My front tire is leaking air between the rim and the bead. Should I use slime or tube the tire to repair the leak?

 

id try the slime first

 

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I don't know if Slime would fix a leak like that. A rim leak is usually a bent/dinged rim or rust/mud between the metal and tire. In both cases, it would be better to loosen the tire from the rim and fix the bad area. Slime wouldn't move to that area real well, anyway.

GJRonK

 

My rims are totally hammered. Too many rocks, stumps, etc. on narrow trails and in attention by the rider. I Slimed them before any hitting accured and still no leaks If nothing else after you Slime the tire normally, then pull the wheel off and add more Slime and rotate the wheel on it's side so the the Slime reachs the leaking area. That will seal her up if nothing else does. Oh yeah, make sure there isn't a rock or a chunk of wood stuck down between the rim and the tire bead, or it will continue to make the problem worse.

 

I had this happen to me a couple of weeks ago. You have to empty the air out and break the seal. There is probably dirt between the rim and seal. It is not easy to do. You have to unscrew the brass part inside the valve and make sure all the air is out then you have to "break the seal" once you have the seal broken, clean the tire and the rim. MAKE sure you have ALL dirt and debris cleaned on both sides of the tire and rim. Then spray some WD40 around the tire and fill that sucker up and wait for the POP! You just resealed your tire to the rim just like the tire store does. Oh and then let the air out again and reinsert the valve. Then fill to 5lbs and enjoy the riding.

I purchased a handheld compressor (Slime model 40001, this thing is slick) from Pep Boys for this exact reason. I was out about 1.5 miles from my car and I had a flat. Had to ride back thru rocks and mud back to the car on basically the rim. So now I keep the compressor and a prybar in a bag strapped to the rack. Live and learn I guess. Supprised I did not damage the rim. Thank God.

 

I'm a tire guy, that is my profession, I'd use bead sealer, it's this black goopy stuff, it'll fix any bead leak, all you have to do is break the bead, apply it to the rim, and reinflate the tire. Most tire shops will repair a tire for like 20 bucks. tubes are dangerous, and not very good for quads because if you ever get dirt between the tire and tube you'll wear a hole in the tube, and I don't know about you but I always have crap in my beads, the goop is terrible to deal with when you are trying to fix a tire, and I'm guilty of pretending like a tire was unrepairable so I wouldn't have to deal with cleaning the goop out before I buffed the liner for a patch.