Constantly flat front tire.

[N80]

I have a front tire that is constantly going flat. Its a tubeless ag tire (4wd). It has many tiny leaks around the bead. I think the problem is my fault. Several times I have neglected to notice that the air pressure was low and have driven the tire off the rim, filling the rim with dirt etc. To fix that I have removed the tire myself to clean out the dirt and stuff. I've used the wrong tools (crow bar, cat's claw, screwdrivers,etc) to remove and remount the tire, plus I've had it done at a tire place several times. I think I have damaged the bead and that's why it continues to leak.

I'm tired of it being flat every weekend so I'm looking at my options:

1) Bead sealer. Don't know what it is. Never used it before. Don't know if it will help with a damaged bead.

2) Getting tubes put in. This would solve the leaking bead problem. But I'm worried about punctures. I've got honey locust trees like weeds around here. Always finding them stuck in my tires, but they've never caused a flat so far.

3) Foam. I don't know much about this. Have several concerns. Expense is one of them. Also, does the foam ruin the tire and rim if you ever want to do anything else? I'm also concerned about sidewall flex. Under heavy bucket loads these R4's have fairly weak sidewalls and tend to flex too much unless air pressure is just right. Will the foam make this worse? Better? Finally, but least of my worries, how about ride quality? Too bumpy?

Any thoughts or advice appreciated.

 

[George2615]

Not sure which you have (R1 or R4) R1's are AG tires, R4's are Industrial tread.
In any case, if you have driven it off the rim and have dirt in the tire it needs to be cleaned out. Whether you use a sealer, tube, or foam, the rim, tire, and bead need to be cleaned then lube the bead, re-mounted and set to proper pressure. If its not cleaned out and there is any dirt on the rim where the bead seats it won't hold air.

 

[N80]

They're R1's. And yep, I've cleaned the bead thoroughly several times and so has the tire place. So at this point, dirt is not the issue. Like I say, I'm sure I've damaged the bead using the wrong tools. There are several small tears. But I don't think the tire is a loss yet. Even with these slow leaks I can fill it with air and it will keep pressure all day long, but when I come back a week or two later, its flat again.

 

[Egon]

The cheapest easiest is to put some tire sealer in it. If that don't work go to the next step.

 

[newbury]

Slime it.

 

[wushaw]

Tube, put a tube in it till the tire in no longer usable then you can go back to tubless. Slime is a mess, it breaks down over a few years and will no longer work and it's worthless on your kind of leak.
I used slime in several tires and all of them over a few year period quit holding air and they either have tubes in them now or have different tires on them.

Honey locus is a pain, I have eradicated 99.9% of it on my property, atleast the thorns break down over time unlike Mesquite.

 

[tractorworks]

I have this problem with a farmtrac 300 4wd and kubota 2910 4wd. On the farmtrac I have replaced the tire (still does it). On the kubota I have remounted it and had tire dealer remount (still does it). I believe it has more to do with engaging 4wd. I have not had the problem if left in 2wd or 4wd on soft surface but using the loader on harder surfaces in 4wd is where it shows up. Let us know your cure!

 

[N80]

Honey locus is a pain, I have eradicated 99.9% of it on my property, atleast the thorns break down over time unlike Mesquite.

If I eradicated 99.9% of my honeylocust all I'd have left is dirt and briars.

Our official name for our place is Honey Locust Hill, but we usually just call it 'the cabin'. I've never had experience with mesquite but the locust here holds up a long time, even considered by some to be good for fence posts etc. But you're right, its primarily the fresh thorns that give you fits.

A fellow I work with has gone with foam filled fronts but said it cost nearly $300 for the pair.

So I think I'll go with tubes, especially since that's the most easily reversible of the options. It would be very easy to pull them out and put a tubeless valve stem back in if they didn't work out.

 

[J_J]

Couple of years ago, I posted a website that you call the manufacture of some stuff called Bulletproof I believe. You tell them the size of the tire you want sealed, and they compute the volume and when you receive it, you mix with water and install. Supposed to seat 1/4 in hole.

Bead Seal, looks like thin tar, available at NAPA, or other parts stores.

If you are going to try bead seal, put the bead seal on both sides of the tire, and then put just a little soapy water on the inner edge of the tire, to help slide on. Some only put bead seal on the rim itself. Whichever.

When finished, spray soapy water on the tire bead and check for leaks

On the slime thing, most people do not put enough slime in the tire, and expect it to work. I have used it in commercial mowing tires, and it does work.
On a 22x11x8, I would use 32 oz per tire.

 

[podagrower]

Murphy Soap, Murphy Soap, Murphy Soap.

Not Murphy oil soap.

I've seen this stuff used to fill a 1" gap between the tire and bead (on a semi no less) to get it seated with a low volume air compressor. It will fill those little imperfections in the rim and bead, just wipe off the excess when your done.

MURPHY'S CONCENTRATED EXTRA SLIPPERY TIRE AND TUBE MOUNTING COMPOUND (1GAL) (MU-1950)
Rating: none
Quantity in Basket:none Price: $7.90
Code: MU-1950 Shipping Weight: 8.50 pounds
Question about this product?


Quantity:
FEATURES:
A concentrated liquid made from the finest raw materials available.
Contains improved super lubricity polymers
Economical-dilutes 2 to 1
Rust inhibitor added to help fight rim rust
Formulated for super fast mounting of passenger tires
SPEC:
1 gal.
CATEGORIES MU-1950 IN: Murphy's, Tire Bead Lub. Mounting Compound

 

[woodchuckie]

To fix my leaks around the bead I've used a wire brush with my drill on the rim and a type of abrasive wheel on the tire it's self to clean it off. I've damaged my tire and rim as you have but it still holds pressure for weeks.

 

[RWolf]

I like using slime. I've got a front tire that I've put a few holes in it and slime works great. Yes it does require replacing after about 4 years but the stuff is water soluable and washes out easily. It's cheap and and easy to use and will continue to seal after application. A tube works also but a thorn can puncture a tube also. Other sealants can harden and lose effectiveness.

Good luck.

 

[tugboat-2]

Well Doc,.... even just once running a flat off the rim is bad. (UNnoticed means you really beat up the bead!) But you say you've run it off the rim "several" times, (I think you said?) OH-OH Geeeze !!! Really bad!

I hate to tell you this but no matter what numerous and various methods you use to keep that tire going,..(and they pretty well "all" work for a while) BUT,..you'll likely get tired of "forever" noticeing it is down some, and finally want to take care of it.

Especially using the loader. I did the same for a while and had to constantly make a sharp right to take a look "on-the-move" and at night I carried a flashlight so I could check "on-the-go". I carry one of those small portable air compressors under the seat. You know, the kind you carry in the car and it plugs into the cigar lighter, (which my JD-3520-Cab) has. Yes they're real slow but can get you out of a tight spot or just back to the barn.

Running a tire off the rim (more than once) really stretches and destroys the bead. It is now so weak and messed up that, even putting a tube in, you will have to keep a close eye on it, especially under load, (heavy bucket) as the pressure can now actually "ease the bead" out over the rim edge.

I admit I tried it all too,....many times, different tractors and tires etc and eventually just get fed up,..(especially when your tired and beat-up and just want to get that last load moved,.....and ahhhH SHeee-it,....that #@$%& tire is gone again and I'm toooooo beat to take care of it tonight!!!

So first thing next mornin' I'll bite the bullet and get me a brand new one! OH what a relief to not worry about "that" freek'n problem for a while!!!

CHEERS,...and good luck to you!
. . tug

PS: I don't really think you'd like the foam, ..but I see there is some new product that is supposed to be much better, less expensive and not as damaging. Check around for it, sorry I can't help more than that at the moment.

 

[N80]

I'm sure hoping not to have to replace them. Like I say, as long as it is at proper pressure it does fine, even with a full bucket. The first time I ran it off the rim was turning, on a hill, bucket with one huge rock in it, me not paying attention to anything but the hill, made a hard turn and off it came. Similar experience the second time, full bucket, no hill, but deep sand. So maybe with the tube keeping it at proper pressure (not leaking) I can get some more use out of it. Won't cost that much to give it a try anyway.

They only have about 200 hours on them, and they still have lots of tread left but they are much more worn than the rears, which is common on 4wd fronts. So if I do have to replace them, I'll probably spend some money and get higher ply and stiffer sidewall R1s.

Hope the tubes work.

 

[EddieWalker]

I tried Slime. It helped, but it's pretty limited in what it can do. Once you use Slime, you cannot use a patch anymore. I've been relying on tubes, but they also have their limits. I've been dealing with flat front tires for years on both my CUT and backhoe. After four flats this year on my backhoe, I had enough. The last flat was on a Sunday morning and nobody was open to fix it. The entire day was shot for what I wanted to do.

I had asked about foaming the front tires of the CUT. They said it would be about $300 to do them and that when I wore out the tread on the tire, it was easy to scrape the rim to mount a new tire. I didn't ask if I had to foam the replacement tire or not.

I had both front tires of the backhoe foamed for $500. It took about a week. There are no more valve stems, just bolts in the hole. The tires are HEAVY !!!! I have no idea what they weigh now, but before I had them foamed, I could lift one up and into the back of my truck by myself. Now I can't get them off the ground. They are also solid. I mean, they feal like concrete.

I was worried about the ride, but so far, can't tell the difference while driving around with them.

I will never have another flat, so that's all that I really care about. $500 well spent. Especialy considering that it was almost $30 to fix each flat and at least a day lost of doing anything with the tractor, which is where the real expense was.

Eddie

 

[newbury]

Can you tube after slime?

 

[cowboy357]

Can you tube after slime?

If You choose to tube it ,Just wash the slime out of the tire. water breaks it down, Its nothing like those inflate A flat products Not as messy or Flammable like those . I love the stuff . Bob

 

[wrangler6831]

According to the SLIME website they can be repaired after using.

SLIME Flat Tire Repair - Smart Solutions for Flat Tire Prevention: ATV, Bicycle, Motorcycle, Lawn Tractor - The leader in tire inflators & gauges - Buy Online Today.

 

[N80]

Eddie, you say 'bolts in the hole', do you mean they put a nut and bolt in the valve stem hole or did they put a thread in the valve stem hole? What I'm getting at is, do you think the valve stem hole is ruined for future use for valve stems?

I'm also concerned with your description of how hard the foamed tires are. Seems like hard fronts would not only make for a rougher ride, but more importantly it seems like they'd be hard on the front driveline components, especially bearings and such.

 

[EddieWalker]

George,

Yes, it looks like a bolt head in the valve stem hole. Since this is the first time that I've done this, and my only experience with it, I can't say what it would take to remove the tire and put on a new one. Since my tires are for commercial use and have a ten ply rating, I would have thought that would work. But taking out trees in the woods is just more then they can handle. I never take it out on the pavement, so wear on the tread should be minimal. I don't foresee replacing the tires, but if it happens, I'll foam them again.

As for the ride, all I can say is that I haven't noticed a difference. I keep them at 35psi, so the ride with an empty bucket seems the same. One thing that I haven't done yet, but I'm curious about, is what it will be like with a heavy load in the bucket. At 4,000 pounds of lift on my loader, I can put allot of weight on my front tires. I've seen them flatten out pretty good under a big load, like a stump. I'm hoping that with the foam, it won't affect the shape of the tire.

As for being able to patch a tire with Slime, that may be true, but getting a repair shop to do it for you is another matter. I've been to several shops and have been told the same thing, you can't patch a tire that has had slime in it. The only way to fix a flat after you have put Slime in it is to put a tube into the tire. Of course, when the Tube gets a flat, you can patch the tube if it's repairable. I've been about 50/50 on getting tubes patched. Sometimes I can, other times I have to buy a new tube.

Eddie