Expensive tire sidewall cracks; slow leak

Maintenance/Repairs
21

With tires looking like that, I’d make an immediate plan to get them replaced, no matter if they’re the most expensive Michelins with lots of tread depth

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22

The sudsy water will work, but you have to give it time. For the one that you have to add air to regularly, especially, get the soapy water onto it/them. And then walk away for 10 mins or so. Come back and look for what is still bubbling. (The trick being that it could be an interior bead, or, if a nail/screw on the part of the tire that’s on the ground).

I usually take an empty spray bottle with a little dish soap and water (or, really any cleaner that makes for suds), spray things down and then wait… If you have an identifiable leak it’s quite obvious.

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23

This is a baffling statement. Why would you expect a tire to leak if the recommended pressure for the car is 32 PSI and the maximum pressure for the tire is 42 PSI?

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24

I have seen many times with a corroded wheel bead that the higher the pressure the slower the leak, meaning that the higher air pressure pushes the tire bead harder against the wheel bead slowing the leak down, and of course as the pressure leaks out of the tire the less pressure pushing against the bead the faster the leak…

I have also seen a tire with a nail/screw in it that would ONLY leak when it was directly under the tire against the ground, the no visible sign of the object in the tire, pain in the but to find, will not leak without the weight of the vehicle being on it, no leaks found and go park it and a little later the tire is flat WTH?? In those cases you have to put 60+psi (no weather cracking) in it to force the leak…

But something tells me neither of those is what the OP meant by his/her statement… lol

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25

One option is Goss Garage 2, run by a long time partner of Pat Goss at the original shop. As you may know, Pat Goss was the expert mechanic on Motorweek before his death. Goss Garage 2 is in Gambrills and that can’t be too far from you. I’m not personally familiar with this shop, but it has a good pedigree. I’m sure it’s not cheap either, good work rarely is. I used to work in Beltsville and Greenbelt, but the shops I was familiar with aren’t there anymore.

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26

I would not reccomend a shop to Grunes . He thinks Toyotas are expensive to repair - does not like modern day equipment on vehicles - and I don’t think he would be happy no matter what the price was or thework done.

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