Wheel leak repair?

[Lee]

Hi,

I am the original owner of a 2013 21RBSWE TT.

Since new I have had 1 tire that would not maintain air pressure.... it would very slowly leak down.

A year or 2 after I bought the TT I had the China Bombs replaced and as a side note I hoped that would fix the leak as I also had the stems replaced,.... Nope....

I have sprayed dish soap/water all over the tire while it was still mounted and could not find the leak....... until today.

I currently have the wheels off checking brakes and bearing and by chance laid the wheel/tire face down and sprayed the dish soap solution on it.... a few hours later I chased the bubbles and found that the leak is a pin hole in the wheel itself.... where the spoke meets the wheel. See bubbles in the pic.

Question of the day is.... can this be repaired with a weld? or am I looking at replacing the wheel?

Thanks to all,
Lee

[Roscommon48]

probably not repairable but do a search on local aluminum welding. I can't beleive you just don't buy a new wheel...lots on line that are used too.

[Wyldfire]

Call the wheel maker. Lot of them are warrantied for life

[JRTJH]

All the information I've read and heard is that cracks/voids in the spoke area of aluminum wheels is NOT repairable. Many wheel manufacturers do offer a lifetime warranty on aluminum cast wheels, so if you can determine the manufacturer, contact them. Most will even pick up the cost of changing the tire to the new wheel.

I would urge you to have your other wheels cleaned and inspected. Where there's smoke, there's often fire !!!!!

[flybouy]

Agree with all that's been said. My first contact would be the NTSB to report it. Then the wheel manufacturer. If the mfg won't rectify then I'd replace it. A good hard look at all of them is in order. There have been folks on here who have reported more than one wheel failure on their trailers.

[Lee]

Follow up:

Called the wheel manufacture,.... they told me I have to file a claim with the company I bought the RV from,.....

Called company I bought TT from and asked for Service Department.... told lady that answered phone that I would like to file a warranty claim on the trailer wheel..... she told me no one was at their desks and I need to leave name/number they would call me back,...... 2hrs later still no call

Then again due to virus maybe "nobody's home"

[chuckster57]

“Nobody’s home”. That would be the case if you called the dealership I’m at. Covid 19 caused everyone to get laid off except for me and 1 other tech. We are only working tues-fri for now.

[flybouy]

Expecting a 2 hr return call before March may have been optimistic but during a pandemic? I don't think that's realistic. JMHO

[Lee]

Service department called me back..... I explained my problem and that I called wheel manufacture who told me to call them,...he told me wheel is not covered under any warranty...

Found one online $105....

Oh well,
Lee

[flybouy]

Lee can you share who the manufacturer of the wheel is? Might help others if they have that brand. There have been reports of some who have had trailers out of warranty by Keystone and the wheel manufacturer has replaced them without shipping the defective wheel back.

[Lee]

Yes,.... the wheel in question is a SenDel 15x6, 6-lug with a stamped rating of 2830lbs.

[Hblick48]

I used to be in the wheel repair business. Seen many wheels fail like yours. Inpurities in the casting causes voids. If they are aligned right, eventually a path for air to escape opens up. In fact, that happened to my Montana alloy wheels after I upgraded to load range F raising air pressure from 75 to 95 psi. Wheels were rated to 85 psi. Replaced all 4 with steel wheels.

You got replacement for $110 which is less than I would have charged to repair, however your wheel would not have been a good candidate for repair. Won't do welds on spokes or where spokes meet the barrel.