Tire advice - Help!

[Tireman9]

Originally Posted by CWtheMan

One of the things that are often taken for granted when changing tires is wheels. Wheels are an item certified for that vehicle, so are tires. Each tire manufacturer provides a listing of wheels/rims suitable for use with every tire size they build. Tire retailers are required to keep that listing for all tires they retail. Sometimes a minute difference between tire fitments to wheels with different certifications can cause more than minute problems.

Not quite. Wheel spec and tire fit are industry and even worldwide standards for diameter and width. The well depth (for mounting) is also specified as a minimum. The design is to ensure interchangeability and safety for a pressure vehicle. I am not aware and do not recall ever seeing any of the tire/wheel fit dimensions specified for a specific tire or car.


Tire vehicle "fit" is based on minimum load carrying capacity. Tires have stated range of rim widths i.e. 5.5" to 7.0" for example for proper "fit to the wheels that came on the vehicle.


Here is an example of the dimensions that tires MUST accept and wheels must comply with.

[sourdough]

Originally Posted by Tireman9

Ya the "tire failed because" is my over the top reply to "the tire failed because it was made in China" claim.


A tire not holding air would be leaking from some location. Did anyone bother with a quick soapy water spray? One thing that comes to mind is the possibility of leak between tire and wheel. The fit there is a "compression" fit and the specs are to the 0.001".


I have seen wheels from one major company leak because the tires did not "seat" properly. This was eventually traced to a batch of wheels that the factory had repainted to a different color. When they painted the wheels they sprayed the bead seat which made the tires just outside the stated max OD.

I'm not saying that re-paint happened this time I am just pointing out the need to understand what really was "bad" or we are not really solving the problem.
So bottom line is "Where was the air leak?"

I agree with you that there is some reason for those leaks. Both vehicles, all 4 tires as the same slow pace; literally identical pressures day to day as they get lower and lower. The spare loses as well but at a much slower rate, I'm assuming due to the fact it has no weight on it. It has to be tire or wheel. The wheels have 10 polished aluminum spokes with black painted sections between the spokes (OE). Never looked inside to see if paint was actually sprayed inside the wheel.

I understand as an engineer you like and want to know the why. As just an end user I want it to work....period. I don't have near the patience to pull the wheels and have them soap them so I can "know" what the issue is; I solved it once with new tires and I will again on this one but it only has 6k miles on it and don't use it much so hate to run out and do it so soon. I'll wait until we get back from FL in the spring and put new Michelins on it and won't have the problem any longer. Curing it by replacing tires is a good enough indicator to me of the problem - I do understand that is not a definitive "why" but works for me.

[flybouy]

This is just a guess but I think most people will replace a tire and "move on with their life". They get the problem fixed and see no point in dragging around a tire to play CSI and perform a post mortem.

[CWtheMan]

Originally Posted by Tireman9

Not quite. Wheel spec and tire fit are industry and even worldwide standards for diameter and width. The well depth (for mounting) is also specified as a minimum. The design is to ensure interchangeability and safety for a pressure vehicle. I am not aware and do not recall ever seeing any of the tire/wheel fit dimensions specified for a specific tire or car.


Tire vehicle "fit" is based on minimum load carrying capacity. Tires have stated range of rim widths i.e. 5.5" to 7.0" for example for proper "fit to the wheels that came on the vehicle.


Here is an example of the dimensions that tires MUST accept and wheels must comply with.

Sorry, I was talking about vehicle certification and the red marked area in the picture below, not the action that leads us to it.

FMVSS 571.120 has more in-depth explanations.



REF: FMVSS 571.139 paragraph S4.1. Each manufacturer of tires must ensure that a listing of the rims that may be used with each tire that it produces is provided to the public.

From that we must assume the tire manufacturer's tire installers will insure the rim specifications will meet the needs of the tire's size, load and PSI requirements.