I have a problem which seems to be pretty common with the alloy wheels used on the Trailblazers/Envoys.....I have slow tire leaks due to corrosion around the wheel rims (Discount Tire has been telling me this the last few times I brought the Envoy in for tire rotation and they tires were leaking pretty badly last winter). I called a local garage and they told me they could remove the tires, remove the corrosion with a wire wheel, and seal with rim/bead sealer. They charge $25 a tire to do this. They also said they can then fill the tires with nitrogen which has less waster than regular air and should reduce corrosion ($40 for all four and unlimited, free refills). Does this sound like a good course of action? I plan on having the Envoy another 2-3 years so want a solution that will last. Do the prices sound reasonable? Thanks!
Tire/Wheel Leaking Air
- Thread starter pmsmith2032
- Start date
HARDTRAILZ
Moderator
- Nov 18, 2011
- 49,665
Nitrogen is a joke. Do not waste money on it considering regular air is 78% nitrogen already.
Cleaning up the beads is good idea, but likely wont need sealer once done.
Cleaning up the beads is good idea, but likely wont need sealer once done.
I had the same problem with my '08 TrailBlazer. My tire store removed all four tires, removed the tires from the rims and cleaned the beads on both the rims and tires. Also replaced the TPM o'rings, stems and caps while at it ( a whole $12 more, total). No problems since.
Mooseman
Moderator
Yep, nitrogen is right up there with the ThighMaster and copper bracelets. Just a moneymaking gimmick. BTW, The air we breathe is made up of 78 percent nitrogen, 21 percent oxygen and a few other elements so you're paying to get rid of that 21 percent oxygen and to do that, they'd have to either vacuum the air our of the tire or fill/empty/refill to get it all out, which I doubt he'd do.
I don't think the bead sealer on top of the cleanup of the corrosion is a bad idea since it's included in the price anyway.
I don't think the bead sealer on top of the cleanup of the corrosion is a bad idea since it's included in the price anyway.
Daniel644
Member
- Feb 27, 2015
- 574
the one nitrogen filling machine I've seen in operation did that, it sucked the tires flat then refilled (these already had nitrogen in them, under normal operation it does a purge cycle). but yeah they are totally a scam, heck I even had some idiot on youtube claiming he dropped half a pound of weight per tire by switching to nitrogen (which is mathematically impossible for his tire size) arguing with me when I showed him the math because he was complaining about a nitrogen vs air comparison where they didn't weigh the tires.Mooseman said:
OP, most of the tire leaks I've seen in the last decade, including an old ladies tire (on her 1990ish toyota camry) a few weeks ago in the walmart parking lot have been the valve stems.