I've got some new Gators mounted on new Polaris stock rims on the rear of my Sportsman and the things will not hold air for long. The fronts on the original '99 rims do fine. Ever since they were mounted they've had a slow leak. They have come completly off the bead in mud holes before. I took them off the rims,cleaned everything up real good, replaced the valve stems, and re-mounted them. Still, they won't hold air. They appear to be leaking where the tire meets the rim as I can see bubbles from this area when filling them. Is there anything like Slime or Fix-a-Flat that will seal them for good? Thanks

 

i'm sure its safe to assume they are steel rims because its a utilit right?

well, i replaced the tires on my fl400r pilot and from simple abuse it developed leaks around the bead, just like your problem...i had the one remounted and it still continued to do it...i was gettin bark, sticks and what not all jammed up in the bead...

well, this is what i did...i cleaned em up, and used the Slime for tires ...the green stuff, follow the directions for aplication...it most likely will not seal RIGHT away because the problem is at the bead,..

the way yo udo it is you take out the vavle stem, put in the appropriate amount of goo, then fill the tire and ride it for a little..this gets the good to the outside of the tire...but in order to seal the bead it has to OOZE back down...so it took me about 2 or 3 air fiulls b4 it completely sealed...and it hasn't leaked since, and i beat the **** out of it

 

Hello,

You might try breaking the tire down from the bead, and apply a large amount of tire cement to the bead area, then fill em back up. I've done this to 2 of my quads, its been working so far.....

 

this is what i do with atv tires, and it allways works, even with my gators... break it down, clean it up tire bead and wheel, really clean it, I usually use acetone or alcohol, and then put one bead on wheel then apply quite a bit of rubber cement to wheel lip area and tire bead on both inner and outer bead. then finish the job as quick as possible while the rubber cement still acts as a lubricant. Allways works for me. good luck. happy muddin.[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

 

Thanks for the replies guys. I think I will try the Slime method first. I would like to avoid having to take the tires off and on again. Man it's tough with 6 ply tires! Also, any other thoughts are appreciated.

Jeff

 

It says on their website that Slime will not seal bead leaks. Tried it anyway and it sealed it right up. No more leak! Thanks for the help. Jeff

 

yeah....i didn;t bother checkin the site... i just did it cause i was in a rush and going on a trip to go quadding.. so i just did it, and worked great.. glad to see you had luck with it too

nik

 

take a lesson from a six wheeler amphibious owner. take your tires and break the bead down. clean the tire bead surface and the wheel bead surface. go buy some rtv silicone adhesive from auto parts store. put bead of rtv silicone on tire bead surface. air tire till bead seats. run pressure to max on tire sidewall. leave at max overnite. let air out next day to correct pressure. now your tires will be glued to rim and will not leak or pop off the bead. wipe excess rtv off after seating bead. i guarantee you that your problems will be solved. some six wheelers run their tires at 0 psi doing this!

 

get new tires[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img] (6)

 

You may want to try inner tubes for your tires, i also had the same type of problem with the front wheels of a warrior that I used to own, the inner tubes fixed the leak problem, the tires never lost air after that.