Aluminum wheels.

I have a 2006 Equinox with aluminum wheels. Two of them are losing about 1 pound of air a day. Seems to have started this year. Anybody ever here of this? What can be done about it? Short of buying new wheels for a 10 year old vehicle.

Are you sure it isn't the valve stems? Only other way is dismount the tire and clean them real good.

Tire shop can dismount and clean the bead surfaces of the rim with a wire brush.Aluminum gets corroded and causes leaks.

Like Uncle Tom says, the rims need to be cleaned. I had the same problem on my Explorer. Sometimes "progress" cam be a problem.

Yes, same thing happens with the aluminum wheels on my Chevrolet S-10 pickup. I'm told by my tire dealer that this is common with aluminum wheels, especially the wheels that carry the most constant weight. On my truck that would be the front tires that carry the weight of the engine. I have, over the past 5 years or so, had each tire removed from its wheel and the wheel and tire cleaned. I don't know what they do to clean them. But it works for a while. To this day I still have to put air in my right front tire every few months.

Ya its corrosion between tire and rim --dismount and clean the rim -- start over - so why does it do that ? is it the steel in the bead of the tire that the rim is upset about ? I dont remember having that problem in the 60"s with the old style bias tires -- I have the same problem with the foxy wifes merc.(the wife is the fox not the car)thought I better make that clear in case the fox sees this--HE HE

Put tubes in the tires.

KEH

Put tubes in them, dumbest thing they ever did is have tubeless tires.

Yes it's a corrosion problem. Have a 04 Malibu and have had them all done in the last year. Have to dismount the tire, clean the bead surface with wire brush and steel wool.

I have had several cars that had this issue after they got some age on them. The other guys have it pegged. Dismount and clean the sealing area around the rim. I also have the tires remounted with bead sealer.

The others have it pegged on cleaning between the tire and rim. The aluminum rims are clear coated to make them look good and preserve them. The problem comes when the clearcoat starts to peel off and turn loose. This also happens on the inside and matting surface between tire and wheel. This is what causes the leaks.

Like has been said remove tires, clean, seal beads, replace valve stems, might need a clean and seal around them too. I got the aluminum wheels on my wife's 09 Equinox warrantied for clear coat peeling around the weights.

we bought a 3/4 ton truck one time with aluminum wheels on it and after about a yr one front wheel went off like a bomb and dropped the truck on the hub instantly..someone had put a tube in it and the tire guys said it was probably losing air from being cracked and finally let go..i would never use a tube in an aluminum wheel just from this experience

I picked up a car that had been parked in the same spot for years. The two tires facing south weatherchecked and leaked pretty bad in cold weather. New tires solved the issue. Probably not your problem, though. Hope you find it.

Aaron

Note to self. Ask shop to clean wheels before mounting new tires or flat repair. I try keeping two spares for trailers. When spare go's on ground or I think it's time for tires I take extras in to remove tires then take wheels home for clean and paint. Go back with clean wheel(s) to have tire(s) mounted.

The other guys are probably right but why not grab a spray bottle of soap solution and see where the leak actually is?

Wife has a 04 Chrysler Concorde and we've been fighting this for years. Tires removed, rims cleaned, tire beads checked, beads sealed, new tires after needed. This year seems to be the worst, I'm going to have tubes installed next time. Or buy her a new vehicle.

You're in NY,if you drive in areas that use liquid de-icing the stuff works
into the smallest spots and never quits. Newer rubber products seem "harder".
They seem brittle and less likely to flex to maintain a seal with valve stems
being the worst. Demounting tires,replacing valve stem and cleaning and "gooping"
mating surfaces is best bet.As has been pointed out, use of soapy water to find
leak(s)is wise.

Break them down and clean, then try a product called Frey Lube. It really helps.

(quoted from post at 19:10:27 03/05/16) I have a 2006 Equinox with aluminum wheels. Two of them are losing about 1 pound of air a day. Seems to have started this year. Anybody ever here of this? What can be done about it? Short of buying new wheels for a 10 year old vehicle.

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Common here in Wisconsin, right about the 10-15 year mark you start having problems. Like mentoned, its corrosion. You can do it yourself if you want. I took off the rims, broke the bead on one side of the tire only. Pushed the bead in and put some scrap blocks of 2x4s between the bead and the inner part of the rim (not the bead of the rim, I needed to clean that). I used a wire wheel on a drill to clean up the bead of the rim, lots of white powder flying around. Washed it up, let it dry then spray painted it with some clear paint I had. When it dryed, I pulled the blocks of wood and seated the bead and then did the other side.

It took a couple hours that way but the actual "work" of it was a half hour or so, the rest of the time was waiting for things to dry. I didnt have to drive to town and pay anybody to rebalance my tires, since I did half at a time the tires didnt change on the rims. Its been 3 or 4 years, still holding.

If you do the beads and the rim still dont hold air, you have to dismount the tire and do the whole inner part of the rim because its leaking through somewhere other than the bead. Usually people replace the rim at that point but you could mark the tire and pull it off yourself, seal it up and put the tire back. A manual tire changer is pretty cheap at Harbor Freight, I have paid for mine many, many times over.

http://www.harborfreight.com/manual-tire-changer-69686.html

Used to see lots come in the shop like that.
Chrysler products more than others.
We would dismount the tires and send the rims off to a local shop that had a lathe set up to do rims.
They would take a fine cut off of the sealing area to remove the cracked up clear coat and corrosion.
10-15 years ago and they charged $100.00 to do a set of four.
When we got them back we would spray a coat of clear on the mounting surface before remounting the tires.
Worked great and never had any come backs.