Tires not holding air on 50cc TaoTao By nivanov (Read 2,655 times)

[nivanov]

Both of my tires, especially the rear tire, seem to be slowly leaking air. I've replaced the valve stems and for the rear tire I also changed the rim and the tire itself. Initially, I thought there was a hole in the rear tire so I bought a new one. I managed to bend the rim when trying to get the old tire off, so I got a new rim as well. So now I have the new rim, new tire and a new Slime valve stem and it seems like I need to re-inflate my tires once a week. Is this normal? I'm 185lbs, so I don't think it's a weight issue. Would it be a good idea to inject fix-a-flat into the tires?

[Bashan]

Try tightening the stem valve with the valve tool. Do you know what that is?

[gatekeeper]

Yes, the core inside the valve stems might be loose. Happened on my Bali.

[Alleyoop]

Yep spit or use soapy water inside the valve if it bubbles it is leaking and needs to be tighten up.
Alleyoop

[nivanov]

Excellent advice - I completely forgot about the valve cores! I'll try that out and let you guys know. Unfortunately they leak VERY slowly - slowly enough not to notice within the hour, but definitely more than they should. How often do you usually pump up the tires? Once a month at the most, right? I feel like tires should hold air pretty well

[Bashan]

Yeah, I'd say monthly. One way to tell if they are getting low is to listen while you're pushing the bike on smooth concrete. If they squeek alot they're low. At least that's what I've heard, I never let mine get that low! Nope, I'd never let them get low. WHAT!!??...............

[tvnacman]

get a long flower pot with water , put your wheel in it and see if you get bubbles . Rotate the wheel around take your time . Perhaps the bead did not set correctly . What kind of valve stem did you use ?

John

[nivanov]

These are the valve stems that I installed. I think the bead is fine - if there was a leak in the bead, it would leak out a lot quicker. I'm going to get the valve core tool tonight, tighten them up, pump them up again and see how they hold air after that.

[jct842]

get the bottle of dawn out and put some in a empty windex bottle, maybe 2 tablespoons, fill with warm water. Spray the crap out of the tires, every thing rims too in case of bad casting of rim. do the back side all the way too. when you find the bubbles coming out you found the leak.

did that to the 2 front tires on my lawn mower and each must have had 40-50 leaks, bubbles coming off mold marks, cracks, and even spots on side walls that looked good. tires should have been scrapped 10 years ago,but still running around in the yard. I used a big bottle of green slime. took quite a while in the goldfish pond bobbing them up and down and at angles before each little pin hole sealed up. 2 years and holding fine. Not a lot of danger of crashing when you are mowing at 2 miles an hour! Don't do this on a street machine though!

[cyborg]

I was going to suggest this route also,, casting porosity is also an issue for some tubeless rims,, Toyota had a he'll of a time with it,, if it still " leaks" after you find the schrader valves are tite,, remove the tire and paint two coats of a oil enamel to the inside of the rim ( by the inside I mean the part that the tire covers),with a brush , don't use a spray paint,,, go buy a pint of enamel and a 1 1/2 inch brush and your problem will disappear