THSCC Forums

After the last RX, though they didn't de-bead at the RX the front tires on the Laser when flat sitting in the driveway. I refilled them but they were leaking heavily around the bead so I had them unmounted, cleaned, and remounted. However they still leak just much more slowly, they now go flat in a matter of hours rather than minutes. I can't be the first to have this happen, any suggestions?

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'07, '08, '11 Autocross VP
'06, '10 Mike Dishman Cup
'21 MX5, '13 Corvette GS, '92 Corvette 383 c.i. 413whp/390wtq, '03 Expedition

One way of dealing with the problem is to run innertubes on the RX vehicle. I would suspect that your wheels and tires are still not clean or that the tire bead was damaged by eating dirt.

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George Bright Member # 141
One of the youngest of the old farts.
Yes I voted against you joining the club.

Yeah, but tubes have their own set of problems. If the tire's really going flat in an hour or 2, I'd think that you'd still be able to find the leak if you looked carefully in a dunk test. Maybe Jeb or his crew could find it for you.

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Carl Fisher

Be Cool to the Pizza Dude:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/stor ... Id=4651531

I had that problem too. I had the tire store here in Greenville buff the rim where the tire beads with an air grinder and abrasive pad. Then, they used some thin black glue on those areas. It worked great.

I have tubes in my front tires now. What set of problems might I encounter?

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Rubbin' is Racin'

I had tubes put in on my old CRX. Haven't debeaded with the Rally tires on the suby at all, but I do have a bead leak for the same reasons you mention in one of my fronts. Fortunately it only loses a few pounds a day, though - so it's a non issue since these tires are typically mounted, used, and dismounted in half that time.

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Dustin Fredrickson
-- I'm a nobody --

The tube can rotate and cut off the rubber valve stem.

We put tubes in the General and have never had a problem.

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Mitch Moore

Like The Dog or The General are ever going to make enough power/grip to spin a tire on the rim

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One of those LeMonHeads...
91/95 Miata, 02 Focus SVT, 01 Ford F250, 09 Suzuki SV650SF
rusty 84 C4 Vette, tiny piece of the General Lei
Irish Sport Horse - 1hp NA!

time for tire moose.

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hey yall,watch this...

Cutting the valve stem as Mitch mentioned is the big one, and you don't need big power to do it. If you run low pressures it can also happen.

Tubes are also hard to install right, and lots of shops won't even put them in anymore. If you don't get all the air out from between the tube and the tire, the tube will show the right pressure but have a lesser volume of air in it. If you then break the bead you've got low pressure and can spin the tube.

In my experience, tubes also seem to get holes in them a lot. They're easy to patch, but the unmount/remount is a pain.

My $0.02, YMMV, etc.

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Carl Fisher

Be Cool to the Pizza Dude:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/stor ... Id=4651531

Thanks. That makes sense.

Kendt, The DOG makes plenty of power! The 3.0 V6 has a ton of torque. It is still a heavy car with heavy, old drivers. I challenge you to a drag race in your red car! Wheel to wheel, mano y mano! The loser buys lunch.

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Rubbin' is Racin'

It'll be at the first RallyX, punk - automatic means I got a pseudo-linelock, and the killer (non)VTAK YO!

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One of those LeMonHeads...
91/95 Miata, 02 Focus SVT, 01 Ford F250, 09 Suzuki SV650SF
rusty 84 C4 Vette, tiny piece of the General Lei
Irish Sport Horse - 1hp NA!

we bought 2 sets of tube for last season. 3 of them were damaged while installing because we failed to notice some very small nails plus it was hot out and we were getting fed up. lol.

they cost us about $7 per tube. i forgot where we got them from, but it was somewhere online (i think from up north). we were fortunate enough to have a friend who had a tire machine in his garage so we spent the time doing it there.

out of the 5 that were in the tires, i believe only 1 finally gave out, and i want to say we ran the final 3 races with tubes. it only gave out because we nailed a rut big time, it almost took the tire off of the rim (this happened at kevins course).

so yeah, tubes arent 100%, but they worked well. but like mentioned, you're kinda screwed if they start to leak (which they really shouldnt) because you have to take the valve stem out. but if you know what you're doing, and you've got some time in between runs, you can put a valve stem in (maybe even leave the tube in there), fill the tire up and go. but just for the event. gonna need to fix it.

"thin black glue" = bead sealer


Most tire shops have it on hand, though you might need to find an old timey shop that works on alot of older stuff if you have any trouble finding it.


I would not be surprised if the tire shop debeaded the tire, brushed/blew some of the dirt out, then reseated the bead and aired it up, calling it done when it didn't leak.

You might be OK just having the tire completely dismounted, cleaning and scuffing the bead area on the tire and the wheel, then remounting it. Probably wouldn't be a bad idea to get some bead sealer on all 4, or put tubes in them if you have any more problems.

thats probably what they will do. honestly that is what i would do if i knew i was going back out to the rally course. if you can get a hold of a good air compressor, just deflate the tire by taking the needle out of the stem, and try to pop the bead down yourself and clean the area up. then just inflate the tire, put the needle in, top off the air and you're good to go.

dont spend the money when it might happen again. the only reason they'll completely dismount the tire is if there is stuff inside the tire, and most shops will blow it out with air like you said. unless of course they're a good shop and they take the time to take the tire off.


another thing to keep an eye out for is on steel wheels, if there if rust around the lip of the rim, its a good indication that you'll be leaking soon.

so if this a DD tire, then get it done right (if will throw the balance off on the street), if you're going back to the rally course, just get the dirt out out of the rim edge.

Dr. Punk to you!!!!!

I'll be there. Dirt or pavement? 1/8 or 1/4 mile?

Who wants to place a bet?

"When the Green light pops, the BS Stops"

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Rubbin' is Racin'