today in all the snow 

the slime reminds me of the blood from predator.  

[Mister G]

Just buy new tires every spring with a  collection from those who are so concerned.  . . . . . 

[ch312]

Try some TireJect

It's the same idea as Slime, but is so much better and advanced that it makes Slime seem like an old obsolete product from 50 years ago. Less product is used, seals bigger holes, much easier cleanup, and just better in every way. Works awesome for sealing beads that just won't seal. A few buddies have been using it in their truck and ATV tires and the stuff is unbelievable. 

No issue running a tire with a slow leak as long as you keep an eye on the pressure and there is no heavy cracking, bulging, etc. 

[Old Ironmaker]

On ‎2017‎-‎12‎-‎10 at 12:34 PM, DanD said:

 In many European countries, it is law that a tire 5 years old must come off and there's talk of that coming here.                       .

 

I know for a fact in Italy a vehicle must go through a very intensive safety check every 5 years, less if a commercial vehicle. Far more detailed than our safeties here in On. You don't see many if any vehicles over 7 years old in many European countries. The cars that don't make the cut are sold en mass to Africa, India and 3rd World nations. Compared to many European countries some cars and many commercial trucks we have on the roads here make us look like a 3rd World country. It's one of the first things visitors from there comment about. The driving conditions in Europe is by far more difficult than here in Canada. 2 vehicles share on roads in mountain regions that don't have enough room for 2 North American cars or especially trucks. Picture driving in the Rockies every day or super highways like the Autobahn in Germany or the Autosrada in Italy without speed limits. You better have good tires to get home alive there. I'm sure we all know guys that have 4 different makes of tires on their old hoopdies.

Edited December 11, 2017 by Old Ironmaker

[Terry]

I know people here that drive farther to work and back every day then some Europeans drive every year 

lol 

[Fisherman]

33 minutes ago, Terry said:

I know people here that drive farther to work and back every day then some Europeans drive every year 

lol 

That's cuz they're taking the scenic route in and out of ditches, through the rhubarb patches and everywhere else except the road..

[pics]

I don't take chances with a tire that has cracks along the tread lines but if there aren't any and its simply a slow leak then I would use the slime.. Trailer tires and rims usually have to be replaced at the same time unless they are the fancy aluminum or galvanized ones. One thing that I started to do is to put old tires and rims on the trailer in the off season so I can store the good tires indoors.. The frequency of new tires also depends on if you are traveling on the highway versus secondary roads..