Alloy wheels leaking air / corrision - solutions?

[a11y_m]

One of the alloys on my wife Fabia (standard vRS alloys) is corroded badly - for some reason it's only the one wheel; the other 3 are perfect (or as perfect as they can be on a 6-yr old workhorse). Previously it was only 1-2psi/week, but after fitting new tyres at the weekend one is losing all it's pressure overnight. Wheels are not yet mounted on the car either. I've identified that the air's escaping between the wheel edge and tyre in several places which funnily enough match up to where the worst of the corrision is.

I've tried reseating the tyre but had no effect/improvement.

What solution(s) can/should I try?

My thoughts are the corrosion's simply creating a poor seal between the tyre and rim, but I don't know what truth there is in older alloys becoming porous?

I've wondered if powdercoating the alloys would provide a clean edge for the tyre to sit against, but don't want to waste money if there's issues about the alloy becoming porous with age.

Help!

[a11y_m]

Cheers folks. I'll start with the cheap and easy option and go from there. I'm favouring a full refurb but since it's the wife's car (and she'd be paying!) I've to "explore other avenues"...

Just had to google tyre bead sealer - got to be worth a shot. Is that safe/OK to use in the longterm? I presume that's just the stuff tyre fitters should be using when they fit tyres initially so I guess I need to clear up the corrosion from the wheel at least.

Plus I'll keep an eye on ebay as an extra wheel wouldn't go amiss I guess with the depth of the potholes we'll get around here in a few months...

[a11y_m]

Thanks again guys.

Going to start with a clean up and bead sealer and if that fails then a full refurb. They're actually a spare set we've just had winter tyres fitted to so still got (hopefully) a few weeks to sort them out before they're going on the car.

I still favour a full refurb in anthracite (silver car) in order to hide the grime as she just doesn't have the same dedication/OCDness as me when it comes to cleaning...

[a11y_m]

defblade said:

On alloys going porous:

I understand the alloy is porous; it's the paint/powdercoat/whatever finish that seals it.

The other option here is that the corrosion is just lifting the bead slightly and stopping it sealing.

If they're not special wheels, you can refurb them yourself without too much effort. I used a wire-brush thing in my drill to get the worst off then sanded, filled and sanded before spraying. Wouldn't have taken half as long to seal up a winter wheel, these were for looking at

I've previously refurbed a set of BMW split-rims and vowed never to do it again! Seemed like a lot of work although they did come up good in the end. Not sure I have the patience/time when they're not mine. I'm half-tempted to do a rough refurb on the one knackered wheel involving steel wool and a can of silver hammerite...

[a11y_m]

saaby93 said:

1
Trying to find out where the alloy has gone porous is more trouble than it's worth
Watch that could be why the ebay one is for sale

That thought did cross my mind but I try not to think the worst of people (well, at first at least...).